The years that Jane Kenyon spent on Bowen Island proved to be transformative. She arrived here as a weaver and left working primarily in embroidery. In 2009, one of her embroidered pieces won the grand prize in the Pfaff International Art Embroidery Challenge. A retrospective of Kenyon's work titled A Journey through Time will be on display at the Gallery at Artisan Square from January 27 until February 26. It spans ten years, including the time Kenyon has spent here.
"I lived on Bowen Island from 1993 to '99," Kenyon said. "And I was on the board of the arts council from around '94 to '96." Kenyon's focus was on weaving during her first years on Bowen and the exhibit features one of the pieces she created in '94. Kenyon said, "Within a year or so, I did less weaving and more embroidery. I have been stitching my whole life but then I started taking classes and made the transition to use embroidery as an art form. I was painting at the same time but there are no paintings included in the exhibit."
In 1994, Kenyon took a course with the City and Guilds of London Institute in Washington State that changed her focus. She said, "It took me 2 1/5 years to get the diploma."
When Kenyon came to Bowen, she found a scattered group of weavers, spinners and quilters. She said, "Some of them knew each other but there was no organization. My main connection was Mary Bentley who now lives in Pender Harbour. I had been introduced to her through the weavers' guild in Vancouver. And we got together and co-founded the fibre arts guild on '94." Kenyon said that the guild started with 10 people and grew to 25 members within two years. She said, "We held monthly or bimonthly meetings and ran some programs. It began with an ad hoc grassroots group and became more organized."
One of the driving forces of the organization was to find permanent space for looms and sewing machines, Kenyon recalls. She said, "At one point, there was an empty cottage in the cove that we took over together with the arts council. We had looms set up there. But one day, a truck lost its brakes and ran into the building and that was the end of it. But we always knew that it was going to be temporary."
When Kenyon thinks about Bowen, another name comes to mind: Mariana Holbrook. "She moved to Bowen after I did but she was a driving force in the fibre arts guild as well as in my career," Kenyon recalls. "Mariana [Holbrook] acted as my agent and introduced my work to various galleries." Kenyon said that promoting their work is a difficult thing for many artists. "Part of the reason my work is in those galleries is because Mariana [Holbrook] took that on. She also was the one who came up with the concept of a retrospective," Kenyon added.
This is the first time, Kenyon has put together a retrospective and she had some reservations about it. She said, "I was hesitant to show pieces I created in the beginning. I remember seeing a retrospective of a painter whose work I admired and I found it hard - some of the earlier work was not very good. But I learned that everyone starts out and I hope that people can look at my early work and say, 'It's not very good but she kept going.'"
Kenyon thinks that this is how most artists feel about their early work. She said, "I do think we improve over the years. At least I hope that I'm a better artist now than I was 20 years ago."
Regular Gallery hours are Friday to Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. and an artist's reception will be held on Friday, February 10, from 7 to 9 p.m. "I still have strong connections on Bowen and hope to see a lot of familiar faces," Kenyon said.
