NS Fibre Arts Festival

 

A Versatile Fibre Artist

and Her 'Grand Grad Trip'

 

By: Joan Beswick

 

Fibre artists come in many varieties, or as they say in the old Newfoundland song, in ‘all sizes and figures’, and many of them are as versatile in what they produce as they are variable in their personnas. And Carol Oram is one such versatile fibre artist.

 

Knitting is Carol’s passion these days. She offered a beginning knitting course at the 2012 festival, and will offer it again at the 2013 festival.

However, knitting is only one of the fibre arts Carol does so well. Over the years, she has made  wonderful rope wreaths

beautiful baskets,

fabulous felted bags,

unique hooked mats and decorative pieces,  

   

and all manner of one-of-a-kind clothing from recycled materials. She has also designed and created quilts for her family, the most recent being a beach-themed quilt for her four-year old grandchild, Libby.

 

Although Carol’s fibre artistry is amazing, it doesn’t define her – she also involves herself in many community activities, dotes on her three children and four grandchildren, and continues to pursue formal education. In May of this year, Carol will graduate from Mount Allison University with a B.Sc. in Psychology, an accomplishment that will complement her previous degrees in arts and education, and serve as testimony to her commitment to life long learning. And to celebrate, Carol plans to do a ‘grad trip’, except in this case, it will be a ‘grand grad trip’ because she’ll be travelling to Cuba with her two granddaughters – 20 year old Mackenzie who is graduating from the pastry chef course at George Brown College in Toronto, and 17 year old Katarina, who is graduating from Three Oaks High School in Summerside, P.E.I.

What better way to celebrate these milestones than to make memories together, and since it is February , to do so amidst sun, sand, and soft breezes! Our congratulations to Carol and her granddaughters – may you travel well, enjoy fully, return safely – and find new inspiration for continued creativity and life long learning!