Peace and Joy

Vintage glass pine cone ornaments. Valerie Knapp©

Loop and Whirl

Soothing natural linen goods at Holiday Pop Up, Craft Ontario Gallery 990 Queen Street West, Toronto.

iPad and Eyeglass Sleeves and Zip Pouch in 'Loop', Zip Bag in 'Whirl'.  Linen, relief print, lined. Valerie Knapp© 2014

Popping up around Toronto…

This weekend catch Viv and I at her studio on Christie just south of Dupont. Lots of people stopped by today and we're there again tomorrow …

My accessories and home goods are flying off the shelves and alongside I'm showing some new small embroideries.

Also, just opened, the Holiday Pop Up Shop at the Craft Ontario Gallery (formerly the OCC) at 990 Queen St West. It's awesome to be included again this year amongst an amazing range of work by 48 makers. Check it out.

Next weekend I'm showing in Hamilton at Elizabete Ludviks Annual Studio Sale, with Andrea Piller, Lauris Milbrets and Erna de Vries.

New Linens!

I'm creating new shapes and sizes in my bag and sleeve collections in time for the holiday show season. See my new Zip Pouch and Oblong Zip Bag below. Also, in addition to my Eyeglass Sleeve I'm introducing a padded iPad Sleeve, with pics to follow soon.

I've been popping new colours and prints into the collection too…

Change purse, keys, tokens?  Zip Pouch please. 100% linen, hand printed, with cotton lining. Valerie Knapp©

Stow pencils or stuff in an Oblong Zip Bag. 100% linen, hand printed, with cotton lining. Valerie Knapp©

More pics on my FB page, link on my sidebar.…

Zip Pouch and Oblong Zip Bags. Valerie Knapp©

Till Death Do Us Part

I have a new work titled Till Death Do Us Part, 2014, in a group exhibition, Stitches across Time, opening this Friday at the Dufferin County Museum & Archives, north of Toronto on Airport Road (intersection of Highway 89) near Mulmur, Ontario.

The public opening is Friday Sept 12th at 7pm and the show continues until November 9, 2014.  Note: during regular hours the museum admission is $5. for adults. Call 1.877.941.7787 for info or check the museum website link above.

Till Death Do Us Part, 2014. Valerie Knapp©  Closed view, in vintage
jewellery box, vintage mother-of-pearl button.

The piece is in response to a beautiful Victorian era white on white wedding dress, that will also be on view.

Till Death Do Us Part, 2014. Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, DMC thread,
tucking, on antique hanky linen and lace, vintage mother-of-pearl button,
vintage box.  Dimensions: 7.5cm W  x 9cm H x 9cm D

Exquisite, rarely seen historical textile pieces from the museum will be shown alongside the contemporary works inspired by them. 

Till Death Do Us Part, (detail) 2014. Valerie Knapp©  

I stitched pin tucks in antique hanky linen, and found a similar lace to edge it, to replicate the wedding dress fabric. 

Till Death Do Us Part, 2014. Valerie Knapp©  On plinth.

The newest addition to my Boxed Embroidery Series

One and Only

This work is a small tribute to my father who chose this town after the war, to start a new life and family. Unfortunate that it disappeared from an exhibition this past winter. Where or where is this piece?

In summer, memories are sweet, of swimming, boating, and fishing with my dad, and of all the special  places where we hiked and played. This aerial view is of my hometown, Gravenhurst, taken about 1960. The factory has been replaced with a grocery superstore and the railway station is now a Rails Museum and Café. Much has changed. 

Family and friends and Muskoka Lake draw me back. 

One and Only, Pressing Matters #14. 2014. Valerie Knapp©  Hand embroidery, DMC, relief print, cotton, paper, vintage postcard, on Japanese Hagaki.

Heartthrob

Pressing Matters, (cont.) a series of 14 postcard works…

Heartthrob, Pressing Matters #8. 2014.  Valerie Knapp©  Vintage picture clipping, pressed freesia,
paper, on Japanese hagaki.

heartthrob |ˈhärtˌθräb|noun informal

         1. a rapid beat or pulsation of the heart.

2. a passionate or sentimental emotion.

3. a person who inspires such emotion; sweetheart.

[1840–50]

How To

more Pressing Matters…a series of 14 postcard size works.

 How To, Pressing Matters #5. 2014. Valerie Knapp©  Hand embroidery, DMC, pressed freesia,
 vintage trim, vintage hair removal guide and paper on Japanese hagaki.

Headspace, Pressing Matters #6. 2014. Valerie Knapp©  Hand embroidery, DMC, pressed freesia, drawing,
perforations and papers on Japanese hagaki.

Plant Life

Pressing Matters, a series of 14 mixed media postcard works continues at the Gladstone until April 27th, in Hard Twist: This is Personal.

 Plant Life, Pressing Matters #13, 2014. Valerie Knapp©  Hand embroidery, DMC, pressed freesia and crown vetch, found eyes on Japanese hagaki.

 The End, Pressing Matters #7, 2013. Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, DMC,
  relief print, freesia, drawing, book clipping, on Japanese hagaki.

Hard Twist 8: This is Personal

See my newest work, opening next week in Hard Twist 8: This is Personal at the Gladstone Hotel. A series of fourteen intimate assemblages, titled Pressing Matters, including Steel Heart, will be installed on the 3rd floor.

Exhibition dates - opening Thursday, January 23, 7-10 pm and continues until Sunday, April 27, 2014. Daily 12-5.

Steel Heart 2013. Valerie Knapp©

Coinciding with Hard Twist are two other exhibits—Come Up To My Room and Capacity, part of  TO DO. Forget about the ice storms, come out and stroll, and check out the many shows.  See the handy schedule Toronto Design Offsite Festival for details, hours and dates.

'Hard Twist participants range from established artists with impressive track records to students in the process of refining their focus. The works are tiny and huge, straightforward and complex, representational and abstract, and speak of things as disparate as biblical lyrics, global warming and the fate of dryer lint.

Each year, co-curators Helena Frei and Chris Mitchell weave this wild diversity into a rich and complex tapestry inhabited by a powerful sense of human creativity.' 

In part, from Gladstone Hotel Hard Twist 8 Statement.

HARD TWIST 8: THIS IS PERSONAL

January 23-April 27, 2014

OPENING January 23: 7pm - 10pm 

Gallery Hours Daily: 12pm - 5pm

Hard Twist, an annual juried show of work that celebrates the intimate, layered and complex relationship between people and textile, has become an important annual event within the Canadian fibre art community and a signature event for the Gladstone since 2006.

This year, Hard Twist 8: This is Personal showcases works exploring the nuances, complexities and politics of that which is individual, private and intimate encompassing the gamut of the human with signals wrapped in cloth.

Hard Twist 8 Participating Artists:

Susan Avishai, Amy Bagshaw, Elaine Beetison, Jillian Booth, Vicki Burns, Marianne Burlew, Calica Studio, Tonya Corkey, Candace Couse, Marie Pierre Daigle, Marie de Sousa, Anne Devitt, Miriam Grenville, Noah Gano, Philip Hare, Alexa Hatanaka, Lydia Haywood-Munn, Fiona Kirkwood, Dana Kletke, Valerie Knapp, Deborah Koenker, Meghan Macdonald, Tim Manalo, Deborah Margo, Colleen McCarten, Kate McGrann, Joyce Melander-Dayton, Shawna  Munro, Lois  Schklar, Joanna  Schleimer,  Silky Shoemaker, SKETCH, David Woodward

Hard Twist 8 Jurors:

Tonya Corkey

Chung-Im Kim

Roxane Shaughnessy

Helena Frei and Chris Mitchell