Spring garden

Lonicera 'Dropmore Scarlet'  (Honeysuckle) 

Aquilegia vulgaris (Columbine)

Syringa x prestoniae (Late blooming Preston Lilac)

Syringa x prestoniae and Cornus alternafolia (Preston Lilac and Pagoda Dogwood)

Swarm: A Collaboration with Bees

Melanie 2008 Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, ink, vintage map, papers.  A gift for my friend.

My long-time friend Melanie Chikofsky, Managing Director and Instructor at the Al Green Sculpture Studio School  recently worked with Penelope Stewart, assisting her with mold-making to realize her sculptural project Daphne, 'a new sensory architecture' created for the exhibit Swarm: A Collaboration with Bees at Ganna Walska Lotusland, Santa Barbara, CA.  'Stewart has transformed a room at the gallery lining it entirely with beeswax tiles from floor to ceiling'.  Quotes are from exhibit description.  Check out the links for more photos and info.

Succulents cast in beeswax for Daphne,  2013.  Penelope Stewart

Two Fruits

Since it's inception in 1995 I've participated in the Shadow Box Show at the Textile Museum of Canada, creating a small work for these exceptional exhibitions. The much anticipated fund-raiser coordinated tirelessly by David Kaye doesn't exist anymore however it was a catalyst for remarkable memory making artworks and friendships and spawned many similar events.  

Online microsites Shadow Box show 2009, also see Shadow Box Show 2008, etc.

One of these shadowbox pieces—Two Fruits, 2009, inspired by Karl Blossfeldt's photos of magnified seeds, l. Silene conica and r. Laserpitium siler was drawn and stitched on Arches paper.  Stimulated by gardening, plant research and experimentation, I'm motivated by related botanical interests including the Parkdale Hort Society where I've been a longtime member.    

Two Fruits, 2009. Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, drawing, paper, threads, letters.  Shadowbox Show Exhibit 2009, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto. 

View in the studio—Silene conica and Laserpitium siler and other stuff on my work table....

Work table, drawings, relief carving on softoleum, tools, test prints, pet rock, etc.. VKnapp©

Silene conica in ben musurato, part of Angelic Trio 2011. An embroidered relief print on linen, mounted in relief on vintage sheet music on a wood box frame.

  ben misurato, 2011. Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, relief print, DMC thread, linen, vintage sheet 
  music, various paper, pins, acrylic, wood box. Also see Angelic Trio.  

Angelic Trio, 2011. Valerie Knapp©   Exhibit—Angels & Argonauts, Lafreniere & Pai, Ottawa 2011.

Multiplicity revisited, won't disappoint...

Since I'm relatively new to this blog thing I thought I'd ramble around in my archives and show a selection of work from a past exhibit.  In 2009 Vivienne Jones and I envisioned and created the group exhibition 'Multiplicity: Five artists propelled by process, form and the nuances of repetition' at the OCC Gallery in conjunction with Janna Hiemstra. Artists included—Allan Bell, Carolynn Bloomer, Vivienne Jones, Valerie Knapp and Karli Sears. 

Piano Cabinet #1,  2009  Allan Bell©

Piano Cabinet #1,  2009  Allan Bell©

Trunk Diptych, 2009. Embroidery, perforation, thread, paper.  39w x 31h cm Valerie Knapp©

'...the work of five artists thematically linked by independent meditations on repetition and process....eliciting this nuanced rationale by delving into recurrence and variation, and through conversations in form, function, scale and colour.....the juxtaposition of similarity and difference emphasizes the unique gesture each work brings on its own terms, as well as in conjunction with the complex whole.'

                 excerpt of statement by Valerie Knapp and Vivienne Jones, 2009.

Couched Diptych,  2009. Embroidery, drawing, thread, paper.  39w x 31h cm Valerie Knapp©

Contracting Time Diptych, 2009. Embroidery, drawing, perforation, thread, vellum, paper. 39w x 31h cm Valerie Knapp©

Good Point Diptych, 2009. Embroidery, needles, thread, paper.  39w x 31h cm Valerie Knapp©

each stitch a step 

moving 

repeated across varied surfaces 

forming a path 

or patterning

, 

a sketch

. 

drawing with stitch 

with needles 

and pins 

and tiny curls of paper 

couched down with fragile threads

. 

all the while

in 

 a calm

sifting and wandering

, 

rifling around 

the corners 

and 

the 

hollows 

of 

time

.

VK

Her Diptych, 2009. Embroidery, relief print, drawing, thread, vellum, paper.  39w x 31h cm Valerie Knapp©

His Diptych, 2009. Embroidery, relief print, drawing, thread, vellum, birch bark, paper.  39w x 31h cm Valerie Knapp©

Chest #1, 2009.  Sycamore, aluminum, acrylic. Allan Bell©

Chest #1, (drawer detail) 2009.  Allan Bell©

Chest #2, 2009.  Fir, mahogany, aluminum laminate. 89w x 34h x 22d cm. Allan Bell©

Chest #2, (detail) 2009.  Fir, mahogany, aluminum laminate. Allan Bell©

Piano Cabinet #1, (detail) 2009 Allan Bell©

Pitcher Corset, 2009 Porcelain. Carolynn Bloomer©

Resin and Silver Pin,  2009. Vivienne Jones©

Clockwise from top left:  Fruit Triptych (detail), Valerie Knapp;  Membrane (detail), Carolynn Bloomer;  Saffron Aurora, (detail) Karli Sears;   Chest #2, (detail) Allan Bell;  Ad-junct, Vivienne Jones.

Studio ...

Rocketing along preparing lovely goods for our holiday studio show and sale tomorrow! 

A myriad of pieced panels composed of prints on silk, cotton and linen for lavender pillows and my beloved Juki. Aerial view. 

Open House!

We're all busy in our studios preparing for our annual Open House Show and Sale.  We transform the main floor into a showroom where you can browse and visit and even take a little refreshment while checking out our newest work and the work you've come to expect. 

Latest works in textiles, metals and ceramics by artists/designers Valerie Knapp, Vivienne Jones and Carolynn Bloomer — Saturday and Sunday, Dec 1 & 2 between 11 - 6. 

Drop by and see us!  There is always a wonderful eclectic range of things 

and it's fun to shop in this unique setting.  

Need 

more details?  Get in touch. 

I'll try to post some images from the workroom soon.

Feel free to share the invite with friends.

l. - r.   Butter dishes, Carolynn Bloomer.   Brooch, Vivienne Jones.   Pieced zipper bags, Valerie Knapp.
l. - r.   Labyrinth #2 (detail), Valerie Knapp.   Necklace, Vivienne Jones.   Plate - Really, Carolynn Bloomer.

Window Work

It's wonderful how a project can be an instrument of transformation, as when I was invited to create a translucent embroidered covering for a simple window in a beautiful room. By day the outside is subtly obscured, rather softened, and the light filters through emphasizing the delicate, skeletal stitched nature of the piece. As darkness falls the piece takes on a different character. With opaque black night as the backdrop the surface transforms with the shower of light from within the dining room. All the subtle details emerge in the fullness of the silken glow; one almost forgets it's translucency and the outside is gone.

Window Work 2012, Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, silk organza, vintage lace and trims, thread, sewing.

                

        

               

                                                                 
                                                       
                                                                 

Window Work 2012, Valerie Knapp©  Embroidery, silk organza, vintage lace and trims, thread, sewing.