Ethel Curry Gallery hosting Jane Selbie

Artist Inspiration

Cycle of Life is created from fabric. It is dry mounted on foam core and framed in a diamond presentation complete with off-set glass. The Renewal theme provided me with a solution to a puzzle I’ve had for over a dozen years! For me renewal is synonymous with the concept of transformation. Here’s the background: When I found an antique scarf radiating butterflies I always envisioned incorporating a Monarch butterfly to properly honour the unusual design. My technique involves many layers of fabric incorporating liquid adhesive but it just wouldn’t work to attach such a large swath of this gossamer material (requiring no stretching or twisting). Experimenting with a spray glue on the base material I floated the fabric into place like the landing of a butterfly….no second chances were possible. Having invented the fabric layering technique over 20 years ago experimentation is always a way to solve a new challenge. The transformation of a Monarch butterfly through each stage of its life cycle seems to underline a theme of renewal. So, too, my scarf is transformed and given another life. Viva la recycling!

Artist Bio

Jane Selbie lives and creates in Haliburton, Ontario. Her fabric art-based practice is an exploration of nature, in which she engages in an artistic process that is both conceptual and material. In the early years, while developing her technique, she experimented with the fabric medium through quilting, wall hangings and original designs. Over the last fifteen years, Jane’s artistry has developed into the work of a master artist. Her multi-layered fabric renderings of the Canadian landscape and “as found in nature” themes are as evocative and skillful as the work of the most successful of landscape painters. Jane’s artistic alchemy turns fabric into breathtaking and beautifully nuanced works of art. Jane has worked as a full-time professional fabric artist since 2008 and her work is displayed in galleries and in private collections in Canada and worldwide. She has also taught fabric art at the Haliburton School of the Arts for many years and conducts private workshops. The Selbie gallery + studio continues to be open by chance or appointment year round, just outside the village of Haliburton on the way to the Sculpture Forest. www.jselbie.com for map, 87 Bayshore Rd. Haliburton. Phone / text 705-457-3412