Now that we have our 6 quilt sections printed, we have under 2 weeks to quilt enough to show our intended vision and submit our entry.  Barbara is keen to learn the technique which I have been experimenting with for some time.  It’s basically a free form smocking stitch which uses any dot or marker to pull the fabric in opposing directions to form various textures.  She is using closer stitches for the grassy areas compared to the larger stitches for the tree foliage.

Once outlined with stitches, the gravestones were filled.  Barbara has used up to 4 layers of cut and shaped quilt batting to fill the pocket that is created once the backing is carefully spliced.  These will be stitched closed.  The traditional term for this back filling is Trapunto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapunto_quilting

Before we complete, we may consider firming up the gravestones with either a starch product or studio fixative, to prevent the more prominent stones from creasing; however this process will be considered judiciously as we don’t want to take away from the quilted appearance/aesthetic of the work.

My background sections were the Grimsby/Vineland compositions and Niagara on the Lake.  Above I am beginning the Stirling headstone which was digitally added to the composition.  Many of the historic headstones cannot be read due to severe weathering of the soft limestone that was traditionally used before the 20th century.  Some families have replaced these historic stones with newer granite stones; however, we decided that these did not aesthetically work in our composition.

Our rationale in choosing what to photograph lay between people whose own or family name was important in the founding of particular areas of the Niagara Region and the “ordinary” person who did his or her part to found the nation. There were many stones that told stories.  We saw rows of family members, many of whom we presumed were young children when they were buried. These very small headstones frequently had no inscriptions at all.  In the Niagara Falls Fairview cemetery we noticed a naturally shaped stone used as a marker – likely one that was found rather than cut as most were.

 

 

The crow’s body I felt, had to be as accurate in biological structure as I could make it.  I began forming flight feathers and tried a 1/6 vertical section of a plastic straw to form the spine/quill of the feather.  Originally, I had thought this would need to remain, but when the dried “feather” was pulled up from the support it came away, leaving a distinct quill-like ridge down the centre.  I had used white glue to adhere the straw to the silk which left a glossy, raised spine – a fortuitous accident that worked!

At the same time Barbara and I were out in the Region of Niagara photographing various historic cemeteries to find graves that gave us a broad cross-section of people who had lived in Niagara from early settlement and through Confederation – 1867.  From the early United Empire Loyalists of the late 18th century who left the US to escape persecution and to remain loyal to the British crown – no doubt also to seek prosperity in a new land that offered opportunity on through the 19th century.  Later Loyalists were especially among the late Loyalists of the early part of the 1800’s.  We found British (English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh), European (German, Italian, Dutch, Slavic and others), African slaves who followed the “Underground Railroad” into Canada from the US and Chinese who came as labourers to build railways and other infrastructure.

Below are the completed compositions ready for printing. Background merging would be completed once the images were printed.  We used 100% cotton sheeting with no treatment before or after printing.  Our company was Custom Signs & Graphics http://www.niagaracustomsigns.com/ located in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  They were very accommodating, professional and prices within our budget.

As well, we determined that a great part of this vision must pay tribute to the First Nations.  Our early research took us to Centennial Park in Grimsby where 373 Neutral bodies had been uncovered in the 1970’s.  A mass grave, along with various artefacts, was formed in the park and a plaque erected by the Federal Government to acknowledge their burial grounds.  This photography would form a section beneath the left wing of the crow. Under the right wing we would place a tribute to the Anishnabeg and 5 Nations Iroquois whose bodies were uncovered during the excavations for the Fort Erie Peace Bridge in the late 20th century.  The Mewinzha (long time ago) Archeological Museum was erected to house artefacts; however there was no mention of the people in the museum.  We travelled to the nearby Fort Erie Native Centre where we were given information and were able to locate the burial site at Fort Erie.  The clan symbols that we photographed at the Museum were composed to form a “banner” beneath the burial mound.

This was not the only evidence of First Nations burials in Niagara.  As well we looked at the St. David’s site (outskirts of NOTL); however there was only a Cairn to acknowledge over 300 burials that had been uncovered in the early part of the 20th Century.  There was also undocumented evidence of burials in the now St. Marks church cemetery in NOTL.  Anecdotal stories tell of this site having originally been First Nations.  Elizabeth Kerr, niece of Joseph Brant (War of 1812 Mohawk ally to the British) was the first gravestone to have been erected in the cemetery.  It was in an older section where the ground was very uneven and mounded.  Our travels also took us to Fort Chippewa where there is a plaque to commemorate the Mohawk warriors who fought with the British in the War of 1812.  The re-enactment employee who helped us with research informed us that a plaque is to be unveiled at Queenston Heights in early October of 2016/this year acknowledging Chief John Norton’s Mohawk warriors who fought with Sir Isaac Brock and General Roger Hale Sheaffe after Brock’s his death.

As we worked on our research, I laid out the feathers of the crow, made more and began the centrepiece of the crow which was to represent the centre of the Region and the heart of the crow. These images document the quilting process and transformation from the printed composition to the completed insert.

As we have now begun the “hands on” section, I will add a new page to the blog to allow you to follow this stage of the project.

 

 

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]I have been sitting on a call for entry from the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre since early summer.  Their challenge to this exhibition titled “As the Crow Flies” focuses on interpretations of Canada in celebration of its 150th anniversary.  Artists are required to work collaboratively or in mixed media – but why not both!

My friend and artist colleague Barbara Westergaard asked if I would be interested in her participation as a photographer.  After some thought as to how I would incorporate a photographic element with my own mixed media, the idea evolved.

Although my first thoughts were to not interpret the “crow” literally, Barbara spotted a bird costume hanging in my studio and took to the idea of feathers being a part of the concept.  Much of my graduate research in the field of Canadian Studies and education involved First Nations.  If a crow were to be part of this piece, it would represent a guardian of the ancestors much as Emily Carr painted “Big Raven” as an icon standing guard over the West coast First Nations burial grounds.

As Barbara and I both live in the Niagara Peninsula, my thoughts were to keep this work relevant to our local area.  Niagara itself is steeped in early settlement history which encompasses Loyalist, British, European, US slaves and Chinese cultures.  Most importantly however; were the original Neutral and Chippewa nations, then Mohawks who fought with the British in the War of 1812.  The concept was evolving as a layered history encompassing the Region’s diversity represented through the original burial grounds and early cemeteries.

We have spent the last couple of weeks photographing, researching and thinking through this project.  Barbara is currently composing her gravestones in clusters representing the 4 corners of the region.

I am working on the centre section which will encompass Pelham, where I live and first nations burial sites which will lie beneath the outstretched wings of the crow as it makes its fight across the region between the two lakes.  What you see below is a larger sample to test the idea.  We had the images printed using a “Direct to Garment” technique.  I sought out a printing company – Custom Signs and Graphics in Niagara Falls – to assist; however, this method can also be achieved using your own inkjet printer with a product available from Fabricland.  I have also begun the construction of the crow itself, a bird measuring 24 inches from beak to tail with a wingspan of 36 inches.  The bird will be constructed as a kite would be, to enable lightness and flight.  I am excited to be working with a new order of black, green and blue silk from my US supplier, Paradise Fibers.

Stay posted as this work takes shape over the next 3 weeks.

 

 

Overnight my research has focused on wing/flight feathers.  I am learning about their construction and thinking about the materials I will use.

 

I came across this interesting symbolism that gives universality to the work.

The initial weeks of research were completed mid-September which has left us only two weeks to work on formatting the photographs, having them printed and working on the quilted sections.  All has been temporarily assembled and photographed for submission.  I will digress in the next posting to describe the process of this artwork.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]