“Spotlight Q&A” — Stephany Pryce

Editorial Preface:

Our purpose in our Spotlight Q&A is to not only introduce you to some of Canada’s most creative people, but to inform you about some of the Art or Craft field you may or may not be familiar with. However, it is a particular delight of ours to have the opportunity of introducing you to one of Canada’s up and coming younger artists.

In this Spotlight, we’re travelling to the West Coast of Canada to interview Stephany Pryce. Stephany is an artist from the Haida Nation on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). She brings a fresh new interpretation of Haida art to her Haida culture. She is one of many talented Haida artists who have made a unique contribution to Canadian Aboriginal Art. Stephany creates wall hangings, traditional button blankets and clothing incorporating Haida design. She divides her time between working full time, going to school, and creating her art. She currently resides in Sooke, B.C. You can view her work at www.haidadesigns.com.

Heather Yuen of A&CNet spoke with Stephany Pryce.

HY:

Tell me about your start making Haida art.

SP:

I didn’t initially intend to be a Haida artist and now I’m a fabric artist incorporating Haida design. I didn’t know anything about Haida art and very little about the culture because it died for a period of years after the ban on the potlatch by the Canadian Government in 1884. The potlatch was a feast put on by someone of importance for an important event, and wealth was redistributed to others. Particular people had to return the wealth to the giver and had to give more than they received. Officials did away with the potlatch because they regarded the potlatch as heathenish, a waste of capital and impoverishing to some natives. Items associated with the potlatch were also banned, ie, bowls, ladles, masks, headdresses and all dance regalia. The ban was not lifted until 1951, and somewhere in the 60’s the younger generation set to work reviving the culture. The ban had affected all Haida because their lives were void of a very important cultural identity, and only a few artists were making art designs. Children and grandchildren started asking questions about the past and it was only a matter of time before everything was revealed by the elders. The re–creation of potlatches was a huge success as the dance, the art, and the heart of all Haida was restored in great glory in elaborate displays of blankets, masks, gold and silver bracelets and earrings, woven hats, and dance regalia that made your heart swell and your body shiver with the experience of it all. During this revival many books were written on the subject of Haida art and it gave me the information I needed to learn about the cultural background and structures of mythical creatures. I moved to Vancouver Island in the beginning of 1980, and have been away from Haida Gwaii all of these years and although I often feel physically disconnected from Haida Gwaii, I feel somewhat connected spiritually through my art.

My friend Carol Wallace introduced me to fabric art. She thought it would be a good fit because I have a strong background in garment making, which I had been doing since the age of 11. Coincidentally, my father was 11 years old when he learned to carve. Carol owned and operated a Native Art Gallery in Vancouver B.C. She purchased several pieces from Haida artists from Masset and Skidegate Villages on Haida Gwaii. She expressed an interest in displaying my art work in her gallery.

So I went to work creating my first wall hanging with a design that was given to me. I had to figure out how to make a template to transfer the design to the fabric and then appliqué the design to the background fabric. My first impression was that the lines were not cut “clean” enough. I wanted to give the impression that the design was printed on cloth, not sewn on. This experimental period went on for approximately five years, as I was searching for the right technique to produce an art piece that met my standards. I am extremely fussy and particular about the end results. I always think it has to be perfect, which makes it difficult for me to live up to this perception.

HY:

Who or what has been most influential in your work?

SP:

Bill Reid and Fred Davis, both of Haida Heritage. I was inspired by Bill Reid because he never made anything on a small scale. I had the opportunity to be with Bill Reid when he worked on the frontal totem pole for Skidegate Band Council House, the “Raven Discovering Man in the Clam Shell” at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver BC, and “The Jade Canoe” at the Vancouver International Airport. These three projects were incredible to me because of the size and scale of them, and the design fascinated me because I viewed Haida Art as uncluttered and beautiful. Bill told me stories of his vision to build a village on a small island, amazingly the same island I had looked at all of my childhood days from my living room window. He wanted it to be complete with longhouses and totem poles. It inspired me to not be overwhelmed on a project, and to see that almost anything can be done with determination and perseverance.

Fred Davis is a less well known artist who deserves much greater recognition than he receives. He has made pieces that continue to astound me. When you look at his art you ask... “how does he make something that is so small and intricate” or “it is so perfect that it looks like it was made by a machine”, and his comments are “I am not happy with it, it is not good enough”. I wonder what an artist needs to do to get to this level of accomplishment, and the answer is hard work, time and patience. I know it is possible to be that good and I want to be that good. Fred inspired me to work hard at what I do, and believe that it will come.

In the beginning my designs were a mixture of styles from various artists that I have studied and talked to over the years, and eventually, like most artists, I developed my own style, as I became more experienced drawing the mythical creatures I portray.

HY:

What challenges did you face in the beginning? How did you deal with them?

SP:

The sewing part of making fabric art was not challenging, but drawing the designs I found difficult because I did not know enough about the structures of Haida art, ie, form, lines, u-shapes, ovoids, feet, wings. I had to learn about them as I progressed. Every part of a creature’s body must flow into the next. For example, if a wing is not drawn on an angle that matches the angle of the head, the whole design is affected. This was very time consuming for me because I had to start from scratch. Now that I know a little more about Haida art, (I did a lot of research), it is easier for me to portray the images. The drawing is becoming faster as a result. When I was working on a template of a design my dad created, I was thinking this is the way that I would draw this part. Even though I did not learn from my father, I had inherited certain styles of the art from him. This was interesting to me, because I did not feel alone anymore in my quest to be an artist. I had my heritage behind me to show me the way.

HY:

How has your work changed since you first began with this art/craft?

SP:

When I look at my first art pieces, I think the structure and the placement of body parts on the garment or blanket is excellent, but the technique needs more work. I tend to be very critical of everything I do, and think after I make every piece of how it could be better, whereas when someone else looks at it, they look at the piece as a whole and see it as the art piece that it is.

At first, I made a lot of my button-blankets and wall hangings out of Melton cloth which is a heavy wool fabric. This is a traditional material to use, but it tends to be difficult to cut clean lines, and it shows in the finished product. Not to mention how hot it would be for a dancer to wear a button-blanket out of this cloth! At the time, this was what I could afford, and now I am in a better position to purchase more expensive and lighter weight materials such as cashmeres and ultra suede which cost $50.00 to $100.00 per meter of fabric.

The whole process consists of many steps. First I make the design template which defines details such as cross-hatching, colours, and the placement of the design segments. This is drawn onto the fabric, and then cut out with scissors and a roller cutter with a cutting board underneath. Once the design is cut out, it is attached to the background fabric by hand basting or a bonding material made for appliqué purposes. It is an iron-on bonding and it makes it easier to work with intricate designs. Designs that have bold lines can just be pinned on, but for something more detailed, it is necessary to use a more permanent basting technique such as iron-on bonding. Once the design is attached then it has to be blanket-stitched, using the sewing machine, around all of the edges of the design. The design is then detailed with buttons to complete the design portion of the piece. Once I figured out the technique, my art pieces became more like what I had originally envisioned in my mind.

What I am producing now has more intricate design work and is a result of my having more experience working with templates and appliqués than when I started; then I had absolutely no experience and knowledge of what I was doing.

HY:

What do you enjoy most about your art?

SP:

I like the challenge of making designs that look like prints made by Haida Artists such as Robert Davidson or Don Yeomans. Also, I like the physical sewing on the machine. Sewing relaxes me, and it takes me away from everyday stresses. It kind of brings me into a world of my own without anyone or anything else in it. I work best this way, and I produce my best work when I have the time to do so.

I use the sewing machine to sew the design to the background. Otherwise it would take me 50 to 75 hours more to do it by hand. The button details are sewn on by hand, and with wall hangings there may be only a handful of oyster shell, mother of pearle, or abalone shell buttons, but with button-blankets there could be up to 800 buttons, which is very labour intensive. The way the buttons were originally sewn onto a button-blanket was that the buttons were tied after every second button was sewn on. This was so that if a button-blanket had “expensive” abalone buttons, they would only lose two buttons if the sewing came loose.

HY:

How do you balance “working for a living” with doing your art/craft?

SP:

My full time job is about 30 hours/week. I teach children how to sew, construct garments and do alterations, and I’m not required to work more than the designated hours. I have a lot of flexibility at work as my boss, Sue, lets me work longer one day if I want to so I can take time off another day.

I spend a bit of time every day on my art work, which includes looking at other artists’ designs and stories, reading Haida Myths, or sketching, unless something else takes me away from it. I really have no pressures to do other things; I have the luxury of working on my art whenever I want to because I live in a remote area and I don’t have a lot of people dropping in unless they are invited. My home is in Sooke BC, which would be considered a remote town on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. I live in a home that would be considered “country style” and the backyard might be considered a mini park, lots of trees and a trail that leads to the neighbour’s house. The winter brings lots of wood fires that allow time to reflect upon the year past, and the year to come and time to work on art projects or Christmas presents for relatives. I wouldn’t say that looking out my sewing room window gives me inspiration for an art piece, the inspiration happens long before I begin to sew on the machine. The idea for the art piece begins when I start to draw the design …. I think about the person that is to wear the piece, and something strikes me about this person and the design forms from their personality or a talent that they have. When I made the design for the lead singer Bernie Shaw, of the Seventies’ band, Uriah Heep, I heard his voice for the first time on a VHS tape that my neighbour showed me. He sang “Rain” with a voice that was soft and powerful at the same time. I called the piece “Waking up the Night” … it has a human figure with a tongue as a microphone, and the Frog which represents communication, and a moon which indicates night. I like to create this way, and sometimes you have to wait for the idea to come, before you can begin work. So it cannot be rushed.

My life partner (Cam) helps me out at home with chores which gives me more time to do my own projects. And Cam helps with the actual design as he has the insight to say that this is not right, and for the most part he is right, his judgement is good and he always offers good advice to me. I have had a lot of education and experience in the business part of my life, and Cam may have pushed me to start, but I worked to learn everything to this point. It really is a good situation at work, and at home with the help of both my boss and my partner.

Other people along the way helped me to be more professional, and work experiences, however small, played their part in forming this professionalism. My grandfather was instrumental in my fashion presentation…he wore ties, hats and suits most of his life even though he lived in the remote village of Skidegate on Haida Gwaii. I have several aunts and a grandmother who were all great seamstresses.

Like everyone, I am the sum of my living and learning experiences, and my art springs from the merging all of these things, including my cultural background and professional development.

HY:

How did you get started selling your work? Where? How did you know “where”?

SP:

To date, I have sold most of my art work through word of mouth and very few in Art Galleries. I would rather sell through word of mouth because I can get what I deserve for the price. Some art galleries charge a mark up of 50 percent to help pay the high rents in desirable locations. In the past, I have not sold a lot of art because I did not have time since I was in school full-time and working to support myself. This year I am promoting my work more, and making more pieces to sell in my local town. I am just going to see how that goes, and take it from there.

When I entered my first art show I won an award for my art piece, and following that I sold the wall hanging to a lady in Maryland, USA. The museum asked me to do a show featuring myself and to display all of the pieces that I had. The museum presented me with an Honorarium which I appreciated, and it encouraged me to continue working in the arts.

HY:

Who is the market for your work? How do you reach them?

SP:

So far, my target market has mostly been Germans, Americans, and some West Coast collectors. I have not sold a lot of art, as I have mentioned, but I know where the markets are because of my involvement in working with Carol Wallace with her Art Gallery and the Film Production Company. Most of my information comes from Carol, so she is instrumental in my art business.

The Germans are fascinated with Haida art and they love the Haida culture. They have been known to re-create potlatches, and even wear traditional dance regalia and use customs similar to the Haida’s. There are many galleries and private collectors of Haida Art throughout the US, much of which resides in New York City, Washington and Seattle. In Victoria, you can view Haida art at the BC Royal Museum, and Vancouver has many art galleries and museums with impressive collections of Haida Art, most notably the Museum of Anthropology which houses Bill Reid’s piece “Raven Discovering Man in the Clam Shell”.

When I wear my art pieces, it attracts a lot of attention, and I have a lot of people asking questions about it. Although not everyone understands what they are looking at, they are still impressed by the design. That brings about interest in the work as well. The comments I hear from people is that they like the form lines, and that the designs are not so “busy”. Simplicity is the key I think. I am not saying it is simple to design, which it is not, but the design needs to be simple by just keeping with what is necessary to create the form you wish to portray.

I am in the process of promoting my work in Europe through a friend of mine, Bernie Shaw. He is the lead singer in the seventies’ rock band Uriah Heep. When he is on stage, he wears a vest I designed. This is the only fabric art piece I have sold overseas. I hope to get into the German market. Uriah Heep tours Germany all the time, and I make sure Bernie wears the vest when on tour. I have no preference as to what I want to sell in Germany, I would be happy with getting my art and my name known to some key people.

HY:

What, in terms of business insight, have you learned to do or not to do over the years?

SP:

It is important not to under-price art work, which I have a tendency to do. Now I take into consideration the cost of materials, and my time. I had under-priced my art work because I did not think I was good enough. Over the past 2 years I have acquired a few friends that are artists, and they told me that I under-price my garments. So I took that into consideration and put a higher price on the clothing. I sat down to figure out the work that went into it and what people don’t realize is the cost of the materials in making a garment, and the time it takes to design the garment, design the art that goes on the garment, cut it out, and construct it. All this takes a lot of time and hard work. And of course, the experience behind the actual work is very important; without it I wouldn’t be able to create.

HY:

Do you see any unique benefits and/or challenges in creating art based on a specific culture, such as your Haida heritage? I’m thinking along the following lines … a benefit would be a body of established designs to draw on and a challenge may be resistance on the part of some in the community to your using the traditional designs in a non-traditional way.

SP:

I draw on my Haida culture for designs… I have created pieces such as a dogfish transforming into a human for my own crest. The idea in some ways originated with my grandfather…he called me “dogfish eyes” because the colour of my eyes (hazel) is unique within my village. I created the design from my imagination. I put this design on the back of a black blazer made of Italian wool, and the red colour of the design was striking.

There are some rules on using Haida designs that must be followed but it is possible to follow them and still create what I want.. I have had support from all of my Haida relatives, and have been offered advice whenever it was needed. I have not been judged by my art work, but by the work that was put into it. Because so many people are using traditional designs with newer techniques, and trying out new things, it hasn’t been a problem for me to do so too. Of course I have to stay within the boundaries such as using traditional colours like red, black, brown, yellow, blue, green, teal, white, and cream. The public wants to see new and innovated pieces which are different from a lot of work that is out there. They are looking for something unique, and the Haida understand that these changes are a matter of being creative and different from the norm.

HY:

Can you offer any advice or tips to artists/crafters who are aspiring to sell their work?

SP:

Network, network, network….that is the best way - to get out there, and advertise. I am always in the habit of talking to people, and telling them what I do. Having a web site is great for me because I can always give them a visual of my work. My favourite way to advertise is to wear my art, and a lot of people who don’t know me approach me to ask about where my jacket came from, who made it, etc.

The net is a wonderful tool for promoting many things, including art & crafts. If you have a web site, get links to as many other web sites as possible. It is easier to find people who have a lot of links in other web sites, and also have a professional optimize your site so people can find it more easily. This is an important tool because it is accessible to the world, and that in itself is worth the time it takes to build a web site that is pleasing to the eye, and is suited to the work that you do. You can take the marketing abilities of the web to any lengths that you want to, and you have so many options for advertising on a variety of web sites such as government, local artists, museums, galleries, etc.

Word of mouth has been good for me, and I have made some great connections with key people through my friends and family. And always carry business cards to pass out to people; these go a long way when you don’t have a pen to write down contact information.

* We wish to thank Stephany for sharing her thoughts and experiences. We believe that creating a sense of community among artists, artisans and crafters through sharing knowledge and experience will help both the individuals and the art & craft industry grow and thrive.

Editorial Comment:

As Stephany has rightly noted, the internet and an effective web–presence is very key. It can make all the difference to the success of your Art or Craft business. At A&CNet, we can provide you with a complete range of professional website design and hosting, and creative marketing services. We also have one of Canada's true specialists on our team who knows how to “optimize” your site and get you the website traffic and potential customers you desire. Many claim to know what to do on this point, but few can do it consistently. It's one thing to have a website, but you have to know that it's doing for you “all that it could”. On its own, if few are able to directly or easily find you in their internet searches, it nets you very little advantage or return on your investment. If you're considering a new website or upgrading an existing one — Give us a phone call — We can definitely offer you the best in professional value and creativity and “real” results, at irresistably affordable prices!

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