Donna Seymour
Seven decades of family summers here, including the past 15 years in year-round retirement, have yielded myriad treasured memories, friendships and experiences! Childhood relived with each new generation meant swimming, tennis, rowing and kayaking, berrying, hiking, picnicking, card games and puzzles, always wanting summer to go on forever…
Did I mention collecting sea glass? Countless boxes of jars of collected sea glass. Later, and contemplating yet another move, I set up my first home studio and began sorting, sizing, cleaning the countless gems, and making Sea Glass Jewelry! In 2003, working with a SCORE consultant, Mainely for You! was formed…welcome to the land of . retail and marketing! Little did I know that MFY would soon host other artistic endeavors, including a children’s book, The True Story of Rocky the Seal; Photography, Greeting Cards, Fiber Arts.
Participation in the annual Historical Society Arts and Crafts Shows, in addition to IHS shows of Photography, Mixed Media, etc. has anchored my summers in all special ways: working with the diversity of other artists, reuniting with customers from the past, meeting new visitors to the island, as we artists all displayed and sold our creative work.
A profound Thank You to the Historical Society for creating this online summer show, so that the island artists and art-lovers can celebrate Summer 2020!
Donna Seymour: Artist’s Statement for Fiber Arts
In 2014, after taking several island adult education classes, joining Sewing Circle, and attending an advanced Fiber Art workshop in Arizona, I realized 2 things: I missed sewing and needle work which I’d done since childhood, and I had a lot to learn! A whole new world had opened up since I’d last made clothes for the children, embroidered jeans in the 60’s, needle-pointed countless pillows in the 70’s and 80’s, made curtains and table linens for our various homes, while knitting and mending throughout.
Essentially, Fiber Art is the result of creating images/designs made of paper/fabric/yarn etc. to be displayed, worn, and collected. Fabrics are my medium, especially Batiks/Hand-dyed textiles enhanced with Embroidery. Creating recognizable Landscapes and Seascapes, requires a blend of attention to minute detail, contrasted with familiar geographic forms. This tension is supported by the careful selection of fabric color and design, ultimately anchored by specifically chosen threads and precise hand-stitching, finally matted with hand-made paper.. Each fiber art image is based on a photograph I have taken, to reproduce, as accurately as possible, the island icons that resonate with you!
Coming Home captures the seasonal return to our beloved island, after being “away.”
Christmas at Grindle Point reminds us of the universal message of the winter holidays.
Proposal for Peace, a collaboration of poem prayer Poem by Anne Bertulli and fiber art/Fiber Art by Donna Seymour, guides us to keep hope alive.
Anne Bertulli: “I wrote poem prayer in 2016 in response to the suicide bombs, acts of terrorism and violence that seemed nonstop. Poem prayer was born out of the frustration that through fear, so many could harm so many others, often in god’s name. At the very core of our being human, we share so much, if we could understand that our differences are not a challenge to another’s beliefs or customs, but just the ongoing creative expression of the universe or god. My initial theme/message now extends to the conflicts we see in 2020 with nationality, race and personal relationships, anything that promotes us against each other.”
Donna Seymour: Artist’s Statement for Sea Glass Jewelry
Donna Seymour creates “natural“ jewelry from Sea Glass that she finds on the beaches of Islesboro. Sea Glass is the magical result of bottles, other glassware, porcelain and crockery discarded at sea. Tossed about by waves, rocks and sand until they become smooth, pieces of Sea Glass found on the beach beg to be picked up, held in hand, saved and savored. Summer never ends!
Each piece of Sea Glass is unique in size, shape and hue. Singular pieces become precious pendants… Compatible pieces become engaging earrings. Unmarred by drill or glue, each jewelry item is delicately wrapped in 10 K Gold or Sterling Silver hand-braided wire to become a wearable memory of the sea, Mainely for You!
Donna’s Sea Glass jewelry can also be found at Art of the Isle Gift Shop and Gallery, Islesboro Community Center and Archipelago Gift Shop and Gallery, Rockland.
PO Box 303 Islesboro, ME 04848
207 734-8221
Email address: dltseymour@gmail.com