Hand made Women’s Work(s) showcases 40 Island artists SALLY COLE The Guardian

Participants in Women’s Work(s) invite the public to the exhibition opening, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts on July 7 at 2 p.m. From left are Kim Devine, co-emcee; Senator Catherine Callbeck; Julia Gregory, artist; Silva Stojack, BGHK Architects, sponsor and Anne Nicholson, P.E.I. Family Violence Prevention Services. Guardian photo by Sally Cole

When Julia Gregory decided to submit a piece of art to the Women’s Work(s) exhibition, she didn’t have far to look for inspiration.
She peeked into the two cribs standing in front of her.
“I was watching my twin boys wake up from their naps and was thinking about all the work that had to go into them before I could go to sleep that night,” says Gregory of Charlottetown.
Instantly, she was moved to create Mother Study 2 — a charcoal, ink and parchment relief print of her nursing twin boys.
“It’s a big job. For the first few months it seemed that all I did was breastfeed them,” says the mother of Silas and Merrick, now nine months.
Gregory is one of 40 artists featured in the exhibition that opens tomorrow at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown at 2 p.m.
“The show is a snapshot in time, a refection of our ideas about women’s work. It’s also an important fund-raiser for Anderson House that is in dire need of donations for repairs and upgrades,” says Diane Porter, project manager.
“And now we are very excited about the beautiful art pieces that have come in for it,” Porter adds.
The artists have chosen a variety of ways to interpret the theme and a range of media.
Tina Davis of Stratford has picked a clock to create in walnut, cherry and bird’s eye maple.
“It’s shaped as an hour glass, held in a vice. I call it Pressed For Time. It portrays the pressure that is experienced by many women as they try to maintain a balance of time, energy and love.
“The variety of woods show the diversity of women,” says Davis, who has also created a Tree of Life, of cherry wood.
Stained glass artist Susana Rutherford responded to the open call by creating The Madonna, which combines traditional painting and glass fusing.
“The correlation to the theme is pretty obvious,” says Rutherford, pointing to a young mother breast-feeding her baby.
Her other piece is Sedna, an Inuit goddess.
“Sedna refuses to take on the traditional role of women’s work and is transformed by a horrific series of circumstances and becomes this goddess figure,” says Rutherford.
The idea for the all-female art show about work germinated with a group of friends over lunch at Cedar’s Eatery in Charlottetown, says artistic co-ordinator Sandy Kowalik.
“It was Lisa Murphy’s idea. We wanted to do something that would promote women’s art and help Anderson House with their capital fund because the house is in need of repairs,” she says.
From the beginning the organizing committee has felt strongly about demonstrating how society values women’s work.
“Rather than ask artists who are asked all the time to donate a piece of work, we wanted, every step of the way, to be able to recognize and value the work that was involved.
“So last year we were able to fundraise a bit to be able to pay the artists a small commission toward materials.
“So after deciding on a theme — women’s work — we put together a jury and we invited women in 50 words or less to describe what they might do around that theme,” she says.
Organizers were excited with the ideas they received.
“We’re also pleased with the age differences and the Island-wide distribution. So in that way we able to put the show together as a snapshot of what is happening in P.E.I. and the way that women are interpreting work at this time and in this place.”