Fibre Artist Michelle Churchill’s creativity is bursting at the seams.
By: Nicola Ryan
Michelle Churchill’s hooked rugs are so vibrant they seem to leap from their frames. Whales splash in swirling blue waters and waves roll upon rocky beaches. Inquisitive puffins peer from their perches. Sunsets paint the skies in brilliant shades of golden yellow, coral and vermillion.
Her home workshop is similarly overflowing full of projects and materials that there’s barely room to turn around. She’s fun and engaging as she speaks about life as an artist from her home in Mount Pearl. Michelle’s creative energy can’t be contained, and she’s always working, determined to expand her horizons and go bigger and bolder.
“I’ve always been an artist. I did art in school and then I went into printing, graphic design, painting and digital photography. There’s always been some aspect of art that I’ve always dabbled in,” Michelle says.
“My grandmother did rug hooking. I probably picked everything up from her,” she adds, joking about how her grandma would cut up clothes to add to the cozy flannel quilts. An introduction to rug hooking class at the Anna Templeton Centre led Michelle to try her hand at fibre arts.
“I started by doing the traditional method of cut strips, but I couldn’t find the wool anywhere,” she says with a laugh. “So I went in one day and decided, ‘I’m just going to rip up my husband’s t-shirts!’ He has a lot and I wanted him to go get new shirts anyway. I went in, took a pair of scissors, and that was it!”
Michelle’s creative talents now include rug hooking, felting, punch needling and embroidery – traditional crafts that she interprets with her own spin.
“It’s just such a traditionally folksy type of thing to do and it really is woven into our heritage. I love the aspect of doing something that’s old, but making it new with different techniques and my own vision to it,” she says.
True to her Newfoundland roots, Michelle uses hand-dyed wools, recycled clothing, stones, wood and other natural elements in her works.
“I just started using what I had,” she says. “The whole idea of sustainability – using what you have. I’ve used curtains, my daughter’s onesies, and anything that I can get my hands on for texture and for colour, I cut it up. Then I started dying my own wool. And I started doing that more naturally because I don’t like using chemicals. So I started using avocados, turmeric, sun bleaching, ice baths, flowers and roses and doing a little eco-printing on the side. I have bottles of experiments everywhere!”
Recently, Michelle’s been busy teaching, crafting and collaborating. She was honoured with the 2023 Arts and Letters award in Senior Visual Art for her hooked rug piece ‘The Fury’ which depicts a mythical nautical scene.
She’s spent time working with other artists, writers and musicians at the creative Artistry program at the Stephenville Theatre Festival, and she’s working on wearable pieces of art, part of the Engulfed 2024 fashion show and exhibition.
Currently, the work Michelle is developing is all about Newfoundland culture, showcasing the island’s traditional way of life. It’s based on colour, beauty, strength, humour and ruggedness, she notes. Her work uses rug hooking, punch-needling, felting techniques and other elements for texture. Her bold bright pieces make an impact on the viewer. “I want to represent the colourful people that we are by the images I create and the strength of those images,” she says.
Despite all her successes, Michelle still longs to spread her wings and dive into new creative endeavours.
“I’d love to do a collaboration,” she says. “It really challenges me. The idea is growth as an artist, because you can’t just do, in my opinion, the one thing over and over, time after time, you know. You always want to put yourself out there and try things that you wouldn’t normally do just to see if you can do it. It changes your perspective … The whole idea is this whole journey of growth. And I’m always changing. I know that if I look at things that I’ve done five years ago, even two years ago, I’ve completely changed.”
A career as a successful, working artist is no easy feat to achieve though. “I would love to be a recognized artist and actually make a living from this,” Michelle says, noting that she manages to squeeze crafting in around managing a full-time day job and a busy household full of pets and kids.
“Three o’clock in the morning, I’m up,” she says, adding jokingly, “I don’t do this for the money, that’s for sure. I’m what you’d call a starving artist! It’s ok, it’s all good.
“It’s hard to put your name out there,” she continues. “Other than trying to do the online stuff, Facebook and Instagram and places like that. I’d love to have my own show. I’d love to have the funding. There’s only so far you can go being a starving artist if you want to go bigger or better. I want to do so much more and I’m limited. And I don’t like, as an artist, to be limited.
“I’m trying to stay within my own means, and I’m trying to make do with what I have, but I’d love to have the opportunity to go much bigger. I would love to be able to do a mural. Like a wall size!” she says, describing 3D sculptural techniques she dreams of working on. “If I had the means, I’d be renting the QV artisan studio so I could do things like that – anything can happen!”
For now, Michelle’s busy creating incredible art that’s a joy to behold. “Next year, the Engulfed show is going on tour,” she says. “They’re going to be in Montreal doing a fashion show so my work will be displayed there. Then when it comes back here, I think it’s September 2025, [it will be] down at the Craft Council. So there’ll be a show.”
Check out more of Michelle’s work:
