Most of the large canvases clearly show elements of animals and figures that can be named; elements unevenly translated into form, no longer closely attached to the gesture, and literary rather than mysterious. These images, self-aware, anxious and openly sexual, invite interpretation as symbols. When Scott gives us phalluses, feathers, body parts, teeth, wings, female horses, female unicorns, antlered carnivores, and horned herbivores, she challenges the conventional view which accepts as high art the male erotic fantasy of Picasso's artist and model series but rejects winged unicorns as the clichéd preoccupation of pubescent females.

That women can master the techniques of drawing and sculpture has been widely accepted for more than a generation; that serious work can be made from women's view of herself and her world, in a form new to art history, is not yet generally acknowledged. Sensitive, risky, suggesting many new directions which have not yet been woven into the central stream of her work, the overall feeling of New Places is both chaotic and promising. I hope Heather Scott stays in touch with her emotional, irrational self, and I look forward very much to her next exhibition.

Heather Scott is represented by Gallery Connexion, 204 Fulton Avenue, Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Brigid Toole Grant is a painter and printmaker who lives in Fredericton New Brunswick.

Heirlooms:
A Collection of Theme Quilts Handcrafted
in the Community of Dawson City

REVIEW BY KAREN DUBOIS

Dawson City is a community of 1000 people in Canada's Yukon Territory. Eight years ago, a group of women in Dawson made a quilt as a gift for a new-born baby. A theme and a colour scheme were decided on collectively, each woman contributed a quilted square, the squares were sewn together, a backing and binding were added, and the gift was given. The concept of community quilting had arrived.

Group quilting is not a new idea; subscribers to craft magazines will have seen examples of it, often called friendship or theme quilting. However, the idea of making these quilts for special occasions caught on in Dawson and to date over 180 women have contributed to over 55 quilts in this small northern town. These quilts have become know collectively as community quilts and visitors to Dawson's Museum last summer were treated to an exhibition of 40 of these quilts. The Museum Society also produced a catalogue of the quilts to accompany the display, and called it Heirlooms.

Heirlooms is a small, thin book that contains colour photographs of the quilts, close-ups which illustrate various techniques, and a text which tries to convey the pride of the community. Those of us who were involved in the production of the book and who have contributed squares to the quilts cannot view the book objectively. We can trace our own progress over the years, from simple shapes and stitches to more complicated designs and techniques. We have learned much from each other. We have shared resource books, materials, hints and ideas.

Newcomers to Dawson rarely last a winter before they are involved in making a quilt. Many have said that these quilt squares were their first attempt at handiwork. They like the idea of only being individually responsible for one twelve inch square that once combined with other squares makes a unique and useful handmade gift.

Many techniques such as trapunto, embroidery, hand and machine appliqué, silk painting and beadwork were used in the quilts.

The design was only limited by the theme of the quilt and the charm of the finished works comes from the different interpretations of a common theme.

As important as the beauty of those quilts to us who made them and who own them is the spirit of love and friendship in which they were made and given. To us, they illustrated what is best about our lives in this tiny northern town.

Copies of the book Heirlooms are available for $12.00 from the Dawson Museum and Historical Society, Box 303, Dawson, Yukon, YOB lG0.

Karen DuBios is a teacher, craftsperson, mother and a fourth generation Dawsonite. After contributing squares to over twenty group quilts she finally received on the occasion of the birth of her son, Nicholas.