Weaverly

Weaving as Memory

Many of you are aware of the passing, two weeks ago, of noted weaver and teacher Sandra Rude. Sandra was  an innovator in her dobby and jacquard work, and a dedicated member of Complex Weavers. She managed the CW jacquard study group for many years, and entertained us with the reports of her weaving & dyeing experiments on her blog. She was a generous friend, and I will miss her. 

An interesting story related to the perpetuation of Sandra's memory has just come to light. Way back in 2010, at Complex Weavers Seminars in Albuquerque, Sandra took part in a group project resulting in this animated weaving video.

 

Weave!  on Vimeo.

Sandra's husband, Mike, was going through Sandra's studio, and wondered what to do with the fabric Sandra had produced as her contribution to the animation project. He decided, with the help of weaver Kathy Alexander, to produce masks for Sandra's memorial service. Here is the result––click to enlarge.

I think–I'm almost certain–that Sandra would have enjoyed the repurposing of of a small part of her work in this way. Many thanks to Mike Rude for sharing this amazing picture. 

May Sandra's memory be a blessing.

Fiber Fair

A productive morning at Southeast Animal Fiber Fair. I snagged a whole trunkful of wool (well, maybe just three bags full...), and had a glorious ride in the mountains, besides. Too busy shopping to take many pictures, but here's some wool/silk blend from Sue Dial that I'm going to enjoy spinning during tonight's World Series game.

It's been a busy week at the loom. The Double Twill project is underway. Here's a small bit of the first of six panels. Cotton & linen.

And here's a video from the folks at Hansencrafts that you must watch. I promise you that this is the best stop motion animation you have ever seen. Click on the link and prepare to be enchanted:

A Revolution in Handspinning.

 

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A Dozen Deep Breaths

If you attended Complex Weavers Seminars this past September in Chevy Chase, MD, you may remember the video "The Boob Tube Hour," created to complement the noon lecture by Edward Meader: "The Rise and Fall of the Female Breast." The video was a compilation of work by several CW members, and in the process of assembling it, I did a short woven animation as my segment of the project. It was a lot of work, and at the time of the presentation it all went by in the blink of an eye. So before letting it die a natural death, I decided to abstract my portion and create a very short separate video for posterity. 

I designed eight separate panels, based on a Photoshop checkerboard image with a grayscale bump map applied. These eight panels were woven in doubleweave on my TC-1 in black and white mercerized cotton, scanned, then sequenced in Photo to Movie software for the animation. I think the effect resembles a heaving bosom, the kind you might see on the cover of a romance novel. At least that was my intention. I hope you enjoy it. Pass the popcorn.

Two Minutes of Weaverly

A (very) quick animation of five years of my blog, Weaverly, compressed into two minutes. All the weaving, spinning, bookmaking, friends, and drama, at warp speed. Don't blink!

This video was included in the ITAB International TECHstyle Art Biennial 2012 at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles.

Animation News

Flash! I've just received the very good news that my animated video, "Two Minutes of Weaverly," has been accepted to ITAB, International TECHstyle Art Biennial, at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. This submission had a bumpy ride and almost didn't get to its destination in time, thanks to a snafu at the U.S. Postal Service. But a few desperate phone calls later, and assistance from some very nice people, all worked out in the end. The exhibition runs from August 7 through October 21, 2012. Opening reception is August 12. Sadly, I won't be there, but if anyone is going, please send me a report!

Afternoon at the Movies

Mimi reminded me of a video I filmed several years ago, and it's still pretty funny. I think you'll enjoy it. This young lady personifies persistence and determination (she still does).

While I was trying to locate the video, I found another one you might like. This explanation of the five primary weaving motions is excellent. I wish I had known about it when I was teaching beginning weaving (but when I was teaching beginning weaving there was no Internet, and no YouTube...)

 

New Sketchbook Film

Danny Gregory and Tommy Kane have just released another of their excellent sketchbook videos, this one about Brooklyn animator Hayley Morris. Beautifully imagined and filmed, this one's a winner. Be sure to investigate the link at the end of the video, and you will be taken to Hayley's website where you can see some of her videos, too.

 

Video Woes

This year I made a video animation (more about that later—it is an adventure story in intself) and am consequently in a video-aware state of mind. Just yesterday I saw a hilarious video by Annie Modesitt and had to share it with you. Annie did the movie as a Project Runway audition (sadly, it was rejected by the judges); she found that her microphone wasn't working, so she added a voice-over commentary which occasionally is in sync (but more often not). Then there was the cat…

Nano

Reblogged from N. Miami:

An animation of "nanoscale planetary gear." I don't pretend to understand what's going on here, but it's beautiful! If you'd like to read more about it and see some pix that look remarkably like textiles, check this out.

Along the same lines, but bigger (much bigger), here's a picture of a staircase I took at Winterthur a few years ago. 

Over the next few days I'll be retrieving some more of these photos from my archives, as I await more loom parts. Maybe before the equinox I'll be dobby weaving again! Keeping my fingers crossed.

Zig Zag

The set of building logs in our spare room gets dragged out whenever the kids come over. Even though the children are a bit old for this toy, they still enjoy constructing things, and I must admit that I like putting together a cabin or two even though getting up and down from the floor is not as easy as it used to be. Karl builds forts and towers and other guy stuff, but when Catalina is here by herself, as she was yesterday, it's all about horses. 

I love the zig zag fence and the perfect horse barn, complete with stalls and aisle. I did notice that the gate is open…

This all got me thinking about networked fancy twills. Here's one based on a 6x4 rosepath-type initial. Plenty of zigs and zags here. And doesn't it look like a corral? Couple of horses thrown in for good luck. 24 shafts. Maximum float 5.

The WIF file if you'd care to try it:  Download Horses24  Please give appropriate credit. And send me a picture!