Pictures from ICONIC Exhibition, part 1

Last Sunday we had the opening reception for my show of tapestries entitled ICONIC.  I was so happy that so many friends and colleagues braved the rain and came out to Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance (SEFAA). 

Photo courtesy Marilyn Kleinhans

Photo courtesy Marilyn Kleinhans

I gave a short artist's talk and was really gratified to hear such thoughtful questions.  Here I'm discussing Mary's Cloak, part of the My Real Name is Mary series.

Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mary's Cloak is the one non-tapestry work in the show.  It's inspired by something I read during my preparatory research:  "Mary's azure cloak has been a heavy one for women to bear."  The outside of the cloak is blue velvet, trimmed in gold, typical of Mary's clothing in paintings throughout the centuries (if not historically accurate).  The inside of the cloak is a red rose-printed cotton.  It is collaged with tissue garment patterns.  The pattern tissues are overlaid with images of Mary from paintings throughout history.  These images have been scanned, printed on fabric, and "framed" with ribbons or lace.  In my handwriting the words "ecce ancilla Domini" ("behold the handmaid of the Lord") are repeated over the surface.  At the bottom a scalloped border of beads and fishing weights adds the weight to the cloak.  The label encourages viewers to take it down and try it on.

Mary's Cloak (c) Molly Elkind 2018
71" x 61"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mary's Cloak (c) Molly Elkind 2018
Photo courtesy Marilyn Kleinhans

Left to right:  Mary (the anxiety of influence), Mater Dolorosa, Mary's Cloak, Mary (Yes)
all (c) Molly Elkind 2017, 2018
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mary (the anxiety of influence) (c) 2017 Molly Elkind
45" x 37"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mater Dolorosa (c) Molly Elkind
27.5" x 19"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mary (Yes) (c) Molly Elkind 2017
28" x 19.5"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Here are the earlier pieces in the Mary series:

Mary (a sword shall pierce) (c) Molly Elkind 2013
11.5" x 17.5"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mary (gilded) (c) Molly Elkind 2014
21.5" x 20"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mary (greater is what she bore in her mind) (c) Molly Elkind 2015
19" x 15"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

Mother/Mary (c) Molly Elkind 2015
15.5" x 15.5"
Photo courtesy Sam Elkind

If you want to know more about the ideas behind this series, click HERE.  Or ask a question in the comments below!

Next time I'll share the other series in the show, Book of Hours, inspired by illuminated manuscripts.

Convergence. Reno. July 2018.

This post will be of particular interest to my weaving friends out there.  Weavers know that Convergence, the biennial international fiber conference hosted by the Handweavers Guild of America (HGA) is not to be missed.  There's a huge slate of workshops and classes, a vast vendors hall, fiber art exhibitions, a fashion show, talks and field trips and tours. You can view the schedule of all the events  HERE.  And of course, there are lots of weavers walking around in their jaw-dropping handmade creations, giving each other the "weaver's handshake" (you know what I mean!).

I'm thrilled to be going back this year for the second time as an instructor.  I'll be offering two classes:  a 3-hour seminar called "Plan Your Tapestry Diary," and a two-day workshop called "From Collage to Tapestry Cartoon."  Both are geared to tapestry weavers who have some familiarity with basic principles and techniques.  Beginners are welcome.

Priority Registration opens today, November 29, at noon EST and runs until Dec. 6 at noon EST, when regular registration opens.

Molly Elkind,
2017 tapestry diary in progress (March - July visible)

"Plan Your Tapestry Diary" is just what it sounds like.  If you're curious about why so many tapestry weavers have adopted a daily practice, this class will answer your questions and help you plan your own.  We'll look at lots of examples of diaries and discuss the many possibilities for format, size, theme and techniques.  For me the most important benefit of keeping a tapestry diary is that I can play, learn, and practice techniques in bite-size chunks (as little as 15 minutes) every day.  Every diary is as unique as every weaver--you make the rules, and you can break them.  (You can see in the photo above how I've changed up the rules each month in my own diary this year.) And you don't need to wait for January 1 to start yours!

There's no need to bring a loom or yarn for this class--just pencil and paper.  A basic familiarity with the tapestry process is helpful.  Go HERE and scroll down to 3-hour seminars on Friday afternoon for the details.

cropped portion of collage

Molly Elkind, "Huh?"
4" x 6" tapestry inspired by collage

"From Collage to Tapestry Cartoon" is geared to tapestry weavers who want to explore ways of designing for tapestry that don't start with drawing or painting.  You will gets lots of hands-on experience with collage, consider what makes a good design, and--this is the exciting part--explore how to translate your cut-and-pasted collage into a weaveable cartoon.  How will you convey the colors, textures, lines and shapes of your collage in tapestry weave?

Again, there's no need to bring a loom for this workshop.  We will focus on design and making a cartoon; you will leave with a design (maybe more than one?) ready to weave.  The supply fee is minimal and all you need to bring is blank paper or sketch book (8 1/2 x 11"); colored paper or old magazines in variety of colors, textures and patterns, and glue sticks, markers and/or colored pencils.  I'll share from my stash of interesting materials as well.

Molly Elkind, collage for Mary (greater is what she bore in her mind)

Molly Elkind,
Mary (greater is what she bore in her mind), handwoven tapestry, 2015

Questions?  Email me or ask in the comments below.  Hope to see you in Reno!

ICONIC: work in progress, and a show!

These days the term of highest praise is iconic.  Something (or someone) that is the latest, hippest, purest exemplar of its type is iconic.  The online Urban Dictionary offers this:

Similar to "classic," iconic is generally restricted to more recent, highly original, influential, or unique, works of art, artists, or performers. As such they are now well-established and widely celebrated in popular culture.

"Oedipus Rex" is a classic, but the original "Planet of the Apes" is truly iconic.

Unfortunately, like every over-used word, it will soon cease to mean anything.   Epic, anyone? Awesome? 

Overused or not, ICONIC is the working title of my 2018 show of tapestries.  Save the date:  the opening will be Sunday, February 25, 2018.  The show will run February 15-March 13 at Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance (SEFAA) in Atlanta. 

Lest it sound presumptuous to describe my own work as iconic, let me explain.  I've been obsessed for the past few years with a particular icon, the one pictured below, of Mary the mother of Jesus.  This is an icon in the original sense, a painting of a religious figure intended to enhance prayer and spiritual devotion.  For me, this image has sparked a whole series of tapestries exploring the meaning and influence of the mythic figure of Mary. 

Mary, detail of 6th c. encaustic icon at Sta. Maria della Francesca church, Rome

I am nearing the completion of this series now, having begun the seventh and final piece recently.  Here's my progress so far on Mary (yes).

Molly Elkind, Mary (Yes), handwoven tapestry in progress, (c) 2017

And recently I cut off the loom my largest, and most personal, piece in the series, called Mary (the anxiety of influence).   

Molly Elkind, Mary (the anxiety of influence), handwoven tapestry, (c) 2017

You can see photos and read about some of the other pieces in the series here and here.

Related to this series is another series I'm working on, loosely based on medieval illuminated manuscripts.  These texts were packed with meaning for their original readers, serving as prayer books.  Nowadays most of us cannot read the text, and we appreciate them purely for their decorative qualities, and perhaps for the insight they offer into a different world and time.

I find these manuscripts fascinating for the layout of the pages--those margins, either empty or packed with intricate decoration!  That profusion of pattern!  That beautifully lettered text, which contains some kind of sacred meaning, out of reach for most of us today.  The way the patterns, pictures and words are interwoven into one unified surface fascinates me.   

In my tapestry series I am experimenting with compositions that explore margins and centers, and with combinations of text, or text-like patterns, and abstract imagery.  Red Letter Day is part of this series.  I am starting a companion piece, tentatively titled Red Letter Night--it will have a dark background.

Molly Elkind, Red Letter Day, handwoven tapestry, (c) 2016

Here's a peek at the collage and some sampling I've done for Red Letter Night. 

And I have several small pieces in the series as well.  Here's one:

Molly Elkind, Huh?, handwoven tapestry (c) 2016

An icon provides an occasion and the means for contemplation, for meditation, a chance to forget oneself and one's daily life for a few moments and enter another deeper or higher reality. . . . Rather like what we have come to expect artwork to offer us.

What is iconic for you?

Margins and borders

Artists, have you ever stepped back and looked at the whole range of your work, and noticed something, a common thread or theme, that you hadn't been aware of before?

Today I'm thinking out loud about a trend I've noticed in my own work.  Lately I've been purging my studio, pulling out old work and deciding what to do with it, and I've noticed a persistent habit or feature in my compositions that I wasn't fully aware of until now.  I seem to have a thing for margins and borders.

(c) Molly Elkind, Freud's Diagnosis, hand embroidery, c. 1995.
cotton.  12" x 12"

I did this embroidery as a surface design class assignment at the University of Louisville.  The dense stitching distorted the cotton ground, so I decided to exploit the mistake by stitching an off-kilter frame around the piece.  I still love the quotation, attributed to Freud:  "Constant needlework is one of the factors that rendered women particularly prone to hysteria because daydreaming over embroidery induced dispositional hypnoid states."  

(c) Molly Elkind, Out of My Hands, hand embroidery, 1998
cotton.  12" x 12"

This embroidery was inspired by Amish quilts.  As I worked I imagined what might result if those masterful quilters could break free of their carefully circumscribed lives and 20-stitches-per-inch standards, stitching irregular shapes that break the confines of the square and disrupt traditional patterns. 

Here's one of my first self-designed quilts.  It may be hard to make out in the photo below, but I chose to quilt the border with an irregular zigzag line, perhaps echoing the off-kilter log cabin frames around each flower, rather than a traditional feather or other curvilinear motif.   

(c) Molly Elkind, Applique Flowers, quilt, hand applique and quilting, machine piecing, 1993.
cotton, 35" x 29"

Here's another early quilt, in which the border comes and goes, like a lost-and-found line in drawing. I borrowed this idea from master quilter Ruth McDowell.

 (c) Molly Elkind, Cardinals, quilt, hand and machine pieced, appliqued and quilted. c. 1995
cotton.  54" x 70" 

Below are two pieces from my Ways of Looking at Dodd Creek series of small mixed media quilt/collages.  In this one I definitely see the wide border around a central image that continues to interest me today.  

(c) Molly Elkind, Ways of Looking at Dodd Creek #5, 2007.
Mixed media, 22" x 18" 

And in this piece, I couldn't resist adding a binding in an unexpected color.

(c) Molly Elkind, Ways of Looking at Dodd Creek #6, 2008.
Mixed media, 14" x 14"

So, what does all this have to do with anything?  I've been working on two series of tapestries for the past few years.  One series, inspired by an icon of the Virgin Mary, I've posted about fairly often, most recently here and here.  (It looks like I might need to do an update on these soon!)

The other series is inspired by the format, composition and colors of medieval illuminated manuscripts.  I love the way these manuscripts combine text and image in a gorgeous whole, a patterned, brilliantly colored, decorative surface that carries meaning. . .meaning that most of us can't decipher anymore.

Hours of Etienne Chevalier,
160 x 115 mm, c. 1420, Visitation,
illuminated by the Master of the Boucicaut Hours
British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts

I especially like the way some manuscript pages leave spacious margins around an area of dense text in the center of the page.  Sometimes these margins are filled with decorative patterns, sometimes not.  My tapestry Red Letter Day explored this composition in an abstract way.

(c) Molly Elkind, Red Letter Day, handwoven tapestry, 2016.
cotton, wool, synthetic.  35.5" x 26"

I'm going to continue to play with this theme as I work on more tapestries inspired by centers and margins.  

Hey, all you artists and makers out there!  Have you ever pulled out your work and looked at the whole range of it?  Did you discover anything surprising? 

What's looming?

How did it get to be the middle of February already?  I think it's time for a work-in-progress update.

This year's tapestry diary is taking shape.  I'm weaving a 5" x 7" piece for each month, inspired by things I see on my morning walk.  In January I wove irregular bits every day, responding to something I noticed in the landscape or the sky.  Here's January's piece completed and turned to its correct orientation.  Not too bad for weaving without a cartoon or much of a plan.  I like how the gray stripes and dotted lines sort of look like streets I walk on. . . .

This month I'm choosing one color from the morning sky and weaving a rectangle-ish shape,   I finishing with half-passes in red that indicate the date.

For a multi-colored sky like this I choose one hue to weave that day

This one will also be turned sideways. . .maybe it will look more interesting that way!

I'm also moving along on my two bigger tapestries underway.  On Mother/Mary/Me I'm about halfway done:

I'm excited to have Mom's eyes just about completed, though I'm going to tweak the one on our right one more time.  For the record, that would be the fourth try on that eye and the second on the other one.  About the standard number of iterations for me!  I wish progress would come faster on this piece, but I have to admit that I'm distracted by this other, newer one, on the floor loom.

I'm weaving this one from the side so the left-hand edge in the photo is actually the bottom of the tapestry.  This is Mater Dolorosa, a dark, quiet piece mostly done in natural-colored Churro wools. Yesterday I was excited to start weaving Mary's dark blue cloak--you can see a tiny wedge of it on the far left.  This gorgeous indigo is also a New Mexican wool yarn.

You quilters out there have probably given up on ever seeing me complete the queen-size quilt I started about 18 months ago, that's inspired by Turkish ceramic tiles  . . . but the top is mostly done.  I threw it on the bed, over the current quilt, just to see if the size was in right neighborhood.  I have to applique some large shapes to the top edge, and piece the backing, and then it's off to the long-arm quilter.  That will be a great day!

I hope these mid-winter days are offering you a chance to explore new creative ventures too.

random thoughts from the studio at Christmas

Yes, the studio is a cluttered mess, and wrapping paper and ribbons have invaded. . . but there are twinkle lights!

On the wall on the far left you can see a rough collage of the design for my next Mary tapestry, on the theme of Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowing Mother).  I have started sampling yarns and colors for this piece with the Churro yarn I picked up at Tierra Wools in November (and some other yarns).  I'm weaving the face sideways and really enjoying that, putting in the lines for the eye and the mouth with soumak.  Excited about the possibilities.  Still hunting for the perfect rich light browns for the skin tones though.. . . and thinking I need to use a finer yarn for the soumak.  Stay tuned.

I want to share with you a poem by Rachel M. Srubas that was included in an Advent devotional I read last year.  Even if you aren't Christian, or are but aren't particularly interested in Mary, I think the message of Mary's strength empowers all of us . . . .

So be it

She has a secret,
though she shares it with heaven and earth.
Heaven imparted it to her, the curving earth cradles it,
neither judges her, and neither calls her a liar.

Fear flew from her like a flock of startled birds
and left her capable of greatness.
All that remained for her to say was so be it.
She said it, and meant it, though she was young.

Why say no?
Why protect yourself from risky blessedness?
You may not be as young as she,
but so what?  So be it, for God's sake.
Try saying it, try meaning it.

Don't just watch her go.
Follow her.
Emulate her urgency, her clear sense of direction.
You have your own heaven-given secrets and capacities,
your own map of the territory that will lead you
to the magnificent life you could live.



My warmest wishes for the peace, joy, hope and strength of the season to your and yours!  Thank you for keeping me company on this journey.

A day in the life

It's time for a WIP (work in progress) check-in.  This time I thought it might be fun to share with you "a day in the life" of this artist.  Yesterday, Tuesday 12/6, was somewhat atypical, in that I had no appointments, meetings or exercise classes on the calendar.  A blank slate!  And it was rainy--a perfect excuse to stay inside and work in the studio.

I kissed Sam goodbye at about 7 a.m. and headed downstairs.  I spent 45 minutes working on cleaning up the back of my tapestry diary.  I have tied off the warp ends in fringe on both ends, so it's stable at least.  Because I left so many open warps, it's not as simple as just trimming the weft tails on the back to about one inch.  I have to tack down those tails so they aren't visible from the front.  T-E-D-I-O-U-S!  Note to self:  no open warps on next year's diary!

The back.  The tails at the top are tacked down and clipped, and slits are sewn.

The same area, from the front

Then I wound the last of the skeins of dyed and natural Churro that I picked up at Tierra Wools in New Mexico last month.  I'm thinking of using these for the Mater Dolorosa tapestry that I have in the design stage.  Till now, I've chosen the yarn to fit the tapestry design.  This time. with this thick hairy singles, I'm going to have to adapt the design to the yarn.  That will be interesting.

possible palette for Mater Dolorosa

detail shot of collage in progress for Mater Dolorosa design.  Much work remains.

I fetched the PVC loom with the sample for my current, M3, tapestry in progress and decided there was enough warp on it to do some more sampling.  So I added a hem and wound butterflies from the yarns I want to try.

At 9:30 a.m. I headed to the office to work at the computer, fleshing out the classes I'm offering at SEFAA in the new year.  I'm really excited to share what I've learned about the value of a daily practice in  Discover Your Daily Practice, on January 15.  The following week, in response to requests from my design students last summer, we'll experience a non-threatening method of discussing and evaluating artwork, both others' and our own, in  Art Critique 101.  Three design workshops in Color, Contrast, and Collage will happen in February and March.  Click HERE for more information.  Registration will open in the next couple weeks--I'll let you know!

After lunch I wove for awhile on this piece, whose working title is M3 (for Mary/Mother/Me).  I like how it's going, but it is slow.

I wound the warp up to show the entire piece.  Soon it will begin to wind around the cloth beam! 

After the rain let up I walked Harry and then headed to the Y to swim laps.  For me nothing works so well to get out the kinks in my muscles . . . and my mind!

For me yesterday was pretty much a perfect day.  I am grateful.

The Joy of Finishing

Awhile back I griped in this space about having too many projects underway at once.  I'm happy to report that finally, finally I have got some projects finished, others well underway, and a couple empty looms sitting around, at least for a little while.

I finished the scarf for my sister-in-law, plus three extra for our upcoming show.  Please check my Facebook page for details about that event if you're in the Atlanta area, Nov. 11-13.

tencel and silk-alpaca infinity scarves (c) Molly Elkind

tencel infinity scarves (c) Molly Elkind

I selected several of the collages I've done this year and, thanks to the patient instruction of my dear husband Sam, learned how to cut mats for them.  What an incredible difference it makes to put a mat around something!  These affordable pieces will also be in our show.

collage of painted words and torn paper in sketchbook

dictionary page for "annunciation" and pasted paper collage

L to R:  "Huh?", Red (T)his, Annunciation,  matted and cropped collages (c) Molly Elkind 2016

L to R: Column and Spiral, Weeping for Istanbul, Manuscript/Portal, collages (c) Molly Elkind 2016

I was very happy to finish a set of four 4" x 6.5" small tapestries that I've been thinking of as small contemporary illuminated manuscripts, because they contain or allude to text.  Three of them were inspired by the collages in the top group photo above.  I'm happy overall with how they turned out, but boy, were they fiddly, in both the weaving (12 epi) and the finishing!  I did and re-did the edge finishes, first thinking I would hide the warp fringe (with a half-damascus that would turn the warps to the back) and then deciding to expose it.  I never could get the corners to be as neat as I wanted.  I like that the fringe is visible.  These will also be in our holiday show/sale Nov. 11-13.

Clockwise from upper left:  Huh?, Red (T)his, WTF, and Annunciation, handwoven tapestries  (c) Molly Elkind 2016

I'm still working on the large Mary tapestry, and I expect it to take several more months at the rate I'm going.  I'm discovering just how hard it is to weave a self-portrait.  Just call me Penelope. 

M3 (working title) in progress

Meanwhile I'm designing the next Mary piece, a smaller tapestry on the theme of Mater Dolorosa, the sorrowing or weeping mother.  Goodness knows, if Mary is paying attention at all, she must be weeping over our world.  I'm thinking of incorporating somehow tiny shards of obsidian I've collected in New Mexico, known as Apache tears.  Wonder if I can drill through them so I can thread the yarn through?  Let me know if you have any intel on this.  Would a bead-reaming tool work?

study for Mater Dolorosa, with Apache tears 

So, that's the way things stand here.  Don't ask about the quilt.