Skirt Design Challenge

Joanne is a maker, artist, seamstress and educator! She is the founder of HelloPiggy Creations, her handmade business where she shares her passion for creating with the world through her artwork and handmade items. Whether it be sewing clothes or painting with acrylics, creating with her hands has always been her favourite form of self care! She had the opportunity to explore these passions further through her studies at the University of Alberta, where she graduated with a B.Sc. in Human Ecology and a B.Ed. in Secondary Education with a minor in art. As an avid upcycler, this will be Joanne’s fourth year making an upcycled skirt for the SkirtsAfire Skirt Competition/Challenge!

Website: www.hellopiggycreations.com
Instagram: @hellopiggycreations_
Facebook: http://facebook.com/hellopiggycreations

My name is Wendy Ward.  I have a passion for creating and design, which includes anything and everything from fancy hats, holiday prop designing, interior decorating, recipes, recycled and upcycled creations and everything else in between. My future goals are to create and design perfume formulations with natural materials because most perfumes today are created with synthetic materials which I believe are causing allergic reactions to scents for many people. I have my eye on a finer and hopeful future for all of us.

I love to recycle/upcycle materials which inspires creativity in all of us.  I find it to be both challenging and rewarding to create a one of a kind project. One of my favorite materials to work with is plastics because of their strength, durability and versatility.  Most importantly, to reuse plastic means it does not end up in the landfill where it may take up to 1000 years to decompose.

Born in 1993, Una Momolu grew up on The Buduburam Refugee Camp in Accra, Ghana; due to civil unrest because of war in her motherland of Liberia. She is the youngest of 4 children. Her mother was a teacher and is now a rehabilitation worker in Canada and her father is a taxi driver in Liberia.

At the age of 13, Una and her family migrated to Ontario, Canada under the Canadian Government resettlement program. She struggled to blend in due to cultural differences, weather and bullying at school. After two years of living in Ontario, in search of greener pastures, the Momolu family relocated to Alberta, Canada.

At an early age, Una was drawn to fashion watching models perform in beauty pageants on the refugee camp. This fascination grew into a passion and when Una migrated to Canada, she pursued a modelling career that enabled her to work with top photographers like Amanda Diaz and MT Photography as well as fashion magazines such as Phabrik Magazine (summer, 2010) and Georgie Magazine (Summer 2010). While modelling, Una discovered her natural talent for understanding fashion design and her creative instinct for bringing designs to life. She started crocheting, a skill she had learnt as a child on the refugee camp.

Momolu rediscovered her passion for crochet in 2015 while pregnant with her second child Nana-Chinara Momolu-Romanetti. Una was previously introduced to the knowledge of crochet while growing up on the refugee camp; for as a young girl she had a friend who would crochet while in her presence. From this Una observed and learned the foundation of crocheting. Una and her friend did not have the tools or yarn, but were determined to work with any old discarded sweaters and theirs hands or sticks as hooks. From this they made blankets and hats. The skill of crochet was put aside and forgotten while Una pursued a new life in Canada.  

Momolu passion for crochet resurfaced while she and her significant other were shopping and saw crochet tools. Una’s first few projects was a blanket for her daughter. She was encouraged by her family and friends to do more with her crochet. Una believes that being an artist or designer is something that one is born with and not learnt at school. As such Una has learned through practical experience, learning through trial and error and self learning. She has been greatly influenced by Jamaican Crochet fashion designer Gillian Francis aka Minka. Momolu became inspired and started crocheting bralettes and taught herself how to read the language of crochet. Una launched her brand, Nubian Crochet and released her first series in 2018. 

Excited to expand her brand and to learn more, Momolu was dedicated to changing her Brand name into her native tongue to represent more of who she is. After some life challenges, Una was finally successful in translating the name into her language. ‘Nubian Crochet’ was rebranded to ‘Nyon Kpee,’ meaning NATIVE in her mother’s tongue, Bassa.

Eager to highlight and bring more awareness to her Motherland, Una journeyed to Liberia to learn the traditional method of cloth making using a loom. While there, Una learned about traditional tie dye techniques, which she incorporated into her designs. Una designs clothes incorporating traditional African cloth, crochet and western textiles; creating a unique fashion style that showcases her African heritage and her Canadian upbringings. 

Una’s goal is to highlight the rich diversity of African fashion, and to revamp the disappearing art of country cloth production. Una intends to become an ambassador for this amazing art craft, and to blend it with crochet. She does not only want to see beautiful women everywhere wear the Nyon Kpee brand, but she also wants them to feel and understand the deep, woven history, art, and spirituality that goes into Nyon Kpee. 

Karen is a full-time watercolour artist originally from the UK and now living in Edmonton, Alberta. Inspired by the landscape, especially the mountains just west of her home, Karen prefers to paint on location, allowing the painting to unfold naturally and intuitively. For Karen, art is an escape from the everyday, a chance to experience the earth more fully.

Thoughts on the theme, 4 Directions:
As a predominately outdoor painter I am naturally enamoured by all directions, each way I turn offers me a new scene, a scene to study, enjoy and perhaps commit to canvas or perhaps just to memory. Before I began my art career I would often not notice the beauty that was to the side of me or the joy and meaning to be had if I would just do a complete 180 degrees. Art, being the perfect metaphor for life, has allowed me the courage to see four directions as opportunities to grow and learn. I have been blessed to study so many viewpoints and I find myself open to new experiences, new points of view and new ways of living. It is this openness and respect that I feel when I think of the four directions and what I would like to express with my art.

Website: karenbishop.ca

International mixed media artist Jani Galarneau is known for her infectious energy and passion for creating. Her modus operandi is vibrant colors with a whimsical style and textures that not only draws the eye, but also makes you want to experience the art by touch. Jani brings her unique style together with many found objects as her passion for recycling and upcycling is key to her work. Currently she is teaching in the United States.

J (they/them) is a queer trans disabled multidisciplinary artist based on Treaty 6 Territory. A gentle garden gay at heart, they love embroidering all things botanical and queer. They are passionate about focusing their research and art on queerness, activism and nature. 

Thoughts on the theme, 4 Directions:
I have been enjoying finding creative ways to use materials. As a fibre artist, I especially love transforming leftover thread and fabric scraps into new creations. I am so grateful and excited to be a part of this year’s skirt designs along with so many talented people. 

Instagram: @thelilembroidebee
Tiktok: @thelilembroidebee
Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/thelilembroidebee

As long as I can remember, I have had a love affair with making things – anything, everything, simply the journey of creating. As a self-taught maker, I work without rules to find my own way through processes. I love to work in mediums that cannot be fully controlled, where you never really know where the process will lead and the final outcome is always a bit of a revelation.  

A rescuer at heart, I see possibilities in everything. I celebrate imperfections and treasure the things made out of caring that cultivate a connection to all consciousness. 

Instagram: @thepondhopper

Tanya Edison, multi-media artist from Nova Scotia. Worked in construction as a residential painter for over 25 years. Wants to see more women in construction trades and will talk about it to anyone who will listen. Believes everyone is a unique piece of art within their personal journey. 

Thoughts on the upcycled challenge:
I love that I am able to give life to something that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. In addition to being sustainable, using upcycled and unconventional materials allows me to push the bounds of my creativity.

My piece is called “a girl called rabbit from the hard place, dreamed of where she might visit.” It is a visual of the discomfort of growth when you are unaware of the things holding you in place. But, hope is always present and waiting to take you in the directions you choose to go when you are ready to stretch past the limits placed around you.

Instagram: @thestorybuilderworkshop