Why I can't quit Facebook (and believe me, I've tried)

We used to go to libraries, take classes, read periodicals... Now we scroll through the Facebook feed clicking on pretty pictures. Baby elephants playing in wading pools and the like. Okay, I do that. I scroll through MY Facebook feed clicking on baby elephants. I admit it right now. Life is breathtakingly short and I do spend a bit of time here and there sinking into meaningless streams of platitudes, sunsets, and photos of everyone I've ever known's dinner (not the location, the actual food--why do people take pictures of food?).

But here is why I stay. Many, probably most, of my Facebook friends are tapestry weavers or other artists. They post things that are interesting to them which often are about tapestry and thus interesting to me. I have enjoyed the recent flurry of postings of artwork, rather like a chain letter with people nominating others to post photos of their work and the whole thing getting exponentially bigger. I've had to watch far fewer baby goat videos since I can scroll this artwork. I have found websites and new blogs this way. I have met (virtually) tapestry artists I hadn't known of before.

Here are a few things I learned just this week:

Woolful. Ashley Yousling has recently started doing a weekly podcast about wool and other fiber things. So far I have only listened to the latest episode, but I think her blog and conversations are worth keeping an eye on.

Absolute Tapestry. This is a website of Norwegian tapestry artists over the last 100 years. Each artist has work posted with photos and some text and there are some other articles, news, and history. Look for the "English" button at the top right for translation... unless you speak Norwegian that is.

Operation Common Good. My cousin's child made this video with the help of her class and father to raise money for homeless kids in Detroit. I think it is amazingly creative. Did you get that thing in the beginning where she "froze" the motion of a classroom of forty-five 6th graders with her super powers? Go Ella!

American Tapestry Alliance. I did already know about them of course. But their annual Valentine's Day appeal starts Feb 14th and I am happy to help with it. (You could win one of my classes! But you could also win a tapestry by one of 4 amazing artists--I'm hoping for that.)

Dyed in the Wool. Uh huh. People are sending me links of where to get combed top and fleece. I am in deep danger of needing more storage space spinning time. Dyed in the Wool has a brilliant product where they sell little amounts of different fleeces with information cards and enough fiber to process some and test it out. What a good way to get to know different sheep breeds.

Stonehaven Farm. And then my Mom sent me this link because the sheep farmer is a of her friend. I ended up watching the videos of the farm processes on their website. Engrossing... and makes me think about where my wool comes from for sure! (And also that I don't think I want to be feeding animals in several feet of snow. Good to know.)

As you know, it goes on and on. You start by innocently clicking on a picture of a tapestry loom and before you know it three hours have passed looking at the work of Norwegian tapestry artists.

And of course there are the moments that lead you to all the super bowl commercials in one place, the dogs who have stolen their owners sandwich and blamed it on the cat, or when you learn about an Australian named Tim Minchin. I stumbled across a commencement address he was giving and unwittingly pushed the play button. I ended up watching all 11 minutes which is FOREVER in Facebook time. Of course more research was needed. Matilda? A nine-and-a-half minute beat poem about a dinner party? (I watched that one three times.) Tim Minchin is my new Tina Fey. Sorry Tina.

And that is why I can't quit Facebook. Seriously. Woody Allen Jesus. It sure sticks in your head.

... and of course the tapestry (and sheep)

These are Navajo-churro I met at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

And lest you think I've been spending all my days surfing the net, the new tapestry is coming along famously as is the new online class... [coming soon to a computer near you]

I know it looks like a mess, but I weave from the back on a low-warp loom. It ensures the unveiling is a mystery even to me.

Beginners mind... or daring to try something new

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

--Shunryu Suzuki

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

There is something important about doing things we've never tried before. That beginner's mind state is a place where new possibilities suddenly appear. Have you ever watched a child learn a new skill? If they are young enough, they are able to whole-heartedly give everything to something they may well "fail" at. But mostly they don't. Through trial and error, they learn how to do something they didn't know before. And often there is a lot of laughter and joy involved. As adults we are seldom willing to take these kinds of risks. We don't want to be wrong. We don't want to fail. We don't want to act like a child.

I maintain we all need more of this in our lives. I started taking a spinning class a few weeks ago (the kind where you make yarn, not ride a bike). While it is true that I do have some experience with yarn, I had never touched a fleece straight from the sheep and I had little idea how to turn that fiber into yarn I could use. Three weeks in, I'm a little farther than I was and I'm having such a great time, mostly because I allowed myself to fail. 

One of the other students in the class voiced what we were all feeling when Maggie Casey started talking about the beautiful corriedale fleece she was giving us to spin. We were all afraid of messing up this lovely fiber. Maggie simply said that the sheep was growing another one right this minute and we had to start somewhere.

There are always new chances until the day we die. We could die tomorrow (or even today). So why not make the most of this moment?

I happened to own a spinning wheel which I bought several years ago to ply my tapestry singles on when I want a very smooth gradation. So though my feet knew how to treadle the thing, my knowledge of the wheel and how to make yarn from fiber ended there.

I have had so much fun. I've already bought my own hand cards and found the extra bobbins (we are learning to ply this week). I also brought home these books which I have been reading in between searching for a local shepherdess to supply me with some fleece and spinning what I have left of the corriedale.

Those are Maggie Casey's book Start Spinning and The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook also by local authors, Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius.

As I teach students tapestry weaving, I often find that they are every bit as perfectionistic as I can be. But perfectionism doesn't serve us well when we're learning something new. I think it is important to screw it all up here and there. I'm certainly doing my best to make as many mistakes as possible with my spinning. When you start something like tapestry weaving, an art/craft which involves not only intellectual understanding, but a learned motor skill component, you can't be perfect right away. It takes many hours of practice both for your brain to understand how it works and for your body to learn the motor skills.

So.

Cut yourself a break.

Allow yourself to screw up royally! (It is much more fun that way.)

I have a large plastic bin full of bits of tapestry weaving that I have produced over the last decade. Pieces that I cut off partway through. Pieces I never want to show anyone, ever. Pieces that were test samples for a bigger tapestry. Things I made in workshops.

 

And you know what? The really bad ones are the most informative. I learned from them because they were so bad. I even labeled some of them with what the mistake was once I figured it out when it was pointed out to me. 

Relish the mistakes. Try something new. It takes some courage, but what is life for if not to learn new things? Beginner's mind.

Just remember....

(And it is just a sampler!)

The fiber art of Kristin Carlsen Rowley at The Contemporary Tapestry Gallery

If you haven't had a chance to stop by LaDonna Mayer's new tapestry gallery in Santa Fe, NM, I recommend you do so in the month of February. It is called The Contemporary Tapestry Gallery and you can find her website HERE. She has already had a list of interesting shows and the one that opens this weekend promises something unique. She is showing the work of Kristin Carlsen Rowley, a Santa Fe artist who works in tapestry technique three dimensionally.

Here are some images of the work. A press release from the gallery follows.

Kristin Carlsen Rowley, Tower

Kristin Carlsen Rowley, Tower, back

Kristin Carlsen Rowley, Palace

Kristin Carlsen Rowley, Fallen Dreams

The Contemporary Tapestry Gallery's Art News
When Kristin Carlsen Rowley removes a flat tapestry from her loom, her work has only begun. She then folds, twists, or sews the tapestry into intricate forms that cannot hang on walls but are displayed on shelves, mantels, in niches -- anywhere a small sculpture would fit. She calls the delicate work, "Woven Buildings" because most take the form of one kind of building or another -- intricately shaped and colored homes, towers, theaters, many with historic or foreign influences, adorned with windows, parapets,and staircases. Two even feature -- humorously or dramatically -- smashed outer walls that reveal toilets inside. 

The fact that almost all of the pieces, which are about 12 inches high, emerged from flat tapestries is a result of ingenuity and artistry that makes them not just unusual, but unique.

"I've never seen anything like this anywhere!" So said LaDonna Mayer, another tapestry artist, upon first seeing Rowley's work last fall. Mayer, who runs The Contemporary Tapestry Gallery in Santa Fe, quickly offered Rowley a one-person show of her work which has never been displayed in a gallery before.

Rowley's initial show, called Tapestry, Off the Wall, opens with a reception for the artist from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, February 1. It will run through February 21 at The Contemporary Tapestry Gallery, 825 W San Mateo Rd, 505-231-5904.

Rowley has an extensive background in art. A native of Iowa City, IA, she taught fiber arts at schools and universities across the United States as well as in Spain and Columbia. In Columbia she created her first woven buildings before moving to Santa Fe in 1997.

Why buildings? Because they seem to occupy a special place in her psyche. Long ago in Iowa, she and her brother Peter built dollhouses and sold them to such upscale stores as Neiman Marcus and Marshall Fields. Peter went on to become an architect. Kristin, when she is not creating original little houses in her studio, sells larger ones for Santa Fe Properties.

From Rebecca again:
I am curious what other tapestry artists and readers of my blog think about this work. I find it fascinating and hope to see it in person one day. The fact that she creates the buildings in a flat form and then uses wire and sewing to create the three dimensional finished work is fascinating. If you are able to go see the show, let me know what you think of the work in person. I wish I was in Santa Fe next month to see it myself. Don't worry, you can get home in time to watch the Super Bowl ads. Leave your thoughts below in the comments.

My next tapestry in process: from Instagram to you

I have been using Instagram to take snapshots of my work each day. It has been fun and a good way to push myself a little bit to get more woven.

Tying on the warp. This was later modified as the design changed to 24 inches wide.

Here is the current piece in photos from Instagram. I weave from the back on a Harrisville Rug Loom. So the mystery will only be fully revealed when the piece comes off the loom in a few months.

There was a lot of dyeing for this project. Weeks of it. I expect my next 5 tapestries to use the same colors. Way too much fun.

So much tape. Here I am sampling various colors before doing the main bulk of the dyeing.

Drawing the cartoon onto acetate which I use at the loom.

Lots of ball winding once the dyeing was done...

Deciding on colors. Too big a gap between these depths of shade.

Part of the cartoon and some of the yarn.

Sampling for color on a Mirrix.

Reference cartoon fell off the wall. This piece is 24 x 72 inches. I had quite a time getting it back on.

It is helpful to leave yourself notes when you leave home for a few weeks. Re-entry can be rough otherwise.

Drawing on another bit of the cartoon.

Trying to manage getting a little weaving in while answering a flood of questions for the online class.

And after a long day of work... weaving under the influence.

One day I only had 70 minutes to weave. I wanted to see how much I could do in that time. 5/8ths inch isn't bad (times 24 inches wide). Unfortunately this pace is not maintainable.

Shading some circles. Also playing with adding a hot pink strand to brown tones.

Today's photo as I had to stop weaving and ply new colors for a new section.

I am surprised how much worse these photos look on the computer. Instagram is definitely a platform built for the hand-held device. They look great on my phone.

If you want to follow me on Instagram, I am @rebeccamezofftapestry. On Twitter where I often push the Instagram photos, I am @RMezoff. If not, don't worry. I'll post photos here again soon. Maybe the ones I take with a real camera next time!

Playing with yarn... randomly on a Monday

Yesterday I pulled out a pack of yarn that I have been kicking around for quite a few months. Actually to be perfectly honest, I ran across it under a pile of knitting that is awaiting finishing and thought, well this would be a great way to spend a Sunday.

How fun is this? 114 colors in 10-yard skeins. 
Tapestry weavers, meet EPiC.

Though I love working with my Harrisville Designs singles yarn, I'm always testing the market for yarns to recommend to students. Finding the right colors for tapestry weaving if you're not a dyer can be difficult. This palette is really nice. I ordered directly from Mary Ann Beinecke but it looks like it is available in cones from the Yarn Barn of Kansas. I think this yarn is quite thin for beginner tapestry weavers, but if you have facility with managing a weft bundle, here is a yarn to consider. I'll be giving it a test-run on a loom soon.

The weekend was full of writing tasks and some hours digging my office out from under the piles of paper, books, and yarn that accumulate when I let it all go to long. I seem to only be able to do this after I meet a big deadline. Yesterday was it.

Monday has hit hard and I am on fire. I've put in the hours answering some excellent questions for the online classes, decided on some new directions for classes, shoveled through a bunch of bills and outstanding emails, and I made a new folder for my file cabinet labeled "Taxes 2015" into which I could put the receipts for the paid bills. Organization. If I could just move this efficiently every day, I'd have a gallery full of new tapestries soon.

Later today I hope for some of this

and some of this.

And that will be a day.
(PS That is my very first ever spinning, so don't be too hard on me!)

UPDATE 1/27/15: I just found out that Mary Ann Beinecke (MAB) died November 24th, 2014. It sounds like she was an amazing woman and I wish I had met her. http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/1008936/Beinecke-MaryAnn.php

Is there a resurgence in interest in weaving and tapestry happening?

Historically, tapestry weaving has not attracted screaming hordes of people gasping to learn the age-old techniques. But certainly there is a resurgence in interest in weaving lately and many people are using simple tapestry looms to explore their fascination with yarn, image, and expression.

Maryanne Moodie is an Australian weaver who is now living in Brooklyn. To my delight, there is an article about her and her weaving in the February 2015 issue of O Magazine.

Yep, you heard me correctly.
Oprah Magazine.

When I heard there was a tapestry weaver featured in a magazine I can get in the supermarket checkout, I grabbed my wallet and walked down to the corner Walgreens to get my copy.

It was not so simple to procure a copy of the December issue of Playboy from the newsstand. I tried several times and surprisingly, failed. In that issue there was an article about the tapestry artist Erin Riley.

Here is a link to the online version of that article: http://www.playboy.com/articles/dream-weaver

Both articles are titled Dreamweaver. I suppose many of us fiber addicts dream about having the time to weave every day... and I admit that I once decades ago had an online profile with this handle. Most likely the magazine editors just have Dreamweaver by Gary Wright playing in their heads.

I am encouraged to see so many people interested in weaving and using tapestry techniques in their work... or, like Erin, making full-fledged tapestries with contemporary subject matter. You can see more of Erin's work on her website.

You can also see more of Maryanne (maryannmoodie) and Erin's (erinmriley) tapestry weaving on Instagram.

I use Instagram to show what I am working on currently, so head over there if you are interested in my process! You can find me at rebeccamezofftapestry.