An end to a year and a tapestry

 

 

I'm amazed that 2021 is nearly done. It's been quite a year, hasn't it? COVID-19 didn't fade away as hoped but there has been hope found with the vaccinations and boosters. Daily life didn't return to pre-2020 "normal" but new normal paths have been found. 

When I look back at 2021 I'm glad to know that my second book, Tapestry Design Basics and Beyond: Planning and Weaving with Confidence, was released this summer. And it's already into a second printing! I've written a few articles and have another book project that I've started. And, in spite of having about two months of forced down time with surgery and recovery, I've been able to weave two larger tapestries this year as well as a few smaller ones. I sometimes think I haven't gotten much done in 2021 but I have to remind myself that I did accomplish these things (and a few more) and I'm glad to have been able to do so.

My 2021 tapestry diary will be ending in a few days and I'll be tying on the warp to begin with 2022 on January 1, the 14th year of my ongoing daily practice. I'd like to be around long enough to weave at least twenty of these things! Then I'll hope for a few more.

This was at the end of November before I added the leaf for December.

Here are a few photos of the just-completed tapestry. I finished weaving the large one just a few days ago. The smaller one was on the same warp but I ended the weaving for that a month or so back. Both were cut off at the same time.

This was taken on December 15--I still had several inches to fill in on the design part and then the hem remaining to weave.

I cut it off the loom last Sunday, December 19.

And, here it is--hanging up just after the cut off, loose ends and all.

Here's the smaller tapestry that I wove beside the larger one.

I'm calling the large tapestry "Revelation" right now; the title might change later but if you've ever spotted the tiny flowers of kudzu you'll probably relate to the thought. Those beautiful flowers are usually hard see amongst the thousands of leaves of the vine. They begin to bloom in late summer and are out for maybe a month or so. Maybe next time you're walking by a mound of kudzu in late July or August you'll have a revelation of your own.

A Visual Art Scholarship Campaign at the University of North Georgia

As this fall semester winds down at the University of North Georgia, scholarship fundraising campaigns are up and running. Scholarships are important for students because they can be life-changing. When family or personal circumstances make funding a college education challenging a scholarship can really make a difference. I know this from personal experience because I was a scholarship recipient and receiving it gave the financial boost needed to make my college career possible.

The scholarship I was given was for a student who would become a future teacher in a public school in Georgia and I enrolled at North Georgia College as an elementary education major. That degree wasn't what I really wanted to pursue but the scholarship dictated that direction. As it turned out, a requirement for the elementary education major was an art education class taught by the man who became a major influence and mentor for me, Bob Owens.  Although there wasn't a degree program in art at NGC at the time, in addition to the art ed class Bob taught a few courses in ceramics, painting and art appreciation.  One day I confided in him about my desire to be an art major but that I needed to keep the scholarship by remaining in the education program. It was then that Bob gave me advice to transfer to the University of Georgia where I could major in art education. Art could be an option for an education major?? I did not have a clue about that before! Right away I made an application to UGA and was accepted for the following fall. 

Between 1969 and 1971 I'd graduated with a bachelors degree in art education, begun teaching high school art, and started working on a masters in art education. In the meantime, Bob Owens had been working on developing a degree program for visual art and music at NGC and in 1971, the Department of Fine Arts at NGC was approved and initiated. More about the beginnings of the department is found at this link.

I began working at North Georgia College in the fall of 1972 and spent the next twenty-eight years as a faculty member in visual art. After retiring from full time teaching in 2000, I continued to be the instructor for weaving classes until 2009. I'm grateful for the years I spent at North Georgia, both as a student for a couple of years and later as a faculty member in visual art. 

 

In recognition of fifty years of visual arts at UNG and in the hopes that other students can be financially assisted as I once was,  a scholarship has been established in my name. Fundraising is currently going on to fully endow it so that a student or students will receive it annually. Here's a link to the fundraising page. If you choose to make a donation, thank you so much! Your contribution will be part of making a difference in many future students' lives and careers.

 

 

 

 

Weave Every Damn Day (Until you can't)

 

It's been months now since I've written a post. Not because I didn't want to but because I wasn't up to it. Just like I haven't been able to weave every damn day. Sometimes things happen that are unexpected. They come out of the blue and change plans in an instant. One of those things happened to me on August 12, 2021.

But let me back up a few days before the 12th. In early August I was able to spend a few days at the Lillian Smith Center and also deliver a tapestry to the Folk Art Center in Asheville for the Southern Highland Craft Guild members' exhibit, Black and White 4. I worked on a small weaving while I was at the center but didn't complete it while I was there. I returned home on August 11. The next day--the 12th, I was scheduled to make an online presentation.

The presentation was sponsored by the American Tapestry Alliance and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, in conjunction with the ATB13 exhibit that was hanging there at the time. The presentation had been announced weeks in advance and many folks had signed up for it. The moderator and I, along with the folks from the museum, had a preliminary zoom meeting to work out details a few days before.

But when I woke up the morning of the 12th I didn't feel right. Was I just nervous about the upcoming presentation in a few hours? I knew that shouldn't be the case because I had my PowerPoint ready to go and I knew what I'd be talking about. I started out with my normal morning routine: coffee while writing morning pages, followed by a mile or so walk through town. But I couldn't get the pain I was having in my gut to ease. In fact, it was getting worse and by 11:30 that morning I knew something was definitely wrong--did I have appendicitis? That's when I asked my husband to take me to the emergency department here in town.

After an examination and CT scan it was determined I had an obstructed bowel and I'd need to be transferred by ambulance to a larger hospital for possible surgery. From the emergency dept. cubicle I asked my husband to call the moderator for the ATA talk and let her know what was going on and she was able to pass the word on the museum organizers. They were able to announced via social media that the presentation was being cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. And I was taken by ambulance to the larger hospital in Gainesville, Georgia.

This hospital is one of the many that are currently almost overwhelmed with COVID cases. Even though I needed surgery it was an over 12 hour wait in two different emergency room areas at North East Georgia Medial Center before a bed was available for me. I don't remember much about those hours because of the pain from my gut and also the discomfort and nausea from the nasogastric tube that had been inserted before I left Dahlonega.

After several attempted interventions to clear the obstruction it was determined I needed surgery and that was done on August 15. The three days before surgery were absolutely miserable--I was vomiting frequently and in lots of pain. Finally, the surgeon first attempted to correct the problem using a laparoscopic procedure but that didn't prove to be possible. So open surgery was done with the incision being made along the same line as the incision from surgery in 2018. In fact, the earlier abdominal surgery was probably the cause of this bowel obstruction since areas of small intestine were involved with scar tissue and causing the blockage.

After surgery, I spent several more days at the hospital but was able to come home on August 19. Obviously, my "weave every damn day" directive for myself (and others) had to be ignored for awhile. Even though I was home and my tapestry diary loom was sitting in my studio I couldn't work on it at first... just didn't feel like it. But a few days later I began to slowly weave on it a little each day; I decided to mark the event in some way and wove gray and white squares across the width of the tapestry and following the shape of the previously woven areas. The leaf for the month of August was not woven... just day parts.

I've gotten back into the rhythm of the tapestry diary now and have selected and woven the leaf for September--a leaf from a cherry tree at my studio, one that showed some of the coming fall color. It was a small leaf and that was a good thing since my energy is still pretty low for weaving.

 

I have done a couple of small tapestries during the past month. One was completion of a small piece I'd started at the LES Center. The other one is for a writing project I have underway. At least now I'm once more weaving every damn day!

 

Earlier in the summer I was interviewed by Sarah Resnick with Gist Yarns for the Weave podcast. That went live a week or so ago. It was a pleasure to talk with Sarah and I'm glad the interview came out now--it made me feel much better to hear it and know that I once sounded somewhat coherent!

I was able to fulfill my obligation of a talk for the Damascus Fiber Arts School just last week. 

 

And I have another zoom presentation coming up next week with a weaving guild in Cape Town, South Africa, another change of date because of the hospital event. 

The missed talk for ATA has been rescheduled for November 4. I'm so glad to be able to once again feel a bit like my "old" self! I still have some healing to do and more energy and resilience to build. But I'm getting there, I'm getting there. Thank God.

Now... back to weaving every damn day.

An interview, a book, an exhibit

 

 Last week I had a conversation with Tegan and Eric Frisino at The Professional Weaver podcast. It was an interesting experience to talk with them and share some of my thoughts about my career in teaching and tapestry weaving.

 

In the podcast I also talked about my new book, Tapestry Design Basics and Beyond. It's now available through Schiffer and other booksellers online, and it's in stock at the Craft Shop at John C. Campbell Folk School. My other book, The Nature of Things: Essays of a Tapestry Weaver, is also at the Craft Shop.

I've been busy over the past month getting a magazine article ready to submit. And I've also worked daily on a tapestry that I'm trying to complete for an upcoming exhibit at the Southern Highland Craft Guild's Folk Art Center. The theme is black and white and will feature all craft mediums. This is the fourth version of this theme, one that's held every several years. It's always fascinating to see the many ways this idea of no-color can be interpreted! Black and White 4 will be on display at the Main Gallery, Folk Art Center, from August 28, 2021-January 16, 2022.

Here's a preview of the tapestry I'm working on:

 

 

I'm weaving it turned 90˚ to the hanging direction. The left side will be the bottom of the piece. It will be 24" tall by about 20" wide. The design is based on a block print I made earlier this spring while at the Lillian Smith Center. I posted about my retreat there earlier. 

A Box of Books = A Great Deal of Happiness!

 

I received two boxes containing several author's copies from Schiffer Publishing yesterday! The book is a reality at last and soon to be in the hands of those who want to give some of these ideas a try.

 It's been a long process and one that I wasn't sure I was up to. But, with encouragement and help from many people it's here!

 

A brief retreat

 

I've been at the Lillian E. Smith Center for the past several days for a brief retreat. A R&R for my art spirit, I guess you could say. Rest and Recharge is the way I use retreats. Maybe not so much rest, though. More recharging of visual ideas without much else to do.

 

This spot on the ridge has so much to see and wonder about at every time of the year. This springtime is no exception.

Always a wonderful view from the cottage porch and also looking back at the cottages.

This time I worked with small watercolors at the cottage and used a couple of those to design block prints. I'm planning to use one of these (maybe) as a tapestry cartoon for an upcoming exhibit.

 Printing away at the end of the day and the end of this retreat. Many thanks to Piedmont University and the Lillian E. Smith Center for this wonderful time away!

A book is born!

 

Well, almost.

The book I mentioned a few posts ago arrived in advance author's copy yesterday. The public release date has changed a bit due to potential shipping slow-downs. I'm hoping it will be out sooner but if not, look for it to be released around June 29 by Schiffer Publications.

This has been a long time in the making. Over the years in teaching I've made handouts about various topics. When I began to do week or two-week long workshops I started putting together relevant information about the topic of the session into booklet handouts. I've revised those many times over as I added or dropped out information.

In 2018 I contacted Schiffer Publishing with a proposal about a book that focused on designing for tapestry. In it I wanted to discuss basic elements and principles of design that are applicable to making artwork of any kind and I hoped to make those ideas relevant to the techniques and processes of tapestry weaving.

I was quite excited when the editor at Schiffer replied she was interested to read more about the proposal. Little did I know what I was getting into! I'd thought I'd assemble my various handouts, add a few more things, collect images of my samples and do a few new examples, then send it all off to one day magically turn into a book.

Ha.

The more deeply I got into handout revision I realized that I couldn't simply re-do those. I had to rethink and rewrite the majority of what had gone into the casual handouts I'd used when teaching and seeing the participants in person. I needed to approach this in a way to be useful to one who was reading the book at home and working through my suggestions without other guidance. Someone who was not in a workshop where one could ask questions of the teacher (me) and also interact with fellow students for feedback. That was a tough task and I won't know if I've been somewhat successful at that until the book is out and people begin to use it.

I also realized early on that I'd need to show examples of tapestry work by other artists. I am fortunate to know many other tapestry artists through interactions with American Tapestry Alliance members, in workshops, and conferences. Through social media, fiber magazines, and books I'm familiar with many more. As I wrote about design concepts I made lists of tapestries I felt would beautifully illustrate the points. I began to contact tapestry artists to ask for permission to use images of their work in the book. I was thrilled that everyone who I asked was happy to be part of this publication. You'll find beautiful tapestries by over forty artists included in the book. There are so many more I would have loved to include but space didn't allow. 

A few months into the process I felt I needed to see if some of the design concepts as I was describing  could be explored by others without workshop guidance. I reached out to an Atlanta area tapestry study group to ask if they'd try out ideas on their looms at home and many of their explorations are included in the book.

In the years I've been teaching workshops a few people have attended multiple times; I've seen their tapestry ideas develop in depth both in design and tapestry technique and some of their design thoughts and processes are included in the book. Their pages give great examples of variety of ways to approach design inspiration.

A few months ago I received the pdf for final proofing and had a good idea about how the layout would look. But, I have to say that didn't prepare me for actually holding the book in my hands and being able to flip through the pages! What a thrill that was. The editor and I had chosen a spiral binding with hard cover as the format. Since this is intended to be useful as someone is exploring design ideas this will lay flat beside you as you work. Here are a few of the pages in no particular order. Some have lots of images and others are just full of words. It's a good balance, I think. I hope readers think so, too.

 

 

In my own work designing for a new tapestry always holds a challenge of some kind. I've learned that trying different approaches is the best thing I can do to move vague ideas into more concrete thoughts. From those I can begin to find the images I might be able to weave. After that, the designing skills I've learned over the years take over as I work and rework images to get them to the point of weaving.

I know not everyone needs to work this way but one of my goals for the book is to encourage one to try something, then something else, and even more. Don't be afraid you won't find the best design for a particular tapestry. It's there. It's waiting for you, even if you have to go down many paths before finding it.

Maybe my book will be a guide along the way. I hope it will join the other tapestry books available, whether older or new ones. I particularly hope that it will become a great companion to Rebecca Mezoff's book published in 2020, The Art of Tapestry Weaving. Rebecca wrote the foreword to my book and I continue to encourage people who want to learn about tapestry to seek out her online classes as well as her book. I was thrilled yesterday to put my book on the shelf alongside Rebecca's for a photo op! Thanks again, Rebecca, for the kind words you contributed for my book.

 

The Next Normal

 

Not the new normal but the next normal. That's what I've started thinking will come. At least, for me that's going to be the way I look at life after risks are as low as they're bound to be for some years to come. The effects of this pandemic and whatever may come afterwards will be going on past my few more decades of living, I'm sure. I hope that the next generations will determine safe and sane ways to live in the world that has become increasingly strange and scary. This generation surely doesn't seem to have found those yet.

But--moving on to welcoming springtime once again here in my place in the Northern Hemisphere. I've been filling up my photos with images of the wonderful newness of the world around me. Here are a few of the hundreds I've made so far:

Bloodroot with Toad Shade Trillium behind

Cherry blossoms

View into the creek--lots of silt covering the stones from the flooding a couple of weeks ago.

Creek view. The water is running clear now but lots of silt and debris were washed downstream.

Dogwoods are almost totally full all up and down our street.

Fiddleheads unfurling into the fern fronds.

Other fiddleheads just beginning to un-spiral themselves.

Jack in the Pulpit--before jack comes out!

Mayapples are in full leaf.

I'm not sure what pine this is but the teeny cones to come were so fascinating.

Red maple leaves are so dramatic at any time of the year. A bit of sunlight coming through the leaves make them even more stunning.

The tiny Star of Bethlehem seems more like a larger lily.

Toad shade trillium--the bloodroot blossoming has now ended but the leaves will grow larger throughout the summer.

A small sketch from a woods violet photo.

And blackberries bushes sport their young spring leaves.

I've been working on a design for the next large tapestry for about a month and a half now. I'm still not quite there with it but here are some stages. I'm hoping to finalize the design for the cartoon today and have it enlarged. The warp has been waiting on the loom for months. And I'm so ready to weave! This one will keep me occupied for the rest of the year, I think. Once I begin!

I made changes to this...that's what's next.

 

Some of the sketches and photos I'm working from. The leaves are white because I painted over as I began to make corrections

 

 

 

 

Tracing paper over a portion of the design to try a cropped version.

Most of the time developing a cartoon for a tapestry takes awhile. This one is taking more time than usual, though! And I am itching to get to the weaving stage. Soon! Soon! Soon!

As the next normal looms. So does this tapestry.