New Mexico-ATA report coming soon...

I arrived home late on Thursday and have been busy, busy since.  I still haven't gotten studio things unpacked and organized.  At least the two boxes I shipped from New Mexico have arrived.  In fact, the one I sent from the Convention Center in Albuquerque with a few yarn purchases contained got here to Dahlonega before I did.  And the box I sent from St. John's College in Santa Fe on Wednesday arrived on Friday!

The American Tapestry Alliance events were fantastic.  During those I was able to meet many people face-to-face who I've known through e-mail conversations for some time.  And I had a chance to reconnect with others who I get to see only once every two years or so.  The retreat at Saint John's College in Santa Fe was spectacular and I want to write more about it when I have time.  At least I've downloaded my photographs from the trip to my laptop.  On the last day of the retreat my camera just gave up... the message in the viewer said "Battery is exhausted" and I thought, "I am, too!"  So, no photos of the work we did in James Koehler's class, just a few overviews of the room.  The trip was spectacular in many ways and I really enjoyed it.  Photos to come soon... maybe!

Right now I'm busily getting ready for my Penland teaching gig that's fast approaching.  It begins on August 15 and run for two weeks.  I'm eager to have a bit of time at Penland again; I've gotten so much from that school through the years.  I was first at Penland in 1974 or '75 and I met Edwina Bringle then.  She was the instructor for the weaving class and I still consider her a mentor in many ways.  I also spent a wonderful time for eight weeks at Penland in 2001 during Spring Concentration when Archie Brennan and Susan Maffei were teaching.  I've been back for assorted other classes, meetings, and for another teaching time.  Penland is a special place for many,  and I know that my students and I will have a grand time together in a few days.

Still in NM ... Learning so much!

ATA retreat at St. John's College in Santa Fe is just great. More about it and photos when I return. Today's the last day; fly home tomorrow.

Adventures ahead in New Mexico!

TODAY!

Home a week today after wonderful retreat at Lillian Smith Center

I can hardly believe a week has passed since I left the retreat at the Lillian Smith Center!  The evening before I left, the directors invited Martha (who was also at the retreat and in the cottage next door to mine) and I over.  A couple of photos show just a little of the extensive library of Lillian Smith:

Earlier in the day before I left I worked quite a bit on the kudzu leaf and seedpod tapestry... then got the loom prepared to put into the car.  It gets placed between sheets of foam insulation board so that the rest of the things can be loaded on top.   You can see that quite a lot of things get loaded on top!  Here's the car on Saturday morning as I was just about finished with packing it up...

I got back home on Saturday afternoon, unloaded things both at the studio and the house.  Laundry was the first thing to do--that took up most of the rest of the day.  I spent the next day unpacking, arranging studio things, and catching up on the missing days of the tapestry diary.

  

I wove strips of poster board into the missing weeks, three strips per week with half-hitches and a bit of weaving of scrap wool at the top of each week's section.  These strips will be pulled out at the end of the year.

I also started another daily weaving while I was at the retreat.  I had a frame loom with me that was already warped so on July 1 I decided to begin a month-long weaving although doing it a bit differently than the one I did in May of 2008.  I'm tempted to take that small loom with me to New Mexico next week when I go for ATA events--but will resist.  I'll deal with the missing days when I return on the small loom, probably in a different way than I'm doing for the year-long piece.






Here's the month of July tapestry on the 16th.

Back at home this week I'm working on finishing the earlier kudzu tapestry--I want to have it ready to take to Penland with me when I go there for my teaching stint next month: 

And I'm also progressing well on the kudzu leaves and seedpod tapestry that will be my donation to the Blue Ridge Fiber Show raffle.  I'd like to also have it with me at Penland, either as a completed piece or one I can use to demonstrate a finishing procedure:

I'm 3" from the top at the highest point, about 7 " at the lowest.  I should be weaving right now!  However,  I wanted to make my final posting about the Lillian Smith Center experience within a week of my return home.  What a magical time!  I hope I'll be there again before too many more years pass.