On Tuesday October 22nd Lorraine Roy delivered her lecture, The Sylvan Spirit. It was a walk in the woods with a person who has spent a lifetime among the science and art of trees.

Lorraine has tasted the twigs of the cherry birch and found them reminiscent of mint. She has studied the role of mycorrhizal fungi and found an astounding symbiosis connecting young and old trees. She has plumbed the depths of roots and spent many hours beside the native plants of the riparian zones of Southwestern Ontario.

And ... she has turned these experiences into a wealth of textile works created in her own unique method. She took the audience through the process and illustrated the results. Images showed the development of her work and also how she works with commissions.

At the conclusion of Lorraine's talk she presented a shortlist of her favourite books and some of the references she mentioned in her lecture. We are happy to give that list again here:

Lorraine Roy's Shortlist

“The Year of the Flood” Margaret Atwood
“Paradise of God”  Norman Wirzba
“Tree”  David Suzuki
“The Unfinished Universe”  Louise B. Young
“Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States” US Dept of Agriculture
“Native American Ethnobotany”  Daniel E. Moerman
Suzanne Simard, Mother Trees, UBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8SORM4dYG8
Test Tube Data: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21570671-archives-could-last-thousands-years-when-stored-dna-instead-magnetic

Lorraine Roy's website: www.lroytextileart.com

Janusz Wrobel’s website: www.januszwrobel.com