EartHand Gleaners Society

art ~ ecology ~ people

  • #TreasuringStrathcona: World Food Day

    On World Food Day, Alex Ramirez hosted a stitching event at the Strathcona Community Centre. He was joined by stitchers of all ages and they worked on cloth that was collaboratively dyed & printed with food and medicinal plants harvested from the Strathcona Community Garden in September.

    Treasuring Strathcona will be holding a series of stitching circles in the coming months, leading towards the collective creation of a final art work which will live at the community centre. The dates for these circles are as follows: Tue. Oct 29 (7-9pm) – Activity Room (main floor), Thu. Nov 21 (7-9pm)  – Multipurpose Room (2nd floor), Thu. Nov 28 (7-9pm) – Activity Room (main floor). Come join us!           

  • #Treasuring Strathcona: Artists’ Share

    • Amy trying her hand at making a leaf rubbing.
    • Plants harvested from Cottonwood Community Garden were added to the piece.
    • Beautiful leaf!
    • Lots of young hands came and stitched with us!

    Last week Treasuring Strathcona had the pleasure of joining Amy Walker for Artists’ Share at the Community Centre. We spent a joyful afternoon stitching on cloth that was collaboratively dyed & printed with plants harvested from the Strathcona Community Garden.

    Passersby also added to an ongoing leaf rubbing project that holds botanical impressions from plants growing in the Strathcona and Cottonwood Community Gardens as well as MacLean Park and the eastern part of the neighbourhood. Plants tell us so much about the place we live in, they speak to the cultural and ecological complexity of this neighbourhood, from cedar, to tansy, to bamboo.

  • #Treasuring Strathcona: Fall Harvest Festival

    On September 21st the Strathcona Community Garden held their annual Fall Harvest Festival. It was such a lovely afternoon spent in a beautiful community space with live music, bread fresh from the cob oven, and remarkable knowledge holders found throughout the garden. We hosted an activity table where we explored natural dyeing, eco-bundling and plant rubbings.

    Alex and Anna wanted to work with food and medicinal plants growing in the garden space, so they harvested leaves and dug through the compost heap to find source plants. These included: sunflower, goldenrod, rosemary, butternut, apple, paw paw, persimmon, plum and many other plants and trees.

    #Treasuring Strathcona will be a part of Strathcona Community Centre’s Artist Share series this Thursday (October 3) @ 3 – 6 pm. Come join us and help stitch together some of this remarkable place-making cloth.

    Check out the gallery of images to see pictures of the cloth we collectively dyed and printed!

  • Youth4Nature

    Ongoing work with Stanley Park Ecology Society over the last year will culminate in a final installation session October 5th 1-4pm. Geared to youth from 13- 3o, can you join us?

    Register here

    We will be digging, planting, weaving and more to complete this site rehabilitation, dress for the weather- rain or shine!

  • Fish Leather Sewn Pouches with Janey Chang

    2 Thursdays, November 7 and 14 6-9 pm

    Maclean Park Fieldhouse 710 Keefer St
    Register here $65 – materials extra as stated below

    Janey will lead participants through the creation of their own unique projects, providing templates and patterns for a few simple projects, or, bring a clear idea of your own design.

    These two sessions are a chance to work on your stitching; understanding simple methods of folding and piecing together small  pieces. 

    This class does not include materials: finished salmon leather skins will be available for pre-purchase from Janey up to 10 days before class at $22 per skin, max 5 per student. An email with a paypal link for  leather purchase will be sent out to registered participants on October 17. Those who purchase skins will receive them the first class. Participants are encouraged to take the leather making class and bring their own skins!


    • Seamless and Stitched Felt Vessels with Amy Walker

        2 Wednesdays, November 13, 20 6.30-9 pm

        Maclean Park Fieldhouse, 710 Keefer St.

        Register here $85– materials extra

        Hats or Bags? Make a vessel for your head, or for other useful things!

        These two nights introduce basic seamless wet-felted construction using resists as well as stitching methods for joining and decorating with felt.  Personal flare encouraged! Depending on the scope of project undertaken, participants can expect to work independently between sessions to complete the project and to choose a project within their time and skill capacity. This class does not include materials, for those not taking the wet felting class, felt will be available for sale by weight during class, expect $15-35 in cost. Please bring cash for the instructor.

      • Stitched Felt Vessels with Amy Walker

          2 Wednesdays, November 13, 20 6.30-9 pm

          Maclean Park Fieldhouse, 710 Keefer St.

          Register here $85– materials extra

          Hats or Bags? Make a vessel for your head, or for other useful things!

          These two nights introduce basic stitching construction with felt, managing edges and pattern basics. Personal flare encouraged! Depending on the scope of project undertaken, participants can expect to work independently between sessions to complete the project and to choose a project within their time and skill capacity. This class does not include materials, for those not taking the wet felting class, felt will be available for sale by weight during class, expect $15-35 in cost.

        • Salmon Leather Tanning with Janey Chang

          new dates_ 2 Thursdays, October 17 and 24 6-9 pm

          710 Keefer St.- Maclean Park Fieldhouse

          $125 register here

          Fish skin leather is an ancient skill that was once common among ocean and freshwater  communities in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a beautiful textile that can be tanned in different ways to create a strong leather for clothing, pouches, wallets, footwear and art. In this class we will use the bark tanning method resulting in soft, burgundy-toned skins. You will have an opportunity to prepare between 1-5 or more fish skins into leather depending on the speed you work.

          Registration fee: $125 includes all materials

          • Wet Felting Basics with Amy Walker

            2 Wednesdays, October 23, 30 6.30- 9pm

            Maclean Park Fieldhouse 710 Keefer St

            $95 Register here

            Wet felting uses water and agitation to create fabric from animal hair/fibres (we’ll be using wool). This two-night class introduces wet-felting technique in the first session, with a follow-up night of experimentation and production! Participants will leave with at least two pieces of felt fabric made from merino wool and/or local, naturally dyed fleece. Felt fabric will be suitable for use in the vessel class as well as for mixing with salmon leather or other personal projects. All materials included.

            • Drop Spindle Introduction

              Monday October 28 6-9 pm

              Maclean Park Fieldhouse- 710 Keefer St

              $50 Register Here

              Are you clumsy with the drop spindle, or new to spinning and need some assistance and help getting going? If you find yourself too familiar with the ‘drop’ part of the spindle, this clinic will help get you spinning with confidence and more control over yarn production. Time will be spent learning proper carder use, understanding fibre staple lengths in relation to drafting process, and controlling the twist entering the fibre supply. Those with some basic familiarity with a drop spindle will get the most out of this clinic, but new spinners will learn much to help in understanding the process. Includes all materials and drop spindles for class use, personal spindles and carders welcome.

              Instructor: Sharon Kallis