I have been wanting to make a second trailer for the Design Solutions online class that has clips from some of the interviews. Better late than never I suppose. Enjoy these short bits of wisdom from some wonderful artists.
Habits not resolutions: Weave every day.
Historically speaking, I think we can safely say that I’m rubbish at New Year’s Day resolutions.
I remember a New Year’s Day when I was a pre-teen deciding that I was going to write a letter to someone every single day of the year. This was in the 80s before the internet though I probably had learned to type on my electric typewriter by then. But my resolution was to put pen to paper and hand-write someone a letter. Every. Single. Day.
I made it to January 8th.
As humans we certainly love to make grand promises to ourselves of how we’re going to change our lives starting with this one day which marks a new calendar year. But it is just another day and we are still the same people we were on December 31st (though hopefully a little more sober).
Archie Brennan: builder of a worldwide tapestry community
Archie Brennan passed away on October 31, 2019. He was an artist, a teacher, and someone who had a significant impact on the face of tapestry today. Archie began his weaving career at 16 years of age with a seven-year apprenticeship at the Dovecot in Scotland. He was eventually became director of the tapestry workshop and also established the tapestry department at Edinburgh College of Art.
Please take some time to get to know a bit about his life, his work, and his thoughts about tapestry weaving. I believe it is important and helps those of us who are contemporary tapestry weavers place our practice in the broader historical context of this art form. Archie, perhaps more than anyone else in recent history, was able to express the shift that happened in the early 1900s from reproductive tapestry where paintings were copied in great detail to an artist/weaver approach where the weaver also designs the work. He was instrumental in creating this shift first through his work at the Dovecot Studios as a weaver and their director, then in other parts of the world.
Yarn experiments and more little weavings
I grew up in New Mexico so it always feels like coming home when we decide to come south for a little vacation. We’re back for the week spending some time with family and friends and watching the snow storms roll across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I packed the car with a small selection of little looms, fleece, yarn, and a couple spindles for a week in northern New Mexico. Thus far I’ve finished a piece I started in Georgia and have warped a few more looms with some vague ideas what the next tapestry diary piece will be on one of them. I thought I’d share a few things I’m messing around with for fun this week.
North Georgia and North Carolina adventures in tapestry weaving
I’m home from my two week residency at the Lillian E. Smith Center near Clayton, Georgia. I learned a lot about an amazing author and civil rights activist (Lillian herself, author of Strange Fruit) and I learned some things about myself. I also had some fun adventures. Let’s stick to the adventure part of the story for today.
I had some yarn adventures while in this part of the country. They include:
a stop at Penland School of Crafts
a visit to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) in Asheville
two interviews with tapestry weavers from the area
exploring Black Rock Mountain State Park
my own work during the residency.
Weaving in the woods: the Lillian E. Smith Center Residency
I was fortunate to receive the McClure-Scanlin Residency Award at Lillian E. Smith Center this year. I’ve been here almost two weeks now and I’ve greatly enjoyed my time in the woods of northern Georgia. I came here to work on designs for a new body of work. I am reminded over the course of these weeks how slow that process is for me. But having a place like this to jump-start the ideas is highly useful.
At past residencies I’ve brought boxes of stuff: lots of art supplies, as many yarn color choices as I could cram into any corner of my luggage, and lots of ideas about what I wanted to make while I was there. This time around, I didn’t bring much with me: a watercolor set, some fleece and a flick carder, two spindles, two very small looms, and a small selection of weaversbazaar yarn. And of course I brought my walking shoes, a camera, and my design sketchbook.
Circumnavigating Massachusetts
During my New England trip, I had a weekend where I drove completely around the state of Massachusetts. I’ll call it circumnavigation though I think that only applies to boats. We were shooting photos in Harrisville, NH on Friday and I stayed in a hotel on the border of MA that night. From there I headed south of Boston for some time with Sarah Resnick who owns GIST Yarn and Claudia Chase (owner of Mirrix Looms) who made the long drive from her home in New Hampshire.