commissions
This is a group of commissioned tapestries: some are private and residential, others belong to corporate and public collections. I always enjoy working in partnership with my clients to create a unique and meaningful work of art.
PASSAGES, 1985. Wool, silk, and rayon. 90 x 183 cm.
PASSAGES was my first commissioned tapestry. The location of the tapestry in the master bedroom was already determined, but my clients were very open to the idea that I would follow my own vision for their commission rather than pointing me in a certain direction.
The bedroom opens onto a conservatory; the variety of plants and sculptures within were my inspiration. Photo: Larry MacDougal.
OASIS, 1986. Wool, silk, and rayon. 150 x 150 cm.
OASIS was woven for one of the music studios in the Music and Performing Arts wing of Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta. Textile hangings, besides providing colour and texture, possess a quality of acoustical insulation. Each music studio had a wall-hanging created by Alberta artists. Oasis hangs in the percussion instrument studio - a great pairing of energies.The building was designed by the well-known architect Arthur Erikson.
REMEMBERING THE FUTURE, 1988. Wool, silk, and metallic fibres. 91 x 266 cm. Photos: Ken Woo.
REMEMBERING THE FUTURE was commissioned by Amoco Canada, Calgary, Alberta. My tapestry design is based on seismic surveys of the earth's strata when exploring for fossil fuel deposits. The vegetative forms within and sky above imply the balance between contemporary economic needs and responsible stewardship for the future of the planet.
A SENSE OF PLACE, 1989. Wool and silk. 274 x 91 cm (each panel).
A SENSE OF PLACE was created for the newly-built Beaumont Composite High School in Beaumont, Alberta. My tapestry was chosen through a juried competition. The site - the walls of an octagonal stair well - was pre-selected.
During its history Beaumont has grown from its roots as a small, French, farming community in the late 19th century to a modern town and suburb of the city of Edmonton in the 21st century.
The four panels represent the history and development of Beaumont. This pasage of time is indicated by four colour palettes that reflect the seasons of the year. The phases of the moon do likewise across the panels, as do references to specific historical buildings in the community. I also employed traditional patchwork quilt patterns within an abstracted landscape of farmers' fields.
I believe I created "'a sense of place" for the people of Beaumont.
ALEPH, 1999. Wool and silk. 160 x 152 cm.
ALEPH was woven for GFX Computer Productions in Calgary, Alberta. In the 1980s computer graphic design was a new and somewhat specialized field. The basic concept for this tapestry was the historical development of the letter "A": from the Egyptian hieroglyph, Aleph - the bull, to the binary code for the letter - |0|0. The background imagery refers to a computer chip.
TOWERS OF KNOWLEDGE, 1989. Wool and silk. 396 x 214 cm. Photo: John Dean.
TOWERS OF KNOWLEDGE was an important early commission for me. My clients were very open to allow me to pursue my own artistic vision and concpet - their single request was to have the colours coordinate with their interior. There was the exciting challenge of working at a large scale and siting the tapestry in its architectural space. My clients are philanthropists and widely-travelled. I used the metaphors of the Tree of Knowledge and the Tower of Babel from the Old Testament to convey concepts of mis/understanding and the potential for peace. Photo: John Dean.
PRAIRIE CARPET, 1990. Wool and silk. 443 x 230 cm. Photo: John Dean.
PRAIRIE CARPET was commissioned by Esso Resources for its research facility at the University of Calgary, AB. I was given free rein to explore my own concepts. I was interested in the kilims of nomads in the Middle East and the Alberta landscape. These two very different interests came together in PRAIRIE CARPET - a magic carpet flying over the Rocky Mountains on a starlit night.
You can see that the top 90 cm of the tapestry hang over-top the tapestry. This means that there is 90 cm of tapestry directly underneath that nobody will ever see even though this woven area is as detailed as the rest of the tapestry. Photo: John Dean.
PRAIRIE CARPET was exhibited in “Prairie Interlace: Textiles, Modernisms, and the Expanded Frame. Curated by Michele Hardy (Nickle Galleries) Julia Kruegar (craft writer and curator), and Timothy Long (MacKenzie Art Gallery). A travelling exhibition across the Prairies 2023 - 2024. Here it is displayed at the Nickle Gallery, University of Calgary, Alberta. Photo: J. Gregory.
PRAIRIE SPIRIT, 1990. Wool and silk. 122 x 177 cm.
My clients for PRAIRIE SPIRIT were ranchers on property near the Cypress Hills in SE Alberta. My clients had an interest in the American Southwest and I was inspired by the magnificent Navajo Eyedazzler blankets and the interlocking triangles. This interest also informed my colour palette. This landscape sits in the background, over which are the many cattle brands they used with their various herds. There is also the spirit image of an ancient bull floating in the heavens above.
Something a bit odd - this tapestry was woven at a studio in SoHo, NYC - a very different landscape.
CHINOOK MEDLEY, 1992. Wool and silk. 152 x 214 cm.
CHINOOK MEDLEY was created in 1992 as part of the Canada 125 celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.
This tapestry was a commission privately funded by a small group of loyal Calgarians and was presented as a gift to the City of Calgary Public Art Collection. Chinook Medley initially hung in the hallway outside the Mayor’s office in the old City Hall.
Set against the magnificent landscape of southern Alberta, a historical narrative of changes to the region over time plays out within the borders of the tapestry.
The lowest level depicts the river and the large herds of buffalo that roamed the land long ago. The late 19th Century saw the Canadian Pacific Railway built in the area. Musical staves – barbed-wire fences - become the motif upon which notes of wheat, horseshoes, cattle brands and petroleum map icons play out the melody of a changing Calgary.
The heritage of the Indigenous peoples of the region, however, remains a constant among the changes of the developing settler population. Decorative bands of traditional beadwork patterns sit solidly between the fences and float above the land; the lower border of prairie wildflowers reflects the heritage of traditional floral beadwork designs.
The background of Chinook Medley represents the powerful landscape of the region: the prairie meets the foothills as they rise to the Rocky Mountains. The curve of the iconic Chinook Arch embraces all: the land, the history, and the people that create the dynamic medley of Calgary.
PRAIRIE GARDEN, 1993. Wool and silk. 155 x 78 cm.
PRAIRIE GARDEN was commissioned by a family moving from Alberta to Australia - a souvenir of sorts. The tapestry is basically the proportions of a doorway - which is both a point of entry and of exit. A diamond checker-board forms the underlying structure of the design; its pattern repeats in the top and side borders, plays across the main landscape as farmers fields, and defines the vast shaded sky. The lower border is designed with a garland of prairie wildflowers. This type of floriated border is common in historical tapestries.
GARDEN MASQUE, 1993. Wool and silk. 28 x 500 cm.
Where do you hang a tapestry in a house with very few walls? My clients and I decided to create a valance. GARDEN MASQUE tells the story of a pesky raccoon and his attempts to steal the grapes off the vines growing in my clients' yard. A narrative sequence of images is fundamental to much medieval tapestry. The imagery in the three seasonal garden panels contain personal references for my clients and their family. These panels alternate with four panels that show the development of a grape vine over the course of a year. The organizational motif of the tapestry reflects the geometric principles used in the architectural plan for the house.
NOAH’S ARKE, 1999. Wool and silk. 30 x 30 cm (each panel).
I have been very fortunate to have many clients who gave me the freedom to pursue my own artistic interests; my clients for NOAH’S ARKE were one such couple. At this time I was interested in illuminated manuscripts; the 8th-century Beatus of Liebana was especially influential. I was inspired by its use of colour and many formal compositional devices from the manuscript. The use of text is very common in Medieval tapestry - these words come from the Old Testament and from Sir Walter Raleigh's 17th-century History of the World.
WEDDING KNOT, 2000. Wool and cotton. 30 x 30 cm.
This small tapestry, WEDDING KNOT, was commissioned as a wedding gift for "S" & "P". My client was a Medieval Art historian who wanted the tapestry imagery to relate to a medieval wedding ceremony. Contemporary imagery in illuminated manuscripts and tapestries frequently show the initials of the bride and groom's families intertwining a knot symbolizing the union of the two households. The background imagery is inspired by the aesthetics of illuminated manuscripts.
EAST COCKER, 2006. Wool and silk. 115 x 155 cm.
EAST COKER
is a residential commission inspired by the stanza my clients selected from T.S. Eliot's poem "East Coker".The central compositional device is a clock used to indicate the passage of time as addressed in Eliot's stanza. The imagery around the clock motif reflects the various interests and professions of the four family members; their astrological signs and initials are also personal references.
LET’S GO TO THE PEOPLE’S PLACE, 2011. Wool. 92 x 150 cm. Photo: Jeffrey Parker.
LET’S GO TO THE PEOPLE’S PLACE is a commissioned tapestry for The People's Place in Antigonish, NS. This library and community centre was voted the Best Public Space in Canada 2014.
My tapestry design is based on paintings and drawings created by artist members of Hearts & Hands, a creative day program of L'Arche Antigonish. Back row: Cory Pelly, Mark Bowie, Michael Boddy. Middle row: me and Mary Ann MacKinnon. Front row: Lisa Leuschner, Tommy landry, Matthew Wright.
Learn more about this collaborative tapestry commission. Click here. (opens in a new browser window)
