THE TREETOPS STUDIOS - SAANICHTON

NEWS FROM THE TREETOPS STUDIOS - 2008

1 July, 2008

Spring "Marches" On    If you remember, last year at this time it was still more like March than the usual endless sunshine, light airs and low 20's (Centigrade! The low 70's Fahrenheit.) In fact, the cool and wet continued right through to November. The local joke is that 2007 started with a January and a February and ended with the usual November and December - with eight Marches in between. Only slightly exaggerated.

Up until a few weeks ago it looked as if we were in for the same thing. Some friends and colleagues from the 'old days' happened to be in the area. The husband is an excellent amateur photographer. The late spring evening promised to be bright and calm. So off we went, cameras in hand, for dinner at McMorran's Beach House. Set on the bluffs along the east shore of the Saanich Peninsula, it is one of our favourites for the food, the atmosphere and the long, sunlit, evening views out across the water to the Gulf Islands.

Fooled again! The weather turned cool and misty with a light chop from the east. But, as is often the way with a camera in hand, an opportunity walked by below me. The boy on the beach had stopped for several minutes, trying to push the piece of driftwood out into the chop. I started shooting for composition and posture as the distance between him and the older gentleman widened. The camera caught junior in mid-stroke, unposed. He is probably too young to remember 'The Karate Kid'.

A long spring is not all bad of course. The succulents that we planted several years ago to save on the water bill in our, usually, dry summers have gained a lot of ground among the lavenders and heathers in the front gardens. And, a 'volunteer' colony of naturalized oregano has spread into the lawn along the back of the house. This summer looks like heading into our normal 'coastal desert' mode so we'll see if the oregano can survive a dry season - with a little help perhaps. It's a delight to mow - with a non-fuming electric mower of course.   Top

The Shawls of 2008   The reorganization of the Treetops Studios has gotten far enough forward, since our last news, for Elaine to put some more of her ideas into production. The Shawls of 2008 are the next step in her exploration of the possibilities of light weight knit and knit lace wraps that began in 2005 and 2006. The 'Gossamer' series shawl on the left below is in mohair, blended with brushed synthetic. It is very light, easy to wear and adaptable. Depending in the colour - it works best in whites, very pale off-whites and light earth-tones - and the wearer's choice of drape, it can be a very feminine formal to a fling-on accent piece.

The knit lace on the right above is a lighter weight adaption of the previous years' series as well. The fibre is again cotton, a cotton blend or a quality synthetic. The gentle earth tones shown here have been the most popular. But Elaine has started to explore the same patterns in loosely spun cotton bouclé blends. In addition to the informality of the bouclé texture, the play of light through the knit lace patterning creates an impression of depth. On the cone the yarn is dark and sometimes the texture is not apparent. Even in the six or eight inch square trial swatches, that Elaine knits up to test a new yarn, the yarn does not always tell its story. Once the fabric begins to drape off the knitting machine bed the effect can be quite unexpected.

The "Artisans 2008" Show & Sale   Now, do you to see more of these shawls, as well as hundreds of examples of the other fine things that Elaine and the craftspeople of the Saanich Peninsula work at? Then you have to come over to Vancouver Island and join us at theMary Winspear Centre in Sidney. It's time for our 14th "Artisans" Show & Sale, 12 July to 10 August.    Top

1 March, 2008

Starting up 2008 at The Treetops Studios    Welcome back to 'News from The Treetops Studios' - and to the 2008 edition. If this is your first look at the Studio News, the Back Issues are available above. Just click on the year. If you are a new visitor to our Studio, you might like to Tour the Studios or Enter the main site after you have read the News. Then, the next time you return to the Studios, just click on the What's NEW on the Website? link when your browser opens our site. It's set up like our Studio News, with the most recent additions at the top of the listing.

Winter Works - In Progress!   This winter, and on into the spring, the real news is the re-organization of The Treetops Studios. Elaine's fibre arts capabilities have expanded continually since she set up her first knitting machine in a corner, above left, of the basement 'rec-room' ten years ago this May. Over the past two years her experiments with the more exotic fibres - cashmere, alpaca, mohair, llama, and angora - have 'challenged' our inventory system.

Then, a trial run for a local producer of up-market alpaca accessories convinced us that we had to draw our image archives and design resources more tightly into the Studio's day-to-day operation. So, ... John's cosy painting and drawing nook, above right, has been taken over by floor to ceiling shelves of books and pattern files. The painting and drawing area has been moved into an even 'cozier' space in his workshop. That in turn led to a serious wave of 'down sizing' in areas where we are no longer active and of things that were been stored away when we took over the Studio from John's parents fourteen years ago.

Needless to say, that all has slowed up work on both sides of the Studio. It's a bit like living in a tidal basin. Boxes flow from one end of a room to the other. With each ebb and flow, more things fall into place. There were quite a few Studio coffee breaks that got adjourned to our favourite local coffee house, to escape from the clutter and to think in the clear air. It wasn't all grim going. John discovered his consort of recorders and the sheet music to go along with them. (Elaine knew where they were all along, of course. A big smile and a; "You just had to ask.") By the end of February we are beginning to get a sense of how to get to work in the new spaces. There is a lot of tinkering to be done yet and many boxes filled with 'stuff' for the local classified adds and for garage sales once the weather begins to clear up. Watch this space!    Top

Contact Us

Elaine Dendy e-laine@shaw.ca
John Oliver Dendy dendy@islandnet.com
URL: http://www.treetops-studios.com/index.htm

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Text and Photography - © 2001-8 John Oliver Dendy
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Revised 15 July, 2008