For just over 20 years, Lorraine Roy has been working with textiles in non-traditional ways. By using a unique mixture of techniques like appliqué, collage, embroidery and quilting, she integrates thousands of bits of fabric and threads with fine transparent tulle and machine stitching. The results combine her passion for science and spirituality while exploring the earthy origins and surprising versatility of fabrics and threads.

Lorraine's formal education in Horticulture and subsequent research is a never ending source of inspiration for her tree and plant images. From the start she has enjoyed combining high representation mixed with symbols from dreams, memories, and mythology. Lately she has been experimenting with abstraction because it allows more emotive freedom. Still, she strives to maintain scientific accuracy in her renditions of particular tree species.

Saving Paradise will feature ten framed textile works depicting tree species of Western Canada. Many of these are also native to Ontario where the artist lives. On her last visit to Alberta, she noted that many of these trees had different growth patterns from the Eastern versions, which was taken into consideration with her portrayals.

And with each tree hanging, it seems natural to include a 'portrait' of its seed. Besides being inherently beautiful, tree seeds symbolize both vulnerability and strength. They transmit fresh combinations of genes from previous generations, ensuring natural diversity. Seeds protect within them, sometimes for years, the collective past of a species. They are a symbol of hope for the future.