60th Anniversary of PEICC - Excellence in Craft 2025

JIM AQUILANI

Macédoine of Metals
Hammered and embossed sterling silver and copper; hand-coiled copper wire; hand-forged silver ear wires and brass and silver clasp

RUTH AQUILANI

Hanging On
Hand-appliquéd quilt; cotton

This Hanging On quilt is a variation of the Autumn Leaves pattern from the 1930s. I modernized it by using bright and bold fabrics, focusing on a centre panel, and designing the leaves border and leaves quilting design to tie it all together.

Sunset
Hand-appliquéd, hand-painted, and embellished quilt; cotton and novelty yarn
23 inches by 20 1/2 inches

This Sunset quilt was inspired by a photograph taken at sunset while vacationing on a beach Up West on Prince Edward Island.

ALEX BEVAN_BAKER

Trio of large bowls showcasing the same base crystalline glaze across three different clay bodies. Each wheel thrown bowl has subtle nuances amongst the crystal growth, based on its type of clay. All three were fired as a group on the same shelf in the Kiln.

Good Things Come in Threes
Shallow bowl - white stoneware clay, cobalt crystalline glaze
Medium serving bowl - porcelain clay, cobalt crystalline glaze
Large bowl - grogged stoneware clay, cobalt crystalline glaze

ELLEN BURGE
A handwoven bowl crafted from red pine needles and clay, drawing inspiration from traditional Indigenous techniques. The pine needles were foraged in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona, gathered from the windfall in French Village, Prince Edward Island. This piece is both a tribute to ancestral knowledge and a meditation on nature’s cycles of destruction and renewal.

Resilience in Reverence
Pine needles, clay, waxed thread
13” X 4 1/2”

NANCY COLE

Shining Through
Contemporary embroidery; photograph

Murmurations
Contemporary embroidery; photograph

J. DARRYL DESROCHE

Tide’s Out
Hand-turned red island oak; stained

HOLLY ANNE DOYLE

Having been born and raised on Prince Edward Island, I can not help but be inspired by the beauty of my surroundings. I find myself often trying to recapture the feeling of my childhood in my work. The wildflowers on my pieces are from a meadow I used to run through as a child. Old farmhouses and hayfields were what passed mye by on a drive through the countryside. And the lighthouses fascinated me with their quiet beauty and history and I often romanticized them imagining them to hold all the secrets of the sea.

A Summer’s Meadow
Red stoneware with glazed floral design

Sea Folk Plates
Glazed red stoneware

CHELSEA FARRELL

My work uses the intricate textures of wool and mixed fibers to create a tactile experience. In these two pieces I explore epigenic inheritance, the idea of inheriting my mother's environmental experiences and in turn passing those down to my three kids. The first piece titled "Inheritance; Exploration" takes me back to rainy spring days where my mother and I would connect the puddles using sticks across our country dirt road. The second piece titled "Inheritance; Tranquility" has two meetings for me. This view of my cottage reminds me both of the peace I feel while at one of my favorite places and also the loss I felt when accepting my mother would no longer return there. I enjoy wool as my canvas because it is so versatile and clearly felt. Through the layering of fibers I am able to tell my own stories organically and show how these experiences have left imprints to be passed down through generations.

Inheritance: Exploration
Hand-felted wool and novelty fibres

Inheritance: Tranquility
Hand-felted wool and novelty fibres

TRUDY GILBERTSON

When I began to carve 35 plus years ago, I worked in wood. But after living for a year in the Northwest Territories, and a trip to New Zealand, where bone carving is widely practiced, I switched to mainly working with beef bone and antler. Whales have always been my favourite subject matter to carve. Big, small, singles, pairs or groups - I have carved them in antler, wood, soapstone and beef bone.

These humpback whales are carved from locally sourced beef bone and are mounted in a vintage, up-cycled frame. Texture and blue metallic paint against a black background create a sense of depth and movement in the ocean.

Pod
Carved beef bone; vintage frame

STEVE LEARD

When I was designing the box it was my intent to use the front/back and two sides to represent the push and pull of forces for better or worse, presently at work on humanity. (Man and nature. Religion and science.) The top was to represent The twain we have to traverse to achieve a path forward.

The Twain
20"L x 9"W x 10"D
Knotty pine treated with tung oil then box was sealed with water based varnish.

ARLENE MACAUSLAND

Dune Grass
Wool appliqué and french knots on wool felt

The Housing Shortage
Wool appliqué hermit crabs; flocked doll head; stitched felt can and lightbulb base; embellished with buttons and beads

A shortage of seashells resulting from the souvenir seashell trade and collectors is revealed by the hermit crab resorting to alternative housing; a doll head, food tin and the base of a light bulb.

LUCUS MACDONALD

Humans are pattern seekers. It makes traversing life easier if we’re able to predict what’s coming. We’re drawn to patterns for safety, and so patterns have become a comforting sight. I’ve grown particularly interested in the patterns that water creates. Rain drops in a puddle, light refracting through a glass of water, or the shimmering light off the surface of water on a sunny day. There's so much information packed into these fleeting moments. I wish to capture the liminal beauty hidden in these transient moments that catch us off-guard. Through my wood carvings I attempt to document these ephemeral events that are easily missed in our typically humdrum lives.

Intersect
Walnut wood, hand carved, 2024
38.1 x 29.2 x 3.8cm

Pool
Walnut Wood, hand carved, 2024
48.2 x 4cm

RILLA MARSHALL

Meta Weave: Small Pattern
Handwoven using supplementary weft; plant-dyed cotton yarn and cloth cordage
Cordage Composition 1 and 2
plant dyed cotton yarn and cloth cordage handwoven 

NOELLA MOORE

Sweet Nectar
Mi’kmaw quillwork; porcupine quills, birchbark, sweetgrass and sinew

CATHY MURCHINSON

I have always been fascinated by crows and Ravens. I have a family of crows that live on my property in Point Prim that come to my bird feeders and they provide endless entertainment. I wanted to capture their distinct silhouette against the subtle morning sky as they make their way through the trees. Their noisy cawing sound announcing the start of a new day

Murder at Dawn
Traditional Glass
Dimensions 3 ¼" deep x 25 ¾" high x 18 1/" wide

JULIA PURCELL

I became fascinated with the challenge of depicting a PEl marsh and fen, inhabited by the elusive American Bittern. I imagined them gracefully wading among the tall narrow leaves and reeds, stirring gently in the low colored light of evening with shimmering water and reflections. I considered titling this print the "Myth of the Tryon Bittern" as these birds are rarely, if ever sighted on PEl, likely due to habitat loss. I do love marshes and all wild spaces.

In Marsh and Fen
Lino cut print
13” x 16“

SUSANA RUTHERFORD

She/Her is one of a series of five panels made with funding from Innovation PEl to address the topic of gender-based violence. Transgender women are 4x more likely to be victims of violence. Continuing to support existing laws that protect transgender people and affirming their equality and rights has become more important as those rights are being lost or removed globally. The quotes used in the piece are from, Connie Merasty a two-spirited member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Laverne Cox an American actor and Judge Ana Reyes who recently ruled on an executive order in the U.S to prevent transgender people in the U.S military. Her remarks included the recognition of over 30 variations of biological gender.

She/Her
Traditional Stained Glass with fused and painted details
Dimensions: 24.5" x 24.5"

NORA RICHARD

Swirling Star
Mi’kmaw basketry; natural and dyed reed, seagrass

IAN SCOTT & DAPHNE (LARGE) SCOTT

A whimsical look at the possibly early European explorers from L’Anse aux Meadows who it is believed travelled into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, based on the discovery of beech nuts at the Newfoundland archaeological site, a species native to more southern climes. A new study of wooden artifacts found at the Newfoundland site shows that Vikings lived, and felled trees, on North American soil during the year 1021 C.E., added to the earlier archaeological finds there. All of this evidence to support the Vinland Sagas, of discovery and exploration of Vinland by Erik the Red and others, is fascinating.
The item is also a play on the related terms of craft – watercraft, and the shared community that craft has become over 60 years on Prince Edward Island. Having been personally involved for many years, individually and as a family, the figures are symbolic of both community and of family. The role that travellers to PEI have played in sustaining employment, and development of a craft industry locally is also suggested by these early visitors to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Hand built clay, bisque fired with portions being glazed and fired a second time. The unglazed portions are reflective of the red cliffs of PEI. Sail was sewn on a sail maker’s treadle sewing machine and dyed with PEI clay.

Water Craft Exploration
Ship’s hull 17” X 12” width – height is 25” with sail

SHWETA SETH

Daisy Flower Square Throw
Crochet; cotton and acrylic yarn

LISA STEELE

These raku pieces use burnished clay and ferric chloride acid to evoke the sensor of movement within natural turbulent flows of fluids, with layering evoking a sense of depth and motion as in storm clouds at sunset.

Sunset Storm I and II
Raku pottery
18cm (7") high x 13cm (5") diameter and 17cm (6.5") high x 14cm (5.5") diameter

AYELET STEWART

Orbiting
Enamel and graphite on copper dome; hammered and stamped sterling silver embellishments

Infinite Floral
Enamel and graphite on copper dome; hammered and stamped sterling silver embellishments with hand-built and cast sterling silver leaves.

GILLES TOUGAS

Unwritten Dreams is a mobile of handbound books. The mobile contains 30 tiny hardcover books are 1.25 inches or 0.75 inches in size. The tiny books are made using the complete bookbinding process a book of a larger size would follow. Each tiny book has a hand painted cover and contains 24 lb Neenah paper with a linen finish. The "frame" of the mobile is a large cloth bound book. The cloth for the cover of this book was purchased and treated to become book cloth. The book contains 24 lb Neenah paper with a laid finish. The pages have been put together with adhesive to form the solid structure which the tiny books hang from.

Unwritten Dream
Hand-bound books; book cloth, 24lb Neenah paper, adhesive

HEATHER WALKER

Inspired by Alexander Muir's 1867 patriotic poem, The Maple Leaf Forever, my silk painting depicts maple leaves bravely blowing across the water, a symbol of Canadian pride, coast to coast. Fallen leaves may cause ripples, but unity prevails. "The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear, The Maple Leaf forever". Alexander Muir

Maple Leaf Forever
Hand-painted falling leaves on Habotai silk

JANE MEREDITH WHITTEN

Entangled
Randomly woven discarded deep sea fishing line netted with cold water fishing line

JAMILYN WILSON

This piece reflects the internal struggles I've faced over the past few years. From family dilemmas and career decisions to financial challenges and issues with self-esteem, I have often felt broken and adrift. I questioned my worth and the value of my efforts. I transformed this pent-up energy into my inaugural collection, "Lost @ Sea." This photograph served as a reminder that, despite feeling fragmented, I have consistently managed to reassemble myself. Rather than concealing what I perceive as flaws, I need to embrace my scars and cherish my beauty marks. They not only define who I am but also represent my experiences and interactions with the world around me.

Broken
Cast “wild” clay; fishing line

KEITH WORNELL

Layed Rings and Things Box
Jatoba & Maple woods turned with multiple precision lathe mountings

Jewellery Chest
6 drawer jewellery chest of sapele and maple, with wrap around grain design.  Hand finished with oil and wax.  

BETTE YOUNG

I hook rugs in a traditional style, inspired by the rich colours of Prince Edward Island. I hand dye most of my wool, and enjoy the challenge of creating what I love the most - old homesteads and colourful landscapes. My approach is simple and stripped down, allowing the viewer to fill in the story.

Having created dozens of landscapes over the years, Red Door was a fun challenge to showcase my rug hooking style, in consideration of this special exhibit for the PEl Craft Council.

Red Door
Traditional rug hooking; hand-dyed wool and wool yarn