Bonnie Dalziel

Growing up in northern Canada in the 40s, frugality and resourcefulness were the overriding concerns of my childhood. There were no corner stores to run to and I remember well my first creations for my dolls that I fashioned of flour sacks and leftover scraps of cloth. Even my little rabbit trap line provided fur and leather trims. Without the distraction of television and radio I became very adept at creating amusements and adventures and I credit my artistic path to this period. The native community that we were a part of also influenced me profoundly in ways that constantly delight me.

In my teens my untraditional education came to an end and I had the good fortune to attend Saint Ann’s Academy in Victoria and delighted in personal art lessons, drama and music. As a product of an unusually wild and free upbringing, the hardest thing for me to accept was patience and discipline — not to mention the challenge to both me and the dear sisters!

In 1963 I moved to Nova Scotia where I learned to quilt those 10 stitches to the inch designs, taught by old ladies who also knew a big about frugality and resourcefulness. They were not impressed when I rejected their traditional designs and they made fun of my wild colours and ‘fantastic flights of fancy.’ I hear they are still shaking their heads.

Imelda Mermaid is one of four in a series I call Human Beings Doing Impossible Things.