Using colors we observe around us as subjects for our weaving or other artwork is something I find endlessly engaging. It has the power to pull even the biggest perfectionists among us away from self-criticism and dump us right into the joy of experiencing the color of almost anything.
Last week I on the blog I released a free mini-course where I talk about my sketch tapestry practice. Sketch tapestry is just my word for a practice of taking some time to observe something, make some notes about it, and then weave a simple tapestry about what I experienced.
This week I wanted to focus on what you all are weaving. I haven’t seen a lot of finished tapestries yet, but I’m hoping many more of you will jump in and post your color weavings. Below are a few of the examples I’ve seen so far along with my own mini-course tapestry about a cactus flower.
Every year I run a class I call Summer of Tapestry. It revolves around a practice I’ve had for many years of bringing a small loom with me when I’m hiking or traveling and weaving something about what I experienced or saw. I call the practice sketch tapestry because my goal is to capture something interesting about the experience, not to replicate what I saw in a realistic way.
I find that the practice of really looking at something and then weaving about it makes me pay attention instead of just rushing blindly through the experience and more generally, my life. The inspirations I’ve woven something about are things that I remember months and years later.
I have to admit that I am a proponent of the very flat tapestry that James taught me. I am almost as picky about it as he was, and that is saying something because James could be picky. He would probably not like that word. Perhaps exacting or particular would be better words. Being particular leads to a mastery of craftsmanship and James definitely was a master craftsman.
This is the second of five blog posts about the Denver Art Museum videos of Barb Brophy and I talking about our teacher, James Koehler. I am talking in this video about the interlock that James used in most of his work. I have posthumously named it the "James Koehler interlock", but it is really just a specific variation of a weft interlock. If you're interested in learning this join, I have a video on my YouTube channel about it HERE.
If you receive this blog via email updates, you will need to go to the internet to watch the movie. You can see it on my blog in your browser at http://rebeccamezoff.blogspot.com
The search for a very flat join can be traced back to a desire for a very flat textile. A lot of tapestry weaving is not very flat and in fact can be quite thick with yarn tails hanging on the back. Everyone has their favorite style, but I love the way James taught me to weave. His work was exceptionally flat, thin, and flexible. There were no tails hanging anywhere and most of his pieces were virtually reversible. This James Koehler weft interlock join contributes to that sort of textile because it is very flat when done correctly.
This join can be seen throughout James' work. The piece below is Ceremonial Masks which is in the State Library Archive in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The date on the plaque is 1998.
James Koehler, Ceremonial Masks
And here is a detail of that join. Note that he did the join every other sequence. I also use it in this way. It is faster and even flatter than if you interlock every sequence.
James Koehler, Ceremonial Masks, detail
And here is the same join in the Denver Art Museum piece, Chief Blanket with Blocks. Note the warp is running right to left so the joins are happening between the green and red at the top and bottom of the photograph.
James Koehler, Chief Blanket with Blocks, detail
And one last example of this join which shows what an expert he was at it. This is from Harmonic Oscillation XL from 2006.
James Koehler, Harmonic Oscillation XL, detail
And this is an edging technique that James no longer used when I knew him. The Chief Blanket piece at DAM has this fringe folded over the top in hanging. In his later work, all his work was hemmed.
James Koehler, Chief Blanket with Blocks, installation Denver Art Museum Creative Crossroads: The Art of Tapestry show
James Koehler was my teacher for many years before his death in 2011. He used a particular weft interlock join in his tapestries which I have called the James Koehler Weft Interlock (how original am I?). This join is set up a particular way so that when you are making the join, the interlocked wefts are snugged against a raised warp which helps keep the interlocks straight and uniform.
James most often used this join every other sequence for long straight verticals. His technique created a very flat join which you can see in this detail from his Ceremonial Masks pieces which are on display at the New Mexico State Archive in Santa Fe.
James Koehler, Ceremonial Masks, detail
These pieces are in an atrium with various light sources and are covered with plexiglass so they are very difficult to photograph, but this photo gives you a peek (just in case you're not bumping around Santa Fe right at the moment).
James Koehler, Ceremonial Masks
I recently made a new video about how to do this join and you can watch it! Sign up for my bimonthly newsletter in the boxes directly below and I'll send you an email with the link to the video within the hour.
And if you're already a subscriber, I sent you a newsletter today with this video in it. But even if you sign up again, my mail provider gets rid of duplicate addresses, so you're safe from the inbox overflow. And thanks so much for following my shenanigans! For the best shenanigans, take my online class!
UPDATE 1/19/15: I'm adding the video for everyone to see here. It is too hard to reference for people who are already signed up for my newsletter and haven't thought to look at my YouTube channel (you can do that by clicking HERE). Please still sign up for my newsletter below though. I send two a month with updates about my classes, thoughts about weaving, and sometimes videos I don't put on the blog.
