Weaverly

A Gallery Talk and a Tapestry Decision

This past Tuesday I gave a short gallery talk about some of my work at GCCA. I started out with my usual 30-second definition of weaving and went on from there. Here's a picture Bruce took while I was talking about the Lampas diaries. Why was I dragging my purse around? Only the queen and I know for sure.

A little tapestry study I did last summer in a class taught by the wonderful Tommye Scanlin at Arrowmont has been languishing on my worktable. Yesterday I decided to finally mount and hang it. After I got it stitched to the background, I had to decide which way to orient it when putting the hanging hook on the back. I wove it in orientation #1, but as I turned it around and around, it was apparent that it might be better in another mode. Here are all four, in order from 1 to 4. I'm now thinking I like #4 the best. What do you think?

The Antidote to Confusion

Today's lampas diary entry is a quotation from Maira Kalman:

    Washing dishes is the antidote to confusion. I know that for a fact.

Here's a detail to show the multiple bundled strands of 20/2 cotton used as pattern weft.

And now for something completely diff'rent. I've had these two little pieces on my tapestry loom for weeks.  This afternoon was cut-off time, and I finally got to see their right sides for the first time. They've been steam pressed and still have to be mounted. The first one, shown drying on my ironing board, is woven with commercially spun wool weft from various manufacturers.

The second one features handspun dyed Corriedale and gray Welsh wool

 

Backlit

Last night while watching the Olympics and spinning, with a very bright reading lamp in a very dark room, I noticed how this green wool roving was looking other-worldly with backlighting. 

And today we drove up the mountain to see the Tapestry Weavers South show at the Folk Art Center. Don't miss it! If you're anywhere within driving distance of Asheville NC, it's a must see. After looking at tapestries for an hour we walked in the woods. Picnic lunch. A lovely break in the weather. 

Then home to work on my own tapestry for a while, newly inspired. I will definitely be revisiting this show several times during its run (Jan. 22 through April 29).

A Small Tapestry

Slow. Very slow. I take deep breaths. Hours pass. This is a very different kind of weaving!

Cotton seine twine warp, 10 dpi. Weft all handspun.

6" x 8". Woven turned 90°. 

Never leave a naked loom. Here's the start of another one.

The green is waste yarn. The white is the hem portion of the new tapestry.

Which One of These Its Not Like the Others

I haven't been to the mall in two years, but yesterday we had to get a watchband repaired. So off we went, and were treated to Santas and other seasonal mall entertainments. I was so glad to get home!

I spent a few minutes on my tapestry exercises before lunch. Working from the wrong side is an adventure and a leap of faith. You never know what you're going to get until the piece is cut off.

You may be interested to know that I'm not the only one in the family working with fiber. Karl amazes us with his beautiful hand-tied flies. Here is his latest opus. It's jointed in the middle and wiggles alluringly.

 

Moonstruck

A couple of nights ago, as the waxing moon rose, the troops rebelled against yet another turkey meal, and we set off for the local hamburger emporium. The decor is ersatz Fifties; the teenagers working there probably have no idea of the cultural references. But the burgers are good.

The colors remind me of a felt circle skirt I wore at age thirteen. Yes, with crinolines and a nylon blouse. 

A slight detour ensued Monday. It was an opportunity for a jacquard sighting in a waiting room.

But now I'm on track again. Weaving from the back. A leap of faith; I won't get to see the front for several more days.

Here are a few reading recommendations:

"A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles. I loved his "Rules of Civility," but this one is even better. Read it!

"Charlotte Brontë: a Fiery Heart" by Claire Harman. I've read several CB biographies, but I think this one is my current fave. Harman draws on material previously unavailable. Fascinating and horrifying.

Oak Leaves

No shortage of autumn leaves around here! Mountains of them, actually. I usually pick up a few prime specimens on my walk and keep them around for inspiration. This oak leaf went into the scanner:

I traced an outline of it in Photoshop and went to the tapestry loom.

Here was my first attempt. The less said about it the better.

Next try: jacquard. I doubled the outline and interpreted the twin leaves in lampas, using a fuzzy handspun singles for the background and a commercially spun bamboo for the leaves. Those were the secondary weaves. For the primary, I used a plain weave with fine black cotton.

Looking much better.

I am committed to improving my tapestry skills, however. There's another tapestry version in progress.

Catching Up

This lovely group of weavers came to visit my studio the other day, and then we proceeded to take in the final day of the Susan Iverson tapestry exhibit at the Fine Arts Center, followed by lunch, and finally a stop at the last day of a group exhibit at Hampton III Gallery, in which some of my work was featured (I love long sentences). 

Thank you Patti, for organizing the trip, and for sharing this photo from Hampton III. It was such a lovely day.

It may come as a surprise to some of you that I have been experimenting with what I jokingly call "the dark side," i.e., tapestry weaving. My entire adult life has been a pursuit of complex looms and technical feats, especially computer-assisted jacquard weaving in more recent years. Why then have I migrated to the other side of my brain and embraced tapestry weaving on simple looms? I'm not sure. But it's been an interesting trip. I find that I am totally absorbed in the weaving when I am at the tapestry loom, and time flies by. This is so different from designing for dobby & jacquard, where I am excited by the computerized design phase but not so much by the actual weaving. So far I have been weaving mostly samples of joining techniques.

Much of the pleasure in this new journey comes from the wonderful online teaching of Rebecca Mezoff. Her content rich and technically excellent classes are a treat, and she has a wicked sense of humor besides. I don't know where all this will lead. I don't intend to give up my dobby & jacquard work just yet. 

But I'm feeling like a five-year-old with a new toy. 

 

Cats and Baseball

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that there is a connection between cats and baseball. I leave that for other minds to construe.

This morning on my walk I saw this cat posing in post-Halloween attitude. She waited patiently while I took several exposures. I suspect she is accustomed to modeling.

Here's the eight ounces of black Welsh Mountain wool I spun during the World Series. It will have to be washed & blocked. I'll leave it as singles. It's coarse and has tiny white hairs mixed in with the black. I think it will be a very nice tapestry weft, or perhaps a pattern weft in lampas weaving.

The remote control is just where I left it before I went to bed halfway through game 7. I'm reminded of my age. I grew up in New Jersey, very close to New York City, and I still find myself referring to the Dodgers as "Brooklyn." Sigh.

Color Alert

This one's especially for Jean, who asked what I bought at Halcyon Yarns while I was in Maine. The package arrived yesterday, and this morning I took the yarns outside for an informal portrait. I'll be using them in my homework assignments for an online class in tapestry.

The greens are actually more intense than they show up in this picture.