Needle work's dance of time

This has been a wonderful year for us in the studio.  Our classes began later in the Spring due to our long winter.


A perfect way to celebrate Spring and bring on the summer with some creativity of life.


We were fortunate to have some of needlework treasures brought to class. One of Margaret's first beauties was this embroidered tea cozy. Even though it had seen the wear of time, the brilliance of the silk thread work still shines on today. Having retired from it's earlier function it is now appreciated only for it's beauty. The creator's color palette is cool and fresh even 100 years later. I love the idea that it is still giving pleasure to the eye. If only it could talk, I am sure it heard many a good story.

Nancy brought this Bakers Lake embroidered duffel wool bag to share in class. The repeating embroidery details combined with larger applique motifs are typical in the Baker Lake designs. Each creation I have ever seen shares the joyful interaction with nature and animal life.

Change is constant yet the pace of life is probably the same.  People fill up their lives with activities that they feel have importance. In the past community was one of those things. Sharing your life with your neighbours and friends creating a blanket with your husbands silk ties.  Crazy ~ I do not think so.  Yet this Crazy Quilt still speaks the energy that brought people together to share.

Like this Crazy Quilt, Atelier Gwendolyne is a creative space bringing lives together with the soul purpose of bringing the needle and thread into the creative realm of art. I am happy to be part of it.

Thankyou Margaret and Nancy for sharing your treasures.

Coral Stitch just the start

This 2010 has been quite the year of creativity in our studio.

The courses throughout this year were wonderful with new faces and wonderful stories along the way.  Unfortunately I have not been able to spend much time on my computer as our business designed a new website.  Now that it is complete, I will have more time to share our moments in Atelier Gwendolyne this year.



For now here's one of my favourite stitches I like using when creating bold embroidery lines with wool 4 ply yarns. Here in the photo I stitched with Anchor's cotton Embroidery Floss on thick natural linen.

Life's Energies

This photo collage I put together of THE ELEMENTS course, celebrates our time together throughout this 2010 in Atelier Gwendolyne.

In creating this I discovered we were totally inspired from life's energies and their forms. Beings that could fly like birds, butterflies and even mythological dragons, those that could swim, like fish those that stood in one place, like trees and Mother Nature as a sprite, to remind us all to care for the preciousness of life.



Our time together was rich with texture and our unfolding days of the week brought many an discussion. Thanks everyone for enriching this studio in 2010!

Endless Possibilites

When the linen canvas is prepared the journey begins. I encourage everyone to think about the canvas space within the frame.  Basting the outer periphery is the first step to ensure the artwork is balanced. Our canvas size is small and the initial planning is important.

Elizabeth created a exquisite design for her Water element.  The movement found in the swimming Koi fish can be appreciated in each stitch.  I love the perspective of her artwork. She used the Short and Long stitches for her colour filling.

Many times Elizabeth spoke of her snail like pace of stitching. For me it was pure joy seeing someone carefully create her artwork. Watching her stitch was a calming experience and I could feel the vibe throughout each class session.  To bring a shimmering effect of water to her art she used metallic thread throughout her stitches.

It was such a lovely addition I inspired to use some in my winter tree to give it an icy appearance.

I encourage people to doodle or sketch out ideas.  It allows us to reflect our direction and it records our process at the time of creating.  Nancy was filled with so many great ideas it was challenging at times for her to choose which one to go with.  Here she created a silk dress for her Goddess figure separately.

I do encourage everyone to do some work on their canvas outside of class time.  In our busy lives some are not able to manage it.  When that happens they come to the next scheduled series.

Elizabeth finished this artwork in the second Atelier Gwendolyne series.

Some of my students who have stitched for many years in their life move more quickly on their artwork.

What is most important in my workshop class series is working in the present. To enjoy the process is a important part, the other is putting yourself in the moment stitch by stitch. This calming energy enriches both our our lives and creation.

Here is Nancy's finished artwork. Her Mother Nature Goddess representing the Earth element makes my feel like dancing. I love her choice of  canvas. She used a hand dyed linen fabric.  The effect makes her Goddess figure float in the aether clouds.

Because of my own work with Gwendolyne Hats my resources of books, fine fabrics, threads, beads, buttons, art supplies, tools and more allows my students to create their artwork with great support and endless possibilities.

Creative Hub

Nancy's Earth element was a layered artwork.  The face was embroidered with chain and running stitches, as the outreached arms were couched with golden threads. She embroidered a silk dress of wheat sheafs, then stitched it with beads. When finished the outfit was appliqued onto the embroidered legs and feet.

Douglas planned all four element to be a series and the first is his Air.  The imagery for all of his sequences will be most exciting when completed.  As a Graphic designer finding that extra time in his year can be challenging. I look forward to seeing him soon again.

The Air Element can be so many things. "What is invisible to the eye is essential" is a quote from the Little Prince written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1943. One can bring concepts, symbols, philosophy and more with this elements.  Louise is working on the Butterfly for her Medicine Garden.

I enjoy how each of us bring new additions to our artworks. Sharing our daily stories of the week with our life's adventures can bring new ideas to our own artworks. Collaboration is a great addition that community brings to our workshops and I just love it.

The two ingredients that make Atelier Gwendolyne a very unique experience for many is that the studio houses the tools of my daily work, add the community energy of like minded people and one has a socially intimate, creative hub of productivity.

I love seeing how the artworks and the makers get celebration when the framing is done. The completed creative journey now can be easily mounted on a wall to enjoy for years to come.

Karen worked with raw silk appliqué, stitches and beading details to bring her Fire elements to life. Her artwork pure with rich hues of colours celebrated the joys that burning passion can manifest.

Rita brought the Fire element to a similar concept.  Burning love.  This part of the canvas has a embossed stitched flaming heart which was later accompanied by a felted embroidered heart beside it. Dark and rich against the black canvas background.

My love for trees is the focus of a series of canvas that allow me to do some work at times.
Here is abit of my process along the way.

Light inspires the Fire Element

Atelier Gwendolyne creates space for inspiration in people's lives.  I enjoy watching and supporting the journey people move through to create their artwork portraying the element of choice.



Many like to complete the four elements, and with each new artwork some like to learn new skills and bring that into their pieces.

In the Victoria era Stump work ie. dimensional building with fabric, was popular but not celebrated historically. It pleases me to see people exploring techniques to execute their concepts for the Element they are expressing.

Louise wanted her Fire element to inspire the brilliance that the light of a fire can display. She chose the Sunflower as her symbol. The center was stitched with freshwater pearl beads in assortment of colors and shades. The luminosity was spectacular. She framed this center with linen wired petals.

Her creative journey unfolded naturally as I captured photos along the way.  When the artwork was finally framed all we look at it and admired it's joyous energy.


Creation with thoughtful ease can be a very uplifting experience.  I love how it keeps giving even after it is completed.

The Elements

testimonial by: Dawn Davis


Gwendolyne Preboy’s
 textile art class:


The Elements

The premise of this class is very simple. Gwendolyne gives us a beautiful hand made pouch containing different packets of embroidery thread to represent each of the elements, a variety of needles, an embroidery hoop, wax, a transfer pencil and a beautiful book she produced which includes a wealth of how-to-do different embroidery stitches and many blank pages for notes and sketches.

We are to draw a design of each of the four elements, choose fabric, transfer the design to fabric, practice embroidery stitches, decide on the colours we wish to use, embroider our design, finish off the back and frame it. That is the premise.
But the reality is vastly different.

When I began this class my sewing skills were weak, drawing was a challenge and my sense of colour was indifferent. Art is not my field and I thought if I could learn a few different embroidery stitches and make a few simple pieces that would be enough.

When I think about it now, there was nothing simple about my designs, yet Gwendolyne was right there showing me what I thought was impossible, could be done. I now have three completed pieces before me. I have been taught embroidery, beading, the manipulation of fabric to form three dimensional objects and in my fire canvas, there is even a twig from my garden, helping me to personalize my experience even more.

This is a course that called forth every bit of my creative energy and every time I was stumped, confused or discouraged Gwendolyne was right there with suggestions, help and encouragement. I have taken many courses and yet this one was strikingly different from any that have come before.

Why did I feel that?

Here are my answers.

This class flows freely and each participant works at their own speed. There is a lot of time for conversation and laughter.
It was also perfectly fine to feel frustrated and confused in the course. I felt comfortable to ask for as much help as needed. Gwendolyne let us all know there is never just one way to achieve our vision.

There are bins of fabric to look through, books to study, music to inspire, and the studio space itself to absorb - almost like a fairy tale with its wonderful hats and bags and pillows, buttons, toys, sewing machines, prayer flags, tall windows, warm light and comfortable chairs.

In essence there is a feeling of comfort and security here – it is okay to be different, it is okay not to know, it is okay to move forward.


Taking this class has been a tremendous adventure for me. It has also been transformative in ways I never anticipated. I look forward to continuing in January.

Hand and the Heart

In Toronto, we are privy to have our creative world in this city’s Medina. Looking out of our southern facing windows, we can see the CN tower (for 30 years it was the tallest free standing building in the world). In the evening, the tower is light up like a flashing disco stick in many spectrums of the color wheel. A visitor to our city, could think there was a party going on if they did not know better. This landmark is a gentle reminder for me that our multicultural city is so special.

Our Atelier is located in the heart of Toronto's downtown. The first phase of it was built in 1880 by an industrious Scot. The history of the 401 Richmond building is very interesting. That it remains in the heart of our city is truly a blessing of good fortune. We are grateful for this treasure.




During the last weeks, I have been busy with more hat creations. I am pleased with the fabric I have chosen for this years’ fall collection. The weaves speak volumes for their color and composition.

Every hat I produce is the only one in the world. I truly believe in the power of the individual. Here is Rita who has owned her Gwendolyne Hat the Rusalka for over a decade. She inspires many people every day and I am glad to have created this hat especially for her.









On one of our Sunday Salons ~ Fiber Art workshops, I captured her putting the finishing stitches on her artwork inspired by the element EARTH. She embraced her life journey in her artwork. As an open and generous spirit, she is one of the most special people I know.



That sunlight that streams in while we stitch during the afternoon workshops, has been most comforting during these last cold winter months.
One day William and I were talking to another tenant in our building about our courses. The person remarked "a stitch and bitch”. I giggled, as I had never heard such a rhythm before.

Our gatherings are just the contrary. We share stories that have shaped our week and our lives. We find our common threads while focusing on our creations. A newly discovered expression emerges without us really realizing it. The hand, needle and thread are the motions in-between. The sharing of the space with our intentions is what makes our workshops most gratifying.

For years, my desire of presenting this course series kept recurring. Then last year with the collaboration of another woman who gave art classes to children, I created a needlecraft class. It was very insightful, and it clarified what I didn’t want my classes to be.






The hand is one of our bodies’ most amazing tools. I am not sure if many of us think about it this way. Our mind tells us what to do and we have mastered its’ ability so well, that we rarely give it much thought. In our workshops, I am watching how the hand is silently celebrated. Through patience, a meditative calm state is created.










This experience we call life is an opportunity to co create the world we desire. In our workshops, the heart is the center of our workshops. Together our dynamics and intentions create the space that open and express ourselves. We put our egos aside and create with mental hugs of love. We now understand more about the essence that lies under the quilting bees.

Last year at the Toronto Outdoor Art Show, I met a fiber artist Amanda McCavour. She constructs her art using needle machine embroidery. I was in awe when I first laid my eyes on her these images. Here is "Cat's Cradle". The work is very sculptural as the threads are held above the background surface by pins. The subject matter opens my playtime memories. Wonderful how a string with a knot can amuse oneself.

I will be sharing more about her art in my next post. Presently she is an artist in residence at the Harboufront Center's Textile Studio. On the 13th of this month the show Still will open at Torontos’ Harbourfront Centre Vatrines. Works made by Amanda will be on exhibit. I know I will be visiting as it is up until May 3.

When I began my AIR element Amandas' artwork inspired me to research and experience the technique of needle embroidery. I selected two linen canvases. I did a blue wash on one, the other kept plain. On the latter I worked the each color thread and followed that needle motion carefully. Sadly I felt disconnected from the others in our class. The machine was physically between us and I was not getting that emotional connection I normally experience when I work with hand stitches. My focus was on the needle; my hand disconnected to my fourth heart charkra. This experience made me appreciate even more what it takes to work in needle machine embroidery.

Like a game of “Go” easy to pick up, but to master takes great focus. The analytical and isolating nature of the technical process is not for me. I thrive on the emotional connection. Hand stitching does that and more for my senses.

My Fire element artwork was such a pleasure to create. Doing the outer running stitches was a total free flowing experience. Now my element Air is beginning to take off, you can only guess what my imagery might be.

Wishing you a most creative day where ever you are! Be sure to drop a comment if you are so inclined.

Needle Power

We are experiencing a renaissance for the needle as a tool in the textile arts. The movement is alive and all generations are involved. I recently increased the number of my textile art workshops this year. It has been a delight to share this magnificent space with other like-minded and spirited people.

Thirty years ago, artists Judy Chicago, Joyce Wieland and other women around the world, shifted the patriarchal paradigm and inspired the needle tool to have power. Their art spoke loud of women's equality, society's gender role-playing and the essence of being a modern woman. Through their work, they showed that the textile arts could convey more than a pretty picture; the medium could acknowledge profound concepts, metaphors, and feelings. These roots have taken hold and the movement is embracing many lives. We are at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius and perhaps women coming into their own, are a sign are of this shift.


The installation The Dinner Party created by Judy Chicago was a collaborative effort of many female artists. The art celebrated women’s accomplishments throughout history. Their choice of medium was the textile arts. There was a lot of buzz when the show opened at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1982. Having just having left the Arctic a year earlier, I had already fallen for the work with the stitch.Since then, I have watched the climb of gender equality in the art community. It has been a good time historically to be a woman as well as an artist. The textile arts is being recognized more then ever before. The stigma that was attached with Needlecraft, a term coined in the Victorian era, has now been lifted.



The 80's was a happening decade for the arts. Women were getting the recognition and financial support from the public art sector. Some of the art made by women, examined sexual taboos and the place of women in society. How fortunate have I been to be born a woman in this period of human history, as well as be an artist?

Sometime last year William showed me the artworks of Orly Cogan in the Art section of New York Times website. From the recent art I have seen on her website, her approach to embroidery is refreshing, whimsical and pensive. Her use of narrative speaks volumes, as her protagonists are women of different stereotype eras.





Orly’s year has begun with a bang. Her yearly calendar is full of expositions; published articles in books and magazines, talks and it all started this month.

Presently in New York, you can see her in a group show called im Material which runs until Feb 14. at Black & White Gallery, in Chelsea. Here are several photos of Quantum Entanglement the installation she created.




I have always been partial to installations. The complexity and parts involved to create them, tend to drive the my personal experience to a greater height. Once in the gallery space, I have the opportunity to reflect and question my own experience inside. I see a great catharsis from these images of her work. The energy and intention of respecting the medium of thread and fiber is brilliantly expressed by her. I am getting excited looking at the close ups. Too bad that I am not there to see it in person. It definitely would have been a treat.

Also also in New York this month she is exhibiting in a group show called Narrative Thread at The Lyons Wier Ortt Gallery. Recently on display at the Wignall Museum in California, is a large densely embroiderer artwork that Orly created for the group show Raised in Craftivity.

New on the shelves published by Black Dog, is Contemporary Textiles - the fabric of fine art by editor Nadine Monem. Besides the several pages of Orly's work, she told me it's a book worth owning. There are many great fiber artists featured, a good addition to ones creative library. Here's the link to order a copy from the Amazon website.
Orly's artwork is on the cover of January Artpress magazine. The article inside discusses contemporary embroidery.






Just the other day she was mentioned in the NewYork Press an article Taking a Craft. If you double chick on the image, then go to the bottom right corner and hit on the box, you can see the artwork larger. How wonderfully romantic a composition it is. As for the article I found it to have some interesting thoughts. I am not sure if the writer is aware of the arts and crafts revival that has been going on for the past 15 years though. In this month's issue American Art Collector, Orly's work is highlighted with a visual in an article titled Art at the Crossroads.

One of my favourite sayings “A stitch in time saves nine” was included in The Textile Society of America's conference title. At The Contemporary Craft Museum, Annin Barett created a slide presentation A Stitch in Time: New Embroidery, Old Fabric and Changing Values. The discussion considers historic and current social values as evidenced by the embroidered art of Orly Cogan, Ghada Amer and Louise Bourgeois. So nice to see all this celebration of the stitch happening in North America.


It has been a great pleasure to share this acclaimed artist in my writing. Orly's artwork shows so much more then the power of the narrative stitch. The juxtaposition of her imagery brings both satire as well as a cheeky sense of humor. To embroider on delicate lady’s hankies requires great attention and skill. What a challenge using a canvas such as that. I find Orly’s imagery spiritually uplifting and empowering. She is exciting the world by her art today and embodies my fervor of Needle Power to the fullest.

I look forward to seeing her artwork this February at the Museum of Textiles She Will Always Be Younger Than Us. This group show of four women artist begins February 11th and runs through to September. I encourage you to see it if you are in Toronto this year.