Passionate About Pastimes
Home of Shirlee Hogan and Pastimes PEI Rug Hooking and Wool Shop
I had it in my mind that our trip across Canada would not be complete without interviewing a traditional Maritime crafter. Having never been to the east before, I wasn’t exactly sure what we were looking for in that regard but when we stopped in at the Nova Scotia Tourist Information building we found rug hooking. I didn’t know what was traditional about it at the time but I was looking forward to finding out.
This is a story about three sisters, Shirlee Hogan, Heather Tweedy and Bette Young of Pastimes PEI Rug Hooking and Wool Shop. The story starts off with Shirlee looking for a pastime to pass the time. She discovered rug hooking about 25 years ago and it seemed like a good fit. Soon after, her sisters Heather and Bette thought it would be fun to give it a try and so they joined in as well. As time went on a business emerged for the three sisters and they have been at it ever since.
Shirlee Hogan
Heather Tweedy
We met with Heather and Shirlee at Shirlee’s country home. She lives in an adorable house that looks like she bought it from Hansel and Gretel. This is also the home of the sisters’ rug hooking and wool shop business. Shirlee and Heather were awaiting our arrival at their shop and I was excited to see what we would learn that day. I had no idea what we were in for. We couldn’t have found two better ladies to interview. Not only were they a wealth of knowledge, they also shared wonderful stories about each rug they introduced us to. The better part of an hour was spent talking to us about how they got started, the history of rug hooking in PEI and to top it off they gave us the Coles Notes version of how to make a rug. We even got a hands on lesson!
When I first looked at traditional Maritime rug hooking my first thought was, “it looks kind of simple”. It didn’t look overly creative to me or what I perceived to be creative. I would come to find out later that this is part of the tradition; the rugs were born out of a need for functionality rather that a need for creativity. There are two styles, the Cavendish or geometric which made good use of small scraps of fabric that would otherwise be discarded, and the pictorial, which depicted images of people’s farms, their houses, nature and pretty much anything that was important in their lives. These weren’t just rugs that guests would wipe their feet on, there were stories captured in those rugs like photos in an album.
Click on the images in the gallery below to see a larger image.
Rugs were made by women who dauntingly cut each strip of fabric from old, worn out clothing. The colours were limited to what they had back in their day. They were primarily dark, representative of work clothing. The Pastime ladies have expanded on the colour palette a bit but they remain steadfast in the simplicity of the patterns which still represent the important things in people’s lives today. They do, however, have a great little machine that cuts the fabric strips for them; several at a time of course. And, if you aren’t into investing any time in preparation the ladies have assembled kits so you can get down to rug hooking business right a way. I was astounded to hear that Heather hand draws every single pattern, and not just the original to be mass printed on a machine; every single one! Whether you are a seasoned hooker or a first timer, they want everyone to have the best experience possible and so they pretest all their patterns. The sisters complete each pattern before it is packaged into a kit or sold on it’s own. Talk about a labour of love!
Gary and I had fun spending time with Shirlee and Heather and we left there feeling hopeful that some traditions of the past are alive and well. Of course the ‘simple’ theme emerged once again with the lives of those that came before us, teaching valuable lessons in friendship, recycling (although that wasn’t even a word back then) and cherishing the precious moments in our lives.
Join us with Shirlee Hogan and Heather Tweedy in their interview and watch as they share with us the story behind the Cavendish rug and a lesson on how to rug hook. Please feel free to leave your comments as well.
Jennifer Galliott Weaves a Way of Life in Newfoundland
I can’t paint every younger person with the same brush (although I would like to) but it gives me great comfort in knowing the future is in the hands of some of the younger people Gary and I have met along our journey. When we were in Newfoundland and Labrador it was recommended by two people that we go drop in on Jennifer Galliott. Jennifer is a tapestry artist, and she is also a potter and painter and gallery owner. She lives in Woody Point, right in the heart of Gros Morne National Park. At one time her grandfather owned a boat store for his fishing equipment which sat across the street from the water. Due to an unfortunate fire incident the boat stores across from his burnt to the ground. Eventually Jennifer’s grandfather was able to move his store across the street and it has sat on the waterfront ever since. This was significant not only for the convenience of accessing his boat and fishing equipment but also because nowadays it is the home of Galliott Studios and it’s quaint little cafe. Jennifer renovated the building that I imagine once smelled of ocean life, and turned it into a place where local art is on display for sale, including her own. It is also a place to meet, hang out and enjoy the breathtaking view from the deck that sits right on the water.
Inside Galliott Studios
Oceanside Deck
Jennifer struck me as a determined and ambitious young entrepreneurial artist. She graduated from art school in 2008 and she could have chose to go anywhere in the world to eke out a living for herself but she chose to come back to the small village of Woody Point, Newfoundland. Since then she has established a name for herself in the community and her studio and cafe has a reputation as the place to go and connect and seek out wonderful local art. She regularly brings in local Newfoundland and Labrador musicians for Sunday evening get togethers and has invited author readings in conjunction with the writers festival that comes to town once a year at the end of August.
We had a chance to spend some time with Jennifer and get to know her a bit. We all mutually agreed an interview was a great idea for the next day. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it happen but Jennifer agreed to an e-mail interview along with some pictures of her work. Check out what she has to say about herself and her art.
AQ: How long have you been creating your tapestry? Jennifer: I’ve been weaving tapestries for 5 years now AQ: painting? Jennifer: on and off for years AQ: pottery? Jennifer: two years
AQ: Why did you choose these three mediums? Jennifer: I stumbled onto pottery when I found a kiln for sale for cheap online. After that my aunt gave me her kick wheel, and it kind of grew from there.
AQ: You took part of your art education in Alberta. Was it easy for you to decide to come back to Woody Point, Newfoundland and work as an artist? Jennifer: Yes. While I was away I made art largely about Newfoundland. The town of Woody Point is such a wonderful place people wise, as well as the natural beauty. Not only are both sides of my family from here, the town is also located right in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Gros Morne National park, I don’t think it gets much better then this.
Jennifer Galliott
AQ: What challenges have you faced as far as establishing yourself in a small community like Woody Point? Jennifer:The town is very seasonal, also there isn’t a lot of money in small towns to be spent on a lot of art.
AQ: Are there some things you find easier being an artist here than in a bigger center? Jennifer: I’m surrounded by constant inspiration.
AQ: Please explain the process you go through when designing and crafting your tapestry? Jennifer: Before I weave a tapestry I first need to draw what is known as a cartoon. A cartoon is kind of like a blue print of what I will weave. It is a picture that is true to size and sits behind my loom as a guide to what I am weaving. Once this is done and sometimes coloured in, I then have to tie vertical strings known as warps, and make sure the tension is even throughout. Then the weaving starts.
AQ: What and/or who influences your designs? Jennifer: Mainly travel, being homesick, or home.
Tapestry in Progress
AQ: What advice would you give someone either thinking about pursuing an art career or someone who is fresh out of art school? Jennifer: Don’t give up. If there’s no work you just need to make some for yourself. Also learn how to apply for things and either enter yourself into nominations, or get a friend to do it for you. Also always ask for help you never know the huge amount of talent that could be around you.
AQ: What is the most gratifying aspect of being an artist in the mediums you have chosen? Jennifer: Being able to make an idea reality. I always try to push my limits and luckly don’t see the enormity of something until I’m in the thick of it. That being said I’m also very stubborn and no matter how long it takes I manage to finish what I’ve started. There’s nothing better then being able to look at something and think wow! I made that.
Laurie Swim – On the Cutting Edge of Quilted Art
One would think that the best time to travel across Canada is when the sun is high in the northern hemisphere and winter is well behind and in front of you. A challenge we never anticipated was finding artists who had idle time on their hands. Summertime brings with it tourists and tourists bring cash. We arrived in Nova Scotia during the peak of tourist season and hadn’t been able to nail an artist to the wall until we were two thirds the way around the province!
Thankfully, Laurie Swim, a textile artist, in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia answered our e-mail. Now, this is not to say that Laurie wasn’t busy. When we arrived she was getting ready to travel the next day to a show along with a million other things she had on her list. Perhaps it was the ocean breeze or the glorious crystal clear day, and it may have been the case, but I never felt like we were just another item on her list to complete and check off.
Regaining Paradise
Laurie Swim
2012
When we walked into The Art Quilt Gallery of the Atlantic it was a jaw dropping experience for me. As with most people who think of quilts, I too thought of lovely symmetrical patterns and geometric shapes beautifully sewn together in straight and even stitches, handcrafted to wrap around yourself or your bed. I’ve even made one myself. Laurie uses fabric and quilted material but the similarities end there. She “paints” her quilted art. The fabric acts as the canvas and the paint, and the thread and the sewing machine act as the brush. You would be hard pressed to find any straight and even stitches in her work, and that is part of the magic of it all!
As with most artists, Laurie spends a great deal of time with her camera, shooting photos and collecting ideas to patch together a story of her own experiences, the culture of the people, and the landscape in Nova Scotia. Prior to their life together in Lunenberg, Laurie and her husband Larry lived in a small community just down the road, called Blue Rocks. Gary and I wanted to get a feel and appreciation for the place that had a major influence on Laurie’s work, so we traveled to the end of the road and there it was, Laurie’s quilted art just as we had saw it hanging in her gallery. I could see right away how inspiring this place can be; the smell of the salty air, the tiny boats bobbing in the bay, and only the sound of sea birds and waves nudging the blue rocks along the shore. It was peaceful beyond my imagination and hard not to fall in love with this place on a day such as this.
Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia
Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia
Laurie has been a textile artist going on forty years and has poured her love into her work over this time. She has contributed her experience and expertise to community projects as well. She recalled while we were there the York Mill Subway Station Project in Toronto, Ontario, which consisted of about twenty-five volunteer quilters working together on Laurie’s design and under her tutelage creating a twenty foot long quilt titled “Breaking Ground” which hangs in the subway station as a memorial for the five Italian men who lost their lives in the Hogg’s Hollow Mine Disaster. The tragedy that occurred 50 years ago changed the labour laws in Ontario. Laurie finds great satisfaction in creating art that people will cherish for years to come, but it is projects such as these that hold a deep sense of fulfillment for her. She is able to contribute a powerful message and reminder in an art form that has held her passion for a long time.
Click on the thumbnails below for a large image aspect.
Laurie is also the author of three books on quilt art; The Joy of Quilting (1984), Quilting (1991) and Rags to Riches: The Quilt as Art (2007). Rags to Riches can be ordered through Laurie’s website or online through Amazon.ca. It will be out in October 2012 in paperback.
Learn more about Laurie Swim and her textile art in her interview below. We always welcome comments.
Purls Are This Girls Best Friend
Typically when I think of knitting my mind conjures up an image of a sweet grandmother knitting a baby sweater for their newest grandchild. Of course there is nothing wrong with thinking this way, but then Gary and I met Mylene Lacroix (pronounced mee-len), gracious CouchSurfing host and knitter aficionado, who catapults all knitting sterotypes right out the window. She is a 35 year old single mom of 17 year old Jacob and is a police dispatcher by day or night (depending on her shift) and a knitter any other chance she gets.
Mylene has been knitting for 31 years. When she was 4 years old she took an interest in her mom’s knitting, and so her mom let Mylene give it a try. As the saying goes, she took to it like a fish takes to water and like a fish to water Mylene can’t live with out it. The name of her blog says it all, MiMi Must Knit. When she was 6 years old she started knitting her own Barbie Doll clothes and in grade 6 she knit her first sweater. Except for the “it’s not cool to knit when you are a teenager phase”, she’s been knitting ever since.
During one of our many conversations Mylene shared with us that knitting can be accomplished just about anywhere and it is an excellent use of idle time. She has knit at the doctor’s office, while sitting in traffic, at the movie theatre before the movie, or during depending on the movie, and visiting, as was the case while we were there. When Mylene packs her lunch for the day she always packs a knitting project to take along as there is always an opportunity to add a few extra stitches here and there. She has crafted countless wool toques, socks and mittens including the now famous “Bella mittens” from the series Twilight. She has outfitted herself in an extensive wardrobe of sweaters of all styles but she says socks are her favorite item to knit. Her other passion is travel and so when most people bring home souvenir trinkets from their journey, Mylene brings home souvenir wool and knits herself some fabulous socks. I think this is the coolest idea! The wool for her socks have come from all around the globe including a zingy coloured pair from Japan.
Mylene’s craftsmanship is of the highest quality. She uses the best raw material she can find and creates gorgeous apparel including some other functional items like a purse or a felted wool cover for a French Press. Her work is exquisite. I fell in love with the knitted lace shawls, the intricate patterned socks and the double thickness, brightly coloured wool mittens.
It is so nice to see someone so young helping to bring knitting back to life as it encourages other young people including children to take an interest in a skilled craft that could easily disappear one day. At first I thought Mylene was an old soul (and she probably is) when it comes to her intense passion for knitting, but she relayed to us that she is not alone. She pointed out a website called Ravelry that has over 1 million knit hungry members. This site is a bonanza for all things knit related. You name it and you can find it here, and if not then there are about 1 million people you could ask.
Sadly, Mylene typically only does projects she can give away to family or friends or if people ask her to knit something specific, like her hardest project to date, a christening gown. I think, like many fine artists and fine crafts people, Mylene knits for the love of it. As we have discovered talking to artists along our journey, it can be challenging to sell their work sometimes because the potential buyers don’t understand the extent of the labour and materials cost. Her socks are out of this world but trying to sell them at $30 per pair is ludicrous to many people. What they don’t know is that this works out to be about $2/hour in labour for Mylene. My way of thinking is that if we go back to the day when quality and longevity were king, buying socks at $30/pair and having them last for years is a great investment. Think of how much money we could all save over the long run. Although Mylene doesn’t create to sell, I’m sure she would love to talk about and teach knitting until the sheep come home for shearing.
Textile Artist Dorothy Clark
Gary and I arranged to meet Dorothy Clark at her home in Shutty Bench, B.C. After maneuvering Arty around the sharply meandering hills and flats, we arrived and were greeted by Dorothy’s two golden retrievers who promptly showed us the back door. If they weren’t so friendly and weren’t dogs, I would have thought the welcome mat wasn’t rolled out for us. This of course was not the case at all. When we finally found the front door (didn’t take that long), we were invited in by the textile artist herself. She is a charming lady of Scottish decent with a warm smile and a peaceful demeanor. Both her and her husband are from a sub community of our old back yard, Bragg Creek, Alberta. Like many couples of retirement age (this could be any age, really, as Gary and I feel retired), they desired to move to a more hospitable climate and retreat from the foot print of a big city, in this case, Calgary, Alberta.
Dorothy Clark in her studio
Dorothy has a wonderful space in her home in which to work on her quilts and what she calls her critters. The critters are on display and for sale at The Live Art Shop in Kaslo, B.C. When we talked to one of the co-founders of The Live Art Shop, Eliza Fry, she told us that even though the little critters are mostly intended for children, it seems they are popular with adults. I understood what she meant as soon as I picked one up. They feel wonderful and reminded me of my coveted blanket when I was a child. Likely, they resonate with other “big kids” in the same way.
Little Critters
Dorothy’s quilts represent years of “craftswomanship” and it is obvious that she loves what she does. They are colourful and her designs are nature inspired. I have spent time in the past trying my own hand at quilting and I can tell you there’s a lot of work involved. So the next time you are thinking of purchasing a quilt for your bed or as a wall hanging consider investing in one that is handmade. It will likely be something you will want to wrap yourself or your walls in for years to come.
Woodland wall hanging