Early on in my career, pursuing art did not seem like a sustainable option. In Capilano University's Textile Art Program (2008-2010) I pursued techniques and modes that I thought could be multiplied and put into the fastest production possible, not necessarily taking note of the techniques that I was personally drawn to. It wasn't until I entered into Concordia University's Fibres and Material Practices program in Montreal that I really sunk into an art practice that felt authentically my own. I delved deep into a slow, personal investigation into printing with natural dyes - techniques I brought with me from Capilano.

Everlea Yarn Co evolved out of my art practice, at the center of which is an investigation into my relationships with others. I explore ideas of how personal growth can be either challenged or realized through one's perception of their surroundings. In 2010 I met Katherine Earle and that is where Everlea began.

Everlea is our last names conjoined and reimagined:

My last name, Vallee, and fellow artist Katherine Earle's last name combined is what became Everlea. Let me tell you more about our history.

In 2013, having just graduated from university as well as welcomed my son Sam into the universe, my family and I moved to the New York metropolitan area for my partner's education. It was there that Katherine Earle and I, both Fibres graduates of Concordia University, formed Everlea Textiles; an art collective based on the sole notion of supporting each other in our respective artistic pursuits. We organized photoshoots, attended seminars together and shared skills with one another. In 2014 I began pursuing tapestry as my primary artistic medium using my own naturally dyed yarns. I shared my tapestry skills with Katherine, who was already an established hand-weaver, and in 2017, after having moved across the continent back to my home province of British Columbia, Katherine and continued our collaboration long-distance, weaving a joint series of tapestries based on photos taken during time together in New York. Our project website can be found here: www.everleatextileart.weebly.com

The advent of Everlea Yarn co.

In 2016 my family and I moved back to BC, and in the spring of 2018, in anticipation of my son entering kindergarten in the fall, I developed and launched Everlea Yarn, my own line of yarn - exactly the kind that I want to use: consciously sourced, Canadian spun and naturally dyed. In 2021 in collaboration with my maternal grandfather who is a retired cabinet maker, I designed and began producing by hand, Everlea Mini Looms and later, Everlea Tapestry Looms: beautiful hand-held weaving looms for weavers of all levels.