anna torma, from new brunswick (but internationally known) is in woody point now for the 2nd gros morne craft residency. tonight she is giving an artist talk at the merchant warehouse in woody point and this weekend she will be offering a 2 day workshop (saturday and sunday 10-4) at the merchant warehouse:
"Anna uses silk fabrics and threads to create both flat and relief pieces. She will introduce her workshop with a presentation about her practice as a fibre artist and demonstrate with pictures and fabrics how a project usually develops from inspiration to design, execution and final selection.
Using a basic vocabulary of hand stitching, the group will sew together different pieces of fabrics and found objects, playing with colours, texture and patterns, learning different ways and techniques to create an even susrface from fragments. Equally important in this workshop are the aesthetics of the final piece and meditative quality of the hand-working process. Previous experience with hand sewing and embroidery is an asset, but not necessary" (taken from the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council web site)
The workshop (for 2 days) is only $50.00 and lunch and many materials are included. There are still a few openings.

 anna's work is amazing. i'll be heading up early tomorrow morning to take the workshop and am super excited to have this opportunity... call molly at 1 709 453-2538 to sign up.

since i've been back home, daily life has taken over. the day after i returned, keith's mum had a fall and hit her head and was kept in hospital for a week for observation. she's fine now, but we spent days and evenings with her to make her stay more comfortable. and the washing machine broke down and had to be replaced. so that meant lugging laundry to a friend's house before we got a new one installed
. and a big yarn order was waiting for me when i got home, so all my creative energy is going into dyeing and spinning again.

the greatest gift an artist residency gives you is time to work. when everything else is pushed to the background. when you get up each morning and all you have to do is make. and when you have unlimited, uninterrupted time, you notice more. during the first week of my residency, along the trail, behind the house, the golden larch needles looked like crazy stitching. this was the inspiration for "larch in autumn". yesterday i sent it, along with 2 other paintings to the emma butler gallery in st. john's.

I've been back in corner brook a few days now and beginning to settle back in. I've just returned from spending a month at the gros morne craft residency in  woody point in the beautiful gros morne national park here on the west coast of newfoundland. I had hoped to keep this blog going during my stay but couldn't figure out how to get my photos onto my ipad, So all my entries were on facebook.
What inspired me most, what I carried back with me, were the skies. day and night.

Where the artist's house is located, I had a 360 degree panorama. I would stand on the front deck and spin. My new paintings are all about the sky.