Juried art submissions work in various ways.  This one was unusual in that it required an early submission of work, even if not completed.  Our goal was to have at least an overall vision completed.  We had worked from the initial research and photography, through the composition of our images to printing and a large portion of the quilting and construction.  The crow would act to unify the composition.

Six compositions stitched together

Crow laid out

Close up

Crow lifted to flight position

Full view

Pelham, heart of Niagara and four-chambered heart of the crow

I collected all quilted sections to piece together.  I found that because of the precision needed to follow the exact edge of the image, hand stitching with quilting cotton was my best option.  The stitches could easily be pulled apart for Barbara to complete her front sections.

We both took photographs to allow for the best results to be used as required.  The quilted section was photographed first, with the crow laid out and again with the back section of the crow propped slightly as it would look in flight.

We submitted 6 photographs showing the work as completed to date.  A title was decided along with the following information:  Mewinzha (a long time ago):  Winds of Change

Size: Width    36 inches     Height:  24 inches

Medium: cotton, direct to garment digital print, aquarelle, charcoal, balsa wood, silk fabric, sari and combed silk fibre, beads

Technique:  hand painted photographic enhancement, hand quilted, silk fibre fusion

Participants: Greta Hildebrand and Barbara Westergaard

Insurance Value: 1,500

Statement:

Mewinzha (a long time ago):  Winds of Change

Our collaborative journey started by photographing historic burial grounds throughout Niagara; of people who lived prior to or through confederation.  Our documentation includes the First Nations of Niagara (protected beneath crow’s wings):  Neutral, Aneshnaabeg, 5 Nations Iroquois and Mohawk allies of the British. Crow, guardian of the land and ancestors, is on reconnaissance. He sees the United Empire Loyalists who fled the US followed by African slaves, British, European and Chinese who sought peace and prosperity.  Although at times turbulent, the winds of change have also seen their moments of tranquility and 150 years since the “birth” of a nation.

Work In Progress:

The lower panels have yet to be completed with textural quilting.  The work will then be stabilized (sewn down to an interfacing that will retain the desired shape and size) and then backed.  Before it is attached to the quilt, a horizontal pocket will be sewn down to the backing (2 inches from the top of the work) which will hold a flat wooden rod as a hanging devise.  Eye screws with hanging wire will be fixed to the top edge of the rod, through the sleeve.  The crow will be raised slightly and tethered to allow air movement beneath the body, to lift the crow and create the illusion of flight.

We will update as this exhibition comes together.  It does not have to be submitted until April of 2017 in celebration of Canda’s 150th anniversary.

Our quilt incorporates 2 First Nations sections.  My earlier blog discusses the nations that we found within Niagara:  Neutral, Aneshnabeg, 5 Nations Iroquois and the Mowhawk who fought with the British during the War of 1812.  Our focus was on the people who lived in Niagara and who were buried here.

Traditionally, First Nations of this area used mass graves for their burials.  Both the Neutral (known to their Huron neighbours as the Attiwandaronk, were called “la nation neutre” by the French because of their refusal to become involved in the hostilities between the Huron and Iroquois http://www.tbhs.ca/hughes/treasure.html) and Aneshnabeg (including Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Oji-Cree, and Algonquin peoples) 5 Nations Iroquois also know by their indigenous name Haudenosaunee (comprise Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora peoples) The Mohawk joined the confederacy in 1722.

It is believed that outlying bands would gather every 7-10 years, bringing with them their deceased’ carefully wrapped remains, along with treasured artefacts. These would be ceremonially buried in mass graves.  Hence, the distinctive mounds that can still be observed today.  http://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/ossuary.aspx

As the Neutral primarily inhabited the areas of Grimsby through Lincoln and further to the South/Thorold, the left wing of the crow would shelter these sites.

Trial quilting of plaque

Horizontal quilting of plaque

Completed panel

Sign at Centennial Park, Grimsby

Noting the cement covered reburials

The composition comprises the Federal Government’s plaque with information pertaining to the reburial of human remains and artefacts.  Behind are the 6 concrete slabs used to cover the reburials.  In the background are 4 trees photographed behind the plaque – one of which is partly showing behind the sign.

The right wing would cover the Fort Erie section which represented  peoples who travelled freely across the Niagara river:  Aneshnabeg and 5 Nations Iroquois. By all indications, this mound was created when human remains and artefacts were removed during the expansion work on the Peace Bridge at the turn of the new millenium. http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_113_e_28835.html  The First Nations Interpretive Centre and Gallery also known as Mewinzha: A Journey Back in Time, was built at this time.  The clan animals were photographed in the Gallery as they formed a design in the polished stone floor.  We have rearranged the symbols to form a “banner” in our composition.

Beginning the quilting by outlining animals

Section with wildflowers. Working up texture

Banner with more texture

Close up of clan animals

Original image of floor design

During the early part of the millennium I had been completing my undergraduate degree in Canadian Studies and beginning a Masters of Education:  both degrees centred around First Nations peoples of Canada with a focus on the peoples of Southern Ontario.  My research took me into various 6 Nations Iroquois communities where I got to know elders and artists who provided me with invaluable insight into life as it had been historically and during the present.  Concepts that predominated through my journey were Turtle Island (North American continent over which First Nations had the rights and responsibility of protection), Medicine Wheel  which centred around the four directions of the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental, and crow, the protector of the ancestors and vision for present and future.

This textile call for entry “As the Crow Flies” spoke to me on all these levels.

My crow had been partially completed but now all feathers had to be assembled. Stitching seemed the best option for attaching to the silk cloth covering the wood frame.  We were now ready for photography.

Crow form with silk fabric covering

Crow feather anatomy

Assembling allular grouping of feathers

Assembling and stitching lower flight feathers

Close up showing covert feathers

Tail section

Barbara starting her front panels

Port Colborne grave with Canadian Flag

Sizing panels with crow cartoon

Front Panels

Gravestones at Haun, UEL Cemetery on Ott Rd. Stevensville

Now that we have our 6 quilt sections printed, we have under 2 weeks to quilt enough to show our intended vision and submit our entry.  Barbara is keen to learn the technique which I have been experimenting with for some time.  It’s basically a free form smocking stitch which uses any dot or marker to pull the fabric in opposing directions to form various textures.  She is using closer stitches for the grassy areas compared to the larger stitches for the tree foliage.

Haun Cemetary, Stevensville. Gravestones outlined

Splicing quilt backing

Sections of quilt backing cut to fit and stuffed inside pocket

Front sections laid out

Once outlined with stitches, the gravestones were filled.  Barbara has used up to 4 layers of cut and shaped quilt batting to fill the pocket that is created once the backing is carefully spliced.  These will be stitched closed.  The traditional term for this back filling is Trapunto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapunto_quilting

Before we complete, we may consider firming up the gravestones with either a starch product or studio fixative, to prevent the more prominent stones from creasing; however this process will be considered judiciously as we don’t want to take away from the quilted appearance/aesthetic of the work.

Beginning the Vineland and Grimsby cemeteries

Stirling from Grimsby combined with Vineland layout

Many weathered sandstone headstones

Overall layout of the enclosed cemetery

Closing and stitching the backing

Small stones can be filled from the outside and stitched over

My background sections were the Grimsby/Vineland compositions and Niagara on the Lake.  Above I am beginning the Stirling headstone which was digitally added to the composition.  Many of the historic headstones cannot be read due to severe weathering of the soft limestone that was traditionally used before the 20th century.  Some families have replaced these historic stones with newer granite stones; however, we decided that these did not aesthetically work in our composition.

Our rationale in choosing what to photograph lay between people whose own or family name was important in the founding of particular areas of the Niagara Region and the “ordinary” person who did his or her part to found the nation. There were many stones that told stories.  We saw rows of family members, many of whom we presumed were young children when they were buried. These very small headstones frequently had no inscriptions at all.  In the Niagara Falls Fairview cemetery we noticed a naturally shaped stone used as a marker – likely one that was found rather than cut as most were.