works in progress

No... haven't dropped off the face of the world... just been around!

2012-01-17T16:15:00.014-05:00

I'll post some photos soon of my adventures since January 3 when trees began to be cut around our property. My studio is adjacent to it and the thoughts of sounds of chain saws and chippers for days on end were enough to "make the air nervous" around me (if anyone ever used to watch the TV series, Northern Exposure, you'll maybe remember the reference). ANYWAY, I was able to arrange a last minute residency at Hambidge Center and away I went.

I temporarily interrupted my Hambidge time when I came home again, meeting up with my husband so we could travel to Nashville to see the exhibit, Stranger in Paradise, work of the Reverend Howard Finster. Several of the pieces included in the exhibit are part of my husband's collection of Finster's work so he wants to see each venue the show travels to... so far, it's been in Champaign, IL (where it began at Krannert Gallery), then to Chicago; Auburn, AL; Jacksonville, FL; just closed in Nashville, TN. It will travel to two other locations before ending its two year run ... Akron, OH and then Savannah, GA. There's a catalog available of the show with essays by several people. Here's the link to one article about the show: http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-7094-stranger-in-paradise.html

Thomas and I returned to Dahlonega on January 9th, then I drove back to Hambidge on the 10th to spend several focused days in the work I was doing there. I had several deadlines to complete during these first two weeks of the new year and having the residency made it possible for me to pretty much accomplish what I needed to... a few loose ends to tie up and I'll be moving ahead.

And, one part of moving ahead means a class I'll be teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School beginning on Sunday, the 22nd! Home long enough to do laundry, have a visit or two with some friends, see art exhibits at the university, repack the car and go again.

SO... tomorrow--maybe--the promised photos. Got a lot to show!

Tapestry Diary for 2012 has begun

2012-01-01T17:58:00.000-05:00

I've started with numbering the day, the month and an abbreviation for the year. Almost immediately I'll be leaving home so will have to determine my method of marking the missing days. It's always something!

Tapestry Diary -- Year Three is completed and Year Four is about to begin

2011-12-31T16:19:00.000-05:00

With the 31st day of December, 2011, I've finished this year's tapestry diary work!

The process of making a distinct bit of weaving every day is one that I've done for three years and a month now. My first venture into the idea came in May of 2008 when I did the first piece with this concept. I didn't quite know what to even call it then... used the term "tapestry calendar" or "tapestry journal" and finally settled into "tapestry diary" as my description.

I'm happy to know that other people are using a similar idea. Jan Austin's 2010 tapestry diary is quite a beautiful piece and she describes it at her blog here.

Here are a few of the blog postings I've made over the past three + years as I've been involved in the tapestry diary process:

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-about-calendarjournal-tapestry.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2008/06/cut-that-tapestry-off-and-move-on.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-month-complete-on-tapestry-diary.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2009/12/last-month-of-2009-tapestry-diary.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2010/01/tapestry-diary-for-2009-off-loom-next.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2010/02/tapestry-diary-for-2010-moves-ahead.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2010/06/tapestry-diary-for-2010-progress.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-new-year-tapestry-diary-for-2010.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2011/01/more-photos-of-2010-tapestry-diary.html

http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-2011-tapestry-diary-came-off.html

During 2012 my plan is to go back to a single piece for the year rather than to do the separate pieces as I did during 2011. I've been able to weave almost every day in 2011 but the separate pieces don't have the same visual impact as do the year-long tapestries that result from the daily practice. At least that's what I think right now. By 2013 perhaps I'll be ready to do individual pieces once more!

Here's a composite of the months of 2011 (missing March... can't find a photo of it and it's hanging in the Quinlan exhibit so can't photograph it right now). The pieces are not shown to scale in the composite, by the way. Sizes vary quite a bit and once I get them all back from the exhibit I'll measure and note sizes here. For instance, the April piece is about 42" long x 3 or so" wide while the December piece is 7" high x 5" wide:

Earlier pieces are:

2009
12" w x 42" long

2010
12" w x 82" long

The warp for 2012 is on the Tissart loom at the home studio and is almost ready to begin tomorrow morning. It's a 10/3 linen warp sett at 8 epi X 12" wide. I have 3 yards on the loom, plenty for the year even if I weave several inches for the daily entries. I'm not quite sure how to proceed with "theme" (if any)... but by tomorrow morning I'll have to decide something! I have a bit more to do with spacing the warp and then doing half-hitches before beginning. I'll do that shortly when I get home.

I wish a Happy New Year for all of you. I hope your design ideas flow smoothly and your tapestries grow beautifully.

A Peak Experience

2011-12-18T17:14:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday I was taken on an adventure. My friends, Noel & Patrick own 100+ acres of a ridge and mountain top near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Western North Carolina. They have a small off-the-grid cabin there they spend time at whenever they can. High Knob, where the cabin is located sits at 5200 feet. There's a narrow, steep jeep road to the cabin and a parking place for larger vehicles about a mile and a quarter below--about 1400 feet below. Patrick drove to the top in his jeep with supplies while Noel, the dogs and I came along separately in her car. We parked and started up the mountain on foot. Although I hiked up with them a couple of years ago, this time around I didn't make it all the way up on my own! I ran out of steam about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up and absolutely couldn't go further. I felt light-headed and nauseated, and had to stop to sit down--even threw up a bit! Noel made sure I wasn't going to pass out, and then rushed on to the cabin so that Patrick could come to my rescue in his jeep--cell phones don't work in that neck of the woods so she was both blowing her emergency whistle and shouting for Patrick on her near run to the top.

After throwing up I began to feel better almost immediately. I sipped water, began to look around at the landscape, even took a few photos of the leaves just at my feet and the trees and sky... I was standing and walking around by the time they got back to me with the jeep. They asked if I wanted to leave or if I wanted to go to the top... what do you think I chose?

So... here's a slide show of the adventure. A few of the photos are also from their other property. Both places are magical.

Exhibit opening and talk at Quinlan, Dec. 8, 2011

2011-12-09T16:01:00.001-05:00

The opening for exhibits at Quinlan was well attended last night. I was pleasantly surprised that quite a few people came at 5 for my talk and tapestry demonstration before the reception at 5:30--and I was especially glad to see a few former students in the group. Nice to make connections again and to learn what they're up to now.

Here are a few photos my husband did... I'll start with the tapestry demonstration that people patiently listened to and watched. I took an almost completed tapestry on a copper pipe loom for the demo; I didn't weave very much but explained briefly how my hours are spent when I'm doing tapestry. I had several examples of the kinds of design planning I do, including photographs, drawing and painting. I also had a small tapestry along not included in the exhibit, and the initial drawing from which I based the cartoon, as well as the cartoon used to weave it.

After showing about tapestry for a few minutes we moved to the area where the tapestries are hanging so I could talk a bit about several of them.

So... my tapestry life in 30 minutes or less! After my talk we stayed a few more minutes during the reception and then made a quick trip back to Dahlonega to have a rushed meal, and then on to an Amy Ray concert at our local theatre, The Holly. Amy played to a sellout house and gave a fantastic performance--I always enjoy hearing her whether she touring with her solo band or as part of the Indigo Girls. Coming up next ... Solstice Sisters tonight at The Crimson Moon in town, then Shawn Mullins before the end of the month. Love the music in Dahlonega!

making friends with the loom that bit me

2011-12-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

I've been weaving a couple of rag rugs and using the loom that I had the unfortunate accident with back in February. I've had it warped all summer but just hadn't had time to weave on the loom. When I do weaving like this, in this case the rag rugs, I call it my "hobby weaving"--hobby for me since it's for my own use and not for show or sale. It takes time from tapestry making to do this but sometimes I need a break. After the past month's push to finish the pieces for the exhibit at Quinlan I felt some down time was needed. Hence the rugs.

One of these will go to the house to use in the mud room and the other one will be used here at the studio. These woven with 1" strips that are stitched together by sewing machine. I'll braid the warp ends next and then wash the rugs before putting them on the floor. I just cut them off a few minutes ago and will spend a bit of time early next week getting the ends done.

So my usual garb is what that you see in the photos above, but once or twice a year my husband and I play dress up to attend a charity function of some sort. The most recent event was last Saturday night and here we are... ready to leave. The next "do" is coming up this weekend and we'll once again be putting on the party clothes!

Happiness is...

2011-12-04T14:24:00.009-05:00

New steps between my studio yard and home...

... a full cup of coffee....

... a beautiful new handmade book by Alice Schlein from her etsy site...

... and a few minutes to sit down to admire the book, drink the coffee and read the article about Annika Ekdahl's work in the latest VAV magazine. Oh... The Lord of the Rings is an ongoing read, a few pages each day with lunch. Let's see, is this the third or fourth time I've read it? Doesn't matter because I'll read it again in a few years. So this is how I'm spending my Sunday afternoon studio break. All part of happiness for me.

Threads of Time

2011-12-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

Here's the postcard for the exhibits coming up at Quinlan in Gainesville, Georgia. My work is in the George and Anne Thomas Gallery. As the card notes, there are another artist and two groups in other galleries of the Center. Quinlan provides a very active visual arts center for the city of Gainesville and the surrounding north Georgia region. I'll be giving a brief talk about my work on Thursday, December 8 at 5 p.m. along with a demo of tapestry making. A reception follows at 5:30.

Members of Tapestry Weavers South will be exhibiting at Quinlan in the largest gallery space during 2013, and demonstrations and workshop will be scheduled during the show's duration. I'll be posting more about that next year. In fact, if you want to become a member of TWS so that you'd be eligible to exhibit with us, give me a comment and I'll put you in touch with Rosemary Smith, the membership chairman for TWS. Our TWS exhibits have always been open to members to enter, rather than juried. The resulting collection of works are always exciting, combining the tapestries of folks who are new to the field as well as those from people who've worked in tapestry for many years.

On another note, Pat Williams and I went into Atlanta yesterday to see The Opulent Object, an exhibit of works by Jon Eric Riis, Richard Mafong, and Mike Harrison. This is being shown in Museum of Design Atlanta on Peachtree Street, just across the street from the High Museum of Art and will continue through December. The museum is open T,W, F, Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm; Thursday from 10 am to 8 pm; and Sunday from 12 pm to 5 pm.

Jon Riis's work is incredible; I always stand before any of his tapestries just staring in amazement. As the accompanying brochure says:

"Jon Eric Riis links his work (which is tapestry) to the ancestral textile tradition by using historical iconography and traditional techniques to articulate contemporary themes. Many of his pieces reference myths, beliefs, and ideals of past cultures; they express the sacred and the ceremonial through their imagery and through the use of luxurious and sensual materials such as gold thread, freshwater pearls, crystal, turquoise, and coral beads. In this way, Riis uses the tapestry genre to investigate issues of humanity, identity, and life."

Try to get there before it closes, if you haven't yet! I know that several of the tapestry study group in Atlanta met there earlier in the exhibition time. Having an opportunity to see these pieces is well worth the charge of admission and the hectic drive into Atlanta, in my opinion!

Ready for the exhibit at Quinlan

2011-11-27T16:07:00.000-05:00

The car is loaded, inventory sheet is completed, artist statement and bio are done. I'm delivering the work tomorrow to Quinlan Visual Arts Center in Gainesville, and it will be exhibited there from December 8, 2011 through February 19, 2012.

I've put a lot of effort into the preparation stages for the show--hope it all looks well when hanging! So here's how it looks right now:

p.s. the pieces wrapped up IN the basket are my work... NOT the basket!

I was asked to give a title for the show and I chose "Threads of Time" since my work is often about aspects of the passing of time. Here's a snippet from my artist statement:

My art work is about time, about seasons of change, and about accumulation of parts. I do handwoven tapestry, a process that in itself is a time-consuming medium.... Each tapestry is, by its very nature, an accumulation of parts. The tapestries on exhibit show different approaches to the concepts of time, change, and accumulation. Several record a daily passing of time.... others ... celebrate the seasonal changes in the natural world.
By working daily with ... tapestry ... and by looking at, thinking about and designing from the world around me, I am weaving my own threads of time.

I hope some of you can stop by Quinlan in the next couple of months to take a look at my work and that of the others who'll be exhibiting in various galleries there.

Yay! Love the little frames

2011-11-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

These small frames were custom made for the pieces... I'm quite thrilled with the way they look. They're exactly what I wanted... Jeff did a great job with them.

All the work will be delivered to Quinlan on Monday. I'm almost through with the pieces--am stitching on the last of the tapestries now, the large quilt one. Artist statement to go and inventory of the works I'll be showing... maybe I'll be able to enjoy the day on Thursday and not feel so rushed to complete everything after all. Fingers are crossed!

Upcoming exhibit

2011-11-18T19:26:00.001-05:00

For the past couple of weeks I've been preparing work for an exhibit at Quinlan Arts Center in Gainesville, Georgia where my tapestries will be in one of the smaller galleries. A reception will take place on December 8th at 5:30 and I'll be speaking briefly about my work at 5.

Here's a link to the Quinlan's website:

http://www.quinlanartscenter.org/quinlan-exhibitions.html

The process of mounting small tapestries is almost as time consuming as weaving them (no, not really... but it begins to feel that way after days and days and days of prep work!) I've just posted some photos of the steps at the Tapestry Share blog so won't repost the same ones here. But, here's a few others that will show a bit of what I've been up to since returning from the class in Asheville.

Whole lot of stapling going on! I've gone through 2 new boxes of 3/8" staples... let's see, 1000 staples per box... so that's 2000 staples that have gone into mounting boards!

And then I've stitched...

... and stitched some more.

Curved needles and assorted thimbles have become my tools lately. I found the black thimbles, called

"Nimble, the Soft Thimble" to be the best to use. I had one on my thumb and one on my index finger, plus bandaids on all the rest of my fingers to get the task accomplished of mounting eleven small tapestries--the tapestry diary pieces for 2011, and the one from May of 2008.

And, there they are... plus another one that's not diary (the one with pink at the right side of the table).

NOW... tomorrow, I begin to stitch the next ninteen!

Then there's the larger quilt tapestry in the background here... it still has to be stitched to its mounting board. All of these pieces are due at Quinlan on the 28th... lots more work to do before I'm ready to load them in the car.

Arrowmont summer 2012 classes--sneak peek published

2011-11-10T07:30:00.007-05:00

I just received an email with a link to the Arrowmont School of Crafts schedule for the summer of 2012. Here's a link to that:
http://www.attackmonkey.net/arrowmont/2012_workshops_arrowmont_sneak_peek_final2.pdf

I'll be teaching a tapestry class at Arrowmont, June 24-30.

The John C. Campbell Folk School class that I've got on the schedule in January has plenty of space in it right now. So if you want to take a look at that course description, go to the link here:
https://www.folkschool.org/index.php?section=class_detail&class_id=5269

So... come on to JCFS or Arrowmont -- or both! -- and join me for a class!

Tapestry workshop at Sutherland Handweaving Studio

2011-11-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

Here are a few photos from the workshop that was held this past weekend at Sutherland Handweaving Studio in Asheville, NC. Pat Williams and I co-taught the class at the shop that's owned by Barb Butler and Karen Donde. They've got a wonderful retail and classroom space in the River Arts District at Asheville. Pat and I appreciate being asked to teach here and hope to do so again.

This class had 15 people in it and it was a fantastic group working together. Everyone put their whole energy into the process and, I think, went away from the weekend enlivened about tapestry making, in some way.

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Back to tapestry...

2011-11-02T08:56:00.000-04:00

... almost back to this point... soon I'll be back to the loom. But first...

...Halloween foolishness over for this year. Now, it's back to what I'm really doing in the studio right now. And that's working on preparations for the upcoming workshop in Asheville.

Lists get made, boxes and baskets pulled out and filled, handouts are revised and printed, yarns stashed in suitcases. As most teachers do, I'm sure, I spend quite a bit of time getting organized for workshops and classes. It usually takes about two weeks of work before the workshop days until I feel ready to do instruction. In fact, I spend more time in the before than I do in the during. That's the way I feel most comfortable in approaching classes and it's the way I'll continue to do it, I guess. Even a class I've taught before will have a revamping of materials.

So that's what I'm doing now. My tapestry diary work is continuing although I haven't photographed the finished month of October yet. I was able to start November's diary yesterday on a warp that was already in place on a frame loom. I'll be finishing the months of 2011 as separate pieces to be hung together in some way. I'll be writing a statement about the tapestry diary process in a few days. It's something I've been thinking about for quite awhile and I've just about gotten my thoughts together in a coherent way to describe why I began doing this and why I continue weaving a daily bit.

More to come next about the workshop this weekend!

Boo!!!

2011-11-01T11:43:00.001-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

OK... HAPPY DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN... but you get the picture!

Ill, Sick, Puny, Under the Weather, Pitiful...

2011-10-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

... yes, all those and more I've been during the past week! What a bore but I feel better this morning. My affliction was most likely pollen allergy related and probably triggered when I cleaned pollen off of some outside tables and chairs. The scratchy throat that resulted the next day turned into several days of achy ear, runny eyes and nose, vile cough, and overall tired and grumpy feeling. I had a lot to do during the week at the studio so couldn't give in to it; luckily most of the work involved sitting in one place and stitching back weft ends on tapestries to get them ready to hang and to photograph. Got that done, photos of the pieces were taken yesterday by a young man who's a fantastic photographer, and then I went home to go to bed!

BUT... today... I feel as bright as this sunflower:

OK... a bit of exaggeration there. But I DO feel about 85% of my usual self today. Just in time, too, since the workshop at Sutherland Studio is next weekend and I'm about to begin intensive prep work for that!

Here's Trevor as he did the photos of the pieces. Can you say deadline? The ATB9 deadline is coming up on the 31st and the pieces being shot in the session are among those I'll be submitting. I know, I know--I swore off of entering juried shows. But here I go again. All I can do is the work and try to put it out for others to see.

Workshop day just finished... and more to come!

2011-10-24T08:33:00.002-04:00

The four selvedge workshop that Pat Williams and I had scheduled happened at my studio on Saturday. I've posted more about that at Tapestry Share blog so won't say anything else about it here. That blog, by the way, is tapestryshare.blogspot.com

Pat and I will be teaching together again very soon--class we're doing at Sutherland Handweaving Studio in Asheville is November 4-6. We've co-taught several times now and find we thoroughly enjoy the prepration time and also the teaching experience together. Both Pat and I have been teachers for many years and even though we've retired from full-time teaching responsibilities to devote more time to our studio work, we still are invigorated by sharing with others. We've found that short classes and workshops give that stimulation--and we don't have the obligation of longer commitments -- or the sometimes annoying and frustrating assortment of other duties that come with the full time jobs (if I never participate in another committee meeting about curriculum again, I'll be a happy person!).

Pat's developing a new website for herself and I'll link it at the left when she goes public with it. Right now, her initial website is still in place so if you want to see Pat's work, you can find the link on the left in the "Other Places to Visit on the Web" listing.

NOW... off to the studio to continue prep work for the November class! Lots to do and only days remain to do it in!!

Some good news today!

2011-10-10T18:21:00.001-04:00

I've just learned that an essay I'd submitted to the second volume of The Stonepile Writers Anthology has been accepted for publication by the University Press of North Georgia! Two of my poems were included in the first volume and one of my photographs was also selected for the cover -- I mentioned that at this blog post: http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2011/01/lots-of-loose-ends.html

I'd hoped something would be chosen for the upcoming second volume of the anthology. I submitted three short essays that are memoir in nature... one out of three to be accepted isn't bad!

PHEW!

2011-10-10T08:38:00.011-04:00

I haven't had time to think, much less to blog since I've gotten back from Hambidge. First thing when I returned in September, my husband and I went to Richmond, Virginia for almost a week. Once we got back, we became involved in intense preparation for a tour of about 250 people to our home and to my studio, on October 8.

The Georgia Historic Trust Fall Ramble came to Dahlonega over the past weekend and our home, Seven Oaks (built in 1875), and my studio house were both on the agenda for Saturday. In fact, there's a 20 x 40 foot tent still in our backyard, along with tables and chairs to seat the group for lunch on Saturday! The event rental company is supposed to come pick it all up today -- and very soon, I hope, things will be back to normal both here at the house and also at my studio.

The very good side of all of the preparation for the tour is that both our house and my studio are squeaky clean and amazingly organized! My studio has especially needed a major organizational push since I've not really attended to that since my time away at West Dean College almost a year ago. So... today will be a NEW day at the studio with lots to do and clutter put behind me (for now). Here's a slide show of how the studio looks right now. When I've got a major piece underway all of this changes drastically!

I want to mention the John C. Campbell class I'll be teaching in January... here's the description from the catalog:

"Comfortable with basic tapestry methods and want to try others-maybe pick-and-pick, Soumak, weft chaining, or clasped wefts? These and other methods will be used to create a textural tapestry “doodle”, allowing you to audition them as part of your expressive tapestry style. Ability to warp and experience in tapestry is required for this intermediate to advanced class."

For more information about date and cost, please visit the John C. Campbell Folk School website at www.folkschool.org

Now... on to breakfast and then the to the studio for some much needed weaving time.

September's tapestry diary is complete

2011-09-30T12:13:00.001-04:00

... at least, the weaving of the 30 days is done. I've still got the end finishing to do and mounting of this one and the others for an exhibit. I'm not sure how October will progress just yet but I'll have to be ready to begin by tomorrow!

My choice to do each month as a separate tapestry this year (2009 and 2010 were done as whole pieces) has proven both convenient and challenging. Convenience comes from being able to take the frame loom with me when I'm traveling; challenges come from having each month as a separate design entity.

I've continued with the approach to this process that I began with the month of May in 2008, setting up "rules" for myself to follow. I've used the toss of a die to determine the color of the background, shape, and color of the shape for four consecutive months now. I'm not sure if I'll do it again next month or not. But I'll know 24 hours from now when I set up my rules to follow for October!

So... here's September, 2011:

Moving through the year, day by day

2011-09-23T15:27:00.000-04:00

I came back from Hambidge on September 11 and since then have taken a week-long trip with my husband. We attended the Folk Art Society of America conference held in Richmond, Virginia and had a blast--lots of tours of public and private collections of self-taught, visionary and folk art were on the agenda. We spent many hours on a bus, riding from place to place and having wonderful things to see once we got to wherever we were going.

Because I had free time on the first afternoon when we arrived as my husband was at an advisory board meeting, I was able to spend a few hours with Susan Iverson, wonderful tapestry weaver and teacher, and see her facilities in the Craft and Material Studies program at the Virginia Commonwealth University. After the conference ended and as we departed Richmond, we drove a few extra miles so that I was able to see the American Tapestry Alliance Small Format 2: Passages exhibit that's currently on display at the Cultural Arts Center of Glen Allen, Virginia.

We're home again now and I'm trying to sort my studio out; I'm still unpacking from the Hambidge residency month--but I have a few more trips coming up soon so I won't yet be able to concentrate on developing tapestry images from the Hambidge work. That's frustrating but time will come for it soon, I know.

September's tapestry diary grows--it's on a small loom and I took it with me on the trip so I haven't had to fill in any "blank" days this month. Here's where it stands today, the Autumnal Equinox, September 23, 2011:

This is the fourth month now that I've tossed a die to determine the color of background, the shape, and the color of the shape to be woven. I'm amazed at the amount of variety that can be gotten from such simple means.

Here's June:

And July:

And August:

October?? Don't know if I'll continue this for the next months of this year... maybe. By the end of September I'll have to decide!

Friday, Saturday, then I leave Hambidge on Sunday

2011-09-09T14:08:00.001-04:00

It's quite hard to believe that my time here is almost over. I feel that I've gotten work done--at least pushed a lot of paint around. I think I have potential tapestries among the images that have developed over the past month. I'm still working but on small things. My time of stapling up big unstretched canvas to the wall and taking to it with a house painting brush is over.

During the past week I've worked with dogwood leaves, simplified and stylized. I posted about the problems with the large ones earlier. I'm going to show some of the stages these two have gone through. There were more steps but I didn't photograph each time I stopped working on them.

First, both of them can be seen side by side on the wall, each about 52" square. Most of the time I'd work with one and then with the other using the same paint mixtures. This was how they looked about 10 days ago.

I'll show the left side one first, the one with the large leaves.

And its last stage below is the way I'm leaving this one and I think it has potential to be a tapestry. I like the simplicity and boldness of the design but there's lots of room for doing things with yarn to enliven the background. The lines of the veins also have potential for eccentric weft or soumak. I've got a warp on the large loom just waiting for a tapestry to begin... maybe this is the one.

Then the multiple dogwood one that also went through many, many changes... and it's gone through the most radical change of the two of them.

When I did this... added the pinkish-violet light background I was so upset. So I let it sit overnight and I was determined to make big changes with it the next morning.

First I thought I'd just wipe out everything but there were a few parts of it I really liked. After having a long walk I decided to first mask out areas to save as I painted over the whole thing. I liked about a 20" square near the bottom so it got covered with paper held in place by tape. A few other selected areas had strips of the blue masking tape applied to them as well.

Then I mixed the brightest yellow green I could and painted over it all. I added matte medium so the mixture was a bit transparent. I also drew into the yellow green paint with chalk while it was still wet using dogwood stems and leaves as the inspiration.

And this is the final version... it's hard to photograph it--with either the lights on or off the brightness is a bit overwhelming.

Finally--a bit of rain today at Hambidge

2011-09-02T17:56:00.001-04:00

It's only rained one other time during the past three weeks while I've been here. This afternoon a storm moved through quickly. A few rumbles of thunder, heavy rain for maybe five minutes and then it was gone. I see the sun now so that might have been it for the rain... but it's very much needed around here as it is in many places.

So... today's progress with pieces. I think I'm just about ready to take this one off the wall. I'll decide about it when I look again tomorrow:

The lights being reflecting in the top--the color's not quite that yellow green there.

This one is close to completion, too:

But I'm struggling still with the large leaves as well as the other dogwood one. Here are the stages they're in now:

Yes, I know--both are murky. I just had to make some major changes to begin to see them differently, though. Steve Aimone says, "When in doubt make big changes." So I filled the largest brush and rapidly painted over the whole thing. I've redrawn back into both of these with chalk pastel and used a wet brush to move the chalk lines around a bit. I've painted back into the large leaf one but -- lots more to do to try to salvage either of these.

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Sept. 1 at Hambidge Center

2011-09-01T19:41:00.005-04:00

First things first... here's the August tapestry diary, woven for the last bit yesterday on the last day of August and cut off today. I rewarped and have woven for the first day of September... more about that later in the month as the new weaving for September progresses.

My painting process and I are struggling... here are a few shots but all pieces are still in flux:

This one is getting closer but still has some hours of work remaining.

This is also getting close to the finishing point... still some value development to go. I'm walking down Mellinger Trail every morning and looking closely to see what I see... hoping that will inform the piece. The bright spot in the center of the painting is the yard of the Rock House as one sees it when leaving the canopy of the trees at Mellinger Trail.

These big dogwood leaves below have gone through many changes and the changes are still happening! I had a major hissy fit with them today and painted over all with white paint; because the dark blue-violet I'd previously used in the background hadn't dried I got this sort of periwinkle color... that's OK for now. I used pastels to redraw leaves but different than the ones that were there originally but based on them. So, this piece and I have many issues to work out soon, I hope!

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And still more from Hambidge

2011-08-30T19:53:00.001-04:00

I spent some of the day with another resident, taking her to the MARTA station in Doraville, near Atlanta, so she could ride into the airport for her flight back to CT... which was delayed because of Hurricane Irene. I was glad to help out. Before I left this morning about 9 I took a few minutes to add some darker green to the large dogwood leaves... I'm still not happy with them but just had to see them differently when I got back!

I also added a bit of the mixed dark green to this one:

I stopped by a Hobby Lobby (a big craft/art supply chain) on my way back to look for frames for the small four-selvedge pieces... didn't find any but did find a couple of brushes that I just had to have. My brush stock, as I've mentioned earlier, mostly consists of hardware store paint brushes, foam brushes, and a few that have been with me since undergraduate days... that are like sticks now. I've got several quite expensive and wonderful watercolor brushes that are a joy to use but I certainly don't want to subject them to what I'm doing with the acrylic paint! Anyway, a couple of brushes, a bottle of gesso, and a product that says it will take out hardened acrylic paint later (guess those old brushes are going to have a deep cleaning bath, huh?) I'm back here at Hambidge.

I spent the afternoon with revisions on submissions for the next version of the Stonepile Writers Anthology. I was fortunate to have a couple of poems published in the last one but this time around I'm submitting three short essays. I have my "technology table" here, can't get online until I take either my MacBook or my iPad to the Rock House--but here's the way it all looks. Just bought the printer at the local "it shall not be named store"... an HP that will work wirelessly with my iPad... how happy was I with the first thing it printed from its wireless small network between the iPad and the printer...?... pretty darn happy! Yes, the printer is too large to travel with easily but then I've got a way to get images and text from my iPad into hard copy. So there!

This afternoon after getting the submissions done, driving into town to the P.O. to mail something to my husband, I decided that I'd finally again weave a bit... so here's the continuing saga of the landscape tapestry on the frame loom:

I have no cartoon for it but am looking around at the several landscape paintings as the design basis. It's 8" wide at 10 epi; I'm using 5-fold of 20/2 wool (Fine Fiber Press ELF yarn). I'll probably weave at least 8" high and maybe more... have enough warp on the loom to do about 14"... so I'll see how tall the clouds and sky will want to be as I get to them!

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Today's progress at Hambidge

2011-08-29T16:19:00.001-04:00

both in very much beginning stages...

and these two--also still have much more work to be done:

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Different direction today

2011-08-26T17:53:00.001-04:00

Two of the sky/land roughs have changed quite a bit--Here's where I stopped on this one today:

Yesterday, it looked like this:

Early this morning I quickly laid in color on a new large canvas that I put up late yesterday. I don't have a photo of how it originally looked... but was mostly light blue sky area with a lower area of light green.

Now it's this:

The scale of the dogwood leaves is several times greater than life size... the canvas is 60" across x 50" high; I have a lot of work on both of these before I'll stop with them.

I'm finished with this one, though--at least that's what I think right now... tomorrow I may reconsider.

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I painted my artist block today!

2011-08-25T17:52:00.000-04:00

Yes, I think I did... quite inadvertently this image appeared in my work:

and it possibly represents what's stopping my work with trees, woods, the natural world. Don't you think there's a definite barring of the way into the woods here?? This tree stretches from top to bottom, side to side in a way that seems to say, "Don't go into the woods!"

Lately I've thought of several trite expressions, like "Can't see the forest for the trees..." that might be part of my creative angst that's been going on for over two years now.

I continue to weave and continue to work on images but just don't know if what I'm doing is what I should be doing. Do I think about this too much? Do I obsess over it? Well, yes!

But, this "do not pass" from somewhere in my hand and eye today really has caused me to think.

OK... even though I'm thinking, I'm still working on the paintings. Here's some of the progress:

Three of these are in first day or second day stages...

Still lots more work on the one above, but I'm almost ready to take down the one below:

I've filled just about everywhere I can reach with what I've done over the past week... like I said before, I guess I'll just have to start pinning them on top of the others!

We've got a studio tour tomorrow night to the visual artists' studios (2 of us and a film maker). We had readings from two writers last night and will have two from the poets tonight.

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And yet more from Hambidge

2011-08-24T09:07:00.000-04:00

I had to go to Asheville, NC for a couple of meetings with committees of Southern Highland Craft Guild on Monday and stayed overnight to be at another meeting on Tuesday. So I missed a couple of days work at Hambidge... but jumped back into it today.

I called three more pieces "done" and began work on three new smaller ones. I also continued process on five more that have been underway. Here are photos of what's happening:

As I stop working on pieces I move them to another part of the room... pinning or nailing them up whereever I can. I've had to start coming down the stairs on the railing... and I've only been here a week! I guess I'll have to put them up on top of one another if I keep up at this pace... 16 pieces are either done or underway now and so far 24" x 36" is the smallest dimension.

These are in beginning stages or almost to the point of being taken down:

I did a couple of underpaintings on two of the 18" x 24" canvases today:

I'm really struggling with this one:

This one, too:

And, believe it or not... am pretty happy with this one.

This is a 36" wide x 60+" long one that's had the beginning steps... more work on this one tomorrow.

I also sat outside with watercolors and a clay board I got at True Blue Art Supply in Asheville yesterday... It's the only piece I've done so far that was from observation.

Tomorrow I'm going to do some things that will involve my drawing from observation... at least that's what I'm thinking right now! That should slow me down since it takes so much concentration to see what I'm seeing--and then to find a way to represent it. But whatever tomorrow holds will be with tomorrow.

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More from Hambidge

2011-08-21T18:38:00.001-04:00

I've now gotten thirteen things underway in paint--six of those I'm calling done. I have quite a bit more work to do on the other seven, though. When I woke up this morning two of them were absolutely awful--in the bad way of thinking of awe, not as in awesome. But as I've worked on them more throughout the day they're not offending me quite as much as this morning.

I'm not going to show them yet... let them go through several more stages before posting.

But... a few photos of other things. Here are my painting tools that I described earlier:

Some "heavenly light" as my friend Diane calls this effect:

A bit of the tapestry that's underway is at the left side, foreground of this photo. I used the timer to do the photo--10 seconds is just enough time to turn it on and run to the other side of the room to stage a photo of working on one of the big pieces. It's really how I do this initial roughly painted layer, though. I mix up a large amount of paint and then use either the 2" house paint brush or the paint roller or both to quickly fill the white space.

I have drawing tools with me, also. But I haven't begun drawing yet.

And here's Fisher Studio where my residency is taking place:

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A new day at Hambidge

2011-08-20T10:07:00.001-04:00

Sorry -- images can't load!!!--Ok, so now they seem to have loaded and both posts are in one... Still some quirks to BlogPress that I need to work out, it seems!

Work went fine today here at Fisher Studio... the porch is where I'm writing from right now, listening to rain on the tin roof. Dinner is shortly so I guess I'll pull out the umbrella to walk down to the Rock House. I certainly don't begrudge the rain, though... this part of north Georgia, like so many other areas of the country, needs the rain badly.

Pets aren't allowed here but one can get one's pet fix in with the resident cats... here's Mr. Big:

So... today I worked more on the paintings I'd started yesterday... here's some of the progress:

And then I thought I'd go into Clayton to Reeves Hardware where there are art supplies... and found stretched canvasses at 1/2 price! I bought six 24" x 36" ones and four 18" x 24". So... in addition to the unstretched pieces that I'll be putting up on the wall with staples I'll also have several stretched canvasses, as well.

This is the beginning of the next two... these on stretched canvas. I like to roughtly paint color and then begin to build upon it.

Third day here

2011-08-20T10:03:00.001-04:00

I've worked on all of the paintings I'd begun on Wednesday and took several down to be replaced with fresh, blank canvas. I've also worked on three of the stretched canvasses, as well. All of these are landscape but all are imagined, not observed.

I begin by making big paint marks on the canvas and then move on to develop whatever seems to be suggested by the marks. Horizon, clouds, land forms, masses of vegetation... all of those things are suggested in these paintings.

My tools are simple... I've got a few 2" paint brushes from the hardware, and also three brushes I've had for many years. They're pretty hard and crusty by now so using them is sort of like painting with wide sticks. I also use a cheap paint roller sometimes to quickly lay down color. I don't like to have white staring at me so I almost always put down an undercoat of something over the whole canvas. Sometimes almost none of that original color remains after I stop working on the piece. And I have to say "stop working" rather than finish because I keep seeing more that could be done. And after all I'm not painting for the sake of painting but to find potential tapestry ideas. When I get home these paintings will be rolled up and put on the shelf along with the others I've done in this way. The stretched canvasses will be reused over and over again, probably... painting out what's there now with whatever will happen later. I guess I could just use the same roll canvas, as well... and have done that a few times in the past. The ultimate recycling--just paint over and over and over on the same canvas!

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Hambidge Center residency--August through early September

2011-08-17T18:01:00.001-04:00

I'm once more back at the Hambidge Center for a residency. My last time here was in 2009. This is an amazing place for many reasons but I won't try to describe most of those now. But I will talk a bit about my desire to be here.

First, there's space to work. I have a wonderful studio in Dahlonega and I go there every day. Yet sometimes there are things I'd like to do that I just don't have the place for--like make BIG paintings (big is a relative condition, I know... but big for me). So Hambidge can accommodate that desire.

Secondly, there's time to work. Yes, I have time at home but I often find tasks to do that keep me from focusing on the matters at hand--the "creative" matters, that is. The only obligation of one at Hambidge is to show up to have dinner with the other residents. That begins with appetizers at 6 and usually lasts until 8ish. Then the rest of the evening is at one's studio. Socializing is discouraged--unless mutually agreed upon. However, there's usually a "studio crawl" during a residency where everyone visits everyone else's studio to see what's up, or to hear a reading or see a brief performance. There's also limited internet access--wifi is available at the Rock House where we have meals but not in our studios. Cell phone service is non-existent. Phones in the studios are only for local calls for emergency purposes.

And, finally... the interaction with other artists is stimulating. For instance, during this residency there are four writers, one sculptor/installation artist, a videographer, and me... who's here to paint but who weaves tapestry as her primary medium. We're from Dahlonega, GA (me); Atlanta (two people); Bloomington, ID; Middletown, CT; and Lexington, KY. We interact at dinner with discussions that range from what one's reading to what one saw on the morning walk.

So... almost dinner time and time for the interaction and a chance to connect to the wifi to post this blog entry! Today I wove my day's bit on the tapestry calendar, warped a small frame loom and began weaving, got videotaped at one point doing the weaving, put up three canvas pieces and also three 24" x 36" paper sheets, drove to the hardware in Dillard for a few supplies, had a 30 minute walk, had lunch, read and wrote in my journal... and here's what I painted today:

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Quilt tapestry came off the loom today--about two months in process

2011-08-08T19:15:00.002-04:00

I was down to the last few inches of one of the wefts being used in the upper background area as I completed the last few passes today! Two empty cones that once held the natural color I was using, blended with a tan and bright white, sit on my weaving bench along with some of the remaining weft on a bobbin:

Cutting off was done this afternoon with a little help from a friend who happened by:

I offered Alice the scissors and she made the first cuts. Then I took over, snipped while Alice snapped away!

There's lots to still be done, of course... weft ends to trim, ends to finish (I'll be using half-Damascus edge at both top and bottom), washing and/or pressing, soft side of velcro to be stitched to the back and hook side attached to a wooden bar... days more of work before the piece is ready to show. This will be one of the tapestries for an upcoming exhibit in the fall; I still hope to complete another new piece before the due date for hanging the exhibit.

Here's the piece laid out on a sheet on the floor of the studio:

I kind of like it so far--but will have to wait until all the finishing process is completed before I can begin to really decide about it. At least it accomplishes something I've wanted to do for a long time, to use the earlier batik design as basis for a tapestry. While I've been weaving on the piece and having the quilt hanging nearby for color inspiration I've begun to think more about using the quilt as a source for other tapestry designs. Some of what I was thinking about as I began this piece (and wrote about in the blog then) has begun to happen, as well. Maybe much more will come from this.

I said I would...and I did!

2011-08-05T17:55:00.000-04:00

In my last post I mentioned that I thought I could get to the last of the quilt by the end of the day on Friday. I have done that! Now... lots more weaving to go but it will be all one color although broken into lazy line areas. I'm still deciding on the height of the upper area; could be that I'll make it a bit longer than originally designed--have enough warp on the loom to do that. I'll look at the cartoon tomorrow to make that decision. I took the cartoon off the loom since I don't need it any longer as reference for weaving. So I'll be able to hang it up, look at it awhile and see how to proceed.

Can't see too much because of the tool shelf across the width of the loom but here's where I am at the end of today:

Weaving, weaving, weaving!

2011-08-03T18:20:00.000-04:00

Between 6 and 14 inches to the top of this piece! Will I finish by the end of the week?? Hmmm... it's Wednesday afternoon now and I'm pooped for the day so won't weave too much more before going home. I should be able to complete the quilt area of the piece by the end of the day on Friday, then spend the weekend with the upper area background. Maybe cut off on Sunday?

Fantastic property for sale in Western North Carolina!

2011-07-25T12:30:00.001-04:00

No... not my usual tapestry design or weaving post but something I want to share. Friends are hoping to sell a structure and about 10 acres adjacent to a larger tract of 140 acres that they own, the smaller portion with an Oregon dome on it. Their interest in the larger portion property is for conservation sake; they'll be making sure that the 140 acres will remain undeveloped in perpetuity. They've already ensured another 100+ acres in the same way near their home in Western North Carolina. I wrote about my visit to the upper part of the land that they'll be keeping in a blog post back in 2009... link to that is here.

So here are a few photos of the dome taken on that visit a couple of years. The link to the ad in Mountain Xpress with details about the property is here.

This would be such a fantastic location for someone to develop as a small artist retreat center. If I were younger this would be something I'd very seriously consider doing myself... but with ties and obligations where I am now it's not possible. I hope the right person(s) will come along and help the place live up to its wonderful potential!

Looking toward the dome from the parking area... a windmill is seen at the right

view of the pond that's near the dome

Looking into surrounding woods from the entry road

view of the fireplace taken from the balcony on the third level

looking out the windows in the living room; fireplace is at right

Parker and Erica coming into the living room

view from the entrance (where Parker & Erica were in the last photo)

Kitchen

Steps up to next level (r) and down to lower level (l)... one of the bedrooms through the open door

An assortment of thoughts on the 21st of July

2011-07-21T10:33:00.000-04:00

The 20th of July was a long day with view of the interstate ahead, for the most part. Although we didn't see a rainstorm approaching yesterday as on this day a few years back when we were driving to Tallahasee, Florida.

Over the years I've frequently drawn and photographed while riding in a car on the way somewhere. And a few if those images became the starting point for tapestries. The one above, called Rainstorm on the Road to Tallahasee, was included in one of the American Tapestry Biennial exhibits--ATB 5 maybe? Another one that I don't have a photo of handy was in the small format tapestry exhibit last year in Santa Fe--I don't own either of these anymore--or any of the other road images since all have sold.

Here's a photo taken on the road yesterday with a little manipulation with a couple of apps on my iPad:

Now-- for today, I'd call these photos "hotel weaving 101" -- or maybe "travel tapestry 101"-- or maybe "traveling tapestry tutorial" (the thee Ts for getting one's fix while on the road).

This is the tapestry diary for July and since we're traveling for a couple of days it's along for the ride. So here I am in a hotel near I-4 in Orlando, Fl drinking strong coffee made with a couple packs of Starbucks Via and getting ready for the day's adventures in art viewing. We're going to visit the Mennello Museum, the Morse Museum, and then drive to Jacksonville to the Contemporary for a talk tonight. And just faintly I hear Willie Nelson in my mind singing "On the road again..."

Changes are underway for some folks...

2011-07-15T11:32:00.014-04:00

Erica and LouLou are at third and fourth from the left, sort of in the top center of photo. This was taken during one of the weekly housekeeping meetings with tutor and director of the Visual Art Program, Pat Taylor.

I just read a couple of blog postings from friends I made while at West Dean last fall. LouLou Morris is completing her MFA program at the College and moving on; Erica Diazone is also leaving with a Postgraduate Diploma and heading back to the U.S. You can read about their progress at their blogs, the gift half understood (LouLou's blog) and Erica's blog, Between the Warps.

I very much enjoyed getting to know both Erica and LouLou when I was in England last year--as well as the other two students in the Tapestry & Textile Art program, Diana and Magenta. Working under the guidance of Pat Taylor we all spent days and evenings in the tapestry studio, sharing ideas about our work and about life. I'm sorry I couldn't be there at the end of term exhibit to see the work they've produced this year as well as the work of the others in the painting and sculpture studios. But I treasure the six weeks I did have with them in 2010.

Happy times ahead for you as you leave West Dean, Erica and LouLou! And continuing success, Diana and Magenta, as you move through the rest of your time there.

more of the quilt tapestry progress...

2011-07-09T15:48:00.001-04:00

I took the shelf off of the loom so I could see what was underway before rolling it forward a few more inches. I'm using the quilt as a suggestion/guide for color and pattern within areas and also the earlier batik. But the tapestry is different than either of those. Flat, simple shapes and pattern combined with clear color... that's what the quilt (the real one) says to me... that's what I'm attempting to suggest in the tapestry.

Working on the quilt tapestry...

2011-07-06T12:07:00.000-04:00

I'm back from the wonderful two weeks at the Lillian E. Smith Center and getting reacquainted with what I was working on as I left. I've woven a few inches today above the area I photographed yesterday afternoon before leaving the studio. I'm hoping to have this piece finished before too many weeks go by and possibly move on to one of the others from this series based on earlier batiks.

I'm also working each day on finishing details for the assorted tapestry diary pieces. Using lots of bits and pieces of wefts is a great way to recycle from bobbins... but it leaves hundreds (maybe thousands) of ends to be attended to. I'm preparing the tapestry diary pieces for exhibit and don't want to have to do them all at once because finishing steps are necessary... but tedious... and, yes... even boring!

the end of this retreat draws near!

2011-06-30T15:10:00.000-04:00

Here's where I've spent part of the time... on the porch with the weavings. I've also used the porch as a drawing/painting studio.

Here are a few of the drawings I've done while here--although they're more mixed media that straightforward drawing, I guess. I tend to use whatever medium seems to be needed to make the marks I want. And that might be soft pastel, oil pastel, acrylic paint, graphite stick... or in one case, even Georgia red mud, charcoal from a fire pit, and rain!

A few more days here on retreat...

2011-06-29T11:26:00.008-04:00

Pat Williams at Focus Gallery

although I took a break yesterday from the Lillian Smith Center to go to Asheville along with friends, Pat Williams and Peggy McBride. Pat has an exhibit of her tapestries in the Focus Gallery at the Folk Art Center, headquarters of the Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville, NC. Pat's a juried member of the Guild and has the opportunity to show along with one other person for six weeks. My work was there last year along with Diane Getty's fabric collages. The chance to have a small show in a location that has hundreds of visitors daily is unique for artists--at least for those of us who's work isn't in the Met or the Louvre! Pat worked for a year and a half to create a new body of work specifically for this exhibit; it will be up until August 9. The Folk Art Center is open daily from 9-5 and if you're anywhere near Asheville, I hope you can get to see it.

So... here's Pat standing in the gallery area.

Before we left Asheville yesterday afternoon we went to the River Arts District to see the new location of Sutherland Handweaving Studio. It's now in the old cotton mill building. Pat and I are going to be collaboratively teaching a tapestry class there in November--just got that finalized yesterday with Karen Donde and Barb Butler, the owners of Sutherland. Contact Karen at this link for more information about the class.

Now... on with the day here at Lillian Smith. The walk this morning presented several interesting views of the tree tops and the sky. Seems to be getting overcast now, though. We've had storms here almost every afternoon or evening. Nice to have rain; not nice to have lightening and wind!

More from today...

2011-06-27T15:46:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Kathy Spoering's comment to my earlier post--I'm now trying the BlogPress app in my iPad. So far, so good! Thanks again, Kathy!!

Here's the loom with the leashes installed:

Here are the small tapestries done so far. All have been done without cartoon attached, just looking as my sketch as I weave. Each are done with Spelsau as warp, sett at 8 epi. Weft is either 5 strands of Victorian tapestry wool, or one of Spelsau and three of the smaller Victorian wool. Each one has been washed and steam pressed using a slightly damp press cloth.

Today's drawing, done on a sheet I'd painted with Georgia red clay yesterday then made quick gestures of tree trunks. Today I continued the drawing with pastels-- it rained on the drawing as I was making it-- fine with me to let nature take over. Later I photographed it with the iPad and further manipulated the drawing with the SketchBook express app. Very interesting to go from natural materials into a digital way of working.

Learning about iPad and photoshop mobile

2011-06-27T12:38:00.000-04:00

My residency continues through Friday and my small four selvedge tapestries grow daily. I've woven eight now and I've got two larger warps ready to use. I'll put another warp on the extra frame after lunch. I installed leashes on the warp I did this morning-- wanted to try them with four selvedge; I didn't have a loom with me that I could hang the leash bar from-- so my solution? Go to the hardware store and buy parts for yet another loom! Less than $40 and I've got a new loom, one that I put Ts at the top and 6" copper stub out. I'll post a photo of that weaving as it gets underway later. I'm still challenged with getting photos into blogger via the iPad. Transferring from digital camera to the laptop then to iPad is irritating but I'm working with photos taken with the iPad, manipulating them with photoshop mobile, then e-mailing to my blogger account.

Whoops, got to get offline! A quick storm has come up and I need to unplug everything!

More about Lillian Smith...

2011-06-26T12:06:00.000-04:00

Quotes are from a brochure about The Lillian E. Smith Center for Creative Arts:

"...Dreaming, talking, acting: this is the way to bring change about."

"...Lillian E. Smith (was) one of the country's eminent writers, civil rights activists, and humanitarians. Smith held at the center of her being her function as a creative artist. She also deeply valued the power of the arts to transform the lives of all human beings."

My residency here this summer is giving me time and place to explore my thoughts about making--both the object being made and the process being used. How does that happen differently at a retreat rather than in my home studio? Well, for one thing all my concentration is on my process--no dilution of energy toward others. That's a selfish desire, I know. But sometimes immersion in making is what I need to help me make my way to another level.

The Lillian Smith Center -Red Door Redux

2011-06-24T12:58:00.000-04:00

I'm trying out my new iPad and learning how to post photos from it to my blog... I'm really getting more done on the retreat than playing with a new toy... Five small tapestries so far and many sketches as well as hundreds of photos!

Anyway... Think this is the way to do it... Have to e-mail the photo to blogger. Going to be slow but can be done.

More from Lillian Smith Center

2011-06-20T15:18:00.002-04:00

On the walk this morning I saw this lovely drip of rosin slowly making its way down a pine tree. Earlier drips have solidified, leaving a wonderful amber colored trail.

Today's four selvedge tapestry was started yesterday although I didn't weave much... laundry and a few other things took a bit of time so I finished it today... it's based on this watercolor of the path that leads away from the cottage where I'm staying here at the Smith Center.

I've worked outside on the porch all day -- not too uncomfortable although I've got a fan going there now. The cottage faces to the west so the porch gets hotter from now until sunset.

These three small tapestries were done last week... all less than 4" high and from about 2 1/2 to 3" wide.

The one of the path I finished a bit ago is 3" wide x 3 1/2" high. It's been washed and pressed and will dry overnight on the ironing board where it's pinned now. Photographed it in the bright sun so the colors are a bit washed out.

I'll set up another four selvedge warp before the afternoon's over... maybe I'll weave a snippet of marigold --a petal or two. Maybe something else... we'll see what happens!

Lillian E. Smith Center for Creative Arts

2011-06-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

"To find...the place where fantasy and earthy things are metamorphosed into a work of art...this is what the journey is about..." Lillian E. Smith

I'm very happy to be back at the Center this summer for a two week residency. I'm painting and weaving daily, and doing photographs of whatever catches my eye as I walk each morning. Quiet time away to look around me and to think.

More quilt design, tapestry diary and four selvedge weaving going on

2011-06-11T16:27:00.002-04:00

My days are filled with weaving. Still in creative doldrums but have decided to use this time in a fractured way by having several tapestry things underway. In the last post I mentioned the quilt design tapestry and it continues to grow, piece by piece (do you think a pun is implied there--or does one "imply" a pun)... anyway, here's where it stands today:

The tapestry diary is continuing each day with a shape and its color and background color selected by a roll of a die. Six colors and shapes are assigned to each spot of the die. The background is black, gray or white, with a roll of 1 or 3 being black, 2 or 4 as gray, and 5 & 6, white. This is a simplified variation of something Archie Brennan mentioned in the recent workshop where he used a deck of cards to determine shapes and colors for a tapestry. Here's what it looks like on June 11:

Then there are the four selvedge weavings... I just finished the eighth one today and it's now washed, pressed and pinned down to dry. Today I realized I could probably use the 100% Spelsau wool as the warp rather than the 12/6 cotton seine twine. I was hoped it would be strong enough for the tapestry warp, especially for the small sizes I'm doing right now. So I tried it and it held up just fine during the weaving. I think the loops at the top and bottom will become more invisible--at least that's what I'm thinking will happen. I'll know more about that tomorrow when the piece is dry.

I still learn more each day about warping with this method. Susan also has an alternative finish noted at the website and I'll give it a try, maybe tomorrow. At this point, though, I feel comfortable to have this as my primary goal during the next two weeks of residency at Lillian Smith Center--weavings daily with inspiration drawn from the property at the Center.

new tapestry underway -- from old design

2011-06-02T16:44:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in the last post that I'm looking to the past for inspiration for tapestry making. I must continue to weave and while the "creative well" is empty I'll turn to an image from a few years ago to use for a tapestry cartoon. This is from a batik based on a drawing I'd made of one of the quilts I have.

One of my grandmothers made quite a few quilts of the simple pattern "Wild Geese Flying" and most of the time the fabric was from scraps of fabric from her daughters or daughters-in-law, all of whom sewed many of the clothes for their families. If I look closely in this quilt I can see some bits and pieces of dresses I had in the 1960s.

A couple of decades ago the house I lived in (a college rental house) was a bit chilly in the winter so I often used the quilt over my lap when I was reading or watching TV in the evenings. Most of the time I'd nod off on the sofa at some point before the evening ended and then when I woke up to stumble off to bed, the quilt would spill off my lap. I began to notice the interesting "puddle" of fabric made by the quilt the next morning and drew it a few times. Later I did three batiks based on the drawings. I rediscovered the batiks a few years ago stored in the attic and thought then that I'd like to do a tapestry from one or more of the designs. Now seems like the time to do that since other inspiration is pretty much dormant right now.

Here's a portion of the quilt:

Here's one of the batiks:

And a few photos of the beginnings of the tapestry:

I'm also working with four selvedge weave to learn about the process. I set up a third small warp of that method earlier this morning... I'm getting better at it; the first warp was a total disaster, the second warp (the one described in the link) was better, and today's went pretty smoothly. I'll weave off this little piece before leaving the studio this afternoon, cut it off and be ready to re-warp again tomorrow. I wrote more about the process of setting up the loom the first time at the Tapestry Share blog--here's the link to that.

Day by day by day by day... got to keep doing something.

May 2011-tapestry diary complete today

2011-05-31T11:58:00.000-04:00

Although my tapestry work is in the doldrums right now, it seems, my daily weavings are progressing. This year each month is being done on a separate warp, contrasting to the years 2009 and 2010 when I worked on one warp for all twelve months each time. Each month also is not the same size or with the same method of marking the day. I'll be warping a frame loom shortly to be ready to begin June. I'll be away for a couple of weeks later in the month (more about that below) so I'll want to be able to take the loom along with me.

Here's the month of May, 2011. Below it is the month of May, 2008--the one that got this whole obsession started.

May 2011

May 2008

The doldrums mentioned concern my seeming inability to move forward with designing for my tapestries in any meaningful way. I haven't felt good about any of my work for quite some time now... in fact, as I look back through journals and notes it seems that the last piece I really was excited about was the one I call Leaf Dance.

This one was quite different for me in that it was more abstracted than most of what I'd done before. While it was still based in nature it was much more expressive of feelings about the shapes inspired by natural forms rather than an attempt at a more pictorial representation.

Try as I might I've just not been able to come back to the intensity of that piece. I've struggled with many ideas over the past many months. In fact, I was struggling while at West Dean last fall--I'd hoped to return from England with a fresh way to see my world and to respond to it. But--it was only me who returned... same as I was before, facing the same challenges and uncertainties. And here I remain.

But... I've got to work in the studio each day. I have to be here in case lightening strikes--or in case I get an idea that may seem worthy to pursue. I've continue to weave... the tapestry diary pieces, of course. But that only takes a few minutes each day. I've woven quite a few new samples for classes. I wove the small piece that I noted in the last post. I started (and have now stopped) a larger piece on my 60" wide loom. I have a small piece underway on my teeny loom. I've also done a floor cloth, made many drawings, and hundreds of photographs of the world around me. Yet my ability to move forward into something that seems worthwhile is at a standstill.

I listened to an interview with Frank Stella when I walked this morning from the NPR program, "On Point" (May 25, 2011). Near the end of the discussion Stella said that an artist has to work on something that matters to him: He says about artists: "... they all worry about what they're doing... quality is still important, how beautiful it is is still important... it has to look good to the artist himself before he's even willing to show it to somebody else." He also said that (you) "... have to make something that you care about, if you believe in it enough, you like it enough, then you can communicate with others...." That comment, that I have to make something that I care about, that I believe in, hit home for me this morning. That's what's lacking in my work right now, I feel. My love of nature and natural forms is still with me. But I need to move away from depending on those for my compositional fodder-- I can enjoy my surroundings without feeling frantic that I have to "see" my next tapestry in each bit of my landscape.

I'm working again on the wool warp that I resleyed after cutting off the small tapestry noted in the last post. I'm recycling a design that I did many years ago in batik form, an image from a quilt I have that one of my grandmother's made. I've woven with this quilt as inspiration for three other tapestries, the largest one at 24" square (I called it Quilt Square, in fact). Here's a detail from that:

I'm taking to heart something Archie Brennan said at the recent workshop: "When in doubt, simplify." Also in mind is another quote, interestingly also beginning the same way: "When in doubt, make big changes." (Steve Aimone)

So... simplify I'm doing. Making big changes, I'm doing. Nature will continue to inspire me but my visual response to it will happen when it feels right--not when it's being forced, as it is now.

Retreat times are coming this summer, one sooner than the other. I learned last week that I'll be able to go to Lillian Smith Center again for a couple of weeks. I spent time there last summer for the first time--that was the location of the red door that I photographed each day while in residency there. I'll also be going back to Hambidge Center in late summer. Retreat times always help clear my head and I'm hoping that the jolt of the time away that's coming up soon will be just what I need to help me move past this time of low creative energy. Simplify, make big changes. See what happens.

Private cutting off today...

2011-05-23T18:56:00.001-04:00

...no party thrown but I'm happy to have this piece off the loom anyway. I'd begun it after my hand accident and have worked on it, off and on, for about a month and a half. It was originally intended to be twice as wide but I made the "executive decision" to end with the first side of the design only. I often make changes and modifications along the way when weaving tapestry but rarely take the somewhat radical step of cutting the design short. But I felt I could do so since the cartoon was designed in a way that it could be cut short without making it look truncated.

I'll talk about why I decided to change the design and cut it off shortly. First, here's the drawing on which the design was based and next are several of the designs along the way to making the cartoon. These are scans and/or Photoshop iterations the drawing. I'd sketched the tree trunks in the yard of the cottage where I was staying at Lillian Smith Center during the retreat last summer. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I've worked with trees in some way through several tapestries now. I'd wanted to do a piece in which the verticals of the trunks were emphasized... no limbs, little indication of space, just variations of placement of the vertical marks.

For the tapestry design I chose a bit of a paper weaving in which several of the copies were cut into strips and interwoven. The value of the different copies I cut up was different so the resulting paper weaving had differences in tones... I liked the effect so I zoomed on only a few trunks.

I cropped further for the cartoon to include only the four trees that are sort of centered in the design. And I began weaving with the cartoon turned 90˚ since I wanted to emphasize the smoothness of the edges of the trunks.

So, here's where the challenges began. First off, I was using a wool warp sett at 6 epi. That was number of ends per inch that a wrapping of the yarn indicated (I thought). I didn't realize the spacing would actually be more than that when the warp was under tension on the loom.

Next, I was finding it quite tedious to continue to try to see the results by turning my head sideways to look at the progress. Now, I've woven many pieces in the turned direction. But this time around it was a major annoyance. It felt like I was fighting the whole way. So, that discomfort with the piece combined with the too-loose sett caused me to decide to end sooner than later.

I woke up this morning determined to finish this piece today and cut it off. I've now done that--here I am about 5:45 p.m. with scissors in hand, camera on the tripod, timer on and ... snip and click! Or click and snip... either way both the photo and the cutting off got done.

Here's the piece laid out on the rug, warp ends flying this way and that. It's 11" w x 29" long; I'm going to wash it and block it so will see how much shrinkage there may be. I believe that it will be fine as a small study from the tree drawing but the next piece on the loom may be quite different... don't know yet what that will be since I don't have the design in mind. I'd thought I might weave the same cartoon only up the warp. But maybe I'm through with trees for awhile now... or perhaps they're through with me.

BUT... resleying tomorrow!

Wonderful workshop experience!

2011-05-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

Just a week ago today I was still at the Archie Brennan & Susan Maffei workshop! Seems like a month has passed since then since my week has been quite busy. But I'm finally having time to go through the photos I took during the workshop and post a few of those to the Tapestry Share blog. I won't repeat myself here about those--just include the link so you can leap over there if you want to.

Here's my loom with the piece I wove just about done.

I had a wicked, wicked, wicked sinus/allergy/cold/something during the workshop and I felt like crap most of the time. My tapestry design, unfortunately, reflects the state of my being during the week. Even though I was feeling puny for the few days I still feel I came away with new inspiration and knowledge--something I find in every workshop I've taken with Archie & Susan.

This was my fifth time to study with them, the first being in 1994 when TWiNE (Tapestry Weavers in New England) sponsored a retreat at Harrisville, NH. Everyone who has a workshop from me knows that I frequently say, "According to Archie...." or "Susan says...."-- and I make it clear to anyone who will listen that I consider them my tapestry gurus. So I was happy to have the time with them last week--even if the time wasn't as "quality-ladened" as it could have been if I'd felt better.

I was excited to learn that the long-awaited series of DVDs of tapestry instruction they've been working on for awhile is now available. I bought a copy and have watched several parts of a couple of them, so far. It's a fantastic learning aid and I'm happy that it's available.

By Sunday and the end of the workshop I was feeling somewhat human again... here I am at the wetlands bridge at Camp Mikell... the day was just a glorious one and a great way to end this chapter of study with Archie & Susan!

Just finished the April tapestry diary

2011-04-30T11:00:00.002-04:00

I haven't cut off the weaving because there's still several inches of warp remaining at the top and I'll use it in some way. I've edited to show the whole piece... each day seems teeny when you see it as one piece. The entry third from the top shows the tornado, a small representation of the terrible ones that pushed through the Southern states a few days ago. So much destruction and so many lives lost. It's a terrible time for thousands of people.

May's tapestry diary will be on a smaller frame loom so I can take it with me when I travel for a few activities during the month. One of the adventures will be to take a workshop with Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei. I'm quite looking forward to it; I've studied with Archie and Susan many times and always gain so much inspiration and knowledge from them both. Tapestry Weavers South is sponsoring the workshop and it will be held at the same location that Pat Williams & I taught our workshop in October--Camp Mikell near Toccoa, Georgia. The location was beautiful in the fall and I'm looking forward to seeing the surroundings in the springtime.

Fiddleheads have now become young ferns at the creek house. I saw trillium and flame azaleas there the other day. Spring holds more than horrific weather, thank God!

trees, flowers and more

2011-04-28T15:32:00.001-04:00

I just finished working on the floor cloth piece for the exhibit at Globe Gallery next month. I still have to put the hanging device on the back... thanks to Kathe Todd-Hooker's suggestion, I'm going to use velcro at the back rather than the grommets that I'd originally though I might use. The velcro will make it easier for someone to use it on a tabletop, if they want to do so rather than hanging on the wall. Of course, one could do that with grommets--but four hemmed edges without the holes will give a more consistent appearance.

This photo is before the hems-- those are 2 1/2" on all four sides. The finished piece when hemmed is 53.75" long x 40.25" wide. The sunshine is causing quite a glare on the piece... just hard to photograph something that's so shiny. I used semi-gloss water based polyurethane as the finish, putting five coats on. The hems are held back by double stick cloth carpet tape. I'll use self-adhesive velcro for the hanging with the soft side of the velcro on the cloth and the hook side on a wooded bar.

I've taken photos of the stages of the painting and several of those might become fodder for potential tapestry designs. Here are a couple of details that looks promising. I'll work with these in Photoshop a bit to see what comes from them:

I'm working daily on the tapestries, as well. Sometimes I spend more time with one of them rather than the other. I'd like to see if I can continue to allow them to sort of "grow" together. Most of the summer will be spent finishing these two pieces and, I hope, at least one more fairly large one.

Both of these pieces are based on pattern of tree trunks. I've drawn, painted and photographed trees for years. I've woven several other pieces in which trees are featured in some way. Here are three of those from the past four years:

I have a one person exhibit that will begin in December and I'd like to have three new pieces to put into the show. I have four large pieces on hand and several smaller ones. I think ten or twelve pieces should fill the space I'll have just fine. More details about that will come in the future.

I've gotten the second teaching date set for 2012 now. I'll be at Arrowmont School of Crafts from June 24-30, 2012. The first scheduled teaching will be at John Campbell Folk School in January. Perhaps one more date for teaching for 2012--in fact, maybe something at my studio, then I'll devote the rest of the time to my work next year.

springtime brings such interesting things to see...

2011-04-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

like this butterfly sitting on an iris:

here's another view with a bit of Photoshop manipulation with cutout filter:

I'm looking at irises right now since I'm working on a large painting of irises from those now blooming in our yard. The painting will turn into a floor cloth.

Here's what it looks like right now (glare from nearby light is at the top):

Some manipulation with the Photoshop mobile on my iPhone:

Some manipulation with Photoshop Elements on my laptop:

OK... back to the basement to work on the painting some more. I've just gotten a large piece of plywood delivered by my husband and his friend so I can take the painting down shortly and staple it flat. I'll work on it a bit more with paint before I begin to apply the coating to it.

The piece is intended for a floral exhibit that's coming up at the first of May at Globe Gallery in Clayton. Got to finish by tomorrow!

In the time between drying of paint I'm working on tapestry. Photos of that soon.

Plugging away at the daily tapestry diary

2011-04-20T11:02:00.000-04:00

April has proven to be a month in which small landscapes are appearing in my tapestry diary. These little daily sections are about 1 1/4" high x 2 1/4" wide.

more from Arrowmont and Southeast Fiber Forum

2011-04-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

The two and a half days, April 7-10, were jam packed full of activity and here are a few more photos from "Back to the Mountains" event. We worked hard, ate well (some might say too well!), spent money with vendors (some might say too much!) and were kept busy for every minute of the days and part of the nights we were there. Around 100 people came together from all over the place to take part in the eight workshops, visit the vendors' booths, see and/or be in the fashion show, and hear two inspirational keynote addresses (Daryl Lancaster spoke on Thursday night and Catharine Ellis on Saturday night). Lots of networking took place, old acquaintances renewed, and new friends were made. Thank you, Southeast Fiber Forum Association board, for making it all happen so well! And thank you, Arrowmont staff, for providing such a wonderful place to have this great event! And especially I want to thank the 14 students who took the tapestry class with me and Mary Kircher, the teaching assistant. Thanks for your patience and your exceptionally hard work!

Photos to peruse--again, no comments... just photos:

and so it begins...

2011-04-08T08:16:00.000-04:00

Southeast Fiber Forum--Arrowmont School of Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN. Class starts at 9 a.m. and I'll post a few photos from yesterday. No time for comments yet!

In preparation for Southeast Fiber Forum next week ...

2011-04-03T19:56:00.003-04:00

I'm tying up of loose ends... quite literally! There are 15 people enrolled in the class (one of those is my teaching assistant) so I needed extra looms. Last year someone borrowed one and hasn't yet returned it so I was short by four looms in my stock of Archie-style copper pipe looms I take to workshops ... of course, I would have been three short, if that loom had been on hand. But when I looked around I saw that there were three looms with partly woven samplers in place and one of those had two of the short loom sides together--I could built two new long sides and I'd have not just four looms--but five! Time to exorcise the ghosts on the looms! (Are exorcisms done for ghosts or simply demons?)

So I spent yesterday weaving the remaining few inches of the three sampler on those looms. Each one was begun at a past workshop. I'm embarrassed to say that the oldest dated to 2003 when Sharon Marcus was the instructor at a workshop that Tapestry Weavers South sponsored in Sarasota, FL! It was one in which I was exploring two setts in the same fabric. I'd woven most of it but had just a few more inches remaining to level off the piece. Since there was a bit of warp left I'd thought I'd use it for another small piece--but hadn't ever gotten around to doing it.

The next oldest were three narrow warps on one loom that were from Joan Baxter's workshop at the ATA Tampa retreat... that was in 2008. Two of those were wool and one camel hair. I hadn't woven anything on one of the narrow wool warps; it was just in place beside the other two. I hitched the top of the others and cut them off; cut off and wound the remaining unused bit of wool warp into a ball. That freed two of the three looms.

The third loom held the weaving I'd begun during the James Koehler workshop at the ATA retreat in Santa Fe last summer. I'd assembled the loom with two of the short sides of the copper pipe looms so I could carry it on the plane more easily. I almost completed it at the workshop and when I returned home I put it away for a calm day in which to finish it. Well, calm days came and went, along with many hectic ones since last summer and the little loom sat in the back room, forgotten. Forgotten until yesterday when I realized there were two more looms--if I made two new long sides--and if I could weave it off in a few hours.

So here they are... ghosts exorcised from the looms--from the Koehler workhop at left; middle, from the Marcus workshop; two at the right, from the Baxter workshop.

I also wanted to weave another sampler for the upcoming workshop, one in which I use meet and separate in a way that could be done in a few hours time. I've got several samplers of meet and separate in my stash already but I almost always do a new one when I have a workshop upcoming to see what might be possible in the time we'll have for the class. I also wanted to free my demo loom so that I can use it to show how to warp. I had another sampler in place on the warp from the workshop that Pat Williams and I taught in October. Because I wanted to have as much weaving room as I could squeeze into the warp I turned the loom around and began to weave from the other end. I've done that several times in classes and it maximizes the warp area if two separate pieces are desired.

The bottom part of the sampler is using clasped weft technique. We won't do much of it in the workshop but it will be one of the techniques I discuss on the second day, along with soumak. The upper part of the sampler at first has two colors in meet and separate technique, to build vertical slits and then to do hatching, both one pass and two pass hatching. Pick and pick is next, then back to two colors and then a third color is introduced. A couple of ways to correct the shed will be shown as the third color comes into play. Last are diagonals with three different angles. Of course, many variations of these simple methods can be done. But I wove this 3" x 9" piece in about four hours so I think these concepts will be possible in one class session. The second day we'll work with designing and weaving a small piece to make use of these techniques.

Weaving both ends to the middle... sort of like burning a candle at both ends, I guess!

The two new long sides for the loom mentioned above are lying at the left side of the table. I use a paste epoxy to hold the elbows and the pipe together and let it lay flat overnight.

I'm looking forward to the class and hope to post some photos of the session next week.

New tapestries are underway

2011-03-30T15:22:00.004-04:00

At last I'm weaving, seriously weaving! I've been struggling (yet again) for almost three months to develop the design for the next tapestry. When I think about it, seems that the winter months are ones in which I always struggle and I also apparently become forgetful--I lose sight of the fact that the down phase of my design process happens over and over. And that the down is often in the winter. This winter I had the extra added attraction of having the accident on February 20. BUT, that was then... this is now.

So, I'll start with what I've been doing for the past month... this is a "challenge tapestry", the challenge having been given by one of my gurus, Steven Aimone. I met with Steve on March 1 in Asheville for a consultation. I'd worked with Steve a few years ago for artistic guidance. I gained so much from that consultation, much of what I've been able to continue with since then. I also took a class at his studio in late 2008 right after I'd been at an artist residency at Hambidge Center... those two experiences resulted in several paintings and four tapestries came from those.

When I got back from England in December I was in a bit of a slump. The time at West Dean was amazing and yet I didn't seem to be able to begin productive work here at my studio (remember the forgetfulness mentioned earlier?). So I contacted Steve to see if he could possibly meet with me when I was next in Asheville... he could and we spent a couple of hours at Malaprops having coffee, looking at my portfolio and some sketches of possible ideas. One of the things he suggested was that I might work without planning, in as much of a "stream of consciousness" way that a tapestry maker can. He asked if I thought I could do maybe 5" square or so, one a week for a month, all without planning. I said that I felt I could since it was so much the way I already work for the daily tapestry diary bits.

I had a warp on one of the looms and I began with his challenge on the next day. My hand was still pretty iffy at that point since I still had stitches and was bandaged. But I did it--that's the square that's at the right side below. It was easier to use my hand during the second week and I began to add more shapes and meander around a bit more. I set a few rules for myself to follow for the month's adventure--the main one being that I'd use only from my scrap weft basket. Since I've been exploring soumak with the tapestry diary I decided to throw in some linear components done in a variety of soumak ways.

As March ends I've met the challenge set by Steve, turned in my written assessment for the week and also photos. And I've decided to keep it up for as long as I can. I guess it's a variation on the tapestry diary idea except that I'm doing it weekly. I'll continue with my day-by-day weaving on another loom. But this new challenge is quite exciting. As you can see, there's blank warp at the left... that's because I didn't measure the amount I started with--just started. Then the next week I decided to do the same size, and then repeated that 5" square for the four weeks. Today I thought about it as an overall piece and am not yet sure whether to add the narrow part or to ignore it and move above the four already in place. Got to decide. Suggestions?

Yesterday was my last class with the NGCSU advanced weaving students. During the first meeting with them last week they warped the Shannock tabletop looms and began basic meet and separate. Yesterday I demonstrated pick and pick and soumak, as well as showing them how to use a cartoon behind the warp. They have one more class session on their own and then their small pieces are due for grading next Tuesday. It was fun to be at the NGCSU weaving studio again!

And... last photo. This is of my space as it is right now! Seems to have had an explosion of yarn. I need to pull out the yarn I'm thinking of using for the piece as I begin so here most of it is. I'm weaving on both looms -- obviously not at the same time but will have both pieces underway at once. The loom at the left has a design that will be in neutrals; the one on the right will have color. Both are of tree designs based on drawings and/or paintings of trees done recently. I'm looking forward to seeing these two tapestries develop simultaneously. Wonder if they will influence each other?

spam and the blog

2011-03-28T17:06:00.000-04:00

For the first time I've gotten spam comments. If, for some reason, someone who reads the blog has tried to make a comment in the past two days it's showing up as something that I won't post. So... sorry about that and you might see if you're e-mail is hacked. Anyway, even though there's a word recognition requirement to post a comment a couple of things have gotten through.

Now... on to more important things... like getting ready for the class I'm teaching next week at Arrowmont during the Southeast Fiber Forum. Like getting my first large tapestry in almost a year under way. Like getting a second tapestry underway on another loom. Like teaching the last of the sessions at NGCSU.
Pictures of all of the above will follow eventually.

And, lastly... had the final physical therapy visit today and I am on my own with my hand now! I've been using it well for several days and the last stints in the studio where I've worked with my hand almost as long as I normally did before are showing me that the accident shouldn't hinder my progress further. Hooray for that!

Spring is all around

2011-03-26T13:32:00.000-04:00

Although it's rainy and chilly today the past couple of weeks have shown proof that winter's nearly over here in north Georgia. Last week when I walked on campus at NGCSU here's what I saw:

Blossoms lined the edge of the street like snow drifts.

I love this... new blossoms mingling with old leaf litter.

It seems that I've been cold since I left for England at the first of November and am I ever ready for Georgia's steamy hot summer to begin! I'm sitting here in the studio now wondering if I should turn up heat before continuing to work at the loom. Maybe not.

Last week I began a two session class with the four students who're in the advanced weaving class at NGCSU. On Tuesday they warped the four Shannock tabletop looms that are in the weaving studio and they got underway. Next Tuesday I'll go back to the class to see where've they've taken the basic meet and separate, then I'll show them about using a cartoon, introduce pick and pick and soumak. They should have time over the next couple of weeks to complete a sampler that's 6" wide by about 16" to 20" high.

A bit of exercise to squat then stand to put the warps on the looms!

College students have to grab lunch when and where they can!

On Thursday the students had a visit from Erin M. Riley, an artist who works in tapestry. She came to NGCSU on Wednesday night to speak, along with another artist, about artistic freedom and censorship in a talk that was sponsored by the Visual Art Department.

The next day in the weaving class, Erin demonstrated the tapestry process briefly then showed several of her tapestries. She talked about her motivation for choosing the images she does and answered questions posed by the students. There's an article about Erin's work in the latest Fiberarts magazine (Sept. 2011) and here's a link to her website. Erin is twenty-five, two years out of graduate school and is striving to make her way as an artist. So far, she's had several artist residencies and a couple more to come during the year. Since beginning to work in the medium of tapestry only a few years ago she's produced around sixty tapestries, she said. She is one of the up and coming artists to watch and I'm glad we were able to have her visit NGCSU!

Erin and several of her tapestries.

Rolling them up, ready to pack them in her truck and head home to Philadelphia.

Three Strikes, tapestry, 25" x 36" by Erin M. Riley

shown with Erin's permission

onward and upward--a month after the accident

2011-03-20T17:40:00.001-04:00

My hand is recovering well. I've had three physical therapy sessions now and have another one in a week. After that I'll probably be on my own. I've been weaving almost daily since the accident happened although slowly at first. I'm still not putting in as much time at the loom as I normally can but knowing that I'm going to be able work the way I want to again is very encouraging.

Yesterday I decided to put a warp on the Baby Wolf loom (now named Cujo) and so I decided to use 12/6 cotton seine twine in a deep red color. I want to use it for tapestry in which I combine setts and also use thick bundles of weft. The warp will show somewhat, I expect, and the colored warp will be less distracting than white or natural linen. It's now tied on, header is woven and a cartoon is stitched underneath. I'll talk more about the design for that once it gets underway.

Today I also made a warp for the Fireside loom and beamed it. I'll thread it later in the week. Having warps ready for weaving is like having blank canvas to paint on. I don't like to have looms sitting empty for too long. I also wanted to see how my hand would hold up to warping and dressing the looms. So far, fine.

Yes, those are C-clamps and a hammer hanging from the warp bundles for weight!

During the past two and a half weeks I've been working on a challenge weaving... I'll call it a "stream of consciousness" tapestry because that was what was suggested to me by my challenger. I'm weaving approximately 5" square each week with no predetermined plan in mind. I set a few rules for myself, sort of like I do for the daily tapestry diary. For instance, I'm only using wefts from my left-over bins and baskets for the weekly pieces. Here are two weeks completed and a couple of days of weaving on the third week:

Not all my time has been in the studio over the past couple of weeks. I was able to spend a lovely day and night with friends last weekend. Here we are at my friend's property in Western NC:

Noel, Denise, Tommye, and Erika sitting by Dorothy's Falls

And one last thing has taken quite a bit of my time lately... the roast and toast for charity that my husband and I were part of happened on the 17th. Am I ever glad that's over with! What a lot of work went into the event by everyone involved including Thomas and me, the roastees. Quite a bit of money was raised for the effort, though. And that was what was important. Thomas and I, before the roasting started (my red cheeks are from rushing around throughout the afternoon to help with set-up--not from drink--that's water in both of our glasses! I was in my work clothes about 30 minutes before the photo -- just rushed home to change and get back before the start of the festivities.)

An essay worth reading and re-reading

2011-03-11T10:50:00.000-05:00

I am stunned by news of the earthquake and tsunami causing devastation in Japan and elsewhere now. I just read an essay by a philosopher, Richard Van Ingram, that says some things that I am feeling and I want to share it here.

James Koehler--in memory

2011-03-07T16:11:00.001-05:00

Last summer I was given the gift by fate to be a member of James Koehler's workshop in Santa Fe. I say "given" because truthfully I'd wanted the other workshop when I signed up. But I was too late with my registration and so was assigned a space in James's class instead. However, I went willingly because I know that there's always lots to learn from whomever I study with and I've been an admirer of his tapestries for many years. So... off to New Mexico I went, ready for an adventure with sixteen other participants in Koehler's class, July 26 through July 28, 2010.

In James Koehler's studio with fabulous wall of hand-dyed yarn behind

James Koehler had become legendary in his teaching and many who studied with James took workshops with him whenever they could. And, once in the workshop, I immediately began to learn why. His gentle nature put everyone at ease right away. His insights into concepts for design were inspiring. The handouts he gave us held gems of ideas. In the handout titled Quality he said:

Only by acting consciously and methodically can one attain some quality or value in life and in work.... The creative process is an unceasing metamorphosis of the quantities of our experience to a level of quality, an awareness of the mundane to an awareness of the essential.

Here are photos from the workshop and also the visit we were able to make to his home/studio.

Last week on March 3, 2011 James Koehler's time in the world came to an end. Those who were very close to him are heart broken. And for those, like me, who'd just begun to know him--our hearts are also hurting. His untimely death has left a large hole in the world of tapestry as well as in that of his friends and family. But how brightly do his gifts still shine through his wonderful tapestries and in the teachings shared with so many.

weaving more each day

2011-03-03T18:11:00.000-05:00

I'm certainly not back to stamina or speed for weaving as before the accident on the 20th--but I am weaving. I've woven on the tapestry diary each day except for the day of the event and the day afterward--and for a couple of more days when I was out of town. I completed February's diary and have begun the one for March on a frame loom. There's more warp on the loom above February and I'll use it either for another month later in the year or for a small piece unrelated to the diary weaving.

February, 2011

March, 2011 has begun

I've been challenged to work without predetermined plan on something larger than each day's diary bit and I was able to start that yesterday. I'll be checking in each week for the next month with my challenger to show what I've done during the week and to discuss it. This is part of an effort to shake myself up and move into other ways of working. It seems that my concepts and design ideas have been stale for sometime. Even my trip to West Dean wasn't enough to move my thinking around--although some things from my time there will show up in future work, I know.

No plan... just action... where will this lead?!

I'll see the doctor for a follow-up visit tomorrow and maybe he'll take out stitches. It will be nice to have my hand out of the gauze mitt and I hope that's on the agenda tomorrow. Fingers feel good and the strength in my hand is improving every day.

Now... for the more fun stuff! Thomas and I will be Roasted and Toasted by the Sunrise Rotary Club here in town on St. Patrick's Day as a fund raising event for many of the charities to which the Club donates--all in good fun (I hope!). The photo was taken by NGCSU art major, Trevor Morris... and, yes, Thomas & I DID look that scary! He couldn't find his pitchfork and I couldn't find anything other than the bird of paradise apron. Plus, it was cold as ... (put your own "cold as ...." comment here) when the photo was taken.

painting yesterday

2011-02-27T13:41:00.000-05:00

Using my left hand (I'm right handed) I rolled black acrylic paint on a canvas stapled to a plywood wall in my cellar. Then I squeezed out a glob of red paint on a palette and began painting as best I could with my non-dominant hand. No image, just slashes of paint. I used up all of the red then squirted out a mass of white and began to paint with that. The canvas is maybe 48" square and my brushes were wide.

After about half an hour of slashing at the canvas with strokes of red and then white paint I began to write What Now? over and over again with a large piece of charcoal and also with a graphite stick.

My writing is very crude when done with my left hand but that's OK... will be OK now, a week after the accident... that's the answer to What Now? I'm not sure yet how long it will take me to get back to weaving at the speed I am used to but I know it will happen. Thanks to good friends who've helped me see the light where the black seemed to be.

something will come from all this

2011-02-26T18:23:00.000-05:00

Update about recent injury

2011-02-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

I just posted this to the Tapestry Share blog but want to also do so here. My hand is improving daily and I hope to back to full-time weaving very, very soon.

Thanks to Karen Donde, the loom company which manufactures the Baby Wolf loom that collapsed when I was unfolding it and causing my recent injury has made some changes to printed instructions that may help prevent it from happening to anyone else. Karen, of Sutherland Handweaving in Asheville, is a Schacht dealer and she contacted the company with news of my injury. Within 24 hours I had an e-mail from Jane Patrick at Schacht saying that they were sorry to hear about the incident and they were immediately making changes to the wording of the instruction manual; they're also considering a possible change to the loom to make it impossible for the same thing to happen again. Below is the latest e-mail from her, reprinted with her permission:

Dear Tommye,

Here's the new copy for the instruction manual for the Baby Wolf, Wolf Pup, Wolf Pup LT, and Mighty Wolf Looms. These changes will be made in our instruction booklet tomorrow. I've also included the notice that we'll attach to the outside of the loom on all new loom shipments.

Best regards,

Jane

Jane Patrick

Schacht Spindle Co., Inc.

6101 Ben Place

Boulder, CO 80301

303-442-3212; 800-228-2553

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Change for Wolf Pup, Wolf Pup LT, BW and MW instructions—printed and on-line instruction change.

Unfolding the Loom

Remove all plastic wrap from the loom. Slightly loosen the two black plastic fold knobs on both sides of the loom. Generally, a single turn will do. Note: loosening the knobs all of the way or removing them will cause the loom to collapse which could cause injury. Hold onto the front and rear beams and pull them together slightly. Pull the slide lock bars out toward the back of the loom. Continue holding onto the front and rear beams and allow the loom to unfold all the way. If there is a warp on the loom, you may need to step on the brake release pedal while unfolding the loom to loosen the warp. When the loom is all the way down in the open position, push the knobs down to the bottom of the slots and tighten them.

Tag to add to side of loom used for shipping.

Caution: When unfolding the loom, slightly loosen the black knobs (generally a single turn is enough). Loosening them too much or removing them may cause the loom to collapse and cause injury. For the proper unfolding instructions, see the Assembly Manual included with your loom.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This effort on the part of Schacht Spindle Company to address a problem is to be applauded. I hope no one else has to have such a gruesome experience with ANY weaving equipment in the future. I appreciate what Schacht is doing toward that goal with their products. I also very much appreciate Karen Donde's quick response in contacting the company after she read about the accident at my blog. Contacting the company wasn't on my agenda--should have been but wasn't. So a big thank-you to you, Karen!!

WARNING!! This post contains blood and other shocking things!

2011-02-22T12:12:00.004-05:00

SEE UPDATE BELOW THE POST

Yes, the warning is for real. If you're a Facebook friend you may have already seen these photos so no need to take another look--unless you want to, that is. This is really a cautionary tale so it might not hurt to read even if you avert your eyes when the photos come up--they're all at the end to be more easily avoided.

First, let me say that a cautionary tale may begin by mentioning that something might be foolish or even, egad, dangerous to attempt on one's one. Next the story is told. And then the fate will emerge... in grisly detail!

This particular tale began to unfold around 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 20, when I went to the studio to spend the afternoon as I usually do, by myself weaving tapestry, doing design work, or other assorted things. That afternoon a new-to-me loom sat folded up in the studio. My husband and I had picked it up the night before, a small Baby Wolf loom. I had several things to do at the studio on Sunday but before I got started I thought I'd see how the loom would fit into the studio when it was unfolded. My thoughts ran something like this: "I know how to unfold this loom since I've done it before. I'll move a few things around and set the loom up quickly to see how much space it will need."

I knelt at one side of the folded loom and unscrewed the wing nuts holding the bracket on the wheels (the "baby stroller"). Then I went to the other side and took off one wing nut on the corresponding bracket. Next came the final wing nut to allow the bottom of the loom to be pulled apart. Suddenly--and I can't even begin to emphasize HOW suddenly--the loom collapsed with my hand somehow inside the frame of the loom. I felt a tremendous pain. "XX)(@(@(**! I've mashed my hand!!" I thought. I tried to pull my hand out and then realized I couldn't move it and there was blood--a cut. Then I saw it was more than a cut--I COULDN'T pull my hand away since I'd been impaled by a metal bracket that was firmly attached to the loom at one side and that went through the back of my hand to extend several inches past my palm at the other side!

I managed to get one knee under part of the loom to release some of the tension on my hand. By this point I was screaming. Of course, screaming behind a locked door and around the corner and several houses away from possible help (my husband) wasn't going to accomplish much of anything--except cause me to hyperventilate.

"I have to call Thomas! I have to call Thomas!" I thought and saw that my phone was maybe within reach at the opposite side of a table near where I was kneeling. I stretched as far as I could while balancing the loom on one knee and was able to get the tips of my fingers around the phone. I pulled it closer to me on the table and punched my husband's number. When he answered, I said "YOU'VE GOT TO COME RIGHT NOW!" He said, "Are you all right?!" and I said "NO!!!" The phone went dead as he hung up and ran for the door. Then I dialed 911 because I was beginning to bleed pretty badly and I knew I'd need more help than Thomas could probably give. By the time I was telling the dispatcher where I was, Thomas was unlocking the door and rushing in.

He quickly got pliers and took out the bolt holding the bracket to release it from the loom. But, it was still through my hand and so he pulled it the rest of the way out. He ran for a towel, wrapped my hand and told me to grasp it tightly and to hold my hand up. He helped me into a chair, then called 911 again since we weren't hearing a siren. As it turned out, there were several accidents in the county about the same time as I was creating my own accident and it took a few minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

When they got there the EMTs put me on a stretcher and loaded me up for the 30 minute ride to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. We chose to go there rather than our local hospital because we didn't know the extent of my injury and whether I'd need a hand surgeon right away or not.

As it turns out, the Emergency Department of Northeast Georgia was having an extremely busy afternoon and evening--several stroke victims, car and motorcycle accidents and more. An impaled hand was low in priority, so we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. At last, around six hours after we arrived one of the doctors was able to treat me. I'd had x-rays done by then and he felt that bone wasn't involved. He flushed out the wound, took four stitches inside, then multiple ones on the outside--both on the back of my hand and also in my palm. He'd called a plastic surgeon, who also does hand surgery, and I was told to see him the next day (yesterday).

When the plastic surgeon inspected my hand yesterday morning he determined that I didn't need surgery since what was done in the ER on Sunday night would suffice. He did say that I'll need physical therapy and that my hand may not totally function as it had before.

But, I'm typing with my hand right now and know that my fingers are working. I wove a few passes on my tapestry diary this morning--and can do that. The pain level isn't bad at all. I have a prescription for antibiotic and also for pain medication. I've taken only a couple of the pain pills and will try to do without those from this point on. I cleaned and dressed my hand by myself this morning, and was able to drive the car (although turning the key and shifting the gears is a bit tricky!) If I can type, hold a pen, pencil, and paint brush to draw or write or paint with, and if I can weave... those things are what I desperately need to be able to do. And, by the grace of God, I'll be able to do them all, I believe!

So the end of this cautionary tale may not be too gruesome. Lesson learned? Perhaps more of the same that seems to always be presented to me--be mindful. Be aware. Pay attention to now. I thought I'd learned the lesson when I fell a couple of years ago and gained a black eye from that experience. But I needed a reminder. A refresher course in humility and the need for patience has been given to me.

This is the bracket that impaled my hand. It's 9 1/2" long, 3/4" wide , 1/8" thick.

The loom collapsed like so. I was at the left side and balanced the end closest on my knee while I reached for the phone that was at the opposite end of the table that's on the left--can only see one leg of it here.

My hand was impaled by the bracket and wedged here. The hole at the left is where Thomas took the bolt out to remove the bracket and pull it on through my hand.

Yesterday morning, photo taken with my iPhone as I was getting ready to go to the plastic surgeon.

After the nurse cut the dressing off and left the room for a minute I snapped a couple of photos with my iPhone. My palm side...

Top of the hand yesterday. It looked much better today when I took off the dressing to clean and rewrap it.

The loom as it should be. My husband and a friend put upright yesterday.

Here's the bracket that wasn't held in place by the black knob when I tried to unfold the loom, causing the collapse. The end of the right side bracket was what did the deed. Thomas cleaned the blood off the bracket and the loom and also washed it out of the carpet. I am so very lucky that he had his phone turned on and that he was still at home rather than at work when it all happened!

UPDATE--

I posted a comment in reply to Katie and Jan's thoughts that the loom company should be contacted... here it is, in case you miss it in the comments below:

Thanks to Karen Donde (who is a dealer for Schacht) the company knows about my accident and is taking measures to improve the printed instruction manual to include a clear warning about possible injury when unfolding the loom if the black knobs aren't in place as they should be. Additional warnings will be attached to the loom when it is shipped. Those printed changes are being made right now.

The company is also considering possible solutions to add to the loom as a feature that will make such a collapse impossible.

So if anything good (other than causing me to slow down a bit) comes from this accident it may be that others won't have to have a similar experience in the future!

Thanks to all for you the comments of concern! I appreciate them all very much.

Spring is just around the corner--maybe!

2011-02-20T11:19:00.001-05:00

Earlier in the week as I was walking I had my first glimpse of 2011 jonquils. When these begin to pop up I know that winter will be indeed be ending sooner or later. For me, the first blooms of the new year mean more than that silly old ground hog's predictions!

Yesterday, I had a wonderful time walking near the creek at our cabin.

The temperatures were in the high 60s and I was outside without a coat on for the first time since I left for England in early November. How exciting was that?! Pretty darn exciting for me, at least. I took a few photos with my iPhone and then manipulated with my Photoshop app (see below).

Later in the afternoon, at my studio I took the Hagen loom to the screened back porch and continued to weave on the small tapestry that I'm determined to finish this week. I have a few more passes to level it up, then the half-hitches at the top before cutting off. I'm going to donate the tapestry for a silent auction that will be part of an event I'll mention in a few days.

Oh... if anybody notices... yes, I'm using a Mirrix shed device on my Hagen loom. Leashes are at the top, not being used for the upper part of the tapestry. The shed had gotten tiny and I thought I'd try out the shed system from the Mirrix to see if it would fit this Hagen... yep, sure did! Interesting circle being completed with this since the Mirrix was pretty much designed based on the Hagen loom. What comes around, goes around. I've also used the floor stand for the Hagen loom with my Archie Brennan copper pipe looms. All things are just tools.

small tapestry about finished... at long last!

2011-02-15T12:52:00.001-05:00

The small leaf tapestry shown in the photos has been on my small Hagen loom for about three years now. I began it when my husband and I were staying at a cabin near Mentone, AL; I didn't have a cartoon ready as I began so started out with a pattern of diamonds as a bottom border. I didn't continue with the tapestry after getting back home because, at that time, a larger tapestry awaited work in my studio.

Later, when I needed to prepare a small loom for display during last year's exhibit at the Focus Gallery in Asheville, I did a simple cartoon based on a drawing of leaves I'd done while in my last residency at the Hambidge Center and began weaving the interior of the piece. So, bit by bit during various demonstrations the tapestry has grown.

In January this year the loom went with me to John Campbell Folk School where used it for demonstrations a few times while there:

And just this past Sunday I took it to the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild's Open House for a demonstration:

I'm using vertical soumak for the stem of the leaves... color being used in the soumak is a bit strong for the piece but that's OK... I'm ready to complete this small tapestry and move on. I can't agonize over the color at this point. I'm now determined to complete it during this week... maybe!

January 2011 tapestry diary came off the loom today

2011-01-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

My new year's tapestry diary has begun and, as mentioned before, this year I'll be doing separate months at a time rather than one long weaving, as for 2009 and 2010. The plan to do the months as separate weavings will allow me to keep pace with the days better; I can take the loom along with me when I travel.

Now... after having said all that... I've got the February warp ready on a loom at home! I'll be out of town for a day here and there in February so will have to contend with a few missed weaving days. However, I want to use up the end of the warp from a previous tapestry woven on the Tissart loom.

For January I studied soumak. Each day is separated with a red-orange band and within about an inch done daily, a different method for soumak was used. For technique, I referred to these sources: Kathe Todd-Hooker's Tapestry 101 and Line in Tapestry; Jean Wilson's Soumak Workbook; and Peter Collingwood's Techniques of Rug Weaving.

The Collingwood book is so rich that I'm going to continue to explore more about the methods he describes as February begins.

This month's piece measures 3.5" wide x 29.5" long. The sett is 8 epi of 12/12 cotton seine twine. The weft was from my scrap box--mostly Vevgarn (wool/spelsau blend) was used. It was woven on a Mirrix loom using a continuous warp to extend the length.

A few details of areas I particulary enjoyed are these:

Yes, I know... pretty sketchy but that's exactly what the intent was... quick sketches/sampling of method. I made notes along the way and can refer back to the section in which the technique was used as a reminder.

Lots of loose ends

2011-01-27T15:07:00.005-05:00

I'm in the winter stewing mode... meaning I don't have a tapestry underway (other than my tapestry diary and other assorted "ghosts" on small frame looms). I've been thinking, writing about ideas, talking about possible directions with others, and generally feeling like the cartoon roadrunner when he was spinning his legs around about to go zooming forward.

When I'm stewing this way ideas are often under the surface. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, they'll bubble up and a few began to break the surface this morning. I grabbed out some sketchbooks that I knew held some of the images I believe I want to work with. In one of them I found notes I'd made from Theo Moorman's book, Weaving as an Art Form.

One of the comments from page 53 of her book I noted near the bottom of the sketchbook page, having to do with limiting one's use of photographs: "The impact of our eye can never be so strong as when we observe the actual object.... When we try to record the response in the form of a sketch, we instinctively select the salient points and omit others which have no place in our theme."

I'm keeping that in mind as I move though the next process of developing design options for the next large tapestry. However, I have used photography to capture drawings from my sketch book and then, with Photoshop, I've begun a process of alteration from the originals. When I'm further along I'll begin to post about these stages of the process. I have two looms ready to go, one with a 24" wide width and the other with a width of 42" -- both have different setts. The 24" width is sett at 8 epi and the 42" is at 6 epi. Which loom I'll use for the weaving will partly be determined by how detailed the design will be.

In another direction--I picked up copies of Stonepile Writers' Anthology today. It was recently published by the University Press of North Georgia. A photograph I'd taken last summer was selected as the cover illustration. A couple of my poems were also chosen for the publication. I was quite thrilled to learn about the photo selection--I think that meant as much to me, if not more, than having the poems selected. After all... the visual side of me is the real me; the writer side is my doppelganger.

Tapestry design class at the Folk School last week

2011-01-23T14:56:00.003-05:00

I just made a post with small slide show about last week's class at the Tapestry Share blog. I'll add more about it here soon. It was a great group and wonderful week... just wish the temperature had been more user-friendly!

Tomorrow, I'll be going to Haywood Community College at Clyde, NC to present a brief tapestry tutorial for textile students there. The 2011 tapestry diary continues and my mind is gearing up for a new, larger tapestry. Time to weave is coming soon, I hope!

Tapestry diary for 2011 underway now

2011-01-08T16:22:00.000-05:00

This year, as I'd mentioned before, I'm going to have a separate tapestry diary for each month. I very much like the continuous ones done in 2009 and 2010 but I want to be able to take the weaving along with me when I travel. By setting up a frame loom with around 36" of weaving length (using a continuous warping method) I'll be able to weave about 1" high each day. I'm still using from the left-over wefts but decided to start with naturals, whites, grays and black for this year since I've used very little of those in the past two tapestries.

I'm beginning with soumak as my study in the diary for the year. Don't know how often I'll concentrate on technique rather than recording date as in the earlier woven diaries. But since I've used very little soumak in the past I thought I'd give it a try. As chance would have it, there was an article in the latest Vav magazine about an ancient weaving in which a type of soumak was used for stylized figures. I'd started the weaving by a few days when I finally had time to take a look at my issue of the magazine and--there was "snare weave" being described, later noted as soumak in the article!

So... couple of photos of the January 2011 progress:

More photos of the 2010 tapestry diary

2011-01-05T17:20:00.000-05:00

Although I have quite a bit of finishing yet to do on this piece I decided to hang it up temporarily to see how the empty spaces will work with the woven bits. Warps at both ends are still simply long and loose although I temporarily knotted the bottom to keep them off the floor.

Most of the cut ends at the top are visible in the six weeks of empty warps from my West Dean time... those are the vertical meandering lines behind the more orderly rows of blank warps. I quite like the shadow cast by the open warps and that gives me thoughts about how to hang the tapestry. I'll probably select about a 1/2" thick hanging bar, attach velcro to it and to the back of the tapestry, so that the piece will be able to be placed even further from the wall when completed.

I haven't exhibited any of the tapestry diary pieces (Month of May 2008; Month of July 2010; and the year of 2009) but I'm considering doing so soon. The statement about the concept of the pieces will be included whenever I do exhibit them because I think that's quite important to the tapestries.

The three empty rows near the bottom of the photo are showing my residency at Lillian Smith Center in June and July. The next row of empties would be my trip to Convergence and ATA retreat in New Mexico. Two weeks spent while teaching at Penland later in the summer are represented by the next larger area of unwoven warps. I've been away so much during 2010 that I'll have to refer to my calendar to see just where I was for many of the blanks!

Jan Austin's tapestry diary for 2010

2011-01-04T07:00:00.038-05:00

Jan Austin also decided to work through the year of 2010 on a tapestry diary. She's just posted about her finishing and cutting off at her blog... take a look!

As Jan says, the process is the point of these daily efforts. A few minutes each day to devote to a practice of one's craft. We're not "making art" as we do these weavings... rather, we're moving through the process of making; from the effort we develop discipline, persistence.

And... my beginnings for the new year:

My tapestry diary for 2011 begins as a challenge to myself of the process of learning through the making. Each day's few minutes experience with warp and weft will be one of learning more about the medium of tapestry weaving. BUT, the ultimate goal is simply the process of putting weft into warp each day during this new year. By doing that I will have a tangible record of my place on the earth in this life I hold for a short time.

Happy New Year--Tapestry Diary for 2010 is DONE!

2011-01-01T09:02:00.001-05:00

End of the year... half-hitches in place at the top.

Unrolled from the breast beam... longer than I expected!

Cutting it off at last...

... and laying it out on the floor to see it for the first time.

More about it later...

... and now, later... to add these additional photos from yesterday:

Snipping ends before pulling out the posterboard spacer strips.

Strips are out... don't have a long enough table to lay it out on.

Empty warps for my times away. I still have finishing work to do to tidy it up. That will take some time to do... but doesn't matter, does it... it took a year to weave so I shouldn't complain about the completion process, I guess!

Home from England--West Dean adventure ended with more than expected!

2010-12-21T08:10:00.004-05:00

Thousands are still stranded at Gatwick, from what I read in the BBC news this morning. Others at Heathrow. Absolutely distressing situation and I'm both so very glad that I made it home on Sunday--and so guilty that I was one of the lucky few. I don't know if my friend, Diana, is back in Dublin yet--her flight was supposed to leave Monday. Is Warren still at Gatwick as well or did he finally get back to the States on Sunday?

A few photos from the return... these by no means show the state of the whole situation. I learned, by the way, that apparently if one makes photos from a departure lounge of the view from the window--of plane de-icing and overviews of the runway--that one then becomes subject to both full body search and bag inspection even through I'd already been admitted into the area with my boarding pass. I enjoyed two full body searches while trying to depart, in fact... once going through security for the flight that was scheduled after the cancelled one, then the one at the departure gate.

It was bright and sunny as I left on Friday afternoon. I stayed overnight at a hotel near Gatwick so that I could get to the airport by 6 a.m. on Saturday morning as it was recommended to arrive three hours in advance of the flight departure--scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on December 18.

We drove off with a cheery farewell from Magenta, LouLou and Diana

On the way to the hotel near the airport snow began to fall. It had stopped by arrival and I spent a calm evening in my comfortable hotel room near Gatwick. I got up at 4 a.m. on Saturday to get myself together for the short trip to the airport... gave myself the luxury of a taxi after standing in the slush and freezing conditions for several minutes waiting for the airport shuttle bus that was to arrive every twenty minutes. The snow had gotten worse through the night although it wasn't snowing at that point. After arriving at the terminal, I checked in easily and was on my way... I thought.

Our plane was to begin boarding at 8:20 a.m. and was to depart at 9:15. We actually were allowed onboard later than expected and by about 9:45 this was the view from my seat inside the plane as the snow got heavier and heavier. The pilot said we would wait while the plane was de-iced and the runway clearer. Then he said more de-icing would occur. After about an hour all of the passengers feared the worst... that we wouldn't be able to take off after all. And that was indeed the case. We were unloaded from the plane after a couple of hours, told to be at the gate at 5:30 the next morning (Sunday, December 19) and that our flight was rescheduled for ll a.m.

Here's what a parking area looked like from a breezeway between the gate and the terminal... snow continued to fall through the rest of the day.

One view of one area inside Gatwick... this was one of the more comfortable areas because there shops and cafes around. Food was running short by the morning in most of the places, though. There was limited seating and most shared the spaces graciously. However, there were instances of people lying across several seats. I have no photos of all of the people lying in the floors. There were a few blankets--but those were ones passengers had taken off the planes with them. I regretted leaving mine behind!

Warren, on the left, and Diana, in the center, came from the South Terminal where their flights were cancelled to the North Terminal to find me. We met the woman at the right, Georgina, when we had a snack at the bar. She joined us throughout the evening. She was having little success of finding information about her flight. People were forming small group relationships all over the airport, small "tribes" to look out for each other--share watch over luggage when going to the toilet, for instance.

On Sunday morning, after being in long lines for many hours, first to get the boarding pass needed to re-board the previously cancelled flight, we then pushed through the hundreds of others waiting for their turn for boarding pass to get in the next long line to go through security once more. We overheard one of the airline employees referring to us who were herded between the stanchions as "those in the pit" -- it felt more like cattle in the chutes.

Through all of this during the day on Saturday and throughout out the long night until Sunday morning there was mostly calm resignation. Our flight, scheduled to leave at 11 a.m. was finally in the air by around 1:30. However, we had a long delay in boarding because the airline OVERSOLD the flight by twenty tickets!! Once the announcement was made of that fact and that Delta was offering $1000 Delta dollars (whatever that means), plus overnight lodging (like, right--a hotel room was available anywhere and even if it was... could one get to it??), plus a ticket for a flight the next day (guess where those people still are now???!) for 20 people to volunteer to not be on the plane, a near riot broke out among those of us who'd been on the plane the day before and had to leave it--a plane that hadn't been overbooked then. Of course I know people were desperate to get away--but for the airline to continue to sell tickets was unbelievable.

Eventually there was resolution... don't know what it was--did "volunteers" appear or did the Delta delete the passenger(s) if they'd bought their tickets later. I wish them well but those of us who spent the long day and night at the terminal were desperate to leave. When the plane finally lifted off the ground there was a spontaneous applause throughout the cabin. And almost nine hours later, after a very smooth flight, there was even more applause as the plane landed in Atlanta. Unfortunately for thousands of others, continued cancellations have caused more delays. This news report with short video shows some passengers three days into their stay at Gatwick.

I'm so very glad to be home and I hope all others will make it home safely and soon. My West Dean TAPESTRY adventure postings will continue eventually with more photos and comments. But for now...

Happy holidays--safe and warm ones--to all of you. I hope you are where you wish to be and I hope others will be there soon.

still at Gatwick airport--11:25 p.m. Dec. 18

2010-12-18T18:26:00.000-05:00

Snow as the plane was to leave... delayed at first, then cancelled. Spending the night with thousands at Gatwick Airport. Supposed to leave 11 a.m. on Sunday... over 24 hours after schedule. Still awake and will be for some time to come!

Left West Dean this afternoon... still waiting to get home.

2010-12-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

I have hundreds of photos in the computer from West Dean... just hope to get home to sort through them all and post a few (not hundreds, don't worry!)

Right now I'm at a Premier Inn across from Gatwick Airport. I was picked up by taxi at West Dean College this afternoon and after an hour and a half drive (through snow part of the way) got to the hotel. I'm settling in now for the evening and will be up and out of here by around 5 a.m. Check in is recommended three hours prior to boarding and boarding time is 8:20 a.m. UK time. Flight's supposed to leave at 9:15. HOPE IT DOES! I'm ready to get home, see husband and cat, get some rest, then get ready for visit from friends for the holidays. Of course, the studio calls to me at home and I'm ready, willing and able to get there and get busy.

What have I learned at West Dean? More to come about that...