One day during the height of the pandemic, Pat Morrison was in her greenhouse. She found her attention drawn to a slug who was making a trail on the condensation of the plastic wall. Five hours later, Morrison became convinced that the slug was deciding on the path it would take, making deliberate designs, perhaps even communicating who they are.
Over the next six months, Morrison watched slugs, and marveled at their design trails. She took countless pictures and finally made the decision to honour the residents of the greenhouse by transposing the designs onto fabric through embroidery, following the trail of the slug with thread. As she continued with piece after piece, she felt like each wall hanging better reflected her experience of watching the slugs.
After completing several wall hangings, Morrison is showing off the results through an exhibit at the Nelson Public Library until the end of April.
Looking over her art, Morrison says “they feel like what I experienced looking at the slugs in those first days.” She says that gardening has been a good practice for her to slow down and notice what is happening and she hopes that people who look at her art will also find ways to cultivate ways to notice in their own lives.
Morrison is a long-time resident of the Slocan Valley and a life-time gardener, feeding her large family over the years on the fruits of her garden. She is a founding member of the Slocan Threads Guild and has been stitching for over 50 years, often stitching reflections of what she sees in the garden.
Nelson Public Library