A Winning Weaving Combo

A Winning Weaving Combo

By: Joan Beswick 

Enthusiasm and energy – the vibes were great in the side room at festival headquarters when Patty Chasse, consummate fibre artist and weaving instructor, introduced me to her star pupil, Jane Jorgensen. Patty is an accomplished weaver who makes fine silk and bamboo scarves and shawls, table linens, towels and other items for the home. She creates all her own designs and is a juried member of the New Brunswick Craft Council, a member of the Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers and the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners. She is also the representative for the Maritimes for both the Handweavers Guild of America and Complex Weavers.

Jane is a nurse who is looking forward to having more time for fibre arts in her upcoming retirement. She is a talented fibre artist who spins and knits and creates comfy and colourful fibre works.

According to Patty, Jane has ‘good hands’, a compliment indeed coming from her accomplished instructor. When I visited, Jane had completed the initial teacher-planned project, and moved on to more ambitious weaving on a four-harness teaching loom, an instrument similar to a loom she has at home. 

Jane attributed her success to Patty’s calm manner, expert knowledge, and the excellent instructional book she created for the class. This book described different types of looms, demonstrated threading and repairing, and offered ‘point by point’ instructions on the process of weaving. 

To this author - a total novice without ‘good hands’ - weaving has always seemed intimidating, both because of the complexity of the skill and the intricacy of the machinery. Jane’s experience suggests that Patty may just be the person to dispel that notion – a skilled weaver who loves her craft and takes great joy in sharing it with others. 

At the 2012 festival, Patti and Jane formed a winning weaving combo and we look forward to seeing them again at the 2013 festival. We also highly recommend a visit to Patty’s studio in Wood Point, N.B.  On Saturday, October 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m, she will be hosting a ‘Luxury Handwovens Studio Tour’. Those who went last year say it was also a winning weaving combo - the natural beauty of the  setting and Patty’s fabulous fibre artistry – a ‘must do’ for festival goers whatever their craft!

Fibre Artistry at The People's Place

Fibre Artistry at The People's Place

By Joan Beswick

The Antigonish Town and County Library houses diverse treasures, those typically associated with modern libraries - print and audio books, videos and DVD’s, magazines and newspapers, computers and classes – and of course, knowledgeable and helpful staff. However, while visiting today, I realized why it is also called ‘the people’s place’ – it is a community centre filled with the works of regional artists and artisans whose creations, both functional and decorative, enliven the space. A walking guide describing these works and their creators is available on-line at www.parl.ns.ca. 

Being a blogger for the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival, I was delighted to find that the library is also a very ‘fibre friendly’ place. 

There is functional fibre artistry –

Fenn Martin’s Sculpted Ceramic Tiles Fireplace Surround

Wooden Study Carrels by Keith Grant

Tables from locally sourced Birds Eye Maple by MacLean Bros. Woodworking.

And there is decorative fibre artistry such as the Heart Quilt exhibited by the Highland Quilt Guild.

A guild member, Dorinda McCully, told me the guild held a celebratory quilt show at the Coady International Institute in July, 2012. The heart is the symbol of their guild and it was their tenth anniversary, hence this very special quilt with creations from members whose names are printed on the chart below showing their individual contributions.

This quilt is a fine piece of decorative fibre art – its beauty is in the thoughtfulness and detail of the individual pieces as well as the enjoyment engendered in those who stop to gaze. 

Saul Bellow once described art as “an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction”. Today, the art at the Antigonish Town and County Library arrested my wandering attention. There were so many worthy creations, only a few of which are mentioned here. On this brief visit, I took particular pleasure in the fibre artistry of Fenn Martin, Keith Grant, and the Highland Quilt Guild. To see the work of those and other regional artists and artisans, stop by the Antigonish Town and County Library or visit on-line at www.parl.ns.ca.