Woven Impression of Lethbridge – Lethbridge
Handicraft Guild
In late 2015 the Lethbridge Handicraft Guild
embarked on a project that would facilitate new weavers working with more
experienced weavers while finding a way to celebrate our wonderful community. Our project was Woven Impressions of
Lethbridge.
Four groups were each assigned a significant
structure or landscape of importance to Lethbridge meant to inspire the design
of their tea towel. Inspirations were the Post Office, Coulees and Wildflowers,
the Trestle Bridge and the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens. Groups gathered
pictures, met, and planned warps that would represent their unique
landmark. Team members worked together
to design, make the warp and dress the loom.
Each member wove two towels in whatever design and color they personally
chose inspired by the beauty of Lethbridge.
For the Christmas sale each towel included a description of the
inspiration. The towels were quickly snapped up at the sale and Round Two commenced
in Jan 2017. Individual weavers have
woven on whatever landscapes they wanted to meet our goal of 3 displays in
2017: in May we will have a showcase at
our community arts building where our guild permanently resides. In October we
will showcase at the downtown branch of the public library. At the ANWG conference in Victoria our
projects were on display in our guild booth.
Post
Office
The Post Office was built to establish
a federal presence in Lethbridge. The
style is classic Beaux-Arts distinguished by classic simplicity rather than
lavish ornateness. While all the
federal buildings of the time have similar style, no two buildings are the
same. The uniqueness of this building is its scale which is normally designed
for larger centres, it is distinguished by its classic simplicity. The dramatic
and boldly sited building with its prominent clock tower provided a highly
visible boost to the urban development and visual core of downtown Lethbridge.
It is prominent visually and is a popular local landmark.
The design for the Post Office
inspired tea towels is a Summer & Winter pattern. The warp is in two colors of 2/8 cotton. Weavers could choose to include the trees on
the sidewalks, the windows and the clock tower.
Coulees
and Wildflowers
We are prairie women and have lived in this wonderful, big sky,
semi-arid desert all our lives. The coulees leading to our precious river
valley area are a source of recreation, relaxation and beauty; they also serve
as the inspiration for our warp.
The outer greens represent our grasses, the beiges and browns our
coulee hills, the more centre greens are for the trees in the valley and the
blue for our Oldman River. We chose an undulating twill pattern to represent
our coulee hills. Every month brings changes to our landscape and serves as the
inspiration for the individual weavers choice of weft.
Trestle Bridge
Known as the Canadian Pacific High Level
bridge or Lethbridge Viaduct, the trestle bridge is a well known Lethbridge
landmark. Construction began in 1907 and was completed in 1909. This steel
bridge is the largest railway structure in Canada and the largest of its type
in the world.
The warp was inspired by the lines created by the supports of the
bridge. These become a frame for the foliage in the river bottom and the
awesome colours of our skies. Each towel has a unique weft colour and was
designed by the individual weaver.
Nikka Yuko
Japanese Gardens
Established during Canada’s Centennial
in 1967, Nikka Yuko was built to recognize contributions made by citizens of
Japanese ancestry to the multi-cultural community of Lethbridge, Alberta, and
as a symbol of international friendship. Its name was created from the Japanese
words Ni (from Nihon meaning Japan), ka from Kanada or Canada, and Yuko, which
translates as "friendship" to mean “Japan-Canada friendship”.
Nikka Yuko expresses the merging of Japanese
and Canadian culture in a garden rich in symbolism. It captures the signature
of the southern Alberta landscape while simultaneously integrating traditional
Japanese philosophy and symbols. Each element of the garden has been carefully
chosen and maintained to bind the entire garden together in perfect harmony.
Water is important, refreshing the spirit with a tumbling waterfall,
gurgling stream, and reflective pond Rocks are among the outstanding features
of Nikka Yuko.
The
weavers of the Lethbridge Handicraft Guild would like to acknowledge and thank
ANWG for supporting this project through the grant they awarded to us in late
2015. It has been a wonderful project
for our guild, bringing together new and experienced weavers.
