Iris Ethridge

Iris Ethridge was born and educated in England, receiving a degree in French from the University of Bristol. After teaching in England for several years, she came to Canada, settling in Vancouver, where she continued to teach modern languages, doing postgraduate work at the University of British Columbia.

In 1986 she moved to Prince Edward Island where she decided to pursue her intense lifelong interest in the visual arts, focusing on fibre.

In 1987 she was invited to participate in Gail P. Hunt's very successful book, "Quiltworks Across Canada", representing the province of PEI. In 1989 she participated in an exhibition at the Eptek Centre in Summerside, PEI. The show was well received and works reached many destinations, including Australia, the USA and England.

Her hangings have been exhibited in a number of juried shows in Japan, Canada and the USA. Her work has been featured in several editions of the Japanese magazine "Tse Shin". Another publication including her work is "Christmas in Prince Edward Island", by the noted Island photographer, Wayne Barrett.

The themes of her work are landscape, nature, music and history. The preferred medium is silk; the main technique is collage, overlaid with machine and hand embroidery. Colour and texture are important elements: humour and whimsy also play a part.