Connections: Time and Place

Welcome to “Connections: Time and Place”

Pam Vipond, Vera Lohse, and Margie Davidson all moved to Vancouver Island around the same time and connected through their shared interest in fibre arts.  All three were instrumental in the formation of a local fibre art group – Oceanside Fibre Connections.

Over time, their friendship grew and this exhibition is the result.  It showcases a wide variety of fibre arts: knitting; quilting; patchwork; stitching; natural dyeing; basketry; beading; book binding; felting; blockprinting; shibori; embroidery; and sashiko. The exhibition includes individual artworks as well as collaborative artworks which all express their connection to the natural environment on Vancouver Island.

Vera Lohse loves all things fiber! Vera made her first basket as a child.  In her younger years she completed an apprenticeship in Germany as a dressmaker.  As an adult, Vera pursued basket making and silver smithing. Her baskets and jewellery were sold at craft fairs and galleries in Ontario. She is an experienced instructor in basketry, dyeing, and felting. After moving to Vancouver island, she focused on using local, natural materials, like willow, cedar and maple bark for baskets, and local plants for dyeing her handspun yarn. Vera's baskets are sold at the Salish Sea Market.

Pam Vipond has had a lifelong love of fabric and stitch. She and her husband grow and collect their own dye plants to colour his handspun yarns and her up-cycled cloth and paper. She knits, braids, embroiders and embellishes to celebrate her local world within the global world, to give new life to abandoned things and to appreciate the ephemeral.

Pam's approach is inclusive, down-to-earth and practical. She thrives on discovering, embracing and developing possibilities. She has traveled extensively throughout the world. Considering herself a world citizen, she has chosen Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island as her home.
 

Margie Davidson is a quilt artist and surface designer. Connecting to nature is one of the joys of living in Qualicum Beach, whether Margie is walking on a low tide sandy beach or along a forest trail beside towering cedar trees.  

Margie is drawn to a daily art practice as it provides structure to allow for some meditative creative time to play with colour every day. Her art quilts have been exhibited nationally and internationally, and are held in private and public collections.

Thank you,

Margie Davidson

Pam Vipond

Vera Lohse