Studio News from Ann Schroeder

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The first of an occasional newsletter

 

Happy Spring!

In some parts of the world there are flowers blooming. Not here! The Cape Breton Highlands are still buried in snow, and here in Mabou Harbour there are patches of snow and ice chunks near the beach.

The photo above was taken Friday at noon from my studio. Each day is different here, and right now I'm enjoying the beautiful subtle colours of March. Will we get an April Fools' Day blizzard?

Read on about fabric dyeing workshops, the Mabou Farmers Market, my recent studio work, a simple do-it-yourself project, my video and ventures into social media, and news from Mabou and Cape Breton.

 

New 5-Day Fabric Dyeing by the Sea Workshops

I'm excited to offer two 5-day workshops in July. This will be a great chance to really dig in and learn about mixing colours, experiment with creating patterns, print on fabric with thickened dyes, and develop some of your own special techniques and colour combinations. The workshops will be held on July 11-15 or July 18-22. No experience of special art abilities are necessary, just the desire to have fun and try something new. This workshop will also be good for anyone who has taken a short workshop from me already or anyone who has some other dyeing experience. You can see photos from recent workshops here and here. IMPORTANT: the registration deadline is May 1, so please let me know soon if you are interested.

1-Day Fabric Dyeing by the Sea Workshops

This summer the 1-day workshops will be held on most Tuesdays beginning July 5. Students have called this "an oasis of creative fun" and "a day full of surprises." You will leave with about three yards of cotton fabric pieces and a silk scarf that you have dyed yourself. People have already begun to sign up for some of these, so it's not too early to check your schedule and decide on a date. If you are a group of four to six people, I will be happy to schedule a special workshop for you for whatever number of days is best for you.

Mabou Farmers Market

The Mabou Farmers Market will open for the season on Sunday, June 5 with old favourite vendors and some intriguing new ones, including Scotch Lake Organics who sell bee supplies. Hillshore Farm will serve real espresso coffee and homemade biscotti. Glenryan Farms will be there with their wonderful free range chicken and a wider selection of organic vegetables. Suzanne Craig will return with flowers, artwork, and my favourite rhubarb tarts. New wares at my table will be bookmarks made using oil sticks and dye on paper, more fabric packs for quiltmakers, and a line of T-shirts for young children and adults using dye as monotype prints.

My Recent Studio Work

I'm completing another quilt in my Music series, this one in a palette of greens, blacks, violets, and yellows—so far untitled. I've been messing around with oil sticks on fabric and paper and playing with different ways to print with thickened dye; one of my favourites so far uses the ends of corrugated cardboard as a printing tool. On winter days when it's just too cold and windy to walk or ski I've been riding the exercise bike while reading all my books on surface design. This gives me new ideas for my own work and the workshops. My next project will be to do a series of small abstract landscape quilts. Here's one I made a few years ago called Mabou Harbour I (no longer for sale):

 

A Simple Do-It-Yourself Project

Take a sheet of white tissue paper, fold it in half once or twice, and then accordion-fold it into a long rectangle or squares or triangles or any other shape. Dip the edges into food colouring, full strength or diluted with water. You can use regular food colouring from the supermarket or find more colours at a craft or baking supplies store. Here's the hard part: you have to wait until your soggy piece of tissue paper is completely dry before opening it up to see the beautiful piece of wrapping paper you have created.

My Video and Ventures into Social Media

Last winter the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design in Sydney got funding to have professional videos shot of some of their artist members, and I was one of the lucky ones. These videos are now finally posted on YouTube and I put mine on the home page of my website. The videographer asked me good questions, so you can watch me say a little about how and why I make my quilts. This summer I'll try to do some videos of the dyeing workshops.

I recently started a series of little artist profiles on my blog. The first one features the amazing rug hooker Deanne Fitzpatrick and upcoming ones will feature painters Mark Brennan and Virginia McCoy and others.

Yikes! I just ventured into the (for me) scary terrain of Facebook and Twitter. I set up my Ann Schroeder Studio Facebook page and have done some posts. Please take a look and I hope you "LIKE" it! I'm not ready to activate my personal Facebook page because I don't want to spend any more time on the computer, so please don't be offended if I ignore any "friend" requests for now. I also started a Twitter account under the alias of FineArtQuilts since there were already too many Ann Schroeders and I've done a few tweets. If anyone has advice on how to handle all of this and still have time for the rest of life, please send your suggestions!

News Flashes from Mabou and Cape Breton

***Both the Red Shoe Pub and Cabot Links (the new golf course in Inverness) have large help-wanted ads in this week's Oran. I'm intrigued that the Red Shoe is looking for foragers to source local wild mushrooms, etc. Will we be seeing chanterelles and watercress and wild blackberries on their menu this summer?
***Cabot Links will have 10 holes open this season, all 18 will officially open next spring, and we are waiting to see how this will transform Inverness.
***This week there was an article in the Halifax newspaper about the wonderful ceilidh (concert) a few summers ago at the Mabou Hall featuring Buddy MacMaster on fiddle. Read The night the lights went out in Mabou.
***Mabou has received funding for the Mabou Façade and Streetscapes Program where businesses can upgrade their exteriors.
***There has been much concern about potential oil and gas drilling near Lake Ainslie. A move to ban hydraulic fracturing in Nova Scotia is gaining support; Quebec just passed a similar temporary ban. See the Facebook page Protect Lake Ainslie.
***Strathspey Place in Mabou has lots of shows coming up including Canadian comedian Gerry Dee on April 21, Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan on April 30, and hometown singer-songwriter Jimmy Rankin on June 4.

Until Next Time

I hope you enjoyed reading my first newsletter. Please forward it to any friends who might find it interesting. And don't forget, if you're interested in the five days of fabric dyeing in July, let me know as soon as possible and at least by May 1.

Have a wonderful spring!

Ann

ann@annschroederstudio.com
www.annschroederstudio.com
902-945-2744