Happy New Year. A Month In!

Good grief, if the rest of 2019 goes as the month of January went I'll be writing my Happy New Year, 2020 shortly!

In my last post I showed the 2018 tapestry diary as it was cut from the loom.  It's now all finished up and photographed by Tim Barnwell.  Here it is:

52" h x 11.5" w x 1" d

I was able to get to Asheville early in January to have it and the two other tapestries I finally completed before the end of 2018 photographed. 

Tapestry diary is ready to be photographed.

Here are the other pieces:

Fall Returns, 21" x 17" x 1"

Five Leaves for Miss Lillian, 60" x 32" x 1"

All of the weft yarns other than the white or natural were dyed with natural dyes.  I've enjoyed the challenge of dyeing the yarns and am going to learn better practices with the process when I take a workshop with Catharine Ellis in April.  Her new book, The Art and Science of Natural Dyes, written with Joy Boutrup, has just been published and my copy was in the mail this week.  What a classic in natural dyeing it's sure to become! 

My tapestry diary is underway and January is completed.  It's from a photo I took in mid-January of a Lenten Rose or Hellebore blooming outside the house.  Perhaps I'll find a flower growing each month as in 2017.  But this year I'm not going to isolate the image within a field of white.  I'll use color from the surroundings.  I think that's what I'll do.  At least right now that's the plan!

11" wide, 10/3 linen warp, 8 epi

Natural dyed weft yarns are again what I'm choosing to use.  For the days, I've decided to use a cast of a die to make a color choice.  1 = red; 2 = yellow; 3 = blue; 4 = green; 5 = orange; 6 = violet.  I have several versions of each hue among the dyed yarns so I'll be making decisions of which one of those to use once the die tells me which hue.  Confusing?  Not really!  But interesting to see what turns up each day.

I've entered works in several exhibits and, so far, have learned of two acceptances.  I'm waiting the results for others.  More about the exhibits sometime soon.

The Elements: earth, air, fire, water exhibit is now at the University of North Georgia in the Bob Owens Gallery.  More about that in a few days, as well.