Kate Bridger's
Gallery of Fabric Art

Kate Bridger

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My foray into Fabric Art began in the early 1980s when I lived with my husband and two small children in a remote pulp and paper town in Northern Ontario. The winters were long and nasty and the summers were short and buggy; there was plenty of time to pursue new interests. Having always enjoyed working with fabrics, I began making wall hangings for my children’s rooms. When their walls were amply covered, I fine-tuned my techniques, tested the marketplace and developed the art form that I have remained committed to ever since.

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Over three decades later, my work has appeared in magazines, won awards and is displayed in homes and businesses around the world. I have created well over 500 original pieces featuring landscapes, wildlife, house portraits, old cars, household objects and abstracts. My sources of inspiration include northern Ontario, the Kootenays, British countryside, Tuscan villages, Greek islands, Nelson New Zealand and my own backyard. I am as excited about classical architecture and pastoral vistas as I am about unkempt alleys, rusty trucks and crumbling barns.

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My family and I moved to Nelson in 1994. Two years later, I opened an art and furnishing gallery downtown. I operated the business for almost a decade. It brought all my design, art, marketing and business skills together under one umbrella. 

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In 2006, I closed the Gallery. Since then—while exploring a variety of other vocations, including retail, ad sales and real estate, as well as travelling, writing books and successfully launching my two sons into the world—I have continued to work in Fabric Art.

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Then, in December, 2019, I moved to Comox, just in time for a pandemic! Fortunately, exploring and stitching my new environs has kept me well occupied and helped introduce me to other like-minded creative people here in the Comox Valley and now my work is available at The Old Schoolhouse Arts Centre in Qualicum Beach, The Salish Sea Market in Bowser and, of course, here in Comox.

 

BETWEEN STITCHES:

 

When I'm not attached to my sewing machine, I am busy conducting Fabric Art Workshops, providing professional Picture Framing services or involved in Editing and/or Graphic Design projects. I also provide in-home 'Colour Chat' consultations.

 

I published my first book, Nest Building: A Guide To Finding Your Inner Interior Designer, in 2011; it was well received with encouraging words from well-known designers Debbie Travis and Cobi Ladner.

 

In 2013, I published an art book, The Fabric Of Nelson, featuring some of my favourite fabric art pieces depicting life in and around Nelson.

 

In 2014, I published my first e-Book and debut novel entitled: Talking To Myself.

 

Two years later, 2016, I published a second novel, Dear Teddy.

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In 2020, I wrote published a third work of fiction, Penance.

 

 

EXHIBITION HISTORY:
• 'I Love Mondays', solo show at The McMillan Arts Centre, Parksville, BC, October, 2023

• 'Stitching The Edges', solo show at The Old Schoolhouse Arts Centre, Qualicum Beach, BC, June - August, 2023

• 'Rural Decay', juried show at The Old Schoolhouse Arts Centre, Qualicum Beach, BC, 2022

• 'Emergence', juried show at the Alberni Valley Museum,  Port Alberni, BC, 2022

• 'Still', The Grand National Fibre Art & Quilt Exhibition,  Portage La Prairie, MB, 2019

•  “Artwalk 2019” – Touchstones, Nelson, BC, 2019

•  Columbia Basin Cultural Tour,  Nelson, BC, 2019

•  “Artwalk 2018” – Touchstones, Nelson, BC, 2019

•  Columbia Basin Cultural Tour,  Nelson, BC, 2018

•  “Artwalk 2018” – Touchstones, Nelson, BC, 2018

•  “Artwalk 2017” – Touchstones, Nelson, BC, 2017

•  “Arts On The Edge” – Gallery 64, Kimberley, BC, 2017 - Jurors' Award, established artist category 3rd prize

•  “Artwalk 2016” – Touchstones, Nelson, BC, 2016

•  “Arts On The Edge” – Gallery 64, Kimberley, BC, 2016 - Jurors' Award, established artist category 1st prize

•  “Save Me A Seat” – The Craft Connection, Nelson, BC, 2015

•  “Artwalk 2014” – Fireside Inn, Castlegar, BC, 2014

•  “The Fabric of Nelson” - Touchstones Gallery, Nelson, BC, 2013

•  “Picking Up The Pieces” - Nelson, BC, 2011-2012

•  “Threading My Way Through Tuscany” - Nelson, BC, 2009

•  “17th Kootenay-Boundary Regional Juried Art Exhibition” - Nelson, BC -  Jurors’ Award

•  “Artwalk ‘95” - Ward Street Gallery, Nelson, B. C.

•  “16th Kootenay-Boundary Regional Juried Art Exhibition” - Nelson, BC.

•  “Regional Juried Art Exhibition, 1995” - Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario - Winner of the Thunder Bay Telephone Directory Cover Award.

•  “Third Annual Valley Best Art Exhibition” - Silverton Gallery, Silverton, BC - Honourable Mention.

•  “Ontario Arts Council Regional Arts & Crafts Exhibit” - Thunder Bay art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario.

•  “Northern Roadsides” – A self-promoted show, northern and central Ontario, 1992.