Clothing vest design for Bernie Shaw

Tags

art design, Bernie Shaw, clothing, frog, Haida, human, moon, singer, Urian Heep, vocalist

I made clothing art design in the early 1990′s, and continued making clothing very sparingly until 2003. This vest design is one of the last pieces that I made for Bernie Shaw, called “Waking up the night”. This design was inspired by Bernie’s powerful voice, and a song I heard call “Rain”
The design is of a human (Bernie) on either side of the moon (night) with the tongues forming a microphone, with the frog representing communication.
Bernie used this vest design on stage for many shows in Europe, he resides in England with his family. I met him in Victoria, while living in Sooke, at a get together at my neighbours house. He liked the west coast native design as portrayed by his tattoo on his upper arm which is visible in the image at the bottom.

Bernie Shaw with vest art design and construction by Stephany

Bernie Shaw of Uriah Heep, lead singer

Coming soon!

The house project is still under construction, on the inside, and I require a space to sew. At this point I can foresee being able to work on my designs sometime in the fall… I have been very impatient to start working on something I desire, and that is sewing and creating fabric art for Haida Gwaii and interested collectors worldwide.

On collecting fabric…

Over the years I have purchased fabric from all sources of stores in the lower mainland. When I go in search of notions, I cannot leave the store without looking at the fabrics on display. Of course I always find something interesting that I cannot leave the store without. The fabric does not necessarily have a project in mind, I just buy enough to make something to match the type of fabric… a shirt well that might take about 1.5 meters, or a skirt will take about 1 meter, and so on. On days when there is a fabric sale, I can purchase about 4 or 5 different types of fabric, if the sale is really good. It goes without saying that only true seamstresses can understand this collecting of fine fabrics.

There was a long period of time when I could not sew a stitch, like years. I continued to shop for fabrics, even though my collection grew and grew… fabric in totes, fabric in boxes, fabrics in cupboards, fabric in closets.. and every so often I would sort through the fabric and see what I can let go, and what to keep. The pile never really got any smaller… until ….

I decided to uproot and leave Victoria, the city which I lived in for 29 years, then I really had to seriously look at what I didn’t want to keep, and it turns out I reluctantly filled up a garbage bag of fabric and gave it to Value Village… This was a difficult time for me to let go of a small collection of fabric, that I could surely use now that I am in Haida Gwaii. No fabric stores here, or much stores at all. Sew I guess it would be a good time to get those fabrics down to a minimum by creating tailored clothing. I look forward to the time when I can get my little room set up in my new house to start working on projects.

Time to work on that house project again!

Haida Heritage Centre

Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay, Skidegate, Haida Gwaii BC.

I experimented with making this short video, while I was working at the Kay for Gwaalagaa Naay Corporation last year, 2012. My goal was to show the beautiful place I was working at.

Enjoy the video…

History

Tags

ancestors, banned potlatch, beliefs, boarding school, bowls, Canadian Government, carving, culture, dance, elders, firewood, generation, Haida, headdresses, history, knowledge, masks, missionaries, population, re-build, regalia, suffered, traditional, traditions, world

Around 1860, the Haida ancestors suffered at the hand of outsiders, when small pox was brought from Victoria to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Ninety percent of the population was wiped out. In 1884 the Canadian Government outlawed the potlatch and along with it went the culture. Items associated with potlatches such as bowls, ladles, masks, headdresses and all dance regalia were no longer needed. Artists died without passing on their knowledge of the traditional style of carving on to the next generation. In 1951, the banning of the potlatch was repealed after a long struggle. The elders tried to remember what they could to help the next generation rebuild their histories.

After the 1960′s appreciation for the Art and traditions from the past interested many Haida. Just when the people were regaining their identities, the missionaries moved in and convinced the people to give up their old beliefs and traditions. Totem poles were burned for firewood and the children were placed in boarding schools, without their families. They were not to speak their own language and disciplined if they disobeyed. Regardless of all of the upheaval, the Haida’s have endured; they have persevered and learned to survive in the modern world.

Acknowledgements: Argillite by Douglas Wilson, Potlatch by Steltzer, Islands at the Edge by the Islands Protection Society, Ninstints: Haida World Heritage Site by George McDonald, Bill Reid, Beyond the Essential form by Karen Duffek, Totem Poles by Hilary Stewart, Haida: Their Art and Culture by Leslie Drew.

Crests

Tags

affiliation, ancestors, art, canoes, claws, designs, eagles, ears, eyes, feet, fins, Haida, hands, head, household items, human, lineages, longhouses, mouth, names, Northwest Coast, nose, personal objects, ravens, symbols, tattooed, teeth, tongue, totem poles

To appreciate the Art, it is important to understand the structures of their social system. All Haida are born either “Ravens” or “Eagles”. The determination of moiety is established by the mother’s affiliation. Within the moiety are lineages; associations to these lineages are several crests, legends and Haida names. The legends associated with the Art may not be known, as it originates in the artist mind. It is of great importance to show the owner’s status and lineage affiliation with designs. The main crests are utilized for display, personal identity and ceremonial purposes. The Art symbols are earned in one’s lifetime, inherited or acquired by adoption. The ancestors had an impressive display of Art on their longhouses, totem poles, canoes, personal objects and household items. It was not unusual to find a design tattooed on a person’s entire body. When you are depicting Northwest Coast Art, the best method is to consider the symbols that are represented as animals, humans or objects of nature. The details will tell you what the design is. They include: head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongues, hands, claws, feet or fins, depending upon what the Art object is. Within the body parts, most often faces are used to fill the spaces to make up the overall design. Details that are non-essential to the main body of the design are known as fillers. Broken designs are not quite so easy to depict and may be for the more experienced eye.

Acknowledgements: Argillite by Douglas Wilson, Potlatch by Steltzer, Islands at the Edge by the Islands Protection Society, Ninstints: Haida World Heritage Site by George McDonald, Bill Reid, Beyond the Essential form by Karen Duffek, Totem Poles by Hilary Stewart, Haida: Their Art and Culture by Leslie Drew.

Symbols of Art

Tags

beaver, creatures, cross hatching, dogfish, dragonfly, fins, fluked tails, frog, hawk, moon, ocean, Raven, sea grizzly, sea monster, sea wolf, shark, supernatural, whale, wolf

The Ravens and Eagles owns and have a right to display certain crests.
A sample of the crests affiliated with the Ravens are:

Raven, Killer whale, Grizzly bear, Black bear, Hawk, Moon, Sea Wolf, Shark and Wolf.
A sample of crests affiliated with the Eagles are:

Eagle, Beaver, Sea Wolf, Hawk, Killer whale, Raven, Frog and Dragonfly.
Brief descriptions of the most commonly utilized crests:

Birds such as the “Raven” have a straight long beak which is easily distinguished from the “Eagle”, which have a short hooked beak. The “Bear” has round nostrils with an impressive display of pointed canines and usually is in a upright sitting position. The “Beaver” has two large front teeth and may have a stick in its mouth or claws and the tail is rounded with cross hatching detail. The “Wolf” is closely related to the Bear in appearance but the difference would be the body size and slender ears. The most distinguishing feature would be the curled tail with details at the tip. Killer Whales have a dorsal fin; a blowhole often located at the top of the animal and a dominant tail. This symbol is used more often than other symbols and is recognized by most people.

Fish take on their natural shape and can be easily identified. The “Dogfish” or “Shark” is depicted with many sharp teeth and two prominent nostrils, and has an overly large domed head. The legendary “Sea-grizzly”, “Sea-monster” or “Sea-wolf” has fins and fluked tail to navigate the ocean. These supernatural sea creatures also had the ability to move about on the land.

Acknowledgements: Argillite by Douglas Wilson, Potlatch by Steltzer, Islands at the Edge by the Islands Protection Society, Ninstints: Haida World Heritage Site by George McDonald, Bill Reid, Beyond the Essential form by Karen Duffek, Totem Poles by Hilary Stewart, Haida: Their Art and Culture by Leslie Drew.

Split Eagle and Raven design by my dad, Norman Price.

Totem Poles

Tags

art, canoes, carvers, Chiefs, crests, first nations, house frontal pole, house posts, institutions, longhouse, memorial, mortuary, ranking, symbols, totem poles, village, watchmen

Totem poles represented family lineages and privileges; they told the story of the people that lived in the houses. Chiefs competed with other chiefs with having taller and more detailed totem poles. Carvers were in great demand to create these rich works of Art. There are different types of totem poles, each with a different function:

Mortuary poles were used for high-ranking individuals or chiefs. These poles had large cavities cut out of the upper portion and carved with crests of the deceased. The deceased body is placed into a painted box and remained in a mortuary house for a period of one year. The remains were then moved to a smaller box and placed into the cavity of the pole. The front opening was covered with cedar boards and then painted or carved to complete the original design.

Memorial poles stood on their own with a crest depicting achievements of a deceased chief. The pole was raised one year after his death.

House posts were carved with symbols of family history and were positioned at the rear of the house. People outside of the villages, such as institutions or private collectors, commission modern poles. The traditional Art of these poles are appreciated by people in many cities and countries of origins other than First Nations.

A totem pole is to be read from the top down. The man on top is not necessarily high ranking and the largest figure would be the one that is featured in the story. The smaller figures are sometimes fillers and have some function in the story. The stories associated with the figures originate with the carvers and most of the documentation is lost with time.

The “Watchmen” can be identified as three men wearing tall hats sitting at the top of tall totem poles, attached to the chiefs house. The main function was to warn the chief and the villagers of danger. The middle watcher faced the ocean to search for incoming canoes from other villages, and the other two kept watches over the village.

Acknowledgements: Argillite by Douglas Wilson, Potlatch by Steltzer, Islands at the Edge by the Islands Protection Society, Ninstints: Haida World Heritage Site by George McDonald, Bill Reid, Beyond the Essential form by Karen Duffek, Totem Poles by Hilary Stewart, Haida: Their Art and Culture by Leslie Drew.