What's looming. . .what's loomed!

I don't know if other artists experience this, but every now and then, after I've had several projects in process for some time, suddenly the planets align and I finish two or more projects on the same day, or the same week.  I don't plan it that way, it just happens.  It's fun but kind of spooky!  Why do things line up that way?

I'm finishing a scarf commissioned for a friend's birthday:

And I'm set to finish two projects related to my membership in the American Tapestry Alliance, a terrific outfit that educates, connects and informs tapestry weavers not only here in the US but abroad as well.  ATA's member newsletter, Tapestry Topics, is published quarterly and features articles written by members on a specific theme.  The theme of the next issue is "Imagery and Weaving:  Why Tapestry?"  What a great question!  It's been a wonderful experience, reading and researching and most of all figuring out exactly Why do I choose to make imagery in this particular medium?  It's been a long time since I wrote the sort of critical paper I used to write in college and grad school; I've felt rusty and gone through about four drafts.  I'll often suggest to students who are beginning to develop an idea for a piece that they write about it, and I usually get some surprised push back:  "I'm not a writer!  I want to work with my hands, not with words!  What does writing have to do with it?"  Trust me, it helps immensely to clarify your purpose and theme.  In writing this article, I now have a clearer idea of why I weave the way I do, and how it fits into the overall scope of contemporary tapestry weaving. 

ATA is also sponsoring Tapestry Unlimited, their 11th international, unjuried small format tapestry exhibit.  The show is open to all members and work is limited to no more than 10" in any direction.  Everyone's work will be hung in an exhibit (at Convergence!) and published in a catalog--two powerful incentives to whip something out (as much as tapestry can be whipped out).  I decided to weave a small section of an image I had in mind for the next piece in my Mary series.  This one includes my mother's face in the foreground, based on her high school graduation portrait, and Mary's iconic face in the background, with an area where they overlap in the middle.  I have to say I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  Maybe I'm finally learning how to use tapestry techniques to say what I mean.

Here are some progress photos:

At this point I decided I didn't like the Munchian look to Mary's face, how it got so narrow toward her chin, like that figure in The Scream, so I ripped it out and redid that diagonal angle on the left side. 

I also started doing the eyes, the hardest and most important part.  I think I unwove and rewove the eye on the far right about four times.  You can also see I redid Mary's eye on the far left.  Timely advice from my good friend Terri kept me from re-re-doing that eye. 

I really like the way the eye in the center worked out, seeming to share characteristics with both Mary and my mother, which was my intention.  I also like the way hatching (those horizontal stripes in the center) worked to create transparency in the overlapped area. 

And here's the finished piece:

Well, the weaving is done.  It has been cut off and rested overnight.  Today I will tackle tidying up the back and dealing with the warp ends.

If you look carefully you can see that there's another tapestry visible through the warps, behind the Mary one.  That's the sample I wove in Rebecca Mezoff's workshop in Atlanta in January.  Here it is, upside down as it's been rolled completely to the back as I advanced the warp. 

Here's a small cautionary tale for you tapestry weavers out there:  I had so much warp left on the loom after the workshop it seemed a waste to cut it off, especially when the warp was nearly wide enough for the Mother/Mary piece I had in mind.  I could easily add 8 warps to each side to make it wide enough for the new piece, right?

Well, it did work out, more or less, though I wouldn't recommend it and it wasn't pretty.  It was tricky getting those additional Texsolv heddles onto the newly added warps without disturbing the existing warps and heddles.  And then, of course, I had tension problems--hence the weighted film canisters dangling from the back, to put extra tension on loose edge warps.  And the pen stuck under a warp at the top.  There was a pencil up there under some warps too; as I said the whole setup was pretty ugly by the time I finished.  But when I cut the tapestry off, it seemed to have done the trick.  Stay tuned!

Janus

Janus:  Roman god of transitions, beginnings and endings, doors and gates, movement and time

Like many of you, I've been spending time lately looking back at the past year and forward to the next, figuring out what worked, what didn't, and what I'd like to change in my artistic life.

2015 was a year of creative growth.  I learned to use computer software that allowed me to plan my weaving designs more quickly and with more originality.  I experimented with different types of yarn and am learning to weave tapestry on a large vertical loom. I was fortunate to travel to places that were rich new sources of inspiration.  I have new designs in progress for tapestries that I can't wait to weave.

In business terms, both the production and the sales of my handwoven garments were stronger than ever.  I am humbled and grateful for the support of family, friends, and customers.  It is immensely gratifying to make things that people want to wear and give as gifts.

I was privileged to teach at Southeast Fiber Forum at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in the spring.  I love to teach and always learn so much both in the preparation and in the actual class time of every workshop I do.  I'm very excited to be on the teaching roster at HGA's Convergence weaving conference in Milwaukee this summer.

Here's the thing, though.  My shoulders are yelling at me.  Apparently this 50-something body has its limits, and all the production weaving I've been doing has helped me to find out exactly where they are.  I'm learning the hard way that I can no longer just dive into every project that occurs to me (and to be honest, the side projects I've picked up here and there, the crochet and quilting and whatnot, aren't exactly helping).

So, this artist who normally starts the new year with a page-long list of goals and projects and plans has instead a half-page of . . .suggestions.  A provisional plan with humble goals.  It is a strange and unsettling place to be.  Appropriately for January, possibly some things are ending and others beginning.

Maybe, like the camellias that are blooming here out of season, there are new, even beautiful possibilities out there that I can't predict or control. 

What's looming?

Here's what I'm working on these days:

On my 4-shaft floor loom, there's a set of 8 tea towels.  I'm using my favorite yarn for that purpose, American Maid sustainably grown and naturally colored cotton yarn.  I'm weaving a pattern that I think of as a huge gingham check, using three different twill patterns and five colors:  two shades of green and two shades of brown.  The yarns are pretty pale until they're washed, so it may be hard to tell the colors apart on your screen.

I've been blessed with a great response to these since my farming friend, Phil Busman of Cherith Farms, has allowed me to put them out at his CSA this summer.  The folks there really "get" the appeal of cotton grown without pesticides and colored without dyes.  Gotta keep those folks happy with more towels!  This bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes is keeping all of us happy. 

And, drum roll please, I have finally warped my big vertical tapestry loom.  As you can see I had to use a step-stool for part of the threading process.  Many thanks to Tommye Scanlin for her indispensable guide, complete with great photos, for how to dress a high-warp loom.  (See earlier post about "It Takes a Village. . . ").

You may recall that my plan was that I'd scale up this tiny abstract tapestry I'd done years ago for my first try at weaving at a larger size on this new-to-me loom.  This design was loosely inspired by the general layout of illuminated manuscripts.

But after my exposure to pattern upon pattern in Istanbul, the arabesque has crept into my original design, and this is the collage I am using as my design.  No doubt it will evolve during the weaving process, but I am pretty excited about it.  It'll be a challenge to weave those graceful curves!

Meanwhile I've been busy with all the preparing-to-weave tasks:  sampling colors and types of yarn and scaling up the design into a cartoon (line drawing) that will go behind the warp and guide me as I weave.  For the first time for a tapestry, I have to calculate the amount of yarn I'll need, especially for the large expanse of white, to make sure I have enough before I begin.  It would not do to run out of that particular white yarn 3" from the top of the tapestry and then discover I can't find the same yarn to finish with!  So this morning I wove a small section with the white, measured it, and then unwove that section and measured the yarn.  Once I've got a full-size cartoon, I can calculate the number of square inches of the white background and figure out how many square inches of tapestry I can weave with the yarn I have on hand. 

But first I have to scale up the design, using the good ol' grid method.  My 8" x 12" collage will become a 24" x 36" cartoon.  At least the math works out with whole numbers!