Rosemary Oliver

Rosemary was born in England and moved to Canada with her husband and two sons in 1980. Her mother taught her to embroider as a child, she learnt to sew on her grandmother’s treadle sewing machine and she took advanced level needlework at school. She has retired from a career as an Occupational Therapist.

 

She describes her fibre art as “painting and sculpting with fabric, fibre and thread” and her inspirations often come from nature. She uses a variety of media to create her two and three dimensional pieces, such as hand embroidery, appliqué, felting, weaving and hand and machine quilting, often adding surface embellishments, including items from nature. She is a spinner and has a modern spinning wheel and a wheel from the 1850's. Her concern about the environment has led to many pieces being made to raise awareness about environmental concerns and species at risk. She takes her work on-the-road, giving presentations and setting up  displays to educate and inspire others to  take action to protect the world we live in.

 

She has volunteered at the Pickering Museum Village, where she researched and planted a dye garden at the museum with plants used by the early settlers for dyeing wool and fabric.

 

She volunteers at WindReach Farm, a 105 acre working Farm and Therapeutic Riding Centre which is accessible to people of all ages with disabilities or special needs and their families. She assists with animal care and has established a Wool Program “from sheep to shawl”.

 

She is a member of the Shuttlebug Weavers and Spinners in Greenwood and a member of the Ontario Fibreshed.

 

She is a volunteer at the Toronto Wildlife Centre,  a member of Pickering Naturalists and Ontario Nature,  is a keen gardener and spends time on the water both sailing and kayaking. 

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