The life-cycle in Moroccan Jewish textiles

Posted on February 25, 2017 by pomegranateguild18

Anna Vandelman writes:

My dear friend Suzanne Benchimol came to the Guild’s February meeting to teach us about Moroccan Jewish textiles. Most in attendance had no idea of the exquisite, sumptuous clothing they were about to see.

Suzanne made it most interesting by taking us through the lIfe cycle of clothing from the garments and wrappers of the Brit Milah to the henna ceremony garb and wedding dresses. WOW! She detailed for us every inch of each piece.

Suzanne is a very accomplished designer and seamstress. This is most evident in the unbelievable work on the layered wedding ensembles she creates. We saw some examples in photographs but the highlight of the night was the outfit we could examine – layer by layer – as Suzanne dressed our model, member Barbara Goldstein – a recent bride herself. We were impressed by the perfection of each embroidered stitch, bead, and decorative textile, no matter what we were shown.

Today many brides prefer to wear white gowns for their wedding day. So, it has become a custom that the richly embroidered dress and matching headress (the bride is seen as a queen and so a crown is essentia!l), is worn for the Henna Night, when all women add henna to the bride’s palms. The layers of the gown are designed to be adjustable in fit. The gowns were often shared around within families and communities, or loaned to poor families.

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Suzanne explained every custom, from the engagement to the henna night to the wedding day to the Brit Milah to the Bar Mitzvah and so on. She used videos to show us the ceremonies with the customary textiles in use. So, for example, the Brit Milah besides being shown on film was enhanced by the baby’s dress itself that we could see and touch. And the henna video let us see how family members would help support the crown, and gown. And we could also hear the typical ululations!

We were allowed to touch the textiles she brought for us to examine, including beautiful old silk shawls and heritage tallit bags. Besides being totally involved in the textile art of life- cycle clothing Suzanne actively invents and plans programs for residents and patients at Baycrest in the Home and Hospital and she has been honoured as a Baycrest treasure having her photo added to the wall in the Silverman Court.

Thank you Suzanne, for this special, informative and delightful evening!

Show, Share, and Qvell!

Posted on June 26, 2016 by pomegranateguild18

Anna Vandelman writes:

WHAT A SPECIAL EVENING!

Every year Pomegranate Guild members can hardly wait to see what other members have been working on over the past year.

WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED.

President Bruria Cooperman opened the meeting with a “d’var” – a few remarks about engaging in the pleasure and discovery of making. Then, with our theme for the past year “Something from Nothing” (In essence take “nothing” – actually anything from your stash – and create “something”.) the following members presented their somethings and the stories that went along with them. It gave us a rich picture of artistic approaches that our members take to their work. Treat yourself to this unusual eye candy.

Karen Sanders Judy Dan’s (z’l) physical interpretation of the book Something from Nothing”.

Gwen Orriell Knitted precious clothes for her new Grandson Elan.

Janet Page Wedding ring bearer pillow

Rikki Blitt Stitching on leaves.

Sue Goldenberg Challah cover with Ten Commandments

Paula Miller Vase with Paverpol flowers

Reesa Wasser Multicoloured, textured, and burnt fabric pieces

Pam Chasen Wedding purses and several book marks

Barbara Goldstein Wall hanging made from “nothing” such as rusted metal, fabric scraps, etc.

Mitzi Zohar Embroidered heirloom wedding chuppah using ancestor’s wedding veil

Helen Tucker All occasion cards created from old and new fabric

Rosa Levitt Fabric abstract collages

Planting Seeds

Posted on April 11, 2016 by pomegranateguild18

The Pomegranate Guild Outreach program “Seeds” travelled to Netivot HaTorah on March 30 to work with bat mitzvah age girls on a Life Skills stitching project. We enjoyed an intergenerational afternoon of sharing and stitching. This was just the start of the project and we are looking forward to the final work.

Torah Stitch by Stitch Celebrates its Second Anniversary!

Posted on May 26, 2015 by pomegranateguild18

Temma Gentles reminds us that it’s time for a celebration! Torah Stitch by Stitch achieves its 2nd anniversary with “awesome engagement, new scans & illuminations.” For more details see Engagement and Amazement. And help continue the project.

Celebrating and Making Textiles – March 2015

Posted on February 28, 2015 by pomegranateguild18

March is a great month for us to celebrate textiles and make more: Edge of the Forest, Threads of Hope for African Grandmothers, and a great opportunity for quilters to respond to a call for entry.
Members Melanie Siegel and Rikki Blitt have been instrumental in launching a Surface Design Association Canadian members’ touring exhibit, The Edge of the Forest. Both Melanie and member Barbara Goldstein have work in this wonderful exhibit. And Sheila Thompson, a past presenter at the Guild has been extensively involved.
We urge everyone to come out and celebrate their work at its premier opening in Richmond Hill on March 11.

Threads of Hope for African Grandmothers at the Miles Nadal JCC. “In honour and admiration of the remarkable African grandmothers, Waterloo-based Omas-Siskona (Grandmothers Together) produced Creating Futures: Threads of Hope for African Grandmothers. They invited Ontario textile artists to create and donate pieces celebrating the ongoing strength and resilience of grandmothers in Africa. The result is a stunning display of artistry, technique and inspiration.” Follow the link in the title for docent hours.

Sacred Threads – Call for Entry Juana Sleizer has brought this to our attention. The time frame for entry is tight, but many of you may have qualifying quilts to submit. For more information, click here, or the title above.

Celebrate: Ourselves

Posted on January 11, 2015 by pomegranateguild18

Anna VanDelman reports:

Once again Guild members had to embrace a dark and windy rainy/snowy drive to Temple Sinai, and it was well worth the effort. Anne Marie Desaulnier’s work is entirely breath taking! It is an excellent example of an intuitive approach to art-making that reveals the maker.

Anne Marie with her work

Anne Marie has a passion for techniques and a love of fabric, paper, beads, recycling and found objects. Many of us recalled her last presentation to us which left a deep impression. She is a self taught artist who credits her current direction to a combination of early exposure to fabrics as a child, school art classes, books and the internet. Robin Atkins’ on-line bead journal project continues to play a role in her life. Anne Marie is a curious, intuitive fibre artist with a serious magpie mentality who excels in the blending of techniques and materials. Serendipity, colour, nature, family, friends and visual journaling are the threads that tie her work together.

http://artfuldreamer.blogspot.com for more by Anne Marie, and info@beadfx.com to inquire about her winter and spring workshops.

Fibrella

Anne Marie’s soft fibre arts doll “Fibrella” caught our attention as we walked into the room. And we were caught up in the amazing pieces of beaded work in fibre stitchery she had on display for us. Her dedication to journaling is special as she says it helps to put her into a piece by exploring what’s going on in one’s life and family. While working on a textile memorial to her late brother she became obsessed with beading and she showed many magnificent examples of her work. Among her other explorations, Anne Marie has experimented with three dimensional beaded forms (requiring curved needles and lots of patience) and fibre bowls formed on balloons using wallpaper paste.

In the second half of the evening, as Rikki Blitt generously emptied her beading collection onto the workshop tables, Anne Marie came round to each table to demonstrate and help us with several bead stitches. In addition to beads, Anne Marie uses everything possible in her work: buttons, jewellery, leaves, odd ends of jewellery, glass, doll faces out of paper clay, found objects – among many others.

Textile Self-portrait

Anne Marie showed us several examples of beaded textile self-portraits that formed the impetus for our upcoming 2015 challenge. It was an amazing evening that encouraged us all to continue to work on our beaded samples and to learn from Anne Marie’s philosophy: ALLOW YOURSELF TO PLAY.

For more textile portraits, see this Pinterest board, or do a web search for “textile self-portraits. http://www.pinterest.com/dianey1/textile-portraits/

Thanks to Reesa Wasser for photos, and Anne Marie Desaulniers for permission to share her work!

Celebrate: Saving a Textile Legacy

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Celebrate: Saving a Textile Legacy – October 22, 2014
Anna VanDelman reports:

Shila Desai introduced us to a world of cultural heritage, pride of artisanship and survival, glorious colour and renewal. We were taken into this incredible, kaleidoscopic world of magical colours, and their near loss in Gujarati communities. After a long period during which traditional skills were passed from generation to generation, dyeing skills, block-printing skills, and stitching skills have been threatened with extinction.

In some communities, the important ground water levels have a dropped and the water has become contaminated: new and improper technologies, industrialization in general, a younger generation attracted to more leisure time, and the disruption of trade patterns following the 1947 partition of Pakistan and India have all contributed to the erosion of this precious legacy. Six hundred years of this art was about to be lost. Now, how to protect and revive this legacy so crucial to women’s dowries and local economies? In some cases, it is WOMEN TO THE RESCUE! NGOs directed by women philanthropists get together to preserve traditional crafts while bringing them into the 21st century. Success leads to success and now over 100 villages and 22,000 women are benefitting.

See more by following the video links. And, experience heritage textiles for yourself by joining Shila on of her tours to India, Tanzania, North India and Sri Lanka. “BON VOYAGE.”

Here are links to videos that Shila shared with us:
A New Beginning in Ajrakhpur
Women Empowering Women

Photos by Janis Katz
Textile samples courtesy Shila Desai

Threadworks in Bruce County – take a drive in the country

Posted on November 3, 2014 by pomegranateguild18

A message from Sheila McCoy at the Ontario Needleworkers’ Network:

Hello everyone –
Bruce County Museum has created this lovely poster for Threadworks 2014.(http://www.brucemuseum.ca/whats-happening/exhibits-and-galleries)
If you are in the area – out for a drive – perhaps you could drop in to see the Show.

Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Textiles Toronto

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