Ralph Jarvis

"So how far back do you want to go, Blanche? Do you still want to be able to vote?"

I tried Iceberger. Draw a berg, see how it floats. A reminder what's at the surface isn't the whole truth. This one's dense, unstable, despite claims to the contrary. Oddly vacillating between Greenland and Canada. Adrift, not knowing which way is up. "Look what you've done! I'm melting! melting!"

Thank you :-)

Puffin Tumble. Puffins are pelagic, coming to land only to breed. No doubt a few are being tossed about in the North Atlantic now, waiting for spring. Natural history illustration is my comfort zone. One of my first designs to use more character drawing skills. #quiltsky #nature #art #pattern

Labrador Wild. Inspired by a school visit in Nain, Labrador in the 90s and a career as a wildlife biologist. Designed and sewn on the terrace in Mexico. The hardest part was finding the quilting cotton. Easy part, the amused neighbours. #quiltsky #nature #labrador #thequiltedstash #ecology

Happy Anniversary to this amazing man- a product of China, Mexico and Canada. Any duty required for this amazing shared life, I am happy to give. #loveislove #notariffonlove #anniversary

Vestiges and Horizons. Feels a little like how I see the details of a life lived in Newfoundland in the later part of the 20th and first quarter of the 21st centuries. #newfoundland #oldandnew #landscape

A retired nurse and friend's nan, told me a story of how she took half of her very 1st pay cheque to buy a tricycle for a terminally ill boy. Turned out, he was the son of the woman who later mentored my mom when she needed work after our house burnt. Circle of Kindness. Made as a gift. #quiltsky

My mother is a bonafide red seal chef and expert berry picker. She's shared her love of foraging with three generations now and gifted countless bottles of her homemade jams. I'm a proud recipient of both and the wider love of nature it led me to. #nature #family #respect #TinyJoys #foraging

Thank you :-)

When Sun Rays Crown (2023). A line from the official national anthem of Newfoundland pre-confederation with Canada, sung at public events to this day, served as the inspiration for this piece. #quiltsky #craft #newfoundland #canada

MoMA (2010). Took this picture on a New York getaway with friends that long ago. Shortly after, I had a computer crash and lost it. One of my trip companions recently showed me the pic on her phone, a forgotten share. I was happy to see it again. Loves me a bit of chance I do. #art #TinyJoys #MoMA

Thank you and it is! I'm on there as The Quilted Stash. Mostly designs with iconic Newfoundland and Labrador motifs.

With 50 mil of rain buddied up with wind reaching 120 km/h here in eastern Newfoundland tomorrow, I dug out a rubber boot fabric I designed a few years ago. Might play with it in the studio as the weather passes. Keep the real boots in the porch. #quiltsky #newfoundland #sewday #art #fabricdesign

Thank you!

Thank you :-)

Thank you :-)

Caribou Borealis. Fabric collage background and appliqué for the caribou. I spent too much time in my stash auditioning fabrics for the part of binding. Eventually an ombre batik got tired of being overlooked and volunteered.
#quiltsky #collage #art #nature #Newfoundland #wildlifeart #quilting

“There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in” Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”. #Newfoundland #icebergalley #nature #hiking

Tibb’s Eve never came. “You’ll get that money back Tibb’s Eve!” Never. In Newfoundland though, Tibb’s Eve actually comes around on Dec. 23rd. Work to be done was done. The first nips of home-brew made for season tasted. Rumour is, even Santa got in on the action. #quiltsky #art #tradition #christmas

Grey Jays are resident in Newfoundland and Labrador and don't need an invite to a winter campfire, our "cuppa tea in the woods". Smart enough to know a free morsel might be procured. Paired with some red osier in this fabric collage for decor. Spiced Grey. #quiltsky #collage #birds #thequiltedstash

I make small projects and I make larger ones. The important thing I've learned is to keep making, my self thrives on the tacit knowledge it creates. Most work comes from my love and experience in nature, here the crucial seasonal flooding in the Peruvian Amazon. #art #várzea #pyrography #nature

Sometimes I'll undertake an off the cuff, no pressure project using a variety of techniques to jump-start my creativity. Here a simple pieced background, Fabric painting (Inktense) and some nature inspired stitching served the purpose.
#quiltsky #quilting #natureart #creativeflow #crafted #fall

Thank you, I drag my quilting gear around on travels too but I've got nothing on you! Amazing. We have quite a few lobster floats in our waters too, along with the scattered iceberg.

Some lath from lobster pots that had long served their purpose become a wooden pieced and framed quilt block. Fishing stages were once painted with red ochre, dories with yellow. Seemed fitting to use those same natural pigments here. #quiltsky #barnquilts #ochre #tradition #art #crafted #quilt

A career as a biologist gave me a chance to more fully inhabit and observe this one world we share with other species. It included wildlife rehabilitation, as face to face as it could get with wildlife including this orphaned moose calf. #nature #wildlife #animals #conservation

My niece's quilting inspired this piece of mine. I covered canvas with sand and removed it where I scorched to create the image. The sand brushed away, the surface was coloured with stain made from ochres I'd collected in C. Rica, Peru and Canada. Neotropical Migration. #nature #art #quiltsky #ochre

Thank you! Pretty easy wallhanging, if you don't include the design effort and time for the panel :-) Happy you think it captures something of this place.

He Rowed Up in a Dory. Christmas starts a little earlier in Newfoundland with Tibb's Eve, Dec. 23 being the start of the merrymaking. Even Santa gets in on the action, though he might have to nurse a tiny hangover. #wallhanging #quiltsky #thequiltedstash #digitalprinting #art #quilting #santa

Ptarmigan, are called "partridges" here in Newfoundland and lingonberries are "partridgeberries". My favourite berry for jam, quite tart but deeply flavourful. Larch (yeah, we call it "juniper") turn a most glorious yellow in the fall. #fabriccollage #quiltsky #quilting #art #nature #birds #quilts