Wednesday, 29 October 2025

The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos

Thanks to blogging buddy Boud of Field and Fen, I attended a fascinating art exhibit last week. Boud lives in New Jersey, but she sure keeps her finger on the pulse of all things artistic, so she let me know about this exhibit here in my city of Edmonton, Alberta! As it happens, Harcourt House Gallery is located right in my own neighbourhood, so I could just walk over and see it!


The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos by artist Noreen Crone-Findlay features many wonderful mixed-media figurines celebrating sacred geometry and the "timeless echoes of the Feminine Divine" (as stated in the brochure). So you know it was right up my alley! Each one incorporates elements such as weaving, knitting, crochet, fused glass, paintings, ceramics, wire, beadwork, macrame, found objects, etc. to bring them to vibrant life.

Here are four of my favourites showing Noreen Crone-Findlay's artistry --





The artist even created her own decorative looms on which to weave items for the Divine Feminine figures. This one is called the "Rigid Heddle Band Cat Shape Loom and Heddle" --


And this "Star Loom" features hare/rabbit symbology sacred to the Goddess --


A delightful exhibit which nourished my imagination and soul! Time well spent indeed. Thanks for the heads up, Boud!

28 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

Glad you had a great time, Debra. And groovy that someone from Jersey found this for you. One of the fun things about blogging, all the goodies shared from far and wide.

Tom said...

...we all need nourish our imaginations and souls!

Mitchell Block said...

Boud is an inspiration. What an exquisite exhibit. And so you.

Val Ewing said...

What a fascinating weave and artistry!

Travel said...

Wow!

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

Lovely!
The first one is my fav. And she created her own looms?

XOXO

ArcticFox said...

very creative - i especially like the bespoke looms.... what a treat

Bob said...

What a talent. I love each and every one.

Rain said...

I love "The Heart of the Hose" it's so pretty how she did the arms!

Lady M said...

It is an exhibition tailor made for you. How could they have known? Love that the artist makes her own looms and they are so beautiful.

Marie Smith said...

Wonderful exhibit! Leave it to Boud for art and everything else really!

Kathy G said...

Wow!

Boud said...

Thanks for the review. I thought Noreen would appeal. I've been following her online for years, very inventive lady. She creates all kinds of things, often from up cycled materials. I'm glad the show is a success. She's had a terribly difficult couple of years lately.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Yes I can see how that exhibition would have been your cup of tea Debra. We all need Bouds in our lives.

Pixie said...

Those are beautiful!

whkattk said...

A lot of macrame and beadwork, as well as weaving material. Wow!

Granny Annie said...

My precious Mother was a weaver and she would have loved seeing these.

Liz Hinds said...

Those are gorgeous! How wonderful to have it right in your area.

Barbara said...

Wow. That was interesting. I would love to see it in person too.

e said...

These are wonderful! I'm so glad that Boud told you about the exhibit and that you ventured out. Thank you for sharing this amazing art with us! Love the Divine Feminine, love the mixed media, astounded by her looms.

Elderberry-Rob said...

I like the last wiccan pic. There's some true art there, must have been great seeing it at close proximity.

Kay G. said...

Amazing! And I love the nice blogger told you about this in your own neighborhood. That is great. Blogging friends are the best.

roentare said...

A beautiful fusion of craft, symbolism, and spiritual expression brought vividly to life through texture and form

DB Stewart said...

Intricate and impressive.

Tundra Bunny said...

Very interesting mixed media pieces: the first two resonated with me and of, course, the bunny loom! It would have been helpful to have included something in your photos to indicate the scale of the artist's work... I'm assuming each one is about 12 inches long?

Parnassus said...

Hello Debra, I have always felt that there is a touch of black magic involved in weaving. Painting looms like cats does not make it more plausible that waving threads around will result in cords or fabrics.
--Jim

Mary Kirkland said...

Thank you for sharing this. They're beautiful.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Tundra Bunny -- Yes, I would say 12 inches is a good estimate of the average size. Some were bigger though, maybe 18 inches.