Guelph wool painter creates colourful handcrafted 'gems' of art

Guelph artist Gianna McGrath creates art full of colour, texture and movement, one fibre at a time.  

McGrath, the wool painter behind GEMmade Designs, uses her self-taught technique to create landscapes made entirely from wool.  

At first sight, one might mistake her art pieces as paintings.

"But when people see my work in person, it's a really different experience when they see the textures, as compared to a photograph," McGrath said.

"When they lean in for a closer look, they say, 'Oh my gosh! Is that wool? I have never seen anything like this.' I love seeing their reaction. And that's part of the draw for me, it's the textures."

McGrath outlines her unique pieces by restoring and repurposing antique window frames collected from across the province.

"The frames come from churches, old inns and farm houses. When I work with clients, we pick the frame first," she explained.

"And then they tell me stories about their life and what they would like to see in the piece. For me it's all about their stories. I get to know them on a really personal level."

McGrath, an arts and graphic arts high school teacher in Kitchener, began her own business, Gem Made Designs, nine months ago.  

Born and raised in Guelph, the 29-year-old attended St. Paul's Catholic Elementary School and Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School.

The roots of her journey and inspiration as an artist began with her grandfather, her beloved 'nonno.'

"It's the treasured memories of my time in the garden and countless blissful hours spent sitting at the kitchen table with nonno encouraging me and giving me some drawing instruction that the first seeds of my love of the arts were planted," McGrath said.

Music has also played a significant role in the art McGrath creates.

"I'm actually a violinist. I grew up playing professionally for quite some time at Suzuki String School of Guelph. That's where I started," she said.

"For me, I have synesthesia and so, when I hear and play music, I see colours. That plays a factor into how I create my pieces. I pull that into my work. I'm inspired by listening to music and also by my love of nature."

McGrath pursued a degree in music education and performance and then went off to teacher's college at Queen's University.

"There was a special program at Queen's called artists and community," McGrath said.

"We did workshops with a bunch of different people who were teaching us unique techniques in art and how to bring that into the community," she added. "One woman came in and talked about building these 3D sculptures and I thought that it was a wonderful medium. It was very relaxing and meditative but I didn't really love making sculptures."

So, McGrath decided to experiment on her own.

"I started my first piece during COVID-19. At the time, I was finishing teacher's college. I graduated but everything was locked down," she said, "so, I started experimenting on the bedroom floor at my aunt's house, making my very first piece. That took me about a year to do just because I didn't know what I was doing."

That's when McGrath began to express herself through wool art.  

"When I started to create, through what I call wool paintings, I realized all those visions in my mind that I was using to colour my music in order to communicate to my audience, I was now expressing through my nature-themed paintings," she said.

A number of McGrath's pieces can be found throughout Guelph including at Williams Cafe, a local doctor's office and John McCrae House.

"It's nice to spread them around. My dream is to eventually have a space in the community where I can have my own gallery space, where I can invite people in to see my work," McGrath said.  

Along with creating artwork for clients, GEMmade Designs offers artistry courses where participants can learn the elements and principles of design and apply knowledge to the basics of wool painting.  

"For me, it's about having people tap into their artistic voice to create their own vision through wool painting. It's really beautiful and that's what art should do. Art tells stories," McGrath said.

McGrath feels her artistic journey has been characterized by experimenting and getting lost in the process, the textures, the colours, the movement, the rhythm and the flow of creating.

"Your home should be a reflection of who you are. For me in my home, my walls tell stories of my family and of me. Every art piece has sentimental value. So, I want to show people how to create that themselves or commission me to do that for them. They will have an heirloom to pass down in their family," McGrath said.

"For me, it's about making timeless art pieces and capturing the stories and sentiments that can fill people's homes."