GUILD
NEWSLETTER
Winter 2014
Volume
26 Number 1, January to March 2014
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Happy New
Year everyone – may you have the best of Good Health and lots of fun
basketry adventures this year.
Your
program committee of 2 – Anita Price and Joleen Gordon have focused
the year’s programming on “Pairing”. Pairing is a British
basketry word, meaning “a weave using two rods”. Another
basketry term, with the same meaning, is “Twining” which can be done
not only with 2, but also with 3 and 4 rods. "Pairing" is
also a word meaning joining two things together to create something
much better; often used for pairing wines with foods. We
could use the same meaning with basketry, joining unlikely materials
with different basket styles, and come up with some interesting
creations – let’s have fun with this idea! We will also be
pairing our basketry programs with existing festival programs in the
Province. Stay tuned!
If
any of you would like to add your ideas to this theme, speak up and
pair with us as we develop the program over the year.
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DUES
(calendar year)
$15
per individual
$20
per couple
Payable
to:
Nova
Scotia Basketry Guild
Mail to:
121
Crichton Avenue,
Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia,
B3A 3R6
Contact us if you are not sure if
your dues are paid for the current year
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FUTURE
WORKSHOPS
Suggestions
for workshops, and locations to hold the workshops
are always
appreciated.
If you, or someone you know, would like to teach a
workshop, or have an
idea for a workshop, or an
idea for workshop space, please e-mail us and let
us know. We
have people who can help make it happen!
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GORDON
Workshops
These gatherings are
open to Guild Members
only.
There
is no formal teaching just sharing, to complete workshop projects or to
start new ones.
Tuesday
Mornings
9:30am
to Noon
with a potluck lunch at noon.
Phone
Joleen for more information
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MONTHLY GUILD WORKSHOPS If you are not a current
member you will be
required to pay
the $15
annual dues plus the class fee.
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New Exhibition Tour at the Art
Gallery of Nova Scotia
January
19th (Sunday)
We open our
new season by joining the AGNS Sunday tour of this important new
exhibition. Pairing of “news”!
On January
10th, “Shifting Ground”, a new permanent exhibition opened in
the entire second floor of the Art Gallery of Nova
Scotia. “Charting the changing currents in contemporary
Aboriginal art across Canada as seen through the Art Gallery of Nova
Scotia Permanent Collection, this exhibition takes a circuitous route
that begins here, on the East Coast, and finds its way to the Arctic.”
The
Collection includes the basketwork of Mi’kmaw artists – Caroline Gould,
Margaret Johnson, Margaret Gould Pelletier and Ursula A. Johnson.
The AGNS
Gallery Shop carries the work of Guild Honourary Members Anne Mae
Darville, Greg McEwan and member Cheryl Simon.
Place: Art
Gallery of Nova Scotia, downtown Halifax near the ferry
terminal.
Time:
2:30pm tour begins. Let’s gather at the main desk about
2:15pm.
Cost: $5.00
payable to AGNS
Tour
Contact: Joleen
Gordon, or e-mail us
Please
register Immediately with Joleen so we can have some idea of the number in our
group.
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Mi'kmaw Porcupine Quill work with
Cheryl Simon
February
15th (Saturday)
 
Explore the
technique of reproducing Mi’kmaw petroglyphs on birchbark
with pairs (!) of porcupine quills inserted into the bark with Mi’kmaw
artist Cheryl Simon who calls her pioneering work, “painting with
quills”.
In this
workshop, you will learn the stories of the Mi’kmaw petroglyph
rock drawings and where they can be found in Nova Scotia.
After selecting one of the images, you will learn the technique of
quill insertion in birchbark. To make a medallion which can
be used for an ornament or a pendant, a second piece of bark is
stitched on for a backing with spruce root. To make a memento
for a special occasion, the single piece of bark is framed.
Cheryl has
taught for us before and her classes are incredible cultural
experiences. She weaves stories of her people through
information about seasonal gathering, storage and preparation of
materials and the intricate details of the craft of porcupine quilling.
There will
be two different levels of instruction – beginner and
intermediate. You may choose your design at class
time. Cheryl may have kits for sale – for future projects!
Cost:
$20.00 includes all materials
Participants: 10
Place: Conrad Room, Findlay Community Centre, Elliot
Street,
Dartmouth
Time: 12:30pm -
3:30pm
Tools:
tweezers, fine scissors
Class contact:
Anita Price, or e-mail us
Please
register before February 8th and send your
cheque made out to Nova Scotia Basketry Guild to 121 Crichton Avenue, Dartmouth NS B3A 3R6.
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AGM (noon to 1:00pm)
plus
The Pairing Technique (day long workshop)
March 15th (Saturday)
 
Annual General Meeting – open to all Guild members (free!).
Bring your ideas for your Guild and vote for your 2014
executive. Exercise your precious vote!
Pairing Technique Workshop
We shall explore the pairing/twining technique with natural rush to get
a feel for the pairing technique making a small boat-shaped
basket. Then we shall explore colour patterning with
telephone wire and, for extra fun - pipe cleaners, using the 2-rod
technique to create small baskets. For more adventures, we
shall explore the 3-rod and 4-rod patterns using wires with different
colours in different patterns.
Cost: $10.00 includes all materials
Participants: 20
Place: Conrad Room, Findlay Community Centre, Elliot Street,
Dartmouth
Time: 9:30am - 3:30pm with AGM noon -1:00pm over lunch
Tools: wire cutters, scissors for rush, rush threaders (if you have
them – Guild has some) and your lunch
Class contact: Gay Hansen, or e-mail us
Please register before March 8th and send your cheque made out to Nova
Scotia Basketry Guild to 121 Crichton Avenue, Dartmouth NS B3A 3R6.
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FUTURE GUILD EVENTS
Spring 2014 – Basket workshop with Mi’kmaw basket weaving artists Margaret Gould Pelletier and Della MacGuire.
July 19/20, 2014
– Making Lavender Wands at the Lavender Festival at the Seafoam
Lavender Farm in Seafoam, Nova Scotia on the beautiful Northumberland
Strait overlooking PEI.
Fall 2014 – Weave
your own Harvest Cornucopia or Horn-of-Plenty, some of us are weaving
them as centerpieces in the Devour Food Film Fest in November 12-16 in
Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
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NON-GUILD
EVENTS
& NOTICES
Basket
and Basketry Outlets
Anne
Mae Darville, Greg McEwan and Cheryl Simon have
baskets for
sale at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
shop.
Greg
McEwan's ash
baskets and Alan
Hayward's bark
baskets are for
sale at The Bogside and Carrefour in
Halifax.
Maritime
Hobbies
in Halifax is now carrying a variety of sizes of reed, stocking
reed basketry kits,
tools, pre-woven cane for chair seats
and books. If you are out of town, give them a call they are always
willing to find a way to deliver your order to you.
They will order reed, handles,
tools, dyes, etc. at your
request if they do not stock them.
1521 Grafton Street, 902-423-8870.
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Nova
Scotia Basketry
Contacts
(e-mail us)
New
Glasgow: Donna Manuel
Cape Breton: Diane
Langdon-Dann
Antigonish:
Sian Turner
Seaforth:
Hannah
Dunleavy
Lunenburg: Heather Sanft
Hubbards:
Peggy Jenkinson
South
Shore: Michael Wolter
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Other
Things to See and Do
February 9 – 1:00 - 4:00pm - Family Sunday at Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Inspired
by the exhibition Shifting Ground which highlights Aboriginal artworks
from the AGNS Permanent Collection, this Sunday will be sure to draw on
all your senses! Join our special guests, All Nations Drummers,
who will perform for and interact with you in the gallery. Studio
activities will focus on several themes presented in this exhibition
including our environment and storytelling through art. Place: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax waterfront near the Halifax ferry terminal <<---->>February 18 – Tuesday at 8:00pm – “Black Mother, Black Daughter”
film screeningSylvia
D. Hamilton, Claire Prieto, National Film Board of Canada, 1989, 29
minutes. This cinematic portrait explores the contributions of
African Nova Scotian women to the home, the Church and the community,
and is anchored by music by the classic vocal quartet “Four the Moment”. Place: Dalhousie Art Gallery, University Avenue, Halifax.<<---->>March 1 – 2:00 - 4:00pm “Baskets of Black Nova Scotians”Public
program open to all! Maple baskets were used for generations of Cole
Harbour farmers. Hear the baskets’ story as documented in the
Nova Scotia Museum first E-book. Meet family members who keep
this tradition alive – 201 years since their ancestors landed in
Halifax in 1813 – and watch as they weave their baskets. Bring
along your baskets from the Black community for identification and
arrange for repairs. Refreshments – with a maple theme! Place: Cole Harbour Library, Forest Hills Road outside Dartmouth.<<---->>March 18 – 7:30pm – Tuesday Evening Public Talk Join author (Joleen Gordon)
of the Nova Scotia Museum’s very first E-book, “Baskets of Black Nova
Scotians.” This book is a history of the basketmaking tradition
brought to Nova Scotia by the Black Refugees during the War of
1812. These escaping slaves were brought up from the Atlantic
American seaboard to freedom by the British Navy. The book
features examples of work and construction techniques as the tradition
is continued today by their descendants. If any of you have
baskets from the Black community, bring them along so we can share
their history. Place: Auditorium, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax waterfront.<<---->>April 3, 10, 17 and 24 noon hours – Folk Craft Workshops
with Joleen GordonThis is a NEW program with the HRM Library and the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. A
series of 4 separate hands-on sessions making ornaments from the folk
traditions found in Nova Scotia – Danish Paper Hearts, Moravian Paper
Stars, German Straw Snowflakes and Mi’kmaw Ash and Sweetgrass
Star. Some of these ornaments are used in seasonal celebrations
while others can be used year-round for decoration or for gifting. Place: Starr Room, Alderney Gate Library Cost: free – you do the weaving! Tools: bring a pair of small scissors Register with the Alderney Gate Library – see Spring brochure/website. <<---->>GUILD MEMBER REVIEW:“Heffler
shows the old ways still work” by Elissa Barnard. Chronicle
Herald, The Nova Scotian, Saturday January 11, 2014. Lots of neat
photographs! Internet version click here WEBSITE OF INTEREST:Looking for workshops teaching the old aboriginal ways? Look up www.lifewaysinstitute.org and plan your vacation or your future.
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