Last month I attended a workshop given by Louise Martin in Pacifica, CA through Tapestry Weavers West. This workshop was all about questioning our assumptions about what tapestry weaving is. There were various exercises to help us push against the things we believed shouldn’t be done in tapestry.
Assumptions can be hard to challenge because we most often don’t know we have them!
One of the things I enjoyed most about the workshop was eavesdropping on conversations of other students with each other and with Louise.* I find the human ability to stick hard to our convictions interesting. Sometimes it makes us strong people in a world where we need to believe in ourselves. Sometimes it makes us blind to other options. And how do you know which is which?
The image below was the first weaving I did on a regular loom and I was playing with making the selvedges come in and go out on purpose. I was also using linen for weft.
I was unreasonably proud of myself with this exercise because I found that I could manipulate the selvedges quite a lot on purpose. The whole idea was of course just to play and I’m sure this will go into the box of samples (tagged with what it is because who remembers why some weird thing is in the sample box a few years later?!).
That first bit at the very bottom in the red/yellow yarn was woven without looking at the warp at all. “Weaving blind.” It is quite disconcerting to do this and I recommend trying it. I was using a Mirrix loom for this exercise and the shedding device felt like cheating because I could produce a pretty clean weaving without looking. So then I stopped using the shedding device and that is where I lost track of the shed completely since the warp was flat.
Rebecca’s experiment with linen weft and selvedeges
Deborah Corsini joined our class and it was fun to get to know her a little better. She and Katherine Straznickas had pieces in the Members show at the Sanchez Art Center (pictured below). You can see Deborah’s piece to the left and you can visit the show to see it close up and see Katherine’s work as well.
Deborah Corsini with her tapestry to the left.
Time at the coast
I was able to get lodging very close to Pedro Point which meant that I could walk to the beach. One morning I walked down to the beach to check it out and realized that this is where you surf as soon as it is light. Everyone I saw had a wetsuit on and they all were changing in the parking lot. I know nothing about surfing culture, but I think this is probably their version of going for a walk or the gym before work in the morning.
The main surfing beach in Pacifica which I could walk to from my lodging
I had one free day after the workshop ended and instead of going to the city, I stayed close to Pacifica. I spent a lot of time at Pedro Point Headlands which turned out to be a great birding spot. I saw many birds that were new to me and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the Pacific from high above the beach.
Pedro Point Headlands, Pacifica, CA
There were huge flocks of Brown Pelicans on the beach and roosting in the rocks. They glide over the water and they’re impossible to miss. There were a lot of other water birds I couldn’t identify because they were too far away for my binoculars, but the pelicans and cormorants were unmistakable.
Ocean birds from Pedro Point Headlands
I enjoyed the myriad of small birds that were flitting around the foliage both at the headland and around my lodging. Most were very common birds but since I haven’t been birding in California before, they were new to me. I finally got great looks at the numerous Bewick’s Wrens as well as Wrentits, thrushes, various sparrows, gulls, and lots of Anna’s hummingbirds. I loved this spot so much that I stopped back here before going to the airport the next day.
After my birding expedition, I drove down to Half Moon Bay for a gluten free crepe. I stopped at a state beach on the way back and was able to watch four dolphins swimming up and down the shore. Dolphins!!!
Dolphins on the California coast near Half Moon Bay
I included a lot more detail about the workshop and what I learned in a Patreon post last week so if you’re a patron, head over there for more of Louise Martin’s wisdom!
The image at the top of this post is at the Sanchez Art Center where the workshop was held.
*Maybe I shouldn't really call it eavesdropping because Louise invited us to join in any conversations happening during the class, but I do find that I learn a lot by listening and not putting my own opinions out there. It is a relief to be in a situation where I am not the expert. Also, a few people who are reading this were in the workshop so please speak up if you have a different perspective!