I spoke with Victoria-based fibre artist Trish Baer over Zoom on a perfect Vancouver Island summer morning. Even though she is mostly retired from her position at the University of Victoria, the professor is never far from teaching; with a wry smile, she tells me she had prepared a PowerPoint presentation with images of her work to share with me. Trish has an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in English and History in Art. Her dissertation, “An Old Norse Image Hoard: From the Analog Past to the Digital Present,” unites the established field of Old Norse Studies and the emerging field of Digital Humanities, and was nominated for a Governor General’s Gold Academic Medal.
Trish’s heritage is Icelandic. Her family came to Canada in 1904 and her ties to the culture are evident in her personal and professional life. At sixteen years old, she spent a year living with her uncle and his family in Iceland. Learning her school lessons in a different language was a challenge, so she took up crochet to help her concentrate. Over the years, she has expanded her creative exploration of crafts to include beading, quilting, needlepoint and more.
Images courtesy Trish Baer.
