May 8, 2025
“QUILTESSENTIAL”
Quilts by Marilyn Smulders
Artist Talk & Closing Reception: Thursday, May 8th, 2025 at 7:00pm
Exhibition Runs: March 31st to May 9th, 2025
Gallery hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, by chance or appointment.
“Quilting has a long history in Nova Scotia, no more so than in Lunenburg County where generations of women recycled fabrics and old clothing into bed coverings to keep their families warm. Although labour intensive, quilting was a creative outlet for many women, who used quilts to bring comfort and cheer to their homes.
I love the history and traditions of this tactile artform, the old patterns dating back centuries, and slow, meditative hand quilting. I make quilts for beds, for couches, for walls – wherever injections of colour, texture, and graphic punch are needed.”
Each quilt in the exhibition includes a description that shares the inspiration or story behind it, adding depth to the experience. The closer and longer you look, the more you’ll discover in these intricate works of art. Come by and experience this beautiful spring exhibition!
Marilyn Smulders graduated from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Art, majoring in Textiles, after many years of part-time study. She is happiest listening to an audiobook while working on her latest quilt project in her attic studio.
With a background in journalism and post secondary communications, she recently retired as the Executive Director of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. She and her husband Peter McLaughlin now live in Mahone Bay, NS, with their dogs Toulouse and Luke.
Marilyn Smulders is our current Winter/Spring 2025 Quilting instructor.
