Aqua Gulf Islands Living

Aqua Gulf Islands Living MARCH/APRIL 2019

Volume 14, Issue 2

Head to Toe Talented artisans define island fashion WOMEN WHO WRITE

Salt Spring writing group uncovers personal gems

ART & SOUL

Galiano gallery shares gifts from the islands

Arts | fashion | food | nature | community

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Editor’s Message

Free expression

O

ne thing I love about living in the Gulf Islands is that people can wear just about anything for any occasion and not be judged.

When the snow starting piling up in early February, I reluctantly hauled out my backpack full of winter gear, which in a good year remains buried in the back of a pliance.ca closet. The most important item in that bag is a pair of lightweight waterproof pants with a crazy multi2-0242 coloured pattern on the legs. I bought them at Mouat’s Clothing Co. about 25 years ago, and they have kept me dry through every cruddy snowstorm since.

Some women of my vintage might feel self-conscious wearing flashy overpants (with gumboots) to their workplace or the grocery store. Not me on Salt Spring.

We all have favourite pieces of clothing, footwear or jewellery that make us feel cozy, comfortable or fashionable, and this issue of Aqua tips its hat to local artisans who help us express ourselves through what we wear.

For our Head to Toe theme we feature Giselle

naimo St. ia, B.C.

Paquet of Art to Wear, whose coats are absolutely one of a kind, like the one worn by Kaylee Lapierre on our cover, and cutting-edge Pender Island artist Joanna Rogers, who can make a wearable item using almost anything: feathers, salal leaves or bubble wrap.

We also picked a handful of Salt Spring artisans who design and make clothing and accessories that would cover someone from head to toe. They are Dana Pennington of DCP Designs (hats); Judith Dios (nunofelted clothing); Rachel McLaughlin of Rhino Jewelry; Cheyenne Goh (Salt Spring Tweed bags); and Nathan deBridge Bowes of Soul Path Shoes.

We visit Sandra Froese’s Art & Soul Craft Gallery on Galiano Island, where all kinds of local and sustainably made clothing can be found, and learn about the women behind the Finding Home collection of stories.

Our Q&A person is Sue Earle., who is usually associated with Duck Creek Farm activities. But she is also a talented fabric artist who is making our MP Elizabeth May’s wedding dress. We look forward to seeing the result on Earth Day! — Gail Sjuberg

Aqua Gulf Islands

Living

This issue published March 6, 2019 Publisher: Amber Ogilvie Editor: Gail Sjuberg Art Director & Production: Lorraine Sullivan Advertising: Shirley Command, Ashleigh Gionet Aqua Writers: Cherie Thiessen, Elizabeth Nolan, Andrea Palframan, Marcia Jansen Aqua Photographers: Cherie Thiessen, Marc Kitteringham, Marcia Jansen, Andrea Palframan Cover photo of Kaylee Lapierre wearing a coat made by Giselle Paquet

by Marc Kitteringham Aqua is published by Driftwood Publishing Ltd., 328 Lower Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C. V8K 2V3 Phone: 250-537-9933 / Email: news@driftwoodgimedia.com Websites: www.driftwoodgimedia.com; www.gulfislandstourism.com; www.gulfislandsdriftwood.com Publications Mail Reg. #08149 Printed in Canada

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March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 3

7

contents MARCH/APRIL

TANTALIZERS! PAGE 6

25

COVER STORY

Giselle Paquet shares her authentic, colourful self, PAGE 7 We've got you covered from head to toe with help from fine Salt Spring artisans, PAGES 8-15

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CREATIVE ARTS

Joanna Rogers' garments make more than fashion statements, PAGE 16 Finding home theme inspires women's writing group on Salt Spring Island, PAGE 33

NATURE

Rhen's Poetry: Life in the islands after the windstorm, PAGE 21

VENTURES

The name says it all at Art & Soul Craft Gallery on Galiano, PAGE 25

12

COMFORT FOOD

Hughson Welch's path from Grenada to Montreal to Salt Spring, PAGE 36

Q&A

Sue Earle creates magic with fabric and thread, PAGE 38

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• Nettlefest returns for the 12th year on Galiano Island, beginning with two evenings of cooking classes on April 4-5, a foraging walk and nettle pick on April 6, and culminating in the community potluck and nettle cooking competition on the evening of April 7. See the galianoclub.org website for all the details.

• The Easter weekend comes late this year, so the weather should be good for the special events that take place around that time. On Salt Spring Island those include the Japanese Garden Society’s Blossom Picnic, Stagecoach Theatre School’s annual spring production and Earth Day festivities. The Salt Spring Arts Council’s Easter Art Show this year features southern Gulf Islands artists in an exhibit at Mahon Hall, as well as artist talks, workshops and more.

• On Saturna Island, a special Easter Market is set for the community hall on Easter Monday, April 22 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• The Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney has some exciting acts coming up this month. The arts centre rocks out with Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts on Sunday, March 10, followed by Tom Cochrane on Tuesday the 12th. On March 23-24, Ballet Etoile presents a family-friendly version of The Sleeping Beauty, full of princesses, fairies and magic set to music by Tchaikovsky.

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• Salt Spring’s Viva Chorale choir’s spring program is called With Joy and will take place at Fulford Hall on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m. Director Caroni Young and her choir will be joined by guests Jubilate Vocal Ensemble from Vancouver. Jubilate is an award-winning choir that specializes in new Canadian music.

• Congrats go to Jo’s Place on Pender Island for being a top-10 finalist for Best Community Impact in the 2019 Small Business B.C. Awards.

“Jo and Alex Down have created a pivotal gathering place for Penderites, and for visitors to Pender Island,” states the awards program’s website.

“Their energy, enthusiasm and dedication to the concept of 'hospitality' is unparalleled, and their passion for serving good food to friends and the local community, at a fair price, sets them apart.

Tourists love Jo’s, too!” Jo’s Place was also nominated in the Best Employer category. jen maclellan PHOTO

Tantalizers

At left: Nettlefest outing from 2016.

Above: Blossom Picnic chirashi bowl.

Cover Story

Riot of

Giselle Paquet elevates daily wear into fashion

BY ELIZABETH NOLAN Photos by Marc Kitteringham

Women looking for a completely different take on couture have a new option on the Gulf Islands with Giselle’s Art to Wear. But they’d better be comfortable with colour and with being noticed.

The woman behind the label is Giselle Paquet, a voracious consumer of colour and texture who has transformed her passion into one-of-a-kind wearable artworks.

Having retired from a career in financial planning four years ago at age 60, Paquet has spent the time since in a stunning burst of creative output. Like a dusty desert that becomes transformed into a carpet of wildflowers after rainfall, she is evidently making up for her drier years.

Giselle’s Art to Wear envelops the body in the designer’s creative impulse as it’s focused on the core, whether taking shape as dazzling sweaters with cascading ruffs or knee-length swing coats in contrasting patterns and colours. Paquet’s designs are based on existing patterns but combine different elements that she likes: a wide collar and lapels here or rippling “alligator seams” there. A plainer fabric might get sparkle with crystals on the collar or glittery buttons.

Some of Paquet’s favourite materials come from vintage drapes. Taking her inspiration from the fabric and artworks in her head waiting to be realized, she doesn’t care what’s popular with other people.

“My thing is I want it to be fun. I want it to be a smile when I put it on, never mind if you or somebody else sees it.

Hopefully they see the fun in it too and it puts a smile on their face,” Paquet says.

Paquet spent most of her adulthood in southern California, where she raised her two sons and ran her business as a financial planner. She started thinking about a new path after her husband died unexpectedly at age 55, and had five years to plan it out while her younger son attended high school. She had thought about Seattle and then Victoria, but Salt Spring kept coming up in the real estate listings.

“I came and I was ‘home.’ It was like I just landed and there I was. It was like coming home on every level that I could possibly think of,” she says.

Paquet’s childhood in Quebec with a domineering father and few choices wasn’t the kind of environment to inspire a maverick fibre artist; she didn’t pursue any artwork then except in her head as a way of escape. The lack is painful to consider, seeing how vital colour is to her daily life now. Her Channel Ridge home’s interior walls are painted shades of hot pink, popsicle orange and lime green. Her designs also feature a lot of pink, often paired with green for a delightfully fresh contrast. Fashionista black is not in her palette.

“My father didn’t have any boys, he had four girls. So he made me his boy,” Paquet explains. “I’d be up the roof, I’d be cutting wood, I’d be doing what have you. Pink wasn’t in my anything, and over time I realized I can now 'do pink,' and I went a little crazy.”

“Black and white are not colours to me.

They’re not even colours that I see. It’s not what I’m looking at,” she adds.

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March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 7

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1. 1960s and patchwork styles converge 2. A city-theme fabric coat in process 3. Giselle Paquet 'doing pink' in her studio space

When Paquet was leaving high school in Québec, girls were basically given a choice between getting married or becoming teachers. Because she was good at numbers an advisor suggested she might be able to do accounting, so she went on to get her finance degree.

“Which was good, you know. I made money, I helped other people make money. But it wasn’t fun like this. So I think if anything I’m getting back to my authentic self,” she says.

After taking up knitting, Paquet taught herself to sew because there were pieces just waiting to be birthed, as she describes it: “Because I’ve opened the door up to as many as I’ve done, there’s like a line-up in my head,” she says.

She didn’t take sewing classes, although she did attend a week-long

couture class in Washington, D.C. where she made a couple of Chanel jackets. This was good practice since most of the work is hand-made, and she wanted to see how they were done inside as well as outside.

In a strange way, Paquet’s strong grasp of numbers has helped her to understand and adapt to the mechanical aspects of sewing and patterns.

Her self-taught path has also given her the freedom to try new things that traditionally trained tailors might not attempt.

“I don’t even have that voice anymore saying ‘Don’t do this,’” Paquet says. “And it’s not going to be the same next time. Because if I did something one way, you might be expecting me to do it again; there’d be expectations. But not if I’m my authentic self.”

Paquet travels a lot and keeps her eye out for interesting woven fabrics.

She goes to vintage shops and shows, and sometimes people gives away stuff that is meaningful to her. Some of her material came from the collection of Jim Erickson, Salt Spring’s Oscar-winning art director and quilting enthusiast.

The resulting output has been wide and eclectic. Paquet is just starting to think more about sales since she’d already spent a lifetime running her own business and hasn’t been very interested in the marketing side of her coats. Mostly people see her wearing her designs at the grocery store and ask about them, which can lead to a visit and a purchase.

More exciting pieces are surely on the way; Paquet’s dedication to her creative urge is absolute. She is open to making custom coats for clients if given sufficient creative freedom, but she is an artist first and foremost.

“You have to allow the fabric to do what it wants to do. And if I go see the fabric and I don’t think it’s going to do what you want to do, then I won’t do it,” Paquet says. “It’s not going to be what you see as happy, fun, etc. And if I can’t come up with that then you’re not going to be happy either.

“So I’m really, finally listening to myself. For some reason that was not part of my life.”

Paquet can be reached at 250-580-4330 or gp727@yahoo.com.

Nathan deBridge Bowes Soul Path Shoes

SouL Path Shoes are sold around the world but are made on Salt

“I started because I wanted to make something with my hands.”

Page 8 – AQUA – March/April 2019

Spring by Nathan deBridge Bowes.

Starting out with sandals and now focusing on a moccasinboot hybrid, Nathan has made his name as an artisan by using high-quality materials and a process that takes into account each customer’s needs, all the while incorporating a beautiful palette of unique design elements.

His boots are based on a traditional moccasin pattern that was updated in the 1960s to permit sewing machine use and tougher materials, including a rubber soul. Every pair he makes is a one-of-a-kind creation fitted to the foot, with customers choosing everything from leather colours to boot height, button design and decorative elements such as vines and leaves or

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birds. His most popular creation for men is based on the Kurt Russell character Jack Burton and comes with a hidden knife sheath. Female clients tend to have far-ranging and personalized tastes.

Nathan and his family moved to the island six years ago from the West Kootenays, a change that coincided with his decision to make a full-time living with his art.

His entry into leatherwork came about 10 years ago.

“I started because I wanted to make something with my hands,” Nathan explains. “I spent a lot of my life putting energy into playing music, and I had this desire to do something artistic and useful in another way, and so I chose leatherwork.”

The interest in footwear came during a year of travel through Europe, Africa and Asia. While in Zimbabwe, Nathan wanted to find some leather sandals made by a local artisan and couldn’t find anyone doing that. Since he had his tools and some books with him, he decided to figure out how to make his own. After finishing the trip he advanced to making his first closed shoe.

“I think I’ve learned that one of my gifts is perseverance because I’m mostly self-taught,” Nathan says. “I had no one there to teach me how to do it. Other than the basic training I got, there was no one nearby to ask questions of or doing that kind of thing.”

Now boasting a six-month waiting list, Nathan relies on word of mouth and a solid online presence for his clientele to find him. See www.soulpathshoes.com for more information.

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1. 'Jack Burton' boots with hidden knife sheath 2. Magical druid moccasins 3. Feather embellishment on pair of moccasins (Photos by Nathan deBridge Bowes)

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Dana Pennington, left, and assistant Joanna Taylor.

“Hats were a very practical choice in terms of environmental suitability and economies of scale."

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1. Rainwalker hat made from waterproof polyurethane 2. Variety of hats in the DCP Designs studio 3. Industrial serger in the work space (marc kitteringham photos)

DCP line of hats has evolved from business owner Dana Pennington's decision to focus on a single product suitable for life on the west coast.

“Hats were a very practical choice in terms of environmental suitability and economies of scale,” she says.

Beginning with a simple canvas sunhat, DCP Designs now includes several styles and fabrics in sun and rain hats.

The basic hat designs have not changed much over the years, says Dana.

“What has changed is the diversity of designs, styles and fabrics that make up the evolving DCP line. Every year we attempt to add a new design to the collection while exploring new fabrics, colours, trims, techniques and technologies suitable for a small business.

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“The marketplace is constantly changing, including availability of materials and consumer preferences.”

Dana currently employs three assistants: Linda Taylor, Hannah Michaels and Charlie Pelzer.

“Hats are quite a complicated process, involving the shaping of a two-dimensional surface over an irregular sphere. The production of a design requires consistent focus and commitment to the smallest detail through all stages of construction."

Dana also values the feedback her assistants provide.

“We work together to improve and maintain a consistently high-quality product.”

DCP Designs also makes totes and bags, and is developing lines of linen pants, skirts, sundresses and tops for women’s summer casual wear.

Dana is proud to be an artisan of the Waterfront Gallery and the Artcraft summer show held at Mahon Hall. She can be reached through her dcpdesigns.com website.

Rhino Jewelry The Gulf Islands are a treasure trove of wonderful

michael levy photo

Rachel Mclaughlin

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“Each step in constructing a ring, for example, is equally important as the previous. Taking the time to make it right is tremendously satisfying.”

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jewellers, including Rachel McLaughlin of Rhino Jewelry.

She started making and designing beaded jewelry in 2011, but after a year or so realized she wanted to incorporate her own metal findings into her work. She signed up for a metalsmithing course at Vancouver Community College and was instantly hooked. After several courses at VCC, she began learning from Salt Spring Island master goldsmith Martin Ebbers.

She started out wanting to make metal findings, such as clasps, beads and ear wires.

“But once I began working with metal, it became centre stage, the focal point in my designs. Bold geometric shapes started to take over my sketch pad. I discovered Richard Serra and his huge metal sculptures inspired me to create similar pieces on a smaller, wearable scale.”

Earrings, such as brightly polished sterling silver hexagon hoops and geometric studs, are Rachel’s “bread and butter.” She strives to create classic pieces with a modern twist.

Rachel is a solo designer and metalsmith, but her husband Jesse helps with graphic design, quality control and digging jewelry out of the tumbler late at night.

She says patience is something she has learned through years of practising her craft.

“Each step in constructing a ring, for example, is equally important as the previous. Taking the time to make it right is tremendously satisfying.”

Rachel has also learned to balance the business side of being an entrepreneur with the fun part of making the jewelry.

Currently her work can be found at Waterfront Gallery, Salt Pure Goods, Artcraft and Wintercraft on Salt Spring Island as well as through rhinojewelry.ca.

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1. Sterling silver 'Mel statement' earrings (rachel mclaughlin photo) 2. Bar hoop earrings and nose ring (jessica wilson photo) 3. Pendant and stackable bracelets (jessica wilson photo)

March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 11

Cheyenne Goh of Salt Spring Tweed makes one-of-a-

trevor willism photo

Cheyenne Goh

Salt Spring Tweed

“I thought I’d make a bag. How hard could it be? Having never made a bag before it seemed very doable. Sometimes ignorance can really work for you.”

kind upcycled purses and larger bags, using previously loved fabrics such as tweed jackets.

Cheyenne made her first bag over 14 years ago after she had just moved to Canada. She wanted a new purse but couldn’t find anything she liked.

“So I thought I’d make a bag,” she explains.

“How hard could it be? Having never made a bag before it seemed very doable. Sometimes ignorance can really work for you.”

But it also made perfect sense since she had experience as a craft consultant with NGOs in South East Asia.

“My main job was to come up with contemporary and functional designs for products to be made by villagers from materials that were locally accessible, overlooked or just plain waste. These products would then be sold to resorts, hotels or gift shops in the region, thus generating income for the village.”

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She finds that for the bags made from jackets, many people are attracted to the brightly coloured ones but end up choosing the more conservative grey tones.

Ask our residents:

Life is divine here.

Lois and Bente share their ‘me-time’ over a fine glass of wine.

Shot on location at Peninsula at Norgarden Page 12 – AQUA – March/April 2019

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Her designs and ideas have changed over the years, quite organically.

“Customers at the market or the studio tell me what they need and I work to figure out how to make that. It started out with the recycled jacket bags. Someone wanted a laptop bag, so I made flat ones with extra padding. Then someone had a bigger laptop, so I made a larger one. Then a cyclist wanted a rucksack that could convert into a messenger bag.”

Her favourite part of the creative process is giving unexpected practical uses to things people throw away.

“Lack of imagination is no excuse for creating unnecessary waste,” she says.

That concern for the environment has found her focusing on more earth-friendly products that encourage less use of plastics. Those include keep-fresh veggie bags, zero-waste mesh bags, reusable market totes, poufs and more.

Cheyenne’s bags and assorted green goods can be found on www.saltspringtweed.com, at the Salt Spring Saturday Market, her studio (#6 for the 2019 Salt Spring Studio Tour) and at Artcraft and Wintercraft.

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1. Large messenger bag (Melinda Parks-Divers photo) 2. Veggie storage bags (amanda seip photo) 3. Tall messenger bag (josh williams photo)

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– AQUA – Page 13

Judith Dios

Nuno-Felt Clothing Judith Dios makes scarves, wraps, accessories and clothing such as kimonos, vests,

“Feltmaking captivated me when I discovered I can have a ‘conversation’ with the felt. I can feel the fibres transform in my hands, and therefore, I feel a connection.”

Page 14 – AQUA – March/April 2019

dresses and more using a nuno-felting technique, which was developed in Australia in 1992. The word “nuno” is Japanese for “cloth.”

Made from fabrics such as merino wool and silk gauze, Judith's pieces are ultra-feminine and evoke the feeling of bright watercolour paintings. The raw, undyed fibres are in fact hand painted and she makes beautiful rosettes to embellish her creations.

Judith explains how she became enamoured with nuno felting: “When my children left for college, I felt like it was my turn to ‘bloom,’ but I had no idea of what that would look like! One day, a friend told me about ‘nuno’ felt. She said it was light, ethereal, sheer . . . and that it is felt! I wondered, ‘How can that

1.

2.

be?’ When I looked it up online, I was smitten immediately and was determined to learn the technique.”

Judith says she dabbled in many artistic mediums through the years, but none of them inspired enthusiasm.

“Feltmaking captivated me when I discovered I can have a ‘conversation’ with the felt. I can feel the fibres transform in my hands, and therefore, I feel a connection.”

How does living on Salt Spring impact her work?

“It is impossible to live on Salt Spring Island without being inspired by the infectious creative energy of the many talented artists here,” she says. “I’ve also learned other fibre techniques from several island artists, such as spinning and dyeing, that I use to enhance my work.”

Judith is currently spending more of her time teaching and has not been marketing her work, but will submit some pieces to Artcraft this year. If someone is interested in a private showing, or would like to commission a piece, she can be contacted through her website at judithdios.com.

3.

1. Nuno-felted vest (Courtney Dios photo) 2. Circle garment (judith Dios photo) 3. Kimono (judith Dios photo)

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Island Artists

Joanna Rogers melds ideas with fashion

By CHERIE THIESSEN Photos as credited

A visit to Joanna Rogers’ home and studio is like reading a good book, with each chapter layering what came before while intriguing the reader with surprises still to come.

“A lot of my pieces are from things that would be thrown away.”

Page 16 – AQUA – March/April 2019

Every space reflects the evolution of her art. A 6’ x 3.5’ cope of 600 to 700 feathers hanging above the sofa has me reaching for my camera as I enter. Called Daedalus’ Cope, Rogers tells me it was inspired by the Icarus myth. (A “cope” is a loose-fitting cape or cloak used by clerics and priests during celebrations.)

“A lot of my ideas are hidden within the works,” she explains. “I always start with an idea. I had been collecting feathers for a few years and I wanted to do something with them. I decided on a Medieval cope and was immersing myself in the myth of Icarus and the wings, but my initial concept often changes as I work because I become more and more involved with the idea and it takes me off in a different direction.”

We all know what happened to Icarus when he was escaping Crete in the wings his father had made for them both. Hubris lured him too close to the sun, his wings melted, and he fell. The title and the feathers naturally bring this myth to mind, but also the viewer can’t help but think of the birds these feathers came from, their dwindling numbers and the threats to their environment.

Rogers refers to the tension that exists when you combine history with contemporary issues.

“Even if I think I am making something that is just about colour and light, my brain can’t help but layer messages into it. There is something compelling about mixing old, even ancient, traditions with modern materials or ideas. Something that should provide comfort, protection, or just beauty, becomes thorny and uncomfortable and makes us really think about the issues being addressed in the piece.”

An avid environmentalist, this artist doesn’t like to throw anything into the landfill. Shards of glass will be saved to make a statement about politician’s promises. Broken bits of shell will illustrate homelessness. Does she always come up with the ideas first? I want to know.

“I collected the glass and the shells with a specific purpose in mind,” she tells me. “I wanted the broken pieces to represent all the broken promises of politicians after they’ve been elected. I wanted the shells because they have been homes for a least two creatures, but now that they’re broken they can no longer provide shelter. They represent the homeless crisis that politicians keep saying they will solve with more housing.”

But often it’s the objects themselves that will eventually be the idea from which an evocative work of art will spring.

“A lot of my pieces are from things that would be thrown away.

Then I have to figure out how I am going to make them into something.”

Take bubble wrap, for example. Up until recently, it could not be recycled, so in “re-branding” it into art, she could give it new life.

“My job then was stressful. I used to collect bubble wrap to pop and then I saved it, thinking one day I’m going to use it. Finally I decided to make a crazy quilt out of it and then I made a whole bunch of pieces that were exhibits in a show I called ‘Under Wraps - Redressing History.’ They all were made of bubble wrap that had been melted and painted. The whole idea was that I was redressing history to include women and their contributions. Clothes were used to represent history and quilting patterns represented the role of women in history. I made these patterns out of bubble wrap and superimposed them on garments that would have been worn by men. The whole idea was to excavate what all these women had done, work that has been obscured by history. That was a lot of fun and a lot of work. It March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 17

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showed first in 1999 at the Helen Pitt Gallery in Vancouver and since then in public galleries and artist-run centres in B.C., Ontario and Ohio.”

The shows and exhibits before and since then are many and varied: 12 solo shows and 50 group shows across Canada. She has been featured in numerous magazine articles, received five grants and commissions, and in 2017 was selected one of 50 finalists from across Canada for the second biennial Salt Spring National Art Prize exhibition at Mahon Hall in Ganges. This year her work will also be seen on Salt Spring at the show called Homage over Easter.

Trained at Capilano College (receiving an Associate of Fine Arts degree) and Trent University (a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology), Rogers developed a strong interest in anthropology and textile history. She spent 10 years in Peterborough, Ont. and then moved to Vancouver for 10 years before coming to Pender Island with her then partner. They were talked into the move by a good friend on Pender who couldn’t understand why the couple would be considering going to Cumberland on Vancouver Island when they could live in paradise, like him. It was a move she never regretted.

The textile artist, who works with natural dyes and loves silk, says while there are a lot of artists working with fibre, there are not many who incorporate found objects in the way she does. I can believe that. When have I last seen a tunic made from bread tags, for example? Or a shirt made from the artist’s own abundant hair?

“There seems to be a fair-sized market for it,” she says. “My pieces range from $250 for a 2’x4’ piece to $5,000 for my larger pieces, like the copes.”

Fabrics and fibres were always in the cards for her.

“I always sewed and first got involved in fibre art through paper making.

I just loved every aspect of it and realized how much I loved fabric and embroidery thread, so after some years I evolved into this. I often wonder how my art would have turned out if I stayed in Vancouver because there I was working with man-made waste. It’s where I finished my Under Wraps series. When I moved to Pender my pieces reflected my experiences of being here, containing things that I collected in the woods and the shore, so my work really changed.”

And while only the very adventurous might consider wearing creations like the Salal Armour or the Arbutus Dress or the Bubble Dress to a cocktail party or Sunday church, Rogers can be seen wearing one of her creations at ZOO-isLANDER, North Pender’s imaginative and fun fashion show held every February.

The silk scarves, however, are another matter. They are very wearable for any occasion.

“I’ve been making those for a long time now. They’re hand dyed and for sale at outlets like Artcraft and Wintercraft on Salt Spring, and Talisman Books on Pender as well as various gallery shops around B.C. and on the online site, Etsy. Sometimes when I am working on a big piece and it’s just not coming together I can decide to work on a scarf instead and it clears my mind. All I’m thinking about is colour and the sensation of the silk. There are no hidden messages behind my scarves, just colour and beauty redolent of sunsets or sunrises, or the reflection of light on water, things like that.”

I want to know more about how the works evolve, so she explains that initially it’s just a trace of an idea that has no form; the process is about giving shape to that idea.

“That can take hours or days or months. Once I have been able to visualize the idea, then I make sketches and then I write down all the ideas that have been going through my head. Next I start getting the objects together for it: stones, ribbons, bones, bark, etc. and I go into my storage area and start pulling out what I need and go searching for what I don’t have. My creations are so layered that I have to sort things out before I begin. I can’t just jump in and then think later ‘I should have done this or that.’”

Above, from left, tunic made from bread tags; Salal Armour featuring salal leaves. Below, cope made from fibre and tea packet bags. (Joanna Rogers photos) Page 16: Artist Joanna Rogers models her creations at Pender Island's ZOOisLANDER fashion show. (Rachel Lenkowski photo)

But creating stunning work out of bread tags, tea bag wraps and bubble wrap? Wow! Like a good book, Rogers’ work is carefully crafted and not easily summed up. It’s incredibly clever. It’s visually intriguing and often beautiful. It’s meticulous and challenging. I won’t forget this visit any time soon.

Artist website: joannarogers.ca Rogers’ scarves and small pieces can be purchased at Etsy.com/shop/ThreeFatesStudio.

• This year’s Easter Art Show on Salt Spring Island is called Homage and will feature Rogers and 44 other artists from Salt Spring and Pender exhibiting from April 19 to 28 at Mahon Hall.

“I’ve been delighted with the response,” says curator Patrick McCallum. “I feel very confident we’ll be featuring the very best of our local painters, printmakers, ceramic, glass and sculptural artists, working in a wide range of styles and mediums.” The Easter Art Show also features events, workshops, panel discussions and performances.

• Joanna's show called Same, Same But Different will be held at Sea Star Winery on Pender from June 28 to 30. The show’s other two artists are Kelly Irving and Stan Oglov.

• ZOO-IsLANDER, a very different sort of fashion show, is held each February on Pender Island.

You can get information at penderzooislander@gmail.com or check out their Facebook page.

• Visitors to Pender should check the BC Ferries site at www.bcferries.com for ferry times, hotel packages and possible special rates.

March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 19

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The name of Sandra Froese’s gallery is extremely apt. She

really has put her “heart” and soul into this welcoming and lively storefront in Galiano’s Sturdies Bay, a few minutes walk from the ferry terminal.

She came to Galiano from Vancouver almost 33 years ago, seeking a quieter lifestyle. Ten years later she decided to open Art & Soul, providing visitors and islanders with a place to buy myriad gifts, art and clothing.

“I started the business in 1996 and gradually built up stock over the years. I had realized there was a need on Galiano for a tourism-oriented business providing Galianobranded clothing as well as being a venue for our skillful local artists and craftspeople to showcase their work,” she tells me.

March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 25

I’ve allowed myself half an hour for a visit but it is obvious to me that it won’t be nearly enough time.

At 440 square feet. the gallery is smallish but there is so much vibrant colour snaring the eye, so many textures to stroke and scents to inhale, it’s sensory overload!

The owner is adding some new bars of her beautifully packaged lavender, pink grapefruit, mango, cranberry and spearmint soaps to her display.

A long-time member of the island’s Dandelion Gallery, which closed about 20 years ago, her interest in arts and crafts has been a life-long passion.

“I’ve always been a craftsperson and I sell my own crafts in the store: soap, bath products, jewellery, fabric and crocheted items like cowls, ear warmers, gloves and coffee cup cozies. For many years I had wanted my own shop and to be my own boss. I can definitely say that I am the ‘go to’ store on Galiano for Galiano-branded clothing. I am also focusing now on native art clothing.”

Froese shows me some of her other new lines.

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Jenn Doucette, left, and Kathleen Darby sport hoodies professing their love for their island home at Art & Soul Craft Gallery, where they can be purchased.

Previous page: Crafts made from wood, ceramics, fibres and more in one part of the gallery.

Page 25, from top: Starfish and paintings on a gallery wall; proprietor Sandra Froese.

sustainably based clothing and I am now carrying bamboo leggings, T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies as well as sweaters in organically sourced merino wool. This spring I will be focusing on building up new fashion lines in my bamboo line of clothing. Two of my favourite companies for this are C’est Moi Clothing and Jerico Clothing from Toronto. Jerico Clothing manufactures their clothing in Canada, a rarity these days.”

When I reach out to stroke the soft leggings, she tells me that they are her most popular item.

“They’re so soft and comfortable. Customers buy one pair and come back again and again for more colours!”

I’m thinking that getting up early for my exercise classes on Pender would be a whole lot easier if I had a pair of these to slip into.

If she’s not serving customers, organizing her stock, putting out her new batch of soaps or displaying her jewellery, you’ll probably find her busy crocheting in the back.

“There’s a lot of down time when you run a shop, and quiet hours to fill, especially off season, so I crochet these in the store and it definitely helps to pass the time.”

The native art clothing: hoodies, T-shirts, vests and hats, comes from Native Northwest and Non Fiction Design out of Vancouver.

“Native Northwest is probably one of the biggest supporters and marketers of native art clothing and products in Canada. I have dealt with Non Fiction Design since day one of my shop and like myself it’s still run by the original owner.”

I’m grazing through the racks and smiling at some of the PJs and nighties, very Canada inspired: moose, beavers, frogs and deer with attitude. Looking at the native art tops with their designs of whales and ravens and eagles I can’t help but enjoy all the Canadiana surrounding me.

But wait . . . I sniff. Which of the candles or soaps is coffee scented? (Why not? Most of us adore the scent of fresh coffee and I

happen to know that Mayne Lights actually sells a lot of coffee-scented candles.) Froese laughs. “No, you’re really smelling coffee.”

She points to a selection of six different coffees above her crocheted hats. Locally roasted too. I’m calling this gallery’s offerings eclectic Canadian. And to go with it — chocolate, of course, from Denman Island.

So now even the sensation of taste can be indulged in this trove of treasures!

In addition to clothing, in addition to the coffee and chocolate, in addition to the crocheted hats, the clothing and the native art, the gallery offers candles, pottery, glassware, travel mugs and art by islanders like Keith Holmes, Ronaldo Norden and Monica Burrow.

“Monica does those small paintings, a great keepsake and memento of Galiano. Where else can you take away a small, affordable painting for $50 of local scenery?” Froese asks. No kidding, where else indeed?

Eventually I look upwards and notice all the starfish at home on the walls. They look real. Are they, I ask?

“No,” I’m told. “But I get that all the time. They’re made by D3 Handmade Products from Salt Spring Island. They make them out of cement composite from an original mold so no starfish are killed in the process. You know, I find myself leaning more and more towards sustainable, environmentally friendly products. Like many of us I have a huge concern over too much plastic in our environment and I love products that can be reused again and again.”

You know how sometimes you go into an outlet and you really want to buy something: a gift, a souvenir, something for yourself, and you can’t find a thing that interests you? The problem with Art & Soul is that there is too much to buy. You could buy all your gifts for anyone here and you could do it while feeling good about yourself at the same time. You know you are supporting islanders, helping create a sustainable lifestyle and buying from a local and supportive owner.

“Often craftspeople or artists know of my store and will come to see me directly. I no longer attend gift shows as I find them disappointing and mostly marketing imported items,” says Froese.

“I totally support local craftspeople and artisans and the need of a venue to showcase their work.”

Small businesses that survive on the southern Gulf Islands for more than a few years are pretty rare. The fact that Art & Soul Craft Gallery has continued to serve its artists, visitors and locals for well over two decades says it all.

Art & Soul can be found online at artandsoulcraftgallery.com, on Facebook and Instagram.

March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 27

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Community

Finding Home Women’s Writing Circles on Salt Spring

By ANDREA PALFRAMAN | Photos as credited

T

he boundaries of our island community are defined by the ocean that surrounds us. That may explain the underlying affinity that flows through Salt Spring, made manifest in how long it takes to get from one end of the Saturday Market to the other. Though we come with different origin stories, island living brings a sense of shared identity: regardless of where we come from, we’re all finding home here on the rock.

It’s that ineffable interconnectedness that is captured in a new collection of stories written by island women.

Each of the authors of the collection, called Finding Home, have been members of monthly women’s writing circles. Skilfully guided

by Wendy Judith Cutler, the circles are comprised of women who have previously taken a “WomenWriting” workshop. Many workshop attendees choose to keep meeting every month long after the class is over. Inspired by Cutler’s very first memoir writing workshop — offered following a teaching career in the U.S. — small, overlapping circles of women writers have been convening consistently, month after month, for over a decade.

“The invitation to join other women to write, read aloud, share what we’ve written and witness one another’s writings inspires deepening connections and a sense of community,” says Cutler.

After decades as an instructor in writing and women’s studies at Portland State University and UC Santa Cruz, she immigrated to Salt

Spring with her life partner Corrie Hope Furst. Since 2006, Cutler has focused on her own writing projects and on leading women’s journalling and memoir workshops.

The structures of the circles are drawn from the book called Writing Alone Together: Journalling in a Circle of Women for Creativity, Compassion and Connection. Cutler and her co-authors, Ahava Shira and Lynda Monk, collaborated for seven years to create this resource for writers and mentors. “The Four Practices” outlined in the book are: writing freely (without censoring); reading aloud (always with choice); listening deeply (to oneself and others); and witnessing.

“These practices create the foundation for the writing, sharing and intimacy that occurs each time the circles meet,” says Cutler.

This sharing of words, hearts and lives can feel more like therapy than literature, although, in the course of over a decade of writing together, honed by mutually supportive feedback and consistent practice, some poetic gems have emerged from Cutler’s magic circles.

Each month, the members of the circles gather together in each other’s living rooms, share food (a necessity), bring journals and pen (or laptop) and the as-yet-unwritten words. During the next three hours, members alternate between writing, reading aloud and sharing, allowing their creative selves to come forth.

According to Cutler, “It is a process of deep listening, vulnerability and active trust-building.”

They write from a prompt — a word, phrase, question, quotation, March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 33

or a theme that emerges from the discussion. Cutler shares passages from recent or long-ago memoirists, essayists and novelists (mostly women) or pulls a divinity card to stir the creative embers. Then the room grows quiet and people write and write. Through the ritual of quietly writing together and alone, the stories take flight to be birthed on the living page.

It’s out of this process that the Finding Home ollection came to life.

At a winter solstice writing gathering in 2016, the writing prompt “How did you come to live here?” spawned an outpouring of stories.

People wrote about crawling ashore after divorce, bankruptcy or a tragic accident. Some described coming to Salt Spring deliberately, in search of a handmade life. Some chose Salt Spring by closing their eyes and stabbing randomly at the map, while some came to spend one afternoon and vowed to someday, somehow, return. Still others were born here, meandered awhile, and felt the magnetic pull draw them back.

As women took turns reading aloud around the table, it became clear that they were assembling a superb mixture of stories, styles and experiences. None had yet imagined publishing anything collectively, but many were beginning to find their grooves as writers. There were also notable absences in the circle; two treasured members had passed away.

That awareness of impermanence prompted members to take some of the intangible magic contained in their scrawled journals and make it legible to the wider world.

Thus began the work of polishing their stories, turning to one another for revisions, editing and constructive critiques.

Key themes thread the Finding Home collection. A search for a sense of belonging, the stirrings of creative awakening and a thick streak of self-reliance run through the stories.

Says Cutler, “Through the process and practise of writing alone, together, we start to see our lives writ large. Our stories are containers that to make sense of our experiences.”

Weallow areusthe kitchen equipment experts.

The 17 contributors to the collection, women between the ages of 19 and 79,are represent diversity of voices and experiences.

We the akitchen equipment experts.They are: Aly Coy, Andrea Palframan, Christine Clair-Rein, Corrie Hope Furst, Diana Morris, Ellie Langford Parks, Emma-Louise Elsey, Jane Phillips, Joan Ayles, Linda Hilyer, Lisa Darling, Melanie Gregory-Worsell, Penny Berton, Premilla Pillay, Simone Fidelman, Yarrow Sheehan and Wendy Judith Cutler.

“The intimacy within these circles is profound and moving,” says Cutler. “While writing in circles is more about the process than the product, binding our stories together is a symbolic and powerful valiWealone, are dation — of our lived experiences, our achievements as writers, and the power of circles of women, together.”

Out of the ashes of a houseboat fire, one woman rebuilds a life centred around her passion for cello; a nomadic wanderer finally unpacks in a 10’ x 10’ cabin; a wicked storm drops a small family on the shores areSometimes, the kitchen equipment experts. of SaltWe Spring. they come for love. Rarely, they come for money. Usually, ferries are involved, and always, there is a moment of revelation not so much a place as itexperts. is a state of mind.

Wethat arehome theiskitchen equipment The move from manuscript to perfect-bound paperback was also a We areWaddington the kitchen equipment experts. collaborative effort. Angela provided design and typesetting services while Cutler gathered the stories, encouraged revisions, editedWe and are wrotethe thekitchen introduction.

Joan Ayles experts. provided the art for equipment the cover — an original painting that honoured one of our departed circle members, Rain. Penny Berton provided expert final proofreading for every story.

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andrea palframan photo

The collection was launched at the Salt Spring Public Library last September. The authors’ chairs were set in a half-circle around an altar containing flowers, writing talismans and our journals. At the end of the reading, Cutler encouraged the audience to participate, saying, “Everyone here has a story.

Please turn to the person next to you, in pairs, and share your stories of how you found home on Salt Spring Island.” The resulting hubbub of story-swapping was a wonderful conclusion to a magical evening.

Island women continue to meet as a circle of women to share, eat, laugh and, most importantly, write.

“Our collected stories here are just fragments of bodies of work that each of us continue to hone. I hope we continue to gather for decades more to come,” says Cutler. “I relish the opportunity to inspire women to honour the wisdom and power of their own words.”

If you long to write your life, contact her (www.womenwritingwjc.wordpress.com) and consider participating in one of her WomenWriting workshops.

Keep on the lookout for the next collection. And, next time you meet someone new on the island, or find yourself in a conversation with someone you already know, ask them how they came to live on Salt Spring. Those stories never fail to surprise and enlighten. As islanders, whether we’re introverted, outgoing, calm or boisterous, we’re all bound to these mountains and these shores. We’re all finding home here, together.

Above: Writing circle leader Wendy Judith Cutler reads from Finding Home at the book's launch last September.

Page 33: Book contributors are, back row from left, Ellie Langford Parks, Emma-Louise Elsey, Lisa Dahling, Corrie Hope Furst and Penny Berton. Middle row, from left, Jane Phillips, Joan Ayles, Wendy Judith Cutler and Christine Clair-Rein. Front row, from left, Premilla Pillay, Diana Morris, Aly Coy and Andrea Palframan.

Missing from the group photo are Linda Hilyer, Yarrow Sheehan, Simone Fidelman and Melanie Gregory-Worsell.

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March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 35

Comfort Food

Island of Spice Hughson Welch and Grenada You’d be surprised by how many different nationalities live on Salt Spring Island.

And each one of them has their own comfort food.

BY MARCIA JANSEN

Marcia Jansen is a Dutch journalist and writer who has lived on Salt Spring since 2012. www.ssicomfortfood.com

Page 36 – AQUA – March/April 2019

From left, Keshua, Zyah, Hughson, Hanna and Levi Welch.

I

t was one of the first things Hughson Welch told Hanna Munneke when they started dating back in 2002: “You know I am going back to Grenada, right?”

Flash forward to 2019 and the couple is married with three children and has been living on Salt Spring Island for 13 years now.

It is a snowy afternoon in February when Hughson looks back at his childhood in Grenada: a small island — twice the size as Salt Spring — in the Caribbean Sea, close to Trinidad and Tobago and located northeast of Venezuela.

“Grenada is one of the smallest countries in the world,” says Hughson while his kids Keshua, Levi and Zyah are playing card games in the living room. “I grew up just outside of St. Georges, Grenada’s capital.

My childhood was pretty similar to the life my kids have here, with the forests, the hills and close to the ocean. It’s a bit less warm here, the trees and the culture are different, but I like it that people know each other

and care about each other.”

Cricket is the national sport in Grenada, but Hughson played a lot of football — soccer as it is called here — when he was young. Music was, and still is, one of his other passions.

“My father was an evangelical pastor and going to church was a big part of my life.

Music plays an important role in religion across the Caribbean. My father is a singer and my sister and I both play several instruments,” says Hughson, who was a drummer, pianist and bassist in several Victoria-based bands over the past years.

“Going to church in Grenada was an unforgettable experience,” adds his wife Hanna. “There is a band, a great sound system and the music brought me literally to tears.”

Hughson’s family left Grenada in 1982 after the Marxist–Leninist New Jewel Movement overthrew Grenada’s government in 1979.

“My father was very vocal and had strong opinions about the new government. The pressure was building and he decided it would be better if our family left the country. So they packed their stuff and went to Vancouver where my dad studied theology and my mom fine arts at the university. For me, it was a big adventure. I vividly remember the first time I saw snow.”

After the U.S. invaded Grenada and the revolution ended, Hughson and his family went back in 1984. He finished elementary school and high school there and left his home country again in 1994 when he was 18 years old.

“After I finished high school I wanted to travel, but my mom and dad didn’t agree. They wanted me to think of my future and have a good education. There is a university in Grenada, but it is mostly medical orientated and I didn’t want to go to the other campuses in Trinidad, Jamaica or Barbados. I wanted to expand my world, so when my father was offered a job as a pastor in a Caribbean church in Montreal, we moved again to Canada with our whole family.”

Hughson and Hanna met at Concordia University in Montreal, where Hughson studied political science and economics, with a minor in music, after he finished his study of building systems engineering at CEGEP Vanier College.

“I didn’t finish university, which was a bit of a disappointment to the whole family,” he smiles. But Hughson had a good reason to drop out: he and Hanna were expecting their first child and decided to move to Salt Spring Island. “When we met I told Hanna several times that I wanted to go back to Grenada, but Salt Spring, where Hanna grew up, seemed more logical. My parents were still in Montreal and with a baby on the way, we wanted to live close to family.”

Hughson and Hanna dream about living in Grenada for parts of the year so their kids can get to know their Caribbean roots too.

“The last time we’ve been there as a family was 10 years ago when Levi was a baby and Zyah wasn’t born yet. I‘ve had several jobs over the years, but I want to work more online in sales so we are able to travel and work at the same time.”

Although he loves Caribbean food, Hughson doesn’t cook that much.

“When Hughson and I were dating he made chicken stew for me, a beautiful dish, but I had been a vegetarian for more than eight years and didn’t want to eat it," says Hanna. “I still feel bad about that.”

But the couple is still together and every now and then Hanna makes chicken stew.

“Grenada is called ‘island of spice’ for being a major source of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and cocoa,” says Hughson. “A lot of these spices are used in chicken stew, one of my favourite Grenadian meals. It’s a very common dish in Grenada. You can eat it in almost every restaurant, where it is served with rice, beans and coleslaw. Only the smell of it can make me feel nostalgic.”

Caribbean Chicken Stew Ingredients 6 chicken legs 1 onion, chopped 5 cloves of garlic, minced 1 Tbsp. grated ginger 1 Tbsp. allspice 2 Tbsp. paprika 1 Tbsp. Caribbean Curry Powder (Monsoon Coast’s Trinidad Habanero Curry works well) 5 whole cloves A few dashes fresh grated nutmeg 2 bay leaves A pinch true cinnamon 1/3 c. molasses

1/4 c. soy sauce 1/3 c. ketchup 5-10 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters 1/2 - 1 tsp. Caribbean scotch bonnet pepper sauce (Naomi Singh makes a good one) 1 - 2 tsp. salt Fresh ground black pepper 1/4 - 1/3 c. coconut oil 1/4 c. brown sugar 4 carrots, in chunks 1 can baby corn Approx. 1 litre water

Wash the chicken legs and place them in a large bowl with the rest of the above ingredients. Mix well, and let marinade for 12 to 24 hours, mixing once or twice.

Once chicken is well marinated, separate the legs from the marinade and put them on a plate.

Then, place a large, heavy-bottomed pot on the stove at medium-high heat. Cover the bottom of the pan with 1/4 to 1/3 c. coconut oil and let it melt.

Add the 1/4 c. brown sugar, and keep a close eye on it, stirring frequently. Just before it begins to burn, use tongs to place the chicken in the hot oil and brown sugar, and brown for a couple of minutes on both sides. Repeat until all chicken legs have been browned.

Lower the heat to medium, and place onions and marinade in the pan. Cook, stirring constantly for a few minutes until the onions become translucent. Add the browned chicken to the pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about an hour, partially covered, then add the carrots, tomatoes and baby corn. Simmer for another 40 minutes or so uncovered. The water will reduce, but if it reduces too much, you can add a bit more water. The stew is ready when the chicken is brown through, and falls in chunks off the bone.

Taste, and adjust the salt and pepper.

Serve with coconut rice and beans, fried ripe plantains and coleslaw.

See www.ssicomfortfood.com for the coconut rice and beans recipe.

March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 37

Q&A

Many people know Sue Earle in connection with Duck Creek Farm on Salt Spring, but she is also a talented seamstress.

Q. How and when did you get into making clothes?

A. My mom made a lot of my clothes throughout school, and I started sewing and embroidering when I was 16. Then I worked at a fabric store and really got hooked. When I moved to Dawson City, Yukon in 1981, I starting working for Debbie Winston a.k.a. Lipstick Lou, who taught herself costuming when she ran the Frantic Follies. She had a dry goods store where we made custom clothes. She co-produced can-can and theatrical shows at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s and the Palace Grande. My turn-of-thecentury costuming education was full on. I fell in love with the silhouette of the era, and the variety of fantastic trims, feathers and fabrics that I’d not have a chance to work with otherwise. And I got very proficient at ruffles!

I worked in Vancouver theatre for two years, then studied at Dalhousie University in Halifax to become a professional cutter. I returned to Vancouver theatre freelancing, and did another eight seasons for the Dawson shows, designing and building them. I loved tailoring, but historical women’s dresses became my niche.

Q. What do you like about the process?

A. I love the tactile pleasure of working with fabrics and the challenge and satisfaction of creating garments that people want enough to hire someone to build them. I love saving favourite clothes, darning sweaters, hand sewing and fixing quality items that need a little care.

Q. We hear you have been commissioned to make our MP Elizabeth May’s wedding dress. What can you tell us about that?

A. I got a member’s call from the Green party years ago, and was astounded it was Elizabeth herself calling. It was a treat to speak with her, as I hold her in high esteem. She dropped in to the farm during the Salt Spring Apple Festival that year, and we had a lovely visit.

Seven years ago, at my partner John Wilcox’s memorial, Elizabeth offered to spend a night with me on the farm later that summer. Just as she was leaving, my brother called from Ontario to tell me my ailing mother had taken a turn for the worse. I remember well the words of guidance and support Elizabeth offered, giving me clarity and strength in the moment. I felt so fortunate to have my personal heroine with me at such a challenging Page 38 – AQUA – March/April 2019

ella bronstein photo

Sewing Sue Sue Earle in her studio with Louie.

time, and frequently returned to those words to keep me going. Elizabeth is a treasure.

When I read in the National Observer that Elizabeth was engaged, I sent her a note of congratulations and a question about her wedding dress.

I offered to help her realize her desire, and she accepted! She has never had a dress made for her, and is far from a bridezilla! She knows what she wants, and is fun to work with. She did double check that I can sew when we met about it. I am enjoying creating applique for the dress, but I will keep details secret for now. Her lovely fiancé John Kidder is trying to avoid knowing anything about it, as he’s a traditionalist.

Q. What have been some of your other favourite projects?

A. Currently I am loving sewing the beautiful linen that Lorraine at Rhubarb brings in from Europe, creating clothes for the store. I love creating garments that people dream about (like Kelly Waters’ wedding dress) or most beloved daily or work garments to live in, like just the right shirt.

A highlight was when the costume department at the Playhouse won a special Jessie award (like an Oscar) for The Overcoat, a stunning original production that toured extensively, designed by Nancy Bryant, who is brilliant.

Q. How long have you lived on Salt Spring Island? What brought you here and what makes you stay?

A. We moved to Salt Spring in 2000 to fulfill my dream to live in a smaller community. Loving this community and this land I have been blessed to steward will make me stay. My kids, Eland and Ella, have returned to Salt Spring to help me keep the farm viable, and working with them is great.

Eland’s wife Mei birthed a boy on Feb. 17, so I am a new grandmother. He’s the first grandchild on both sides of our family!

Q. What is something about Sue Earle that most people don’t know?

A. I am in a recent TV documentary about rural Salt Spring, on CBC Gem, called Land & Sea Network (Season 18, Episode 7).

March/April 2019 – AQUA – Page 39

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