Heather Dubreuil

Hudson, Quebec, Canada

The color pulls you in first – vibrant, luscious, succulent color. Then you notice the slightly off-center stitched details: windows, aerial antennas, railings, downspouts, which create an effect similar to watercolor line and wash paintings. But it’s the contrast between the hard edges of the city buildings and the softness of Heather Dubreuil’s chosen medium that ultimately captivates you completely.

53rd Street West

24 x 18 inches 2012

Love of cities

Much of my work has been inspired by the cities near where I live: Montreal and Quebec. But I love visiting London and Paris because of the vibrancy of the street life and the quality of the art museums. While I enjoyed Amsterdam, its landscape didn’t lend itself well to my work because the façades are so flat. It was difficult to get an angle on the buildings as I was seeing everything straight on, from street level. New York, on the other hand, offers great opportunities to view the architecture from a slightly elevated or sunken perspective.

Taking photos

I look for the rhythmic patterning of doors and windows, strong diagonals, the solidity of interlocking forms, and an unexpected perspective. If the sky forms an interesting negative space, that’s all the better. I have a particular fondness for water towers and chimney pots.

I use the computer to produce a black-and-white photo the size of the piece that I plan to make. With a marker, I trace over the main lines of the image. Seeing the simple black-andwhite drawing emerge on paper is one of the most satisfying aspects of my process, and it helps me evaluate the composition. Sometimes the detail on a shutter or a row of balusters is just the visual texture that is required and helps the viewer make sense of the image.

Color

I did a series of pieces that were just line. They were made at the beginning of my Cityscapes series, but I soon tired of the process. I wanted the challenge of working with line, shape, and color.

I dye my own fabrics and often do a run of dyed fabrics with a range of intensities all in the same color. I might choose a particular color for the sunlit face of a building and then pair it with a more intense version for the shaded side. At other times I will create a range of 8 to 9 colors, transitioning from one hue to another. Pairing closely related colors can sometimes create a translucent effect.

I like to create a particular mood with my color choices: the hot energy of pinks and oranges, or the wistfulness

Camden Town #2

18 x 24 inches, 2014

of warm and cool greys. There’s nothing like the pure joy of throwing yardage together and seeing how one color animates another.

My mother’s influence

As a child, I was constantly making things, and cloth and yarn were readily available. My mother died when she was very young. She was an accomplished needlewoman, and I sometimes wonder if my choice of medium may be based on her legacy, an attempt to connect with who she was. In a broader sense, I see my choice of fiber as an homage to the culture of women’s needlework. There is a special, intangible dimension to work in cloth, not just the physical dimension of texture and pattern, but an elusive, emotional layering, suggesting warmth, heritage, and intensive, meditative working.

Fine art training

I did not take a single painting course in my fine arts program. The style of painting being taught at the time was hard-edge abstraction of the Barnett Newman style, which did not interest me. I was more interested in Formalism. My intention is to have the various elements of color, line and composition form an impression of aesthetic order. The social or geographic aspects of the subject are less important. I look at my work analytically: Are there curved lines to contrast with the straight? Are there cool colors to add spark to the warm? Is there a variety of size and shape? Rhythm? Unity? I take my cue from my subject, but I do not hesitate to edit an image to make it more pleasing to my eye.

Shows and stretcher bars

I seek out opportunities to show my work in solo and group shows in both galleries and cultural centers, and I am listed on TAFA (www.tafalist.com) and TODL (www.todl.com). I My website lists upcoming events, including a solo show at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Ottawa, Feb. 11 – March 13, 2016.

I have found that galleries accept work in fiber more readily when it is mounted on a gallery canvas with stretcher bars. I am ambivalent about this practice. Mounting on a canvas gives a small piece more presence on the wall, but it also seems to deny the essential nature of cloth. In the future, I would like to make larger work that hangs freely and challenge the galleries to accept it for what it is.

top: Port Clyde 11 x 8.5 inches, 2014 above: Boathouses #1 12 x 12 inches, 2013