Quilts are Journals: The catalogue

 

There is a sweet catalogue about the Quilts are Journals exhibition at 100 percent shop and gallery that has gone through a re-printing.  The catalogue contains the complete transcript of an interview that Judy Martin had with Anni Spadafora before the exhibition opened. 

To purchase ($10.00) :  contact the gallery:

1558 Dupont Street , Toronto, ontario

 hello@100percentsilkshop.com  416-419-3662

The 100% gallery also had the entire show professionally photographed by Miki Francis Sankara.  Those magical photos can be seen on the 100% shop and gallery's newsletter at this link.  

Many thanks to 100% silk for hosting a mini-retrospective of Judy Martin's work and providing a printed catalogue.  

Quilts Are Journals at 100 percent Silk

100% Silk Shop & Gallery is exhibiting a collecion of Judith Martin's quilts entitled Quilts are Journals from February 7 - March 7 , 2026.  The exhibition includes quilts that Martin made from the 1980s alongside more recent works.  Across these many decades the artist notes her unwavering ability to find healing throguh her quilting process.  

The results are varied hand-dyed and hand-stitched quilts, often large-scale with interest in complex and minimalist patterns. Together these works celebrate an artist who has spent decades with the traditions of quilting, bringing deep curiosity and experimentation.  And more, explores the heightened state of attention that working with textile techniques often brings, making her writing an extraordinary companion to the quilts themselves.    

Throughout the endless archives of Judy's Journals, Judith records the regular stuff of life like appointments, family visits, and celebrating holidays while also reflecting on the imperatives of creating as if they are one and the same, at random, as expected, all rich.  She often shares photos of her quilting in the passenger seat of the car, driving the coutnry roads of Northern Ontario. 

She references other artists like Lucy Lippard and Anne Truitt to reflect on material knoweldge and the devotion of practice, sharing images of theri work and quoting their writing.  Judith's desire to make connections and create work seems boundless.  

Judith Martin was born in 1951 in Fort Frances, Ontario but relocated to Manitoulin Island with her husband and four children in 1993.  She continues to reside there.

Coming from a family of artists and scientists she obtained her teaching diploma from Lakehead University in 1969 and spent years teaching classical piano and grade 4 cohorts in Northern Ontario communities.  She made her first quilt in 1972 using one of the most complex quilting patterns, crown of thorns, and has been dedicatedly making quilts ever since.  

Curators:  Lee Dekel and Inez Genereux, from 100% Silk Shop & Gallery, 1558 Dupont Street, Toronto

Exhibition text:  Anni Spadafora

Mercy

The lovely catalogue has been reprinted and is available from the gallery. 

The Renewal exhibition travels to Kenora

Poet in Love 
An old whole cloth quilt, silk velvet, chemical dyes, rayon, silk, natural dyes,
wool prepared for felting, silk applique thread, cotton quilting thread
layering, patching, dyeing, mending, hand quilting, wet felting
by Judy Martin, 2022, Ontario

The edges of this quilt were worn, so I covered them with white velvet.

The back was in tatters and the batting had fallen out so I layered new wool and pre-felt first, and then a new backing of naturally dyed silk and rayon.

The blue thread in the original heart-shaped design was still strong so I followed it with new quilting stitches.

Renewed with brightly coloured velvet patches and welt felting, the old quilt is now greener than grass but at the same time it is wrecked.  

Like a poet in love.            exhibition catalogue p 46 - 47

Shroud
Recycled bed sheets on a found canvas frame, macrame yarn,
 off-loom weaving, layering
by Anna Wagner-Ott (1948 - 2024)
in 2023, Ontario

In renewal of self relating to the delicate balance of vulnerability and resilience, my art mirrors a return to the raw, conflicted human condition, born from personal experiences and emotions.  

Through colour, texture and form, my work visually articulates the rich tapestry of the human experience, crafting a narrative of my emotions and existence.    exhibition catalogue page 72-73

Renewal, SAQA Canadian Regional Exhibition, opened in Kenora at the Lake of the Woods Museum (the Muse) on January 23 and will continue on display until March 22, 2025.

There is a beautiful catalogue available with an essay by juror David Kaye.  If you can't visit the show in person, perhaps you might like to purchase the catalogue.  Shall post a link.    

In the Middle of the World in Nova Scotia this fall

The two-person exhibition, In the Middle of the World, will show in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia this fall.  This exhibition has been on tour since 2021 when it was displayed at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte Ontario as the autumn exhibition.    

The artists are:  Penny Berens and Judith e Martin.  The curator is Miranda Bouchard.  The three of them will speak at the opening reception September 7 at 2 pm.  

There is a catalogue available for viewing online at this link.  It  will also possible to purchase a hard copy from the gallery or from the MVTM. 

In the Middle of the World catalogue now available for online viewing

The artists (Judith e Martin and Penny Berens) the curator, Miranda Bouchard, and the book's graphic designer, Zoe Wonfor are pleased to share our 125 page catalogue to interested people for free on Judy Martin's website at this link.    

It is also available on Miranda Bouchard's website in pdf format at this link.

The catalogue has an ISBN number, 9781738969210, and is available for viewing through the Library and Archives Canada with this link.

If you want to hold something in your hands and turn the pages slowly, there are still some soft cover books available from three Ontario outlets:  The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, Lake of the Woods Museum / Art Centre. and the Manitoulin Expositor book store.