Vancouver Courier
Vancouver’s Mini Maker Faire this Weekend
Artist Sola Fiedler will show off Tapestry of Vancouver at Event
By Cheryl Rossi
It all started at her dentist’s office on the 19th floor in 1983. While reclining for a root canal, Sola Fiedler gazed at the city from on high on West Broadway and recognized that with the approach of Expo 86, Vancouver was on the brink of change.
She couldn’t draw and she couldn’t paint but she could knit, so Fiedler decided to fashion a panorama of the city with yarn.
More than 30 years later, the 78-year-old Fiedler is “99.9 per cent” finished her Vancouver Tapestry that she started in 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games, and she’s “very, very excited” to be unveiling her roughly 12-foot by five-foot creation at the fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 7 and 8 at the PNE Forum.
“Full circle,” Fiedler said. “It’s the same size tapestry. It’s the same viewpoint.”
The self-trained artist works not from a painting or a photo but from the 3D images in her head. Fiedler builds her cityscapes building-by-building, street-by-street.
“I put in every tree, every gravestone in the graveyard, every trailer in the trailer park,” she said.
Fiedler weaves high-rises, waterways and mountains with yarn from sweaters or bundles she has purchased at thrift stores.
“I’m really concerned about how much goes into the landfill,” she said. “And I’m certainly not rich.”
Fiedler has lived in multiple cities that have hosted Olympics and World’s Fairs for two or three years to reflect them in a tapestry, deriving great satisfaction not only from documenting a moment in history but also from working with her hands.
Chenille from the same dark green sweater she used to shape evergreen trees in Salt Lake City forms trees in Stanley Park.
Fiedler may bring a loom with partially woven buildings to the faire to demonstrate how she achieves her detailed depictions.
It’s those kind of interactions that get Vancouver Maker Foundation board member and creative director Emily Smith so excited about the event.
“For me, the most exciting thing about going to the maker faire is just the conversations you have with people because everybody’s there to create and to learn,” she said.
Smith noted makers love what they do and often want to make a difference, say by boosting awareness about energy and other waste.
Smith says visitors to the faire will hear from a broader range of makers than in previous years.
MakerBrarians from the B.C. Libraries Cooperative will highlight the future of maker spaces in libraries, representatives of a variety of creative hubs will share their know-how in 3D printing, metal fabrication and welding, and the faire will host an attempt to set the new Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously on June 7 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Wannabe makers can get hands on at the faire’s first workshop series with sessions on making puppets, knotwork bracelets, robots and more. Attendees must register in advance.
The faire runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at makerfaire.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi
© Vancouver Courier
– See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/news/vancouver-s-mini-maker-faire-this-weekend-1.1117521#sthash.9YUlOpUA.dpuf
It all started at her dentist’s office on the 19th floor in 1983. While reclining for a root canal, Sola Fiedler gazed at the city from on high on West Broadway and recognized that with the approach of Expo 86, Vancouver was on the brink of change.
She couldn’t draw and she couldn’t paint but she could knit, so Fiedler decided to fashion a panorama of the city with yarn.
More than 30 years later, the 78-year-old Fiedler is “99.9 per cent” finished her Vancouver Tapestry that she started in 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games, and she’s “very, very excited” to be unveiling her roughly 12-foot by five-foot creation at the fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 7 and 8 at the PNE Forum.
“Full circle,” Fiedler said. “It’s the same size tapestry. It’s the same viewpoint.”
The self-trained artist works not from a painting or a photo but from the 3D images in her head. Fiedler builds her cityscapes building-by-building, street-by-street.
“I put in every tree, every gravestone in the graveyard, every trailer in the trailer park,” she said.
Fiedler weaves high-rises, waterways and mountains with yarn from sweaters or bundles she has purchased at thrift stores.
“I’m really concerned about how much goes into the landfill,” she said. “And I’m certainly not rich.”
Fiedler has lived in multiple cities that have hosted Olympics and World’s Fairs for two or three years to reflect them in a tapestry, deriving great satisfaction not only from documenting a moment in history but also from working with her hands.
Chenille from the same dark green sweater she used to shape evergreen trees in Salt Lake City forms trees in Stanley Park.
Fiedler may bring a loom with partially woven buildings to the faire to demonstrate how she achieves her detailed depictions.
It’s those kind of interactions that get Vancouver Maker Foundation board member and creative director Emily Smith so excited about the event.
“For me, the most exciting thing about going to the maker faire is just the conversations you have with people because everybody’s there to create and to learn,” she said.
Smith noted makers love what they do and often want to make a difference, say by boosting awareness about energy and other waste.
Smith says visitors to the faire will hear from a broader range of makers than in previous years.
MakerBrarians from the B.C. Libraries Cooperative will highlight the future of maker spaces in libraries, representatives of a variety of creative hubs will share their know-how in 3D printing, metal fabrication and welding, and the faire will host an attempt to set the new Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously on June 7 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Wannabe makers can get hands on at the faire’s first workshop series with sessions on making puppets, knotwork bracelets, robots and more. Attendees must register in advance.
The faire runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at makerfaire.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi
© Vancouver Courier
– See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/news/vancouver-s-mini-maker-faire-this-weekend-1.1117521#sthash.9YUlOpUA.dpuf
It all started at her dentist’s office on the 19th floor in 1983. While reclining for a root canal, Sola Fiedler gazed at the city from on high on West Broadway and recognized that with the approach of Expo 86, Vancouver was on the brink of change.
She couldn’t draw and she couldn’t paint but she could knit, so Fiedler decided to fashion a panorama of the city with yarn.
More than 30 years later, the 78-year-old Fiedler is “99.9 per cent” finished her Vancouver Tapestry that she started in 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games, and she’s “very, very excited” to be unveiling her roughly 12-foot by five-foot creation at the fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 7 and 8 at the PNE Forum.
“Full circle,” Fiedler said. “It’s the same size tapestry. It’s the same viewpoint.”
The self-trained artist works not from a painting or a photo but from the 3D images in her head. Fiedler builds her cityscapes building-by-building, street-by-street.
“I put in every tree, every gravestone in the graveyard, every trailer in the trailer park,” she said.
Fiedler weaves high-rises, waterways and mountains with yarn from sweaters or bundles she has purchased at thrift stores.
“I’m really concerned about how much goes into the landfill,” she said. “And I’m certainly not rich.”
Fiedler has lived in multiple cities that have hosted Olympics and World’s Fairs for two or three years to reflect them in a tapestry, deriving great satisfaction not only from documenting a moment in history but also from working with her hands.
Chenille from the same dark green sweater she used to shape evergreen trees in Salt Lake City forms trees in Stanley Park.
Fiedler may bring a loom with partially woven buildings to the faire to demonstrate how she achieves her detailed depictions.
It’s those kind of interactions that get Vancouver Maker Foundation board member and creative director Emily Smith so excited about the event.
“For me, the most exciting thing about going to the maker faire is just the conversations you have with people because everybody’s there to create and to learn,” she said.
Smith noted makers love what they do and often want to make a difference, say by boosting awareness about energy and other waste.
Smith says visitors to the faire will hear from a broader range of makers than in previous years.
MakerBrarians from the B.C. Libraries Cooperative will highlight the future of maker spaces in libraries, representatives of a variety of creative hubs will share their know-how in 3D printing, metal fabrication and welding, and the faire will host an attempt to set the new Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously on June 7 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Wannabe makers can get hands on at the faire’s first workshop series with sessions on making puppets, knotwork bracelets, robots and more. Attendees must register in advance.
The faire runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at makerfaire.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi
Vancouver’s Mini Maker Faire this Weekend
Artist Sola Fiedler will show off Tapestry of Vancouver at Event
By Cheryl Rossi
It all started at her dentist’s office on the 19th floor in 1983. While reclining for a root canal, Sola Fiedler gazed at the city from on high on West Broadway and recognized that with the approach of Expo 86, Vancouver was on the brink of change.
She couldn’t draw and she couldn’t paint but she could knit, so Fiedler decided to fashion a panorama of the city with yarn.
More than 30 years later, the 78-year-old Fiedler is “99.9 per cent” finished her Vancouver Tapestry that she started in 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games, and she’s “very, very excited” to be unveiling her roughly 12-foot by five-foot creation at the fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 7 and 8 at the PNE Forum.
“Full circle,” Fiedler said. “It’s the same size tapestry. It’s the same viewpoint.”
The self-trained artist works not from a painting or a photo but from the 3D images in her head. Fiedler builds her cityscapes building-by-building, street-by-street.
“I put in every tree, every gravestone in the graveyard, every trailer in the trailer park,” she said.
Fiedler weaves high-rises, waterways and mountains with yarn from sweaters or bundles she has purchased at thrift stores.
“I’m really concerned about how much goes into the landfill,” she said. “And I’m certainly not rich.”
Fiedler has lived in multiple cities that have hosted Olympics and World’s Fairs for two or three years to reflect them in a tapestry, deriving great satisfaction not only from documenting a moment in history but also from working with her hands.
Chenille from the same dark green sweater she used to shape evergreen trees in Salt Lake City forms trees in Stanley Park.
Fiedler may bring a loom with partially woven buildings to the faire to demonstrate how she achieves her detailed depictions.
It’s those kind of interactions that get Vancouver Maker Foundation board member and creative director Emily Smith so excited about the event.
“For me, the most exciting thing about going to the maker faire is just the conversations you have with people because everybody’s there to create and to learn,” she said.
Smith noted makers love what they do and often want to make a difference, say by boosting awareness about energy and other waste.
Smith says visitors to the faire will hear from a broader range of makers than in previous years.
MakerBrarians from the B.C. Libraries Cooperative will highlight the future of maker spaces in libraries, representatives of a variety of creative hubs will share their know-how in 3D printing, metal fabrication and welding, and the faire will host an attempt to set the new Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously on June 7 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Wannabe makers can get hands on at the faire’s first workshop series with sessions on making puppets, knotwork bracelets, robots and more. Attendees must register in advance.
The faire runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at makerfaire.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi
© Vancouver Courier
– See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/news/vancouver-s-mini-maker-faire-this-weekend-1.1117521#sthash.9YUlOpUA.dpuf
It all started at her dentist’s office on the 19th floor in 1983. While reclining for a root canal, Sola Fiedler gazed at the city from on high on West Broadway and recognized that with the approach of Expo 86, Vancouver was on the brink of change.
She couldn’t draw and she couldn’t paint but she could knit, so Fiedler decided to fashion a panorama of the city with yarn.
More than 30 years later, the 78-year-old Fiedler is “99.9 per cent” finished her Vancouver Tapestry that she started in 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games, and she’s “very, very excited” to be unveiling her roughly 12-foot by five-foot creation at the fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 7 and 8 at the PNE Forum.
“Full circle,” Fiedler said. “It’s the same size tapestry. It’s the same viewpoint.”
The self-trained artist works not from a painting or a photo but from the 3D images in her head. Fiedler builds her cityscapes building-by-building, street-by-street.
“I put in every tree, every gravestone in the graveyard, every trailer in the trailer park,” she said.
Fiedler weaves high-rises, waterways and mountains with yarn from sweaters or bundles she has purchased at thrift stores.
“I’m really concerned about how much goes into the landfill,” she said. “And I’m certainly not rich.”
Fiedler has lived in multiple cities that have hosted Olympics and World’s Fairs for two or three years to reflect them in a tapestry, deriving great satisfaction not only from documenting a moment in history but also from working with her hands.
Chenille from the same dark green sweater she used to shape evergreen trees in Salt Lake City forms trees in Stanley Park.
Fiedler may bring a loom with partially woven buildings to the faire to demonstrate how she achieves her detailed depictions.
It’s those kind of interactions that get Vancouver Maker Foundation board member and creative director Emily Smith so excited about the event.
“For me, the most exciting thing about going to the maker faire is just the conversations you have with people because everybody’s there to create and to learn,” she said.
Smith noted makers love what they do and often want to make a difference, say by boosting awareness about energy and other waste.
Smith says visitors to the faire will hear from a broader range of makers than in previous years.
MakerBrarians from the B.C. Libraries Cooperative will highlight the future of maker spaces in libraries, representatives of a variety of creative hubs will share their know-how in 3D printing, metal fabrication and welding, and the faire will host an attempt to set the new Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously on June 7 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Wannabe makers can get hands on at the faire’s first workshop series with sessions on making puppets, knotwork bracelets, robots and more. Attendees must register in advance.
The faire runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at makerfaire.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi
© Vancouver Courier
– See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/news/vancouver-s-mini-maker-faire-this-weekend-1.1117521#sthash.9YUlOpUA.dpuf
It all started at her dentist’s office on the 19th floor in 1983. While reclining for a root canal, Sola Fiedler gazed at the city from on high on West Broadway and recognized that with the approach of Expo 86, Vancouver was on the brink of change.
She couldn’t draw and she couldn’t paint but she could knit, so Fiedler decided to fashion a panorama of the city with yarn.
More than 30 years later, the 78-year-old Fiedler is “99.9 per cent” finished her Vancouver Tapestry that she started in 2009 in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games, and she’s “very, very excited” to be unveiling her roughly 12-foot by five-foot creation at the fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 7 and 8 at the PNE Forum.
“Full circle,” Fiedler said. “It’s the same size tapestry. It’s the same viewpoint.”
The self-trained artist works not from a painting or a photo but from the 3D images in her head. Fiedler builds her cityscapes building-by-building, street-by-street.
“I put in every tree, every gravestone in the graveyard, every trailer in the trailer park,” she said.
Fiedler weaves high-rises, waterways and mountains with yarn from sweaters or bundles she has purchased at thrift stores.
“I’m really concerned about how much goes into the landfill,” she said. “And I’m certainly not rich.”
Fiedler has lived in multiple cities that have hosted Olympics and World’s Fairs for two or three years to reflect them in a tapestry, deriving great satisfaction not only from documenting a moment in history but also from working with her hands.
Chenille from the same dark green sweater she used to shape evergreen trees in Salt Lake City forms trees in Stanley Park.
Fiedler may bring a loom with partially woven buildings to the faire to demonstrate how she achieves her detailed depictions.
It’s those kind of interactions that get Vancouver Maker Foundation board member and creative director Emily Smith so excited about the event.
“For me, the most exciting thing about going to the maker faire is just the conversations you have with people because everybody’s there to create and to learn,” she said.
Smith noted makers love what they do and often want to make a difference, say by boosting awareness about energy and other waste.
Smith says visitors to the faire will hear from a broader range of makers than in previous years.
MakerBrarians from the B.C. Libraries Cooperative will highlight the future of maker spaces in libraries, representatives of a variety of creative hubs will share their know-how in 3D printing, metal fabrication and welding, and the faire will host an attempt to set the new Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously on June 7 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Wannabe makers can get hands on at the faire’s first workshop series with sessions on making puppets, knotwork bracelets, robots and more. Attendees must register in advance.
The faire runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details at makerfaire.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi