Last night we enjoyed one more sunset at Lane's Cove and said goodbye to the lilacs and various cats.
Thia evening we find ourselves in Greenville, New York at the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn, home of the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops and Life by Chocolate.
Yesterday we drove to Hendersonville, North Carolina for a concert by one of our favorite groups, Pan Harmonia. This production at the First Congregational Church was billed as "Baroque Vibes," a cute play on words, as the instrumentation included flute, harpsichord, bassoon, vibes, and percussion. Some, but not all, of the selections were indeed of the Baroque era, but we were also treated to some contemporary work, and a lovely bagpipe finale with the entire ensemble joining in! Here's harpsichordist Barbara Weiss tuning up before the concert.
After coming back down the mountain, a quick bowl of subgum wonton soup and the following auspicious message:
At this point I don't know what that item might be, but it's a good start for an adventure.
Now that all the bags are unpacked, the laundry done, and the week's mail gone through, I can take a deep breath and reflect on my wonderful week at the Folk School.
My teacher, dollmaker Lesley Thornton, is a wise and gracious lady, whose art dolls are breathtakingly beautiful. She gives new meaning to the word craftsmanship. For me doll making is a side trip from weaving, but I learned so many things from Lesley that will become part of my practice. Here are a few:
1. The surgeon's knot. I'm now using it to tie new warps to the cloth beam. Very helpful! As a replacement for the first step of a square knot it is non-slip.
2. Using wool for stuffing. More maleable and controllable than polyester. Can stuff 3-D forms really hard.
3. Pattermaking for 3D forms. Sheer genius. If you ever have a chance to take a class from Shelley, go for it.
4. Designing & sewing tiny things. Paying attention.
4. Needle sculpting on fabric forms. Faces? Other bumps & protuberances? Who knows where this will lead. Book making?
Then of course there's always the the supportive environment of a week in a beautiful natural setting, with meals magically appearing three times a day.
The pace of life slows down, you focus on your work and nothing else, and if you're lucky, new paths open up.
The birds are singing madly. Almost time to walk over to breakfast.
She hasn't got all her stuffing yet, nor her arms, but do check out that beautiful knee joint.
My mother has a number of my early weavings hanging in her apartment. This particular one is on her dining room wall. It was woven some time in the mid 1970's, best I can remember. It was evidently before I dove into the waters of loom-controlled pattern, never to come up for air.
It's about 30 inches wide. I wove it as a huge piece of plain weave, 4 epi and ppi, and after it came off the loom I pulled threads until it was a crinkled terrain, then affixed the while thing to a piece of nylon window screening, and embroidered over it. Then I fastened the stuff to a backing of quilted muslin.
I still like the piece, but I barely recognize the person who made it.
"Discovering Shape" is the title of the workshop I attended yesterday; it was taught by Terry Jarrard-Dimond at the Greenwood Arts Center. Terry's a good friend—I've known her for 40+ years and have enjoyed following the evolution of her work, but this is the first time I've actually been to a class with her. It was an exciting experience. The students came from diverse backgrounds (jewelry, origami, clay, weaving, bookmaking, quiltmaking) but we were all interested in pursuing Terry's topic, which was discovering shape in two dimensions. We bagan with cut paper exercises and moved on to expressing our ideas in stitched cloth. For me it was an eye-opener. A day away from the computer, getting my hands into cloth, scissors, and glue, was just what I have been longing for; it was a real incubator for new design ideas. Thank you, Terry!
