Weaverly

A Garish Muddle

While my companions made their way through the maze at Chatsworth House this past September, I and my claustrophobia remained in the forecourt of the site, located just to the left of the maze in this aerial photograph. On the whole, it was not such a bad decision, as a butterfly also alighted there and I spent a pleasant half hour following him from flower to flower. 

If I ever do anything weaverly with this picture, the palette will require extensive reworking. What a garish muddle.

Stop! Insert smiley-face. Do not flame.

 

Nothing Scary

Nobody hereabouts is preparing for Halloween, not in this immediate vicinity anyway. Nothing scary on the loom, either, except a couple more broken warps. 

Rough & Ready Sketchbook

I came across this little video on how to make a quick sketchbook. If you are into the fine details of coptic sewing it may make you cringe, but I find it appealing anyway. This would be a great project for children, and it's also a way of using fabric for book covers. Credit for this goes to the Sketchbooks in Schools blog. Definitely worth a look.

Paul the Octopus

Tuesday morning I heard on NPR the sad story of the death of Paul the Octopus. The tale of Paul's World Cup predicting abilities was indeed fascinating, but NPR topped things off with its spot-on choice of closing music: Octopus's Garden, by The Beatles. That made me smile, something I rarely do when listening to the news these days.

Then who should appear on my loom that afternoon but Paul the Octopus? It's uncanny.

Marking Time

More waiting room upholstery.

The Geology of Weaving

Here's a view of the Grand Canyon of Weaverly, showing three distinct eons of the current continuum. The top layer shows the in-progress center panel of a triptych, with its broken warp thread (black, of course. Those are the only ones that break). The bottom layer shows the first panel woven, wrapped around the cloth beam. This layer will not be fully revealed until an earthquake (a.k.a. cutting-off party) shakes the whole thing loose. To the left can be seen the reverse side of the panel-in-progress, judged by many cloth geologists to be the more interesting side (albeit rarely seen by the naked eye). 

In time, it is expected that the center panel will join its partner around the cloth beam; and the final panel eventually woven. But this is light years in the future, and, as the little Earthlings like to say, "Whenever" (with the first syllable strongly accented).

Inching Along

This is Sunday's progress on the center panel. A few lilies are starting to appear, so it's getting more interesting to work on.

A Very Big Book

Isn't it funny how suddenly several threads of your life come together without warning? Yesterday we attended a Live in HD performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov from the Metropolitan Opera. The performance was wonderful musically and visually. What I especially loved was the huge book opened on the stage floor, indicating the sweep of history. Various characters would write in it, read from it, walk over and around it, flip pages, and in one especially moving scene the Holy Fool wraps his whole body in one of the pages. In the horrific final scene, the unruly crowd of peasants wreaks havoc and mayhem—too close for comfort in the current pre-election climate. 

Meanwhile, in bits and pieces, I am reading  Colin Fletcher's The Man Who Walked Through Time, with its meditations on the sweep of the earth's history as revealed in the geology of the Grand Canyon. 

Now to look through the other end of the telescope at a small book—Liz Gipson in her Convergence wrap-up on page 11 of the Nov./Dec. issue of Fiberarts magazine includes a picture and brief mention of a book collaboration by Barbara Walker and myself. The book was an HGA award winner in the Small Expressions show.

Exhibition Opportunity

I've just received notice of a very interesting exhibition opportunity. It's a juried show aimed at expanding the definitions of textiles, and the unifying element is that all entries must be delivered in a 3" x 36" mailing tube. There will be cash awards and an exhibition catalogue. Deadline January 17. Intrigued? Learn more here. 

 

Continuing Center Panel

The triptych was on the back burner for a while, but it has now been moved to the front of the stove. The first panel to be woven was actually the rightmost panel. I'm now well into the center panel. After today's stint, here's what it looks like.

On my iPod while I weave is A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks. I'm listening to the version narrated by Simon Vance, a narrator I especially like, but I just noticed that Audible.com now lists three versions: the one narrated by Vance, another by Colin Mace, and another by Dan Stevens. Hm-m-m.