Freshly laundered and ready for her new home 🧡💜🩵 #stanleyquilt pattern by @penelopehandmade , with long-arm finishing by the amazing @caitlindicks.art !
A glorious taste of spring in Victoria, and an inspiring week building skills in exhibit fabrication at UVic. Warm thanks to Kate Kerr and her colleagues at the Royal BC Museum for sharing the tricks of the trade, it was just so much fun!
This little baby is part of the upcoming Small Works | Big Impact fundraiser on Feb 26th at the Rotary Arts Centre @cbrotaryarts ! It’s made with tiny off-cuts from another quilt I currently have in the works, and I thought heck that’s a pretty good concept for small works = big impact! It’s my first tiny quilt and I am obsessed.
This years event is back at the RAC and the theme is Art Prom 🪩 🕺💃 …. I’m also working on a special one-of-a-kind crown for the Prom Royalty! 👑
Community art spaces are vital and dear to my heart. You can support the Small Works | Big Impact fundraiser in big and small ways — contributing artwork, buying a ticket, contributing something to the silent auction, sharing posts about the fundraiser, or volunteering at the event! Reach out to Sam Osmond at [email protected] for details on any of the aforementioned ways to support.
See ya there! 🪩
*adding last night to the “career highlights” chapter.*
What an honour it was to speak about the life and impact of David Blackwood at a MUN event last night at the AGO. I am appreciative of the time it allowed me to think and reflect on Blackwood’s work more deeply, and think of the ways his work has shaped my own path and that of generations of artists who followed.
Thank you to all who helped me pull this talk together, especially Jerry Ropson, Brayden Pittman, Kent Jones and Beau Mouland. And Jordan for putting up with my pure stress for the past two months.
NELSON WHITE: MIMAJIMK (Living/Vivre) 💖
It’s been a wild few weeks of beautiful art magic, and I’m just catching up. On my first day on the job at Grenfell Art Gallery last year, Nelson and I started talking about this long awaited publication. Creating a publication was a bit outside my comfort zone, but it was an important commitment that Matthew Hills had started, and I had the privilege of seeing through. I’ve learned so much along the way and I am so proud of what we made together.
This gorgeous trilingual publication was designed by Mark Bennett and printed at Andora Graphics, with contributions by Lisa Moore, David Garneau, Shannon Webb-Campbell and a transcribed conversation between Jordan Bennett and Nelson White. Immense thanks to our wonderful translators Anne Marie Marchand and Rachel Martinez, and to Dean Simon for his assistance in connecting with Mi’kmaw speakers and consulting on the translation work. Thanks to Pan Wendt of Confederation Centre Art Gallery and the team at The Rooms for seeing this through with us. Team work makes the dream work!
NELSON WHITE: MIMAJIMK (Living/Vivre) captures the past several years of White’s practice, including the touring solo exhibition Tukien (Awaken), Wutanminu - Our Community, a solo exhibition at Fogo Island Arts, as well as a number of other recent paintings.
The limited edition artist publication is available at Grenfell Art Gallery and will be available at Confederation Centre of the Arts and The Rooms very soon!
Congratulations Nelson, I’m so proud to have worked on this special project with you!
This year has been less about art-making, and more about learning and growing into my new position at Grenfell Art Gallery. It’s been an incredibly rewarding time in my life, and while my artist-self has been quieter, I have found so much joy in sewing for the babies in my life. My mom gave me a beautiful sewing machine for Christmas and it has been a really meaningful creative practice for me this year.
I made this quilt for my baby nephew, Noah, born to my dear friend and sister-in-law Megan and my brother Ian (and golden retriever brother, Louis). I loved making it for him 🩵 The pattern is @briarhilldesigns Crystals and Gems quilt.
Why does art in healthcare settings matter? Because feelings matter. Spaces without art feel cold, institutional, and disconnected. Because art helps us connect, remember, and imagine in ways that can heal, in ways that make each moment feel a little (or a lot) less scary.
Working on the art strategy and placement for the new Mental Health and Addictions Facility was the honour of a lifetime because I know it will make a difference.
This is just a glimpse of over 125 original artworks in the facility.
