Where to find perspective? Lessons from geologic time...

Where to find perspective? Lessons from geologic time...

Layers.

Time.

This place is all about unimaginable spans of time.

I am spending the month of November at Petrified Forest National Park as their artist-in-residence.

From a distance, the huge trees look very much like they fell and were cut by a chainsaw quite recently. Up close, they are miracles of color and form in stone. Because, of course, these trees have not been trees for at least 216 million years. All of their tree-ness was replaced by minerals and became hard stone so long ago—just now eroded out of their hiding place in the Chinle formation.

Suitcase of yarn

Suitcase of yarn

Any time your packing list contains the words, Suitcase of Yarn, you know you're going somewhere fun. This is not a teaching trip though. I'm headed to Arizona to be the artist-in-residence at Petrified Forest National Park for the month of November. I'm going to the desert to do some tapestry designing. I am so excited about this, I gasp a little when I think about it.

How often do most of us get the opportunity to step away from the business of art and actually focus on making it? As a tapestry weaver, I can only bring small looms with me. Even so, my plans include at least three portable looms in addition to the bag full of Hokett looms I will undoubtedly have. I have a project in mind for those little looms.

Doit (or maybe Do It!)

Doit (or maybe Do It!)

This was one of the many little weaving experiments I did for the Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms class (now open for registration HERE!). I wove this for a section about weaving text and I intended it to say, Do it! (I was going to weave another one that said "Just" but ran out of time.)

 But when finished, I realized that it sort of looks like it says "Doit!".

So I looked up the definition.

Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms is open!

Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms is open!

Making a new online class is always an adventure for me. I love the challenge of it--mapping out the content, deciding what will be taught, figuring out the best way to present material for different learning styles. And when it is all done, it is a marvelous feeling.

My newest online course, Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms, came from a workshop I've taught for years about weaving on Hokett looms. These little wooden looms made by one woodworker in rural New Mexico, have become so popular he can scarce keep up with orders. And for good reason. They are beautiful tools and there is nothing more joyful than making little things on little wooden tools that are beautiful to hold.

Comprehensive exam anyone? My goodness, the stress!

Comprehensive exam anyone? My goodness, the stress!

Things in my house have been a little anxiety-ridden for awhile now. When this sign showed up on the front door last weekend, I knew it could be a long week.

Right this very moment, Emily is taking her first comprehensive exam for her PhD in sociology. This school requires three of them. I can't imagine doing this two more times. The misery of trying to learn everything of any import from the last 150+ years of sociological theory is staggering. (Mind you, I mostly don't have any idea what she is talking about, but I try most days.) Many schools no longer require comprehensive exams. I maintain that if the coursework is rigorous enough, the exams are unnecessary. What a waste of a year of my life! (Oh wait, I mean Emily's life.)

All the little weavings...

All the little weavings...

The small format samples and pieces sure pile up faster than my big pieces. I'm lucky if I get one very large piece done a year. But these little guys just multiply like rabbits. There seem to be stacks and stacks of them now. 

Last week I did this sample for the Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms online class. It was a test run for the new pipe loom as well as a demo for the new class. It is about three inches square at 8 epi.