Place

Manitoba

Date

1994 - 1995

DIMENSIONS in centimetres

44 x 62

Materials & techniques

Hand-woven cloths, cotton, quilt batting, glass, lead; Stained glass, weaving, quilting

Credit

Kathleen Baleja, Elaine Rounds, and Judy Morningstar

ID

Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library 1792.00

This remarkable wall hanging was created by three artists who work in an unusual collaborative style. Elaine Rounds is a fibre artist from Brandon, Manitoba, who has been weaving professionally since 1978. Judy Morningstar is a well-known quilter from the Goodlands area of Manitoba, who began exhibiting her work in 1983. Kathleen Baleja lives near Thunder Bay, Ontario, and works primarily with stained glass. Each is an accomplished artist in her own right, but together they have received particular attention for their collaborative work. The three women collectively received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award in 1998 for their work supporting the artistic community.
 
Rounds began this piece by weaving the central panel, which was mailed to Morningstar. She added the quilted portion and passed the work on to Baleja, who created the upper stained glass section. The piece was not planned ahead of time, and each woman crafted her part of the wall hanging without any input from the other artists. These women have been working together since 1993 and have created more than 50 pieces using this round-robin method. Although each artist brings her own vision and inspiration to the work, the three have managed to create a surprisingly unified aesthetic.