Blog
I just returned home from a fabulous retreat at Good Commons in Plymouth, Vermont. We had eleven devoted tapestry weavers gather there for five days of weaving.
We met at Good Commons, a retreat center in central Vermont. This is the second year I've held a tapestry retreat at Good Commons and we greatly enjoyed the marvelous food and venue.
Occasionally pieces I wove a long time ago pop up.
Before I became James Koehler's apprentice. Before I really knew all that much about weaving tapestry. Before I was an ATA member and read about tapestry and went to lots of shows and learned everything I could... back at the beginning, I wove some very simple things.
It turns out this one at least, is lovely.
Today is the third anniversary of my signature online tapestry course, Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry. The launching of this course was my first step away from my career as a healthcare provider. Sure I had been working as a tapestry teacher and artist for many years prior, but I always paid the bills with my therapist income. Three years ago I took the plunge when I pushed PUBLISH on this course and though it has at times been uncertain, I have never regretted taking the leap.
At the end of my time at Hambidge I was able to take a day to visit Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Tommye Scanlin and Bhakti Ziek are two amazing masters of fiber art. Tommye is a tapestry artist and has been a big inspiration and mentor for me over the last half-decade. Bhakti has also become a mentor in a wide variety of ways. She is the master of jacquard weaving but also has a vast knowledge of weaving and weave structures.
The two of them are teaching an 8-week concentration in textiles at Penland. They have 12 motivated students who are working on everything from tapestry to complicated weave structures to overshot to indigo dyeing. I was quite impressed by the variety of projects these students are working on.
My first blog post was April 20, 2008. Somehow it has been nine years of blogging. My first post was about a tapestry called This Time I Dance which was purchased by a friend of a friend.
The blog has evolved a lot over the last nine years. It has absolutely been the driver for my career as a fiber arts educator and I am so grateful to all of my faithful readers. Some of you have been around for that entire nine years--and I don't just mean my parents! (but thanks for reading Mom and Dad).
(Hint: Read full post for discount code for Little Looms online course!)
Some days you can look at your travel adventures as a blessing or a curse. I choose blessing. Because otherwise midnight with hundreds of other tired travelers at Atlanta International would be a lot more difficult.
I finally made it to Hambidge this week for my artist residency here. I spent about 10 hours longer in the Atlanta airport than was desirable, but who needs sleep?
True confessions. Every time I spend any time in the textile conservation space at the Denver Art Museum, I want to be a textile conservator. I love what they do--such a mix of research, history, science, and art.
I was able to go to Preview Open Window, the Wednesday morning talks led by Allison McCloskey (and currently her fellow Emma), last week. I never know what they'll be working on when I get there, but it is usually something that is going to be displayed somewhere in the museum soon. So the added benefit is that I get to go and see the piece finished and on display at some point in the future.
