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Carolanne’s core practice is quilt making by hand with naturally dyed fabrics. She is drawn to the colours that come from nature and the hard work it takes to extract them. When her hands are in every stage of the production, that physical engagement results in an object that feels deeply meaningful. Such a process-intensive approach means that work is made very slowly. But at the age of 24, when she started sewing, slowing the process of making felt like a necessary act of resistance. For a former tree planter, starting a career in the private sector was an unwelcome shock to the system. Slow stitching encourages time for reflection and brings comfort in quiet repetition. Giving your complete attention to one stitch at a time, not completed stitches or yet to be completed stitches, works like a mindfulness practice. Carolanne shares this love of hand work and promotes slow stitching as a form of mindfulness as an instructor at the workroom and the Dundas Valley School of Art (DVSA). Carolanne also leads workshops in the studio.
Carolanne is currently inspired by the search for the ideal natural black dye. In many years of sewing, she has almost never sewn with black fabric because she felt an unsettling stillness in the synthetic dye. In researching acorn and walnut dyes she found natural blacks with such warmth on unbleached cotton. Carolanne spends time at the studio dedicated to mordanting fabric so that she has enough to work until she masters a consistently beautiful shade of black. She may land on walnut and iron or perhaps acorns, but appreciates finally having the time and space to set one new goal and learn through trial and error.
Carolanne has published an original design and began building a roster of hand work classes for the DVSA and our studio. Her goal is to dedicate herself to a regular studio practice to complement teaching and to explore the role of mindfulness in textile practice through a Foundations of Mindfulness Meditation Certification at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.