Maiwa Textile Symposium : Tilleke Schwartz

Maiwa Textile Symposium runs for three months on Granville Island in Vancouver British Columbia. I had the pleasure of attending last week. Vancouver is a wonderful city so easy to get around walking, riding bikes, or using public transportation. The place I found to stay through airbnb was a condo that overlooked the boats, fisherman's wharf and Granville island. 

The workshop I participated in was taught by Tilleke Schwartz an artist from the Netherlands and master at embroidery. It was a three day workshop. And the topic was "Telling Your Own Story". Tilleke's sense of humor was a kick, and she shared what inspires her and showed images of other fiber artist that she admires. A highlight was viewing her work in person which I have to say is far superior to photos. The texture and tiny scale of her stitches are truly incredible. 

We did some drawing exercises to get us thinking about what we might design. Tilleke encouraged us to either go into the project with a plan or work as you go. I am excited to incorporate embroidery in my own work. 

I hope to make this an annual trip, the Textile Symposium runs September, October, and November. Registrations for the courses begin in June and they fill up within days.

My sampler, Tilleke suggests adding her trademark cross-stitched cat.

We flew in a small prop plane from Seattle to Vancouver.

View from the airbnb condo.

Each day the view changed, even in grey skies its pretty.

This is the walk I did each day to class.

Classroom above the Maiwa store.

Textile and book collection is incredible.

The first exercise was to create a collage to tell our story.

Details from my collage.

Couching with silk threads.

Another drawing exercise where you pass along a piece to another student.

Inspiration that Tilleke would use.

Walking to class on the last day.

Fourth floor is where I stayed. 

The Maiwa store filled with treasures for the lover of textiles.

An evening ride on a small ferry to watch the sunset.

Granville Island was at one time an industrial area,
now it is a place for artists and a public market that rivals any I have seen.
There is still a working factory shown above.

Looks like Wizard of Oz and the Emerald City.

So fun to ride on this small ferry.

Condos on the water.