Well.
What a week it was!
The first week of November, 2020 is not one I will quickly forget. Not only was it perhaps the most contentious election season in American politics in my memory, but my book also launched. The launch date was supposed to be a week earlier, but due to an unfortunate delay in the book’s arrival at the warehouse from the printer a day late, the publication date was moved to November 3.
For me it was a week of extremes. The polarization in the United States is incredibly distressing to me and I found myself so often during the week of waiting for election results wondering how we were ever going to learn to listen to each other. And on the other hand, people started receiving my book and I had wonderful messages from all over the world about how much they loved it. (Believe me, that is a huge relief. If the book was a total flop after putting so many years of work into it, it would be disappointing to say the least.)
As a country, we’ll move forward in whatever way we can, hopefully putting kindness as our first foot forward.
As a tapestry educator, I’m working to do the same. My hope is that book will be a useful tool for a long time and that it will guide new tapestry weavers down their own paths of exploration. My biggest goal was to present a foundation of understanding about what tapestry is and can be and to encourage people interested in this art form to start with the basics and then follow their own heart to express whatever they need to.
Celebrations aren’t quite the same through a computer screen, but I did do two launch webinars, some social media live events, and even had a virtual party with a few friends. There was cake!
All the recordings of the talks I gave are now available to watch here: https://rebeccamezoff.com/book-launch. The one from November 7th has subtitles if you need them and I marked where the Q&A starts in the video since both talks are the same.
Enjoy them!
A few people have sent me photos via Facebook or Instagram of their books arriving or on a bookstore shelf. I really appreciate seeing these images along with all your kind words about it. I know I’ve talked about this book ad nauseam over the last few years. Thanks for being kind enough to listen. I wrote this book for my students and I also owe them thanks for asking hard questions and helping me refine my teaching over the years. Also, thanks for buying the book!*
I’m ready for a home-bound holiday season including some weaving. Who is with me? I think there will be more cake.
The Art of Tapestry Weaving launch party included cake! (Almond ricotta)
If you haven’t gotten your copy of the book yet, there are suggested places to find the book (anywhere books are sold?!) here: https://rebeccamezoff.com/the-art-of-tapestry-weaving
*During the election angst, I read all five of the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books by Douglas Adams. I really wanted say, “So long and thanks for all the fish” which is the title of one of the books. But then you’d all think I’d really gone off the deep end. Also, I’m not going anywhere.