One More Year is History (almost)

My tapestry diary for 2012 was cut off around 1:15 p.m. today.  I've hung it up temporarily in my studio so I can see how the whole thing looks at last!  It's nearly 88" long and 12" wide.  I've got lots of finishing to do before calling the tapestry really complete.  BUT--the weaving of a bit for every day of 2012 has been done.

I'll post a better photo of it sometime in the future.

Right now, the next warp for 2013 is waiting... 

...to be tied onto the remains of this year's warp:

Happy New Year to One and All!

Threads of Time--One Day at a Time...

...that was the title of an article I submitted to Tapestry Weaver, the British Tapestry Group publication.  It appeared in Issue 8, November 2012.  Here's the article; maybe the jpgs from my scans will be readable.  If not... sorry about that!  The British Tapestry Group is now open to anyone, anywhere in the world.  It's quite a wonderful organization, with an inspiring website, exhibition opportunities for members, and the print publication that has quite interesting articles.

2012 Tapestry Diary is nearing the end

It's hard to believe that there are only 21 days remaining in the year of 2012!  That means only twenty-one more days of daily entries into my tapestry diary are left to do, as well.

This year's diary contains date numbering (most done with soumak) and for the most part echoes the weather conditions and/or time of day when I've done the weaving.  Often there's another bit of something reminiscent of what I've seen on a morning walk or other small symbolic shape that will remind me of something about the day when I look at it later.  Other than width (about 12") it's going to be quite different than the other full year tapestry diaries, those for 2009 and 2010.

So... where I am today, a rainy and foggy day here in Georgia:

I'm weaving this on the Tissart loom that's here at my home studio.  

I'm using yarns from my stash here at home but much of the weft is from past tapestries... see the scraps here:

And when I'm working at home I have a good helper--although he often relaxes a bit if the job gets hard... as he's doing here:

OK!  Day's done here at the house, now to put on a coat, pick up an umbrella and walk over to my real work at the studio.

Feathers are flying--yes, bad pun!

My weaving time has been curtailed a bit over the past couple of weeks because of this and that, but I'm still attempting to put in at least an hour or so on one or the other of the two tapestries that are underway when I'm in town.  Both have feathers as image/subjects.

Here's the big one today.  I've just started the second feather and did some sampling to find a suitable color... I think these blends are working out OK... although it's sort of hard to tell in the photos.  The details are a bit too bright and the overall is a bit too dark.

I'm liking the soumak lines throughout the background--thanks again for the suggestion, Kathe!

Here's where the smaller one is today.  I haven't worked on it since last week:

For afternoon break I had a lovely assortment of brand new publications to flip through... three of them came yesterday, in fact!  The other one arrived a couple of weeks ago:

On top is Tapestry Weavers, newsletter of the British Tapestry Group.  Below is VAV Scandinavian Weaving Magazine (English edition).  Next is Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, publication of Handweavers Guild of America, and last but not least is The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers that's produced quarterly by the Journal Committee of the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, UK.

I have an article in this issue of Tapestry Weavers, in fact.  It's about my tapestry diary process and is titled "Threads of Time--One Day at a Time" (although there's a typo in the printed title in the magazine... says "Threads if Time..."-- guess that works, too?!)  I was very happy to have been asked to submit an article and I've been wanting to have something in publication about my tapestry diary practice for quite awhile.  Of course, I write about the tapestry diary in my blog and occasionally post about progress on Facebook.  But having a statement about it in a print medium makes it seem more real, in some way.  In the article I mentioned several others who are also doing tapestry diary work, with links to their blogs.

About the tapestry diary.  As 2012 draws to a close so will my fourth year with this daily tapestry weaving practice.  I still find it challenging and so I'll be making the warp soon to begin the fifth year on January 1, 2013.  In that way I'll be preparing once more for commitment, discipline, persistence, patience, tedium, anxiety... all those qualities and more are wrapped up in this daily tapestry weaving habit that will be done, bit by bit, one day at a time.

NOW... about hints for weekend plans for anybody near Athens, Georgia, USA!  The Indie South Fair is taking place on December 8, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., 670 W. Broad Street, Athens.  My niece, Megan Smith, will be in booth 10 with her work... stop by and check out her creations.  Here are a couple of the one-of-a-kind stuffed critters she does using mostly repurposed/recycled fabrics.  Recently, I gave her some of my handwoven bits and pieces, and some of the critters at the fair will be from those.  The ones in the photos here are other odds and ends she's found in her stash or at thrift stores:

This one's torso is from a partially stitched embroidery she found at a thrift store.

Sweater adapted here, complete with eyelashes and bows.

I think she may also have some of her drawings and gouache paintings at her booth.  Her two dimensional work is quite different than the whimsical stuffed creations.  Her drawings and paintings are realistic, figurative works, almost all asymmetrical in composition and unusual in viewpoint. One drawing, for instance, is adapted from a photo of a friend of hers, taken of the friend lying on an airstrip in India, with mountains in the background.  The figure is in extreme foreshortened view, angled diagonally across the page, and dominating the composition.  Megan is working hard to be successful as an artist in the fickle world of making things and finding a market for them.  I admire both her creativity and her spunk!  And I buy from her when I can... for instance, these two critters are mine!!