Vickie Grey and Cordelia Ann Bates

Theme / concept        Nature, summer, our mutual love of flowers and gardening.

Vicki Gray

Fibre Art Piece                        Iridescence

Both Ann and I derive inspiration from nature and things around us.  Our mutual love of flowers and gardening influenced our selection of irises as a subject.  In keeping with the “Together” theme, I have used a sketch of Ann’s for one of my irises while the others are my own creations.  Thread and fabric, both commercial and hand-dyed, have become my palette.  As a fibre artist, I have the added option of using a third dimension which I have done by adding and stuffing the iris petals and stiffening the leaves, allowing them to protrude and extend beyond the edge. 

Ann BatesWatercolour Painting             Iris

 "During the summer of 2010 my friend Vicky Gray contacted me and suggested we enter the show, she submitting her quilt work and I, my watercolor work.  We decided on a theme of Irises.  I waited patiently this spring for the Iris to bloom and finally found some in a neighbour’s yard and made some preliminary sketches.  The cold, rainy spring weather delayed my work but finally a beautiful Iris bloomed in our yard.  The color was wonderfully vibrant and there were so many blooms.  Between rain drops I finished the painting.   I work in "plain air" and spend much of the good summer weather sketching wild flowers, roaring creeks, lakes and old buildings in the area of my home, Clearwater, BC.