Sophie MacNeill, a fabric artist who grew up in the Comox Valley, returned to spend a week at the Gardens in September.
In her project proposal, she wrote:
The project I hope to pursue would be an exploration of the themes of home, landscape and the threads that tie us to time, place and each other. I’m eager to take advantage of the space provided to explore larger textiles, using fabric sourced from my mother’s wardrobe to represent “the ground” (the technical term for the surface of embroidery works) from which this work will bloom. I would imbue the fabrics with further meaning by utilizing natural dye respectfully sourced from the landscapes of the valley. I have no doubt that working within the context of The McLoughlin Gardens will be incredibly inspirational. I recognize that gardening, like craft, is a conversation between ourselves and the material world. Each act requires deep attentiveness, a lot of tender touch, and the ever-delicate balance of mastery and surrender.
The final work will be a softscape, a garden grown from the fabric of my mother’s life, perhaps resembling a cloak, a blanket, or some other textile that evokes both domestic utility and care.
Sophie piecing together strips of dyed fabric on the porch.
In her process journal, on the first full day of her stay, Sophie recorded the following:
Monday, September 19th,
Afternoon:
Soaked my mom’s clothes in water
mixed from ocean and the creek
behind our old home. I had needed
to wash/scour her clothes to prepare
the fabric for dyeing and wanted to
“re-infuse” them with something that
felt like her - the water of this place.
Thought about the alchemy of grief
and place while her pants dried in the sun. The sight of her pockets turned inside out was especially moving as I thought about her hands and the things she may have carried or held.
Explored the forest, looking for what plants were available for dyeing. Gathered some alder cones and peeled bark from fallen branches.
Guided by Nancy J. Turner's book, Plant Technology of First Peoples in BC, Sophie gathered lichen, hemlock, alder cones, and peeled bark from fallen branches to create dyes.
On Friday, she wrote:
Afternoon:
Continued letting fabric dye while I cooked up another dye bath with the lichen and mixed some other dye baths togeth- er to get more variety. I spent a lot of the afternoon arrang- ing fabric as it dyed and imaging what kind of piece/collage would come out of this fabric. The colours were more bodily and feminine that I was expecting, and so beautiful and soothing. I took a long walk
in the trails as it misted a
very light rain, revisiting
the plants that gave me
colour.
Evening:
I worked late into the evening, ironing, trimming and stabilizing fabric., and arranging pieces trying to imagine what they wanted to be.
Saturday’s journal entry, handwritten:
Today was about soaking it all in before I left. Did nothing but sit and stitch in peace and quiet.