That probably isn't true for all of us... that summer is for weaving. But it is definitely the time when I feel the least inhibited by my inner rules about the weaving (you know the ones... it must be big and grand and perfect and say something and...).
Because in the summer I go outside.
When you live in Colorado, going outside is expected. I don't think you can live here without owning running shoes, hiking boots, a closet full of clothes containing some level of synthetic wicking fiber, and some kind of bike that might just cost more than your car. (Give me a break Coloradoans--mine is just an inexpensive commuter bike, but at least I have one and I know how to ride it. Also, I don't run. But I do own running shoes... which I use for backpacking. The hiking boots are for snowshoeing. Also, I don't ski. Don't judge.)
So in the summer, I go outside and I take along little looms. I love the freedom leaving the studio brings and the way my brain switches from, "I have to get this right" to, "that color is so cool, let's mix it with this other color and just weave stripes and see what happens." So absolutely none of the tapestries I weave in the summer are likely to be in a show or even given any notice by anyone but my mom, but boy are they fun to weave.
I'm finishing up the last bits of the Fringeless online class this week and am looking forward to a couple months of weekend hiking, camping, and weaving! Though my inner critic always tells me to keep those spontaneous creations to myself, I'm going to share them. My tapestry diary is growing and there is no better time to screw around with yarn and little looms than summer. Also, I hope that it gives other people courage to see stuff that is less than perfect (AHEM!) posted on my blog.
Join me for some fun! Leave your inner judge in a closet somewhere, go outside with your loom, and weave to your heart's content. I can't wait to see what you make.
Happy summer.
P.S. Here is the start of making good on that promise. Below is a little tapestry diary piece I finished at Snowbird last month. It is called Redacted: Children. I have three more planned. The yarn is spindle spun 2-ply. The black is CVM from a fleece I picked up at Estes Park Wool Market this year and it is mixed with a previously dyed fleece from Robin Phillips' flock (a Corriedale mix--Sheep Feathers Farm). I carded the black with four different colors. The piece is about children taken from their parents--lives already full of stress and pain and they come somewhere for safety and are thrown in a cage. It is a horror. *
* I have been asked before to leave political statements out of my art, but I will not do it. I do want my large-format tapestries to be about optimism, hope, and to offer a visual place of rest. But the tapestry diary is something different. If something upsets me, I am probably going to weave a piece about it. So brace yourself for three more Redacted pieces. Any guesses what June's will be? I warped the loom for it last night. Four selvedge of course!