Pauline Dinham

We recently asked Fibre Artist and County Arts Member Pauline Dinham to tell us about her recent projects, including her upcoming appearance at The Maker’s Hand from November 10th-12th at Highline Hall in Wellington. Pauline is one of four members of the Fibre on Fire Felting Collaborative, who will be showing and selling their unique and beautiful fibre creations among nearly forty other talented Canadian makers.

Pauline has received several Honourable Mention Awards at Art in the County over the years for her work in acrylics, encaustic and plexiglass, and in the last five years, her passion has shifted to working with natural fibres, wool and silk, both in Nuno felting and sculpture. Much of her felted work uses new and recycled silk incorporating the jewel-like colours of silk scarves and saris.

Please describe your artistic practice in a sentence or two:

Having been an artist working in different mediums over many years, I finally fell in love with fibre arts after taking a workshop with Lesley Snyder at Picton’s Rosehaven yarn store about ten years ago. All these years and many workshops later, it is still a passion.

Tell us about any artistic projects you have going on this upcoming month that you’d like people to know about:

We were in the South of France earlier this year and everywhere I saw women wearing very large brightly coloured resin or plastic jewelry. I am working on producing similar jewelry in felt… great fun!

What have you worked on recently that has you excited, either personally or professionally?

Just before Covid hit us all, four PEC felters- Carole Falkner, Deb Denard, Chris Hall and myself, formed “Fibre on Fire,” a felting collaborative. We kept in touch via Zoom during the lockdown and finally, last year, we exhibited at The Maker’s Hand. Belonging to this group has given me so much inspiration. We share our knowledge and support each other.

Where in the County do you find the most creative inspiration?

I love what is happening at Base31, especially at Maison Depoivre. Each show they curate is full of surprises. The owners Vincent and Christophe put their heart and soul into everything they do. I have been lucky enough to be involved with the gallery in its first year in their new space. Can’t wait to see what happens in 2024.