Penticton: A Progression in Time
SEPTEMBER 18th, 2021 - NOVEMBER 6th, 2021
Project room Gallery
Featured Artists/Partnerships:
Penticton Photography Club: Gisela Carroll, Jeff Carroll, Chris Clark, Julie H. Ferguson, Dave Johnson, John Langer, Darla Lamberty, and KL Walford
Penticton Quilters’ Guild - Artsy Girls: Dianne Birnie, Sherry Badger, Gisela Carroll, Pati de Broekert, Paige McKelvey, Pearl Morgenstern, Kathleen Noble, Linda Van Gastel, and Gayle Walford
In celebration of British Columbia’s 150th Birthday, the Penticton Photography Club and Penticton Quilters’ Guild - Artsy Girls have joined forces to feature eleven prominent Penticton and area landmarks through their artwork. They have created their own unique artistic take on these landmarks and are pleased to present to you Penticton: A Progression in Time. Their goal is to provide visitors and residents with a connection to Penticton and its rich history.
The exhibition will focus on prominent Penticton and area landmarks and highlight how these locations have changed since the founding of Penticton in 1892. Historical photographs are included, paired with new photographs of the landmarks to showcase how they have changed over time. These are complemented by fibre artworks depicting the landmarks at various stages in their history.
The Penticton Photography Club, formed in 2008, is a small but enthusiastic group of photographers with knowledge and skills ranging from the basics to the professional. The club’s objective is to encourage all aspects of photography by providing a forum where issues, techniques, equipment, and interests relating to photography can be freely shared and discussed.
The Artsy Girls is a special interest group of fibre artists within the Penticton Quilters' Guild. The group was formed in 2016 and is led by Dianne Birnie. They have acquired a variety of skills through exposure to recognized fibre artists, a variety of courses and self-directed learning and experimentation. The members have been actively engaged in creating artwork using fabric as a primary element for years, decades in most cases. Most of the members have a foundational background in traditional quilting. Currently, they love creating fibre art and exploring new techniques to add to their extensive skill set.
Thank you to the participating artists for their vision and dedication in making this project come to life.
Paul Crawford, Director/Curator
Artist Bios:
SHERRY BADGER
A former member of the Penticton Quilters’ Guild, Linda Schmidt, introduced Sherry to the Guild about ten years ago. She did not quilt at the time but took advantage of all the classes that the guild provided, and quickly she was making beautiful quilts with the techniques that she learned. She did not get into art quilts until Dianne Birnie joined the guild and the Artsy Girls group was formed. Dianne is so generous with her knowledge and soon Sherry was creating beautiful art pieces. She loves the challenge and enjoys being able to create a piece of art from the topics we choose.
GISELA CARROLL
Gisela has been quilting for nearly thirty years. Her journey started off in 1992, with a simple sampler quilt. She has been hooked on fibre ever since! After completing a long series of traditional quilts, she progressed into creating patterns from photographs. She loves that quilting forever captures favorite images in a fabric art form. She also enjoyed teaching a few classes in creative quilting without patterns. Her work often reflects the beauty of nature and inspiration for her designs often comes from photographs taken on walks outside.
She grew up in an artistic household. Her father was a painter, and she watched her mother knit, embroider, and sew all of her clothing. She was always surrounded by creative works of art and finds that quilting satisfies her inner need to be creative. With each new art quilt, she incorporates new techniques and improves old ones.
Gisela started taking pictures at a young age, mostly recording her many travel experiences. When she met her now husband, Jeff, in the late 1970’s, she further developed her photography skills. She honed her darkroom skills and began developing her own black and white photographs. In addition to being an amateur photographer, Gisela utilizes her macro photography as inspiration for future fibre art quilts.
CHRIS CLARK
Chris was first introduced to photography at a very young age when he stumbled upon his parents “Box Brownie” camera. He has been worked in photography/visual arts with CHBC-TV, Shaw TV, the Kelowna Daily Courier and as a professional photographer.
Chris is passionate about landscape and wildlife photography. He sees his work as showing that despite the difficulties of the world we live in there is still beauty that can be seen and should be preserved as much as possible, including the wildlife we share with the planet. Chris mounted a one-man show of black-and-white prints called “Kelowna Changing” during this time which represented the history and current state of development of Kelowna.
He shoots exclusively in RAW format to maximize the quality of his images and to maintain the most control over the look and feel of the final image His work can be seen on Flickr at: https:// www.flickr.com/photos/147806671@N02/.
JULIE FERGUSON
Julie Ferguson, aka Photos by Pharos, is a serious amateur photographer who started much too late in life! The wonderful visual, connected world we enjoy gave her the catalyst to buy her first DSLR and join a camera club. Her creativity soared. Since 2006, Julie's efforts have paid off and she has had her images exhibited and sold, as well as published.
Now based in the South Okanagan of British Columbia, Canada, Julie is an addicted travel writer who is intensely interested in the history and culture of foreign lands, as well as Canada, and her stories and images often reflect this focus. She never leaves home without her cameras, always looking for the colour and sights that captivate readers everywhere.
Julie’s many images and articles have appeared in national and international newspapers and magazines, in print and online. She also publishes at least two portfolios of travel photographs every year.
Since 2014 several organizations and individuals have engaged Julie’s photographic services. They include Marriott’s Shadow Ridge Golf Club in southern California for their social media imagery and a book; two realtors, several travel companies, and two restaurants for website imagery; a bespoke wine tour for twenty; as well as authors and nonprofits for publicity shots.
Member: The Penticton Photography Club and the South Okanagan Writers' League. Formerly: The International Travel Writers Alliance, the Travel Media Association of Canada, and the Vancouver Photo Club. Julie invites you to visit www.beaconlit.com/ photosbypharos and flickr.com/photos/beaconlit.
DARLA LAMBERTY
As an art major in school, Darla had the opportunity to experience many styles of artistic expression. However, it was not until years later that she found her outlet through photography. Currently utilizing a Nikon D3400, her favorite subject is nature and landscape, but has branched out to portraits when requested. In her photos, she wants the viewer to see beyond the subject matter and to appreciate the lines, curves and colors that make up our world.
PAIGE MCKELVEY
Paige joined the Penticton Quilters’ Guild after retiring to the Okanagan. She had rarely done any sewing while working but after touching bases with a former work colleague here and seeing her work Paige thought she would give quilting a try. While sewing patterns she wanted to make the projects slightly different to make them more individual. She also liked the idea of art quilting but was always afraid of trying to create something that was outside her comfort zone.
She had never considered herself very artistic but when The Artsy Girls was formed out of the Penticton Guild, with Dianne as our mentor, Paige joined the group. She admits to being a slow learner but she is enjoying the new processes that she is trying. Having a project to focus on and having such varied talents from the members to draw from has made this a fun group to belong to.
KATHLEEN NOBLE
Kathleen was 12 years old when she first began to sew. She was nearly 5’9’’ and very thin and any clothes she tried to buy were too short in the sleeves. So, she started making her own clothes. After that Kathleen’s education focused on Biology, Chemistry. Physics, and Math. Once she decided to teach High School she also majored in English. Point being, she was mainly more scientific than creative. Although she did continue to sew for practical reasons any creative work was in writing rather than art.
Back in the 1990s, Kathleen helped with administration of the Summer School of the Arts. Kathleen met a group of ladies that were making quilted jackets and was really interested. They told her about a Guild that met in the Penticton Library; she went to a meeting, met some great ladies, and became a quilter.
For years Kathleen mostly made quilts of various sizes. Her favorite part was choosing the pattern and selecting the colors. Because money was a big concern, usually she made up my own patterns and used fabric that was at hand. She did discover that she is able to match the colour of a piece of fabric months after she has seen it.
When Dianne joined our guild, Kathleen was excited to try making art quilts. She had made some wall quilts from patterns but the idea of creating your own pattern and choosing techniques was a bit overwhelming. She had no art training at all. It seems to take a while to get started, and she always feels that she lacks skills, but with encouragement, she usually finishes her projects. There is a different kind of satisfaction in creating something of your own making.
DIANNE BIRNIE
Dianne started her quilting journey in 1987 when the Double O Quilters put an ad in the Oliver paper looking for people interested in joining a quilting group. After the first session, making a potholder using the churn dash pattern, she was hooked!
Dianne jumped in with both feet, taking classes and giving the occasional class herself. She returned to the workforce in 1989 but carried on with a group of friends in the evenings until she retired in 2001.
Dianne remembers a class she took from Martha Cole from Saskatchewan that changed her direction from a traditional quilter to an art quilter. She knew this was the direction she wanted to explore. Mostly self-taught, she has taken classes from art quilters along the way. Dianne reads a great number of quilting magazines and books and loves new techniques. She has gone from traditional quilting techniques to dyeing fabric, painting fabric with Shiva Paint Sticks and Inktense Paints, using hand embroidery stitching, silk ribbon embroidery, three dimensional work, and dense quilting to make quilts unique.
She feels that she has had a lot of help along the way with encouragement and critiques from her quilting friends and mentors. Her work has been shown through BC. and at Quilt Canada in Kamloops, Calgary, and Penticton. Dianne has won many ribbons at the Oliver Quilt Shows, her latest being the CQA Rosette for Viewer's Choice and for Best of Show for her quilt "Bottles". Her philosophy is to strive to quilt to the best of her ability and to keep trying new techniques to keep her work current and fresh.
JEFF CARROLL
“Photography is an excellent balance to life. In an increasing complex lifestyle into which we drive ourselves, photography offers a mechanism, a discipline if you will, to offset the madness of our daily lives. It is the opposite of complexity in the sense that the photographer has to scrape away objects and pre-conceived ideas to distill an image down to a simple truth. Although it takes work, one can use this medium to render the true meanings and beauty of life; what one finds there is often an insight into one’s own place and mind. In the end, the only thing a photographer has to sell is light…he has absorbed all the rest.”
It was in his early years that Jeff Carroll developed a love for Photography but the advent of digital imaging presented him with a new and even stronger palette of expression. Beginning with Photoshop 3.0, Jeff has been bending the truth for many years. His satisfaction comes from creating images that physiologically truthful but is physically not possible.
PATI DE BROEKERT
Since starting her quilting journey in 2002, Pati has had the opportunity to work with and learn from many talented fibre artists associated with some of the guilds she has been a member of, such as the Exploration Group at Oliver's Double O Quilt Guild and the Artsy Girls through Penticton Quilters’ Guild. She offers her sincere thanks to those who have so generously given of their time and knowledge to pass on the gift of creativity.
From a very young age, Pati has always been interested in craft or art projects of any kind and has been fortunate to have had the ability to pursue and cultivate these interests through Family, Career, and now Retirement. Often self-taught and more often challenged to move beyond her own comfort level of ability, it has been a most enjoyable process which she hopes to continue for some time.
MARG JACQUES
Marg took her first beginner quilting class in 1995 and loved it. After retiring in 1997 she began to put those lessons to quilting projects. She very much enjoys traditional quilting and is always taking classes to learn new techniques.
When Dianne Birnie moved to Penticton and joined the Penticton Quilters’ Guild she started an art quilt group. Dianne is very enthusiastic and loves to share her knowledge with the group. Marg is intrigued with art quilting but is still struggling to find her artistic side.
DAVE JOHNSON
Dave Johnson has been photographing for over 60 years. Dave says, "With a camera in hand we are more observant of our surroundings as we search for that elusive inspirational image. I have a few more years to find one!"
Dave enjoys photographing many subjects and is always eager to push the boundaries and try something new and pursue new challenges.
JOHN LANGER
John moved to Penticton in 2014, after spending 33 years in the Lower Mainland. He has always had a passion for photography and was thrilled to discover the amazing variety of wildlife here in the Okanagan. You may find him scouting out the Oxbows and beaches with multiple cameras in hand. John was thrilled to have one of his Blue Heron pictures featured in the 2019 Global Okanagan's calendar.
PEARL MORGENSTERN
Pearl became a member of the Penticton Quilters’ Guild in the 1990s. In 1998 she created her first art quilt, the beginning of an enjoyable and challenging journey of art in fabric. Pearl brings a love of nature to her quilting experience.
Much of what she has learned in her quilting has come from art classes, quilting classes, and workshops as well as quilt groups where sharing of knowledge and experience is a big part. Her goal in quilting is to share her vision of nature through her quilts.
LINDA VAN GASTEL
After retiring in 2003 from a career in engineering, Linda’s daughter introduced her to quilt making, and she was hooked. She enjoys the challenge of creating unique designs, constructing the pieces in innovative ways, and enhancing the project with stitched designs that add texture and interest.
And she loves exploring and creating fibre art! Colour, shape and pattern, and their interaction to create intriguing results, fascinate her. Bright colours often find their way into her work, bringing joy, vitality and warmth. Her work has been shown in a variety of venues and has earned a few ribbons.
GAYLE WALFORD
Gayle is a fabric artist with a passion for upcycling fabric. Her journey into the world of fabric upcycling led Gayle to quilting, and for the past 5-6 years, free motion quilting has become her passion. She has taken numerous fabric arts and quilting courses and enjoys creating whimsical pieces using fabric, thread, paint, and inks.
In addition to quilting, Gayle enjoys all forms of art. Over the years she has taken courses in visual, sculptural, musical, and expressive arts and draws inspiration from her many teachers.
Gayle has taught Music and Movement as a Healing Art at the Haliburton School of Art and Design. When she is not in her studio creating, she works as an Occupational Therapist. Gayle can be reached at freemotionfun@gmail.com.
KL WALFORD
KL’s first camera was given to her by her father when she was 16 years old and she's been hooked on photography ever since. She attended several courses at George Brown College in Toronto, which focused on developing film, printing and displaying her own photographs. KL is an amateur photographer who now calls Penticton home. She became involved in the Penticton Photography Club four years ago and is the current acting president to the club. Her passion is Black and White Photography. She continues to gain knowledge and inspiration from other photo club members and, of course, from the beautiful scenery that the Okanagan has to offer.
