on the web address TBA - hopefully by the end of the summer!
MCC member since approximately March 2010.
what I love most about my craft I can do it while caring for my two young boys. It keeps me sane.
how I learned my craft I first learned how to quilt from a 3 hour workshop many years ago and never thought about it again until I was living in a remote Northern community and became pregnant with our first child. Partway through the pregnancy I discovered that he had a deformity considered incompatible with life. I decided to make a quilt to wrap him in when he was born. Since then I have discovered art quilting which suits my inability to access the left side of my brain when trying to be creative since it does not require straight lines very often.
what my craft is teaching me As I learn more and more about fibre arts I am becoming aware of the many social issues surrounding the history of quilting, the use of dyes, and the business of commercial fabrics. I feel like I'm in the very early stages of learning about this craft and am excited about what is to come.
a craft mentor Heidi Hunter, another MCC member, has been an inspiration to me with her gorgeous self designed fabrics, artistic designs, and inspiring workshops!
The Manitoba Crafts Council is partnering with Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art to offer a year-long mentorship program for two emerging craft-based artists.As part of MAWA’s Foundation Mentorship Program, two artists working in craft-based media will be selected to work with mentor Gaetanne Sylvester.The mentorship program is a venue for senior artists to share their experience with developing artists.The program is designed to help women in the visual arts and craft develop skills and define their decision-making philosophies, and to provide access to the information, resources and support they need to realize their goals.
In addition to a one-on-one relationship with a mentor, the program provides a peer group for the mentees through group meetings.Mentors meet with their mentees individually for 5 hours per month, and the entire group meets for 3 hours monthly for critiques, discussion, gallery visits and other activities.Other mentors in the Foundation Mentorship Program are Pauline Braun, Elvira Finnigan, Jenny Western and Sarah Crawley.Go to http://www.mawa.ca/publications/mawa0510.pdf to view their profiles.
Women artists working in any craft-based media are welcome to apply.Applicants are selected based on:
– the quality and potential of the work submitted,
– the emerging artist’s willingness to dedicate time to the program,
– the mentor’s ability to work with the emerging artist, because of
mutuality of practice or conceptual framework.
Successful applicants will be charged a $300 fee for the program.
There is no fee to apply, although you must be an MCC member.
or contact MCC’s Program Coordinator at 927.2787 or mcc@mts.net.
About the mentor:
Born in Manitoba, Gaëtanne Sylverster has participated in exhibitions across Canada, in New York, Denver, Hong Kong, and Mexico.Her work was included in the Manitoba Crafts Council’s juried exhibitions in 2005 and 2010 and has been featured at the Buhler Gallery, La maison des artistes and at the Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec in Montreal.She was selected for a residency in print-making at Graff, Montreal (2005) and in digital arts at Centre Sagamie, Alma, Québec (2007).
Her practice as an artist involves research into her chosen media; clay, printmaking, digital imaging and installation. It is supported by historical and visual research within specific themes; the history of lace production, the financial independence of the women who produced it, its role in fashion history, and its social significance today as a symbol of sensuality.
More recently, her practice has incorporated an explorationof the genetic code and its influence on our body, mind and spirit.Gaetanne is a long-time member of and volunteer with the MCC and MAWA.
Gaetanne Sylvester, Threads of Time, clay and block print, 2010
primary medium
