Watercolor was my first love, here before any of the other things that occupy so much of my time. She's a gentle mistress, pans of pigment waiting patiently for revival by water and brush. Inspiration can be more elusive, and regular exercise of creativity is required to awaken the flow.

I found this blogger this week - an eighteen-year-old homeschooler that reminds me of my own days spent at home with my sketchbook. But I was not nearly so promising an artist at that young age, and I envy this lass her wise touch with children's illustration.

As you can see, I'm trying the PayPal "Buy Now" button on this item. Gives my blog readers a chance to purchase before the art goes into my shop.

I've been interviewing local artists every other week for our local newspaper, and I'm enjoying this new job. It's energizing to talk art with other artists, and to try to delve into what drives them in their creative passions.

No matter what their artistic discipline is, artists have many things in common. Most speak of recognizing their love of art, or music, or creativity in general, at an early age. Most pursued their dreams throughout their lifetimes. Many credit their parents as supporting their artistic pursuits and enabling them to study and learn.

Seems like artists also have an inner assurance that what they are doing is authentic and meaningful. Acclaim and fiscal success are more rewards than validation. There's little room for self-doubt.

The creative process is to many more important than the product. I spoke to a musician who cares more for songwriting than for performing - he prizes the process over the product.

I like too that speaking to these artists has given me opportunity to help them - I've been able to share what I have learned about art marketing, or direct an artist to a local arts group that could help them, and they have done the same for me. It's a good network to have.

If you are a Peace Region artist and would like to be featured in the Northeast News Artists Page, contact me! angelafehr at angelafehr dot com

I've not been doing much painting lately. But I have been artistic - working on a bunch of scrapbooking and paper craft projects. I've started a blog exclusively for my papercrafting - check it out here.

I took this photo back in February. I love the effect and I'm just waiting for the right quote or verse to illumine itself - doesn't it seem like it needs that? Any suggestions?

It has snowed every day for the last week. While I should be cursing my geographical location at this point, these dustings of snow have come to us on the most incredible cloud formations, sky brooding and indigo, sunsets of pure gold and violet, rose madder and cobalt.

As an artist, my response to beauty is to want to paint it. I feel frustrated and impotent when I am trapped in my vehicle without even a camera to feebly capture the panorama before me.

Seems foolish to me that I have such a hard time being able to enjoy beauty without frustration. Somehow I don't think this is the emotion the Master Artist is looking for when He paints heaven across the sky.
I did get out this weekend and got some spring photography in, just shooting around the yard. What? You don't think this looks like spring? Well for one thing, it's no longer covered in SNOW.

I'm looking forward to the birth of my new studio - the upper floor of my husband's shop/garage project - and though the very soonest I will gain the use of the space would be late fall, it got me thinking about exhibiting out of my studio.

I think it would be a cool idea to have a pre-studio exhibit - maybe when the walls are still bare studs and the floor unfinished. What a way to focus attention on the art - with no decor distractions!

The challenge with home studio exhibitions is getting people to come. Friends and family may not disappoint, but how to expand attendance beyond those nearest and dearest is tough. What I will try to do to bring people in the door:

1. email notices to my mailing list - a week or two beforehand, and the day before.
2. word of mouth - plan it well in advance so that I can talk about it to EVERYONE - the guy at the glass shop, the post office staff, even the clerk at the grocery store as I buy refreshments for the event. In my preparations, I will make sure that people know what I am preparing FOR.
3. sales pitch - I will write down and practice my "mentioning" skills. How do I talk about my show so that people want to attend? Phrasing is key.
4. hook - What am I offering, besides my art? Giveaways? Donation of proceeds to charity? Entertainment - maybe I should partner with a musician, or another artist (combining our client base!)
   

In 2005 I held a home studio exhibition as my husband and I prepared for a three month missions trip to Papua New Guinea. Sales were driven because my clients knew that all profits were going to fund our trip, and they wanted to support us in our adventure. Financially it was my most successful exhibition to date, and I gained some new clients and turned friends into buyers.

Our community art society has held studio tours during arts symposiums and workshops, and you can bet I'll be getting on that list once my studio is completed (maybe with decor though!) Ask your local arts society if they have similar opportunities - or organize your arts community to hold an annual studio tour - like a garden tour for artists!

Took a little extra time this evening to work on my alstromeria painting. Will not be called that in the final titling, I promise! I love this photo, taken just as my Valentine's Day bouquet began to wither. I love macro photography, and it's so fun learning how to do it, using my limited equipment.

Would you believe I actually tried to paint this first in acrylics? Foolish thought. Acrylics in my hands cannot capture the beautiful transparency and delicacy of the colours. I think if I am to use the two canvases I recently purchased, it will have to be a complete departure from anything I do in watercolour - which is why I've covered over my acrylic first effort in a dark antique white and am planning a mixed media/collage attempt - maybe a merging of painting and scrapbook style, seeing as I love both!

I want to finish my watercolour alstromeria first and my goal for this piece is to keep it simple. No multitudes of glazes for this one! Lots of wet-in-wet work though.

Speaking of wet-in-wet...you should see my kids after playing outside these days! Spring is definitely here, and spring in the Peace River country means MUD. Magnetic for my two-year-old!

My article "8 Ways to Improve Your Paintings Instantly" is online at Empty Easel today. I was surprised to see how many "quick fix" ideas I had when it comes to improving one's paintings! My favourite tip is #7 - go check it out!

And then come back and tell me YOUR painting improvement tips. I need all the help I can get. I've got a beautifully delicate portrait of an alstromeria bloom on my painting board and it's in danger of being over-tweaked - I just know it!

Pointing you toward my recent interview in the Northeast News. Page 22.

And on page 23, my first artist profile written for the the Northeast News. Enjoy! Then come back here and criticize my writing - I can take it. I'm not exactly trained in journalism, so I'm kind of winging it. And reading a lot of newspaper articles, trying to absorb journalistic style.

Just a brief update to say that I have added a few more paintings to the etsy store - nothing that wasn't on my old site, but the prices are a little less since I am selling them unframed.

Most of the pieces for sale do have frames available, but with shipping it may not be the most economical option - do ask me if you would like to have a frame included and I will give you a quote.

My first artist profile for the local paper was out today - when their web site is updated, I will link you! They did a profile on me too, with an ENORMOUS photo - yikes! Would have preferred a few images of my paintings instead, but whatever. Free publicity.

Just a brief update to say that I have added a few more paintings to the etsy store - nothing that wasn't on my old site, but the prices are a little less since I am selling them unframed.

Most of the pieces for sale do have frames available, but with shipping it may not be the most economical option - do ask me if you would like to have a frame included and I will give you a quote.

My first artist profile for the local paper was out today - when their web site is updated, I will link you! They did a profile on me too, with an ENORMOUS photo - yikes! Would have preferred a few images of my paintings instead, but whatever. Free publicity.

I attempted to enter my On a Limb watercolor painting in a competition hosted by a local gallery that started to exhibit my original paintings last December. I was told they couldn't accept my entry because the competition was for amateur artists, and since I was exhibiting with them, I was more of a professional artist.

Pros: I am considered a professional artist.
Cons: I have outgrown the local pond - this is the second competition where I have encountered this kid of response to my work.
Pros: I have outgrown the local pond!
Cons: Now I have to find opportunity further afield.

What do you think I should do? Should I be sourcing and entering larger competitions? Should I concentrate my efforts in seeking out gallery representation in larger centres? What has worked for you?

I attempted to enter my On a Limb watercolor painting in a competition hosted by a local gallery that started to exhibit my original paintings last December. I was told they couldn't accept my entry because the competition was for amateur artists, and since I was exhibiting with them, I was more of a professional artist.

Pros: I am considered a professional artist.
Cons: I have outgrown the local pond - this is the second competition where I have encountered this kid of response to my work.
Pros: I have outgrown the local pond!
Cons: Now I have to find opportunity further afield.

What do you think I should do? Should I be sourcing and entering larger competitions? Should I concentrate my efforts in seeking out gallery representation in larger centres? What has worked for you?

This afternoon I did an interview with the regional newspaper I will be writing for on a bi-weekly basis. Seeing as I had thought, "The one drawback to writing artist profiles is not being able to do one on myself," it was a pleasant surprise to be asked to give an interview as a way of introducing myself to the readership. Both my interview and my first artist profile will be printed for the March 26th issue of the Northeast News.

A couple things:

1. It was a lot of fun to do my first interview. The artist I spoke to was someone I had not met before, and works in clay. We spoke for forty minutes and I hope she finds the article does her credit. I have another artist lined up to interview tomorrow - I do not want to fall behind and some artists are harder to contact than others - I have three that I am still waiting for a response from.
2. I was surprised how much I had to say in my own interview. I know I'm not good at giving short answers but still! I think I was most passionate about why I love watercolour and why I have chosen nature as my subject matter.
   
3. The best thing about the interview process is the opportunity to speak at length about art. Even when the art we are discussing is someone else's, to go on unrestrainedly, to be heard and understood (or to understand) is something that is rare for me. I spend my day surrounded by children, seldom associating with artists, and I love having a chance to dialogue.
4. I need to teach my children not to interrupt. I hadn't really noticed that it was a problem until I started taking these longer business calls and doing interviews.
   

This weekend I am exercising one of my other artistic disciplines - scrapbooking - while attending a scrapbooking retreat in nearby Grande Prairie, Alberta. Perfect timing as well, since I will be entering my On a Limb watercolor painting in a competition and need to drop it off at the gallery and arrange framing.

This afternoon I did an interview with the regional newspaper I will be writing for on a bi-weekly basis. Seeing as I had thought, "The one drawback to writing artist profiles is not being able to do one on myself," it was a pleasant surprise to be asked to give an interview as a way of introducing myself to the readership. Both my interview and my first artist profile will be printed for the March 26th issue of the Northeast News.

A couple things:

1. It was a lot of fun to do my first interview. The artist I spoke to was someone I had not met before, and works in clay. We spoke for forty minutes and I hope she finds the article does her credit. I have another artist lined up to interview tomorrow - I do not want to fall behind and some artists are harder to contact than others - I have three that I am still waiting for a response from.
2. I was surprised how much I had to say in my own interview. I know I'm not good at giving short answers but still! I think I was most passionate about why I love watercolour and why I have chosen nature as my subject matter.
   
3. The best thing about the interview process is the opportunity to speak at length about art. Even when the art we are discussing is someone else's, to go on unrestrainedly, to be heard and understood (or to understand) is something that is rare for me. I spend my day surrounded by children, seldom associating with artists, and I love having a chance to dialogue.
4. I need to teach my children not to interrupt. I hadn't really noticed that it was a problem until I started taking these longer business calls and doing interviews.
   

This weekend I am exercising one of my other artistic disciplines - scrapbooking - while attending a scrapbooking retreat in nearby Grande Prairie, Alberta. Perfect timing as well, since I will be entering my On a Limb watercolor painting in a competition and need to drop it off at the gallery and arrange framing.

Think it's finished - can you ever be certain about these things?

Berry paintings always get a very positive local response, especially when they feature the lowly saskatoon berry, which grows wild around here. I am told that they are also called serviceberries, or juneberries. My husband prefers them in pie filling, over any other fruit pie.

My intention for this painting was to focus on the berries, leaving the background details to the imagination, to remain loose and allow the paint to flow and pool as it willed. I used a photo editing program to help me interpret my reference photo and establish values and color temperature. I'm happy with the results. Though they never match my original vision, I believe that is in part due to the nature of watercolor - allowing it to participate in the creation of the painting requires flexibility on my part!

I've put the painting in my Etsy store here.

Think it's finished - can you ever be certain about these things?

Berry paintings always get a very positive local response, especially when they feature the lowly saskatoon berry, which grows wild around here. I am told that they are also called serviceberries, or juneberries. My husband prefers them in pie filling, over any other fruit pie.

My intention for this painting was to focus on the berries, leaving the background details to the imagination, to remain loose and allow the paint to flow and pool as it willed. I used a photo editing program to help me interpret my reference photo and establish values and color temperature. I'm happy with the results. Though they never match my original vision, I believe that is in part due to the nature of watercolor - allowing it to participate in the creation of the painting requires flexibility on my part!

I've put the painting in my Etsy store here.

I've been working lately on a bunch of things. Starting to wonder if maybe there should be a limit on how many projects one woman can take on? Truth is I thrive on it!

I've added artwork to my Etsy store here.

I've got a arty giveaway on my personal blog here.

And I'm giving in and getting organized. With all these projects, I need to know what to do when so I don't just end up playing Scrabble on Facebook during my free time! I've got Monday/Tuesday for clients, Tuesday & Friday for banking and home business organization, Wednesday for hobbies, and Thursdays for writing. Painting's not on there because I've slotted it in for a half hour minimum every weekday! Blogging, ditto. We'll see how it goes - the important thing about schedules is that they must work for you. If it doesn't, I'll tweak it until it does.

I've been working lately on a bunch of things. Starting to wonder if maybe there should be a limit on how many projects one woman can take on? Truth is I thrive on it!

I've added artwork to my Etsy store here.

I've got a arty giveaway on my personal blog here.

And I'm giving in and getting organized. With all these projects, I need to know what to do when so I don't just end up playing Scrabble on Facebook during my free time! I've got Monday/Tuesday for clients, Tuesday & Friday for banking and home business organization, Wednesday for hobbies, and Thursdays for writing. Painting's not on there because I've slotted it in for a half hour minimum every weekday! Blogging, ditto. We'll see how it goes - the important thing about schedules is that they must work for you. If it doesn't, I'll tweak it until it does.

I've been sitting at my computer, inert, uploading web pages and images to my revamped watercolor web site. My children have taken advantage of my frozen posture to paste stickers on my bare arms and steal pummelo from the kitchen. (10 points if you know what pummelo is, 20 if you've eaten it before)

Anyhow, my new web site is up. I've decided to ignore all the promotion advice that encourages you to increase your traffic by having lots of relevant content - seemed like on my last site that brought me lots of visiting artists but no increase in visiting buyers. Too much content and the site gets messy and cumbersome and distracting!

I've also linked my site to my etsy shop and will be using the storefront there as my main sales platform. An independent shopping cart, with the accompanying cost of SSL certificates, has never been a justifiable expense.

Next step - to actually put some art in my etsy shop.

Let me know if you discover anything on the site that is not working, or if I've forgotten anything you consider essential.

Site is again at AngelaFehr.com, take a look!

I've been sitting at my computer, inert, uploading web pages and images to my revamped watercolor web site. My children have taken advantage of my frozen posture to paste stickers on my bare arms and steal pummelo from the kitchen. (10 points if you know what pummelo is, 20 if you've eaten it before)

Anyhow, my new web site is up. I've decided to ignore all the promotion advice that encourages you to increase your traffic by having lots of relevant content - seemed like on my last site that brought me lots of visiting artists but no increase in visiting buyers. Too much content and the site gets messy and cumbersome and distracting!

I've also linked my site to my etsy shop and will be using the storefront there as my main sales platform. An independent shopping cart, with the accompanying cost of SSL certificates, has never been a justifiable expense.

Next step - to actually put some art in my etsy shop.

Let me know if you discover anything on the site that is not working, or if I've forgotten anything you consider essential.

Site is again at AngelaFehr.com, take a look!

Once upon a time I agonized over whether I could legitimately define myself as an artist. Long, long ago. When I did finally believe in myself enough to wear the title without feeling like I was overstepping my bounds, I started to behave like an artist, to set concrete goals and see them achieved.

Last week I changed the header on my personal blog, and felt more than a little pretentious to include the title "writer" in the description. I added it anyhow, rationalizing that I write every day, and I also receive some income from writing.

Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with an editor at the regional newspaper. They're looking for someone to write an artist profile page and were given my name. So if I was getting ahead of myself in using "writer" to define who I am, at least I was only ahead of myself by about a week! Joking aside, using my nimble fingers to help other local artists get some exposure is something I am very excited about. The only downside is that I won't be able to profile myself!

Once upon a time I agonized over whether I could legitimately define myself as an artist. Long, long ago. When I did finally believe in myself enough to wear the title without feeling like I was overstepping my bounds, I started to behave like an artist, to set concrete goals and see them achieved.

Last week I changed the header on my personal blog, and felt more than a little pretentious to include the title "writer" in the description. I added it anyhow, rationalizing that I write every day, and I also receive some income from writing.

Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with an editor at the regional newspaper. They're looking for someone to write an artist profile page and were given my name. So if I was getting ahead of myself in using "writer" to define who I am, at least I was only ahead of myself by about a week! Joking aside, using my nimble fingers to help other local artists get some exposure is something I am very excited about. The only downside is that I won't be able to profile myself!

A couple of months ago, I decided to give up my web site. I had a number of reasons for doing so, and I decided that my blog could serve the same purposes my web site was accomplishing.

Or maybe not.

While I still create fine art watercolour paintings, I have been buttering my bread (or in this case, funding my art supply habit) with income from my web design business. One thing my blog can't do is serve as a real life example of my web design skills and style.

So I am thinking I will revamp my site and upload it again. Though not today. Today I am tweaking on a painting that is resolving itself very slowly.

A couple of months ago, I decided to give up my web site. I had a number of reasons for doing so, and I decided that my blog could serve the same purposes my web site was accomplishing.

Or maybe not.

While I still create fine art watercolour paintings, I have been buttering my bread (or in this case, funding my art supply habit) with income from my web design business. One thing my blog can't do is serve as a real life example of my web design skills and style.

So I am thinking I will revamp my site and upload it again. Though not today. Today I am tweaking on a painting that is resolving itself very slowly.

Instead of grumbling about the lack of opportunity for small town artists, head over to Empty Easel today and read my article, featuring four reasons why you don't have to be a big city artist to be a successful one.

I'll be writing for Empty Easel on a regular basis (monthly, anyhow) - if you have any article suggestions for me, things you'd like to see, let me know!

Instead of grumbling about the lack of opportunity for small town artists, head over to Empty Easel today and read my article, featuring four reasons why you don't have to be a big city artist to be a successful one.

I'll be writing for Empty Easel on a regular basis (monthly, anyhow) - if you have any article suggestions for me, things you'd like to see, let me know!

Hey! It's my birthday this month, and to celebrate I'm doing giveaways - one each week - on my other blog. Over here! This week it's an item emblazoned with my art, from my CafePress shop.

Hey! It's my birthday this month, and to celebrate I'm doing giveaways - one each week - on my other blog. Over here! This week it's an item emblazoned with my art, from my CafePress shop.

My maternal grandmother had a way with her granddaughters. I was as young as six years old when she first showed me how to operate her treadle sewing machine and gave me free access to it and to the rag bag. Many were the sock dresses I crafted for a host of dolls.

I was a little older when Grandma Anne gifted me with a yard or two of strawberry print fabric, and by ten years old I had completed my first lap quilt. I was following in the footsteps of my mother, grandmothers and great-grandmother (and who knows how many generations prior!) when I took up the art of quilting.

I don't quilt much now, not since I realized that my favourite part of the process was choosing the fabric - beautiful fabric defines the term eye candy! But I believe that I am passionate about pursuing creativity today because I was given freedom and resources to pursue it as a child.

Today, Grandma Anne is one of the very few remaining patchwork traditional quilters. She still makes quilts on her antique Singer treadle sewing machine, and she concentrates on traditional patchwork patterns, such as the double wedding ring. Grandma doesn't know how to paper piece, or use a rotary cutter, and she rarely irons, as she doesn't own an electric iron. She and Grandpa live off the power grid in a rustic, solar powered cabin, and they were "environmentally friendly" long before the term existed! Once the piecing is completed, she quilts each quilt entirely by hand. Her enjoyment of her art (she despised the term "craft") is such that she completes a new quilt nearly every month.

Grandma Anne doesn't have a market for her quilts - she makes them truly out of love and a driving creative force. She's happy to win $5 and a first place ribbon for them at the local country fair each fall. Each of her children and grandchildren have beds warmed by her handiwork, yet the quilts keep coming, and so last year she and I opened an Etsy shop just for her quilts. She can't compete with the so-called handmade quilts coming out of China or wherever, and in fact her prices in no way pay for her hours spent quilting. But if you care about the provenance of your heirlooms, and if you love handmade, check out Grandma's shop.

I believe that we all have a seed of creativity that we can nurture and enjoy or ignore to our detriment. I am so thankful for the women in my family that modelled creativity to me and encouraged me to express myself. I haven't even mentioned the roll of newsprint that Grandma Anne always made available for her grandkids to draw on - nothing like creating a masterpiece twelve feet long!

My maternal grandmother had a way with her granddaughters. I was as young as six years old when she first showed me how to operate her treadle sewing machine and gave me free access to it and to the rag bag. Many were the sock dresses I crafted for a host of dolls.

I was a little older when Grandma Anne gifted me with a yard or two of strawberry print fabric, and by ten years old I had completed my first lap quilt. I was following in the footsteps of my mother, grandmothers and great-grandmother (and who knows how many generations prior!) when I took up the art of quilting.

I don't quilt much now, not since I realized that my favourite part of the process was choosing the fabric - beautiful fabric defines the term eye candy! But I believe that I am passionate about pursuing creativity today because I was given freedom and resources to pursue it as a child.

Today, Grandma Anne is one of the very few remaining patchwork traditional quilters. She still makes quilts on her antique Singer treadle sewing machine, and she concentrates on traditional patchwork patterns, such as the double wedding ring. Grandma doesn't know how to paper piece, or use a rotary cutter, and she rarely irons, as she doesn't own an electric iron. She and Grandpa live off the power grid in a rustic, solar powered cabin, and they were "environmentally friendly" long before the term existed! Once the piecing is completed, she quilts each quilt entirely by hand. Her enjoyment of her art (she despised the term "craft") is such that she completes a new quilt nearly every month.

Grandma Anne doesn't have a market for her quilts - she makes them truly out of love and a driving creative force. She's happy to win $5 and a first place ribbon for them at the local country fair each fall. Each of her children and grandchildren have beds warmed by her handiwork, yet the quilts keep coming, and so last year she and I opened an Etsy shop just for her quilts. She can't compete with the so-called handmade quilts coming out of China or wherever, and in fact her prices in no way pay for her hours spent quilting. But if you care about the provenance of your heirlooms, and if you love handmade, check out Grandma's shop.

I believe that we all have a seed of creativity that we can nurture and enjoy or ignore to our detriment. I am so thankful for the women in my family that modelled creativity to me and encouraged me to express myself. I haven't even mentioned the roll of newsprint that Grandma Anne always made available for her grandkids to draw on - nothing like creating a masterpiece twelve feet long!

It is easy to become an artist when you grow up in an environment that encourages creativity. I was raised in just such an environment, and the series of posts ahead is a bit of a tribute to the gifted artists in my family who have given me so much.

My great-grandmother made crazy patch quilts until the year she died, and in an era where sewing and quilting had become a hobby more than a necessity, her handcraft was clearly her creative outlet. A house fire years after her death destroyed decades of Grandma Dyck's journals, but few of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren do not have her handiwork in our homes, even if just a potholder or a placemat, painstakingly handstitched. The "bear track" stitch always reminds me of my great-grandmother.

It's interesting to me that something that was once just another task, when the necessity is eliminated, becomes a gift, an act of expression. We see this not just with textile art (like quilting and knitting) but with papermaking, letterpress, blacksmithing, calligraphy, traditional woodcraft, even lace-making. In my great-grandmother's case, a girl from a Mennonite farming family, a woman who raised twelve children in poverty, you would think that once the kids were raised and sewing for the family was no longer necessary, she'd invite the neighbourhood to toast marshmallows over a sewing machine-fueled bonfire!

Some would say we revive these lost arts as a way of connecting with a simpler era, and that may in part be true. But I don't believe that handcraft will ever become obsolete. In each of us is the desire to create, to put our hands to something, and often, to give.

It is easy to become an artist when you grow up in an environment that encourages creativity. I was raised in just such an environment, and the series of posts ahead is a bit of a tribute to the gifted artists in my family who have given me so much.

My great-grandmother made crazy patch quilts until the year she died, and in an era where sewing and quilting had become a hobby more than a necessity, her handcraft was clearly her creative outlet. A house fire years after her death destroyed decades of Grandma Dyck's journals, but few of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren do not have her handiwork in our homes, even if just a potholder or a placemat, painstakingly handstitched. The "bear track" stitch always reminds me of my great-grandmother.

It's interesting to me that something that was once just another task, when the necessity is eliminated, becomes a gift, an act of expression. We see this not just with textile art (like quilting and knitting) but with papermaking, letterpress, blacksmithing, calligraphy, traditional woodcraft, even lace-making. In my great-grandmother's case, a girl from a Mennonite farming family, a woman who raised twelve children in poverty, you would think that once the kids were raised and sewing for the family was no longer necessary, she'd invite the neighbourhood to toast marshmallows over a sewing machine-fueled bonfire!

Some would say we revive these lost arts as a way of connecting with a simpler era, and that may in part be true. But I don't believe that handcraft will ever become obsolete. In each of us is the desire to create, to put our hands to something, and often, to give.

It is easy to become an artist when you grow up in an environment that encourages creativity. I was raised in just such an environment, and the series of posts ahead is a bit of a tribute to the gifted artists in my family who have given me so much.

My great-grandmother made crazy patch quilts until the year she died, and in an era where sewing and quilting had become a hobby more than a necessity, her handcraft was clearly her creative outlet. A house fire years after her death destroyed decades of Grandma Dyck's journals, but few of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren do not have her handiwork in our homes, even if just a potholder or a placemat, painstakingly handstitched. The "bear track" stitch always reminds me of my great-grandmother.

It's interesting to me that something that was once just another task, when the necessity is eliminated, becomes a gift, an act of expression. We see this not just with textile art (like quilting and knitting) but with papermaking, letterpress, blacksmithing, calligraphy, traditional woodcraft, even lace-making. In my great-grandmother's case, a girl from a Mennonite farming family, a woman who raised twelve children in poverty, you would think that once the kids were raised and sewing for the family was no longer necessary, she'd invite the neighbourhood to toast marshmallows over a sewing machine-fueled bonfire!

Some would say we revive these lost arts as a way of connecting with a simpler era, and that may in part be true. But I don't believe that handcraft will ever become obsolete. In each of us is the desire to create, to put our hands to something, and often, to give.