I feel like I should be posting

And really I probably should. I have been doing things. All sorts of things. I just haven't felt much like writing about them. A lot of them should have been photographed, but that really didn't happen either.
In sort of the right order.......
I have been to Liam's year end review. He was in Cadets this year and he really enjoyed it.

We planted the garden. Mostly the same stuff as always with the addition of brussel sprouts. Or brussel stench as Mira calls them. There is a lot of weeding to be done, but that is also nothing new.

I attended the Craft College graduation cerimonies. Where Rachel, Celine, Katie, and Jessica all marched up in their caps and gowns and were presented with  their Diplomas. Congradulations all! I am so proud of you!

I did a stint as an artist in residence. It was in a different location than last year and I didn't like it nearly as much. Thankfully the renovations that caused the move are going to be complete and we will be back in the regular spot next year.

I heard Nicole's choir sing at the retirement party for her school principal. They all performed really well and we were able to duck out before the speeches began. Sorry for the blurry photo but with other peoples kids I think blurry is better.

I taught a silk scarf dyeing workshop for my weaving group. We all had a great time but I didn't take any pictures. (slaps own hand)

UPDATE: I had forgotten that I had dyed a scarf myself at the workshop! I found it in it's hiding place and rinsed it out and here it is! Still wet. It was a quick pattern (simple knots) with different greens on each segment. I am rather pleased at how it turned out.

Before I finished work for the summer, I took advantage of the nice warping mill at the school and made up about 6 warps. With some of the dye left over from the workshop, I dyed some of them and some will wait until later. The dyes that we used are fibre reactive dyes that only last a very short time once they are mixed up.

And I also dyed some some soya silk sliver. It looks and feels like silk so we will see how it spins up.

 One of the reasons that I have been neglegent about posting is that I have been suffering from sinus problems for more than a year. I have some good days and some bad days. On the bad days, I feel like my brain is full of fluff and I have sinus pressure. On the good days, I feel almost normal. I have tried two different courses of antibiotics, and various types of nose sprays as well as allergy medications and x-rays to see if there were any strange growths in there. Nope. I am now waiting to see an EMT.  Here's hoping that I get the call soon.


I am weaving a series of 4 silk noil scarves right now. I am finding it hard to find the time to do much weaving because there is always so many other things that are clammoring to be done first. I am not selling anything anywhere this summer so my first big show is Labour Day weekend, and then nothing until November and December, so I guess that the weaving isn't really yelling all that loudly at this point.

Congraduations

Yes, I know how I spelled that. And it's what I meant to say. Yesterday was the Graduation Ceremony for the College. There were 27 graduates (and I will admit that that is a smaller than usual number). Two were from the Fiber Arts department. So I would like to say congratulations to Bronwyn and Paula (or Pippi as we call her)!

Pippi is off to BC to study Environmental Studies at UVic. And Bronwyn shall be back next year to take advanced studies.

And I had been feeling unwell and forgot my camera. The ceremony was very nice and I wished that I had brought some kleenex. An address to the graduates was given by a teacher who had been in a very bad car accident in their first year. He had given them an assignment to do a Jackson Pollock type painting and wasn't able to collect it the next week. Two months later, on his first trip out of the hospital, the staff and students arranged an exhibition of the paintings. He was very touched by show of support and had a hard time keeping his emotions under control. So did the rest of us.

The other portion of the ceremony that had people crying was a slide show tribute to a student that had died in a car accident out west last fall. Jenna Sullivan was a beautiful young woman and she died far too soon. I can't imagine that there was a dry eye in the house.

But it wasn't all sad. The valedictorian address was funny in that the two young men who gave it played well off of each other and fully admitted that they had gotten together the night before to hammer out their speech. There were a few times when it showed. It was a joy to see such great young people launching themselves into the world. I know that they can do great things.

Congratulations

Yesterday was the Craft College graduation. It is a rather small school and there were 42 graduates. Three of them were from the Fiber Arts studio.

loranda

Loranda has always been driven by colour. Everything from her clothes to the work that she does has always been bright. She was a joy to have in the studio and I'm glad that she has decided to come back next year to do a year of advanced studies.

stacy

Stacy had her first gallery show this year. She works mainly with metal wire and broken glass. It was always wonderful when Stacy walked in the class and called out "JACKIE!" in her distinctive voice. I'm going to miss her next year.

erin and ashley

Erin is a wonderful painter as well as weaver. She made a tapestry of a watercolour that she painted and I was so impressed! It was great seeing her bright smile and watching her dedication to her work.

Ashley was not a graduate this year, but had graduated from fashion design last year and came back to do a year in weaving so that she could weave the cloth that she makes into clothing.
I can't tell you the number of pictures that I tried to take of these girls during the ceremony. They all turned out dark and Erin was so hard to get a picture of. I have a great many of her back as she turned away after accepting her diploma and her awards. So when I saw her in the lobby, I cornered her and took this picture of her and Ashley.

I'm so proud of these women. It's hard to believe that I have only been there for one of their three years. I know that they are all going to do great things. They just have to keep working!