Felt Makers Revel :: Awards Night Canadian Felt Symposium 2016

The Felt Makers Revel was an evening of great food, wine, awards and above all else gratitude. The evening began with words of thanks. Fiona Duthie presented Jane Shaak and her team at Shatford Centre with the original artwork and the inspiration for the Stella Motus poster as a token of appreciation.

Fiona said the piece represented the generosity shown by our entire felting community in the creation of the Stella Motus Community Art Installation, and therefore the perfect gift to thank the Shatford Centre for their generosity as our host.  Jane was very touched by the gift and spoke about how exciting it was to work with felt :: feutre canada and with Fiona and how she was moved by her commitment to her vision and bringing community together. 

Fiona also thanked the co-ordinators, Violet Racz and Vintha John plus the many amazing volunteers that helped make the event possible. Volunteers that prepared felting packages, schedules and classrooms. In addition she thanked everyone that helped in the creation of the fashion show, Rene Corder Evans, Diane Goossens, ans Susan Lopatecki and the exhibition.

Lastly she thanked the felt :: feutre canada participants, saying “This is a celebration of you, for all of you.”

The evening’s participants were treated to gift bags from Dyeing House Gallery and Artgus Studio featuring beautifully dyed roving and mixed bags of fibres. There were also several draws for other funky fibre prizes all donated by our wonderful vendors.

Participants were also enjoyed an Art Talk by the felt :: feutre canada instructors: Maria Friese from France, Charlotte Sehmisch from Germany, Jean Gauger, Katia Mokeyeva & Melissa Arnold from the US and our own Fiona Duthie. The talk focused on where they found inspiration, the stories behind their pieces, how they created their work and their ambitions.

Finally it was time for the awards!

The Dyeing House Gallery Wearable Felt Art Award 2016 was awarded to Laleh Jahaveri for Birds 02. A piece inspired by the Persian poet, Attar Nishapur’s work, The Conference of the Birds. 

The Ashford/Harmonique Sculptural Felt Art Award 2016 went to Diane Krys For Lip Service, a piece from her series Propaganda that examines the ways that dishonesty and misinformation is perpetuated.

The Unwind/Aurelia Wool Two Dimensional Felt Art Award 2016 was presented to June Jacobs for Shards. A representation of the delicate balance that humans occupy in relationship to their environment.

The Artgus Studio People’s Choice Felt Art Award 2016 was awarded to Violet Racz for her piece, Sheepish. This work is an exploration of the qualities and interactions of numerous sheep breeds, enticing the viewer to inspect the elements and feel the urge to touch and understand the textures.

Thank you to all the artists who participated in the event. We are in awe of your talent & creativity. Both the fashion show & the exhibit were incredibly well received.

A huge thank our wonderful sponsors for making the felt :: feutre canada Canadian Felt Symposium a reality. Your support is deeply appreciated.