Victoria News "Victoria artist creates persona to be Canada's Autograph and Portrait Queen" by Christine Van Reewyk

 

Many Thanks to writer Christine Van Reewyk

Check out the video: Victoria News

Diana Ross, Needle felted wool portrait

Diana Ross

Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2"  — 2021

 

Donna Summer, portrait in wool

 

Donna Summer

Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2" — 2021

Oscar Wilde drawing

 

Oscar

Pen & Ink, watercolour, drawing

22" x 30"

Fiber Art Now - December Issue

Stay Tuned . .  December Issue of Fiber Art Now

 

George Maharis, Drawing

Actor, singer, George Maharis

Pen and Ink, watercolour pencil

22" x 30"

Shawn Alexander Roberts, drawing

"Shawn Alexander Roberts"

AUGUST 28, 1989 – OCTOBER 7, 2020

Pen & Ink, watercolour pencil

22" x 30 "

"Grace and Frankie" drawing

 Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as "Grace and Frankie"

Pen and Ink, watercolour, pencil drawing 

22" x 30"

Jann Arden, drawing

 

Jann

Pen, Ink, pencil, drawing

22" x 30"

Dame Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren

Drawing, Pen & Ink, watercolour

22" x 30"

 

Drawings . . continued . .

George, Paul, John, Ringo

22" x 60"

Pen & Ink, watercolour, drawing

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Drawing Series

Obama, Smith, Atwood

each 22" x 30" on watercolour paper, Ink, pencil, watercolour

 

"I Love Lucy", Needle felted wool portrait of Lucille Ball

 

Lucille Ball

Needle felted wool

24" x 24" x 2" — 2021

"Always and Forever"

"Always and Forever"

Dale & John

Watercolour, Ink, on Paper

22" x 30"

Eddie Izzard, Needle felted wool portrait

English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and activist

Eddie Izzard

Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2"

KD Lang, Needle felted wool portrait

K.D. Lang

Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2"

Kim Novak, from Bell Book and Candle ( with Pyewacket), Needle felted wool portrait

 

Kim Novak, from Bell Book and Candle ( with Pyewacket)

 Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2" — 2021

Quinton Crisp, Needle felted wool portrait

 

Quinton Crisp

Needle felted wool

24" x 24" x 2" — 2021

In the mid 90's I got to meet Quinton at an art opening in SOHO, NY. 

I was part of an exhibition at the Leslie Lohman Foundation at the time.

His style and bravery was a source of inspiration.

Dames, Divas, & Icons

Poster from the "Dames, Divas & Icons" series of portraits.

 

Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria, Needle felted wool portrait

 

Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria

Needle felted wool

24" x 24" x 2" — 2021

(Background downtown Victoria, BC at Christmas)

Oscar Wilde, Needle felted wool portrait

 

Oscar Wilde

Needle felted wool

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Angela Lansbury as Auntie Mame, Needle felted Wool

 

Auntie Mame

Angela Lansbury

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Needle felted wool, foam core

Lauren Bacall, Needle felted wool portrait

 

Lauren Bacall

Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Sarah McLachlan, Needle felted wool portrait

 

Sarah McLachlan

Needle felted wool, foam core 

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

A true pleasure to work on this portrait as Sarah has been an inspiration for over 30 years!

Barbra Streisand, Needle felted wool portrait

 

Barbra Streisand 

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Needle felted wool, foam core

The Dames, Divas and Icons series of portraits continues . . .

Rosalind Russell "Auntie Mame", Needle felted wool portrait

Auntie Mame

Rosalind Russell

Needle felted wool, foam core

24" x 24" x 2" 

Kim Novak, Needle felted wool portrait

Kim Novak and Pyewacket from movie Bell Book and Candle

Needle felted wool, foam

24" x 24' x 2"

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Writing from Michael . .  owner of the Kim Novak portrait:

"A white cat crossed our path this morning, dog Sprocket's and mine. It came on ballet pointe through the pitter-splat and drizzle. Sprocket shot to hind legged attention, straining at the leash. I had to remind him that Pyewacket would not approve. The last few mornings when we've left the house, we've been bid a fond adieu, not by some cheesy dish, but by Kim Novak herself, giving off a most Bell Book Candle vibe. Her image came to haunt the hall wall with the same rattle-your-ribcage-and-let-old-Thumper-out as the famous portraits of Laura, Dorian Gray or even Jenny, whose namesake thrust it at me Christmas day, to my socket-shocked delight. It is a picture, not to be too sheepish, that is truly felt. Artist Dale takes what didn't end in a cocked hat and wand waves it into the raised eyebrow of the Bewitched hubby's nemesis, or the lower lip of you-know-how-to-whistle-don't-you Lauren Bacall. Now I'm no salt-shaken, rabbit-footed dunce. I don't put the heebies in my jeebies over the idea that a picture can snatch a soul. I ship no cargo on the boat that claims a needle with some woodoo can web wrap a spirit just like a fly. And I'm not so easily hair-raised (my spooky doo jumped overboard some time ago) as to cotton to the notion that there are ports where those who spin yarn and loom weave are classed with spiders and the Fates. So don't get the idea I'm going all Salem on Mr. Roberts and his craft, but there are times when that movie star stare makes me check my marbles at the door. Then there is Pyewacket, the feline familiar that drapes across her back and has eyes that want to stalk you to the bone dance. Perhaps it is the fact that it is so uncanny real; that you can reach out and stroke it's fur, that makes it seem as though it were admonishing us to watch our butts and show a little respect for the creatures of the night; the rats, racoons, ducks and deer and especially the cats. Now you may rack it up to long, too long in lockdown, but I swear when Sprocket and I return, two sets of eyes watch us shake the wet off coat and fur and patiently wait for stories of dancers in the dark."

Celine Dion, Needle felted wool portrait

Celine Dion . . .  The Dames, Divas and Icons portrait series continues 

Endora - Agnes Moorhead, Needle felted wool portrait

Agnes Moorehead as Endora from TV Series Bewitched

Needle felted wool, foam

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Needle felted wool portrait of Diva Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Needle felted wool, foam

Portrait of the Artist

Self Portrait

Needle felted wool

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Ava Gardener, Needle felted wool Portrait

Ava Gardener

Needle felted wool portrait

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

Needle felted portrait of Dame Judi Dench

"Dame Judi Dench"

Needle felted wool, foam

24" x 24" x 2"

The portrait series of "Dames, Divas and Icons" continues

Needle felted portrait of Cher

"Cher"

Needle felted wool, foam

24" x 24" x 2"

The portrait series of "Dames, Divas and Icons" continues

Needle felted wool portrait of Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II

Needle felted wool

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

"Dale's Mail", CTV's Adam Sawatsky's Sign Off

A recent visit by Adam Sawatsky to the studio yielded a segment titled "Dale's Mail" 

It focused on the mail art collection of Autographed Portraits that have been arriving at the studio over the past 12 years. The Postcard Series was inspired by a book "The Englishman who Posted Himself and Other Curious Objects" by John Tingey.

Here's the CTV link: Dale's Mail

Thanks Adam for your visit . . great to see you again.

Needle felted portrait of Dame Maggie Smith

Dame Maggie Smith

Needle felted wool, foam

24" x 24" x 2" — 2020

The portrait series has been extended to include Dames, Divas and Icons . . 

First in the series is Dame Maggie as Dora Charleston from the 1976 film "Murder by Death"

Contrapposto: group exhibition featuring local, national, and international artists

All 333 Crocheted "Distorts" on display for the first time

(Thanks to Andrew Niemann for the photos)

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Contrapposto: group exhibition featuring local, national, and international artists 

Exhibition 1-30 November 2019 

Reception Friday 1 November, 7PM

Artist Talk Wednesday 6 November, 7:30PM

w/ Carl Stewart UVic Fine Arts Building

Curator’s Tour Saturday 23 November, 3PM

w/ Kegan McFadden

Artist Talk Wednesday 27 November, 2:30PM

w/ Jade Yumang Camosun College Visual Arts Department

THE VICTORIA ARTS COUNCIL IS THRILLED TO OFFER YOU A VERY DIFFERENT GROUP OF SEVEN … 

Join us for the opening reception of contrapposto, a curated group show with work in beading, weaving, soft sculpture, quilting, and installation by Ryan Josey (Halifax), Lawrence Mandes (Rosthern), Aay Preston-Myint (San Fransisco), Carl Stewart (Ottawa), Dale Roberts (Victoria), Nico Williams (Montreal), and Jade Yumang (Chicago). 

contrapposto places art by seven queer male-identified artists working in textiles and other hand-made forms in conversation as a way of relating to (queer) histories through non-figuration. The title — a reference to classical sculpture popularized by perhaps the most famous queer artist, Michelangelo– is a red herring and is meant to act as a counter to the work on display, allowing for the artists to be seen as butting up against the hegemony of classification and supposed ‘masters.’ These works operate in opposition to oppressive forces and attempt to offer a new way of seeing histories as well as imagining futures. The work is held-up or in place by what came before, though is also unencumbered and in a sense allowed to be seen because of such tension it presents through the denial of the (male) figure. – Kegan McFadden, exhibition curator

The work on display references a wide variety of source material, taking inspiration from underground publishing (gay social magazines and comic books) to BDSM sex practices, from homophobic murder to nautical signage, and matrilineal histories to personal talismans. 

Image: Jade Yumang, Page 37 (“I Was A Homo for FBI, Beg’nr’s Guide to Cruising”), 2018 

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Exhibition hours: Tues-Sat|12pM to 5PM

Needle felted wool Portrait of Lipsynka

Needle felted wool portrait of Lipsynka

24" x 24" x 2"

Wool, foam core

Needle felted wool portrait of "Miss Chief" Kent Monkman

Needle felted wool portrait of Miss Chief

24" x 24" x 2"

wool, foam core