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Martha
Cole
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Martha is an artist who paints and stitches the very soul of the
prairie landscape. Her work reveals the diversity and beauty of
nature.
She celebrates the interconnectedness of the Earth and her creatures
by portraying these aspects as they manifest themselves in her rural
environment.
She is committed to affecting positive change in our society. Martha
believes that art and visual images carry in them the power to create
change if they are created with |
honouring
and respectful intention. She creates images which are accessible
visually and intellectually, though never simple.
Martha is also an inspiring teacher and mentor who graciously guides
both novice and advanced students to see and create beauty. She
is also a generous colleague who willingly shares techniques as
well as ideas. She is a thoughtful engaging woman whose quick mind
and strong ethics are apparent in all her work. I am pleased to
introduce you to my dear friend, Martha Cole.
- Mary
Holdgrafer.
Martha
writes:
"I define myself as a landscape-based artist whose roots are
deeply buried in Saskatchewan soil. This has been my primary theme
for over two decades and continues to challenge and inspire me.
I have tried to depict the vastness and expansiveness of the prairie
panorama as well as the complexity and subtlety of the grasses and
flora of this bioregion. My chosen medium is fabric and through
this I reference the long tradition of prairie women who stitched
and quilted as a basic survival skill in the early years of settlement
in this province.
My works are almost always created from direct observation. I start
with unbleached muslin, which I mottle and paint using Setacolor
fabric paints. I then assemble the pieces using basic appliqué techniques
which are then further enhanced with coloured pencils and free-motion
machine stitching to integrate the fabrics into unified images.
The images are often surrounded by pieced geometric borders and
quilted, resulting in large scale wall works."
Please
click on the images to view the enlargements - |
Pink
Peony
2002
"I
have used the natural world as a forum to explore our inter-
connectedness and as an exploration of the ecological web in
which we are embedded. I have been creating carefully rendered
images of the individual inhabitants of that web - in this case,
pink peonies from the garden.
detail
By focussing
on such small specific details, I try to make others stop long
enough to look at the small and delicate and vulnerable within
the wide sweep of the prairies."
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Elemental
Red: Fire
2003
"Mandala"
is a Sanskrit word for circle or centre and I use it to refer
to any circular imagery. When we work in a circle or with circular
forms we access deep inner resources of knowing whether that
circle is a talking or singing circle, a circling of the seasons,
or the cycle of the moon. I have made a series of Mandalas searching
for connectedness with our cosmos. This one is for the Fire
Element and is suggestive of an exploding star, the generative
energy of light and heat."
detail
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Martha Cole. September, 2004
Contact Martha: mcole@sasktel.net
Martha Cole - Other exhibitions:
Prairie Portraits
at the McIntyre Gallery, 2347 McIntyre St., Regina, SK
Tel: (306)757-4323.
Dates: Sept.17-Oct.16, 2004.
Website: www.mcintyregallery.com
Trunk Show:
Sept.24, 2004, 7:00 p.m.
In conjunction with "The Stitch In Time" Quilt Exhibition,
Sponsored by the Prairie Piecemakers Quilters Guild,
Sept.25-26, 2004.
Centre of the Arts, Regina, SK.
Website: www.prairiepiecemakers.com
In Memorium
An Exhibition of Prairie Grain Elevators.
Sponsored by Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC).
Website: www.osac.sk.ca
In Preparation. Will tour Saskatchewan sites 2005-2007, with Martha
Cole in attendance to facilitate honoring of the elevators in the various
local communities.
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