Archie Brennan: builder of a worldwide tapestry community

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.

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Yarn experiments and more little weavings

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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.

Because of Memory

Because of Memory

You may have seen Tommye Scanlin’s tapestry titled “Because of Memory” or heard her talk about the Lillian E. Smith Center in Clayton, GA. It is because of Tommye that I did a two-week residency there a few weeks ago. It is ultimately because of Lillian Smith herself that I could enjoy this time in an artist residency away from the push of running a business at home.

Lillian E. Smith was a formidable woman from what I can tell. She is the author of the novel, Strange Fruit, which was banned for it’s statement about segregation and civil rights of people of color in the US. It was first published in 1944.

I had two weeks in the north Georgia woods at my artist residency. Lillian E. Smith Center is now owned by Piedmont College. But it used to be owned by the Smith family.

North Georgia and North Carolina adventures in tapestry weaving

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

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.

Small tapestry looms: which one should I use?

Small tapestry looms: which one should I use?

For my small tapestry work and for teaching on small looms, I have used Hokett looms for many years. Jim Hokett retired in 2019 and though I will use my personal stash of these looms forever, those of you who didn’t manage to get one before he retired are looking for other options.

Why would you want to weave on looms like these? I’ve written about this a lot on this blog, but the short answer is that small looms are less intimidating. They tend to allow us to play with yarn and ideas without feeling like we’re making something monumental. I think that helps us drop our own expectations and allows us to learn without shame because what we’re doing might not match the image we had in our head. They’re also portable, less expensive, and they don’t use as much yarn as big looms.

I have four great options for you and I am sure there are others out there. I’ve woven on all of them and I can recommend them all for various reasons.* All four of these looms are made in the USA, many of them completely by hand. Please remember if you’re ordering a hand-made loom from someone that they most likely won’t be able to get it to you as quickly as a large commercial operation could. Be patient. Make or buy another loom while you wait for your treasured heirloom equipment. For example, you could purchase a Schacht loom or make a copper pipe loom (links below) while you wait for one of the other three looms.

Vanishing Fleece: The story-telling of Clara Parkes

Vanishing Fleece: The story-telling of Clara Parkes

Clara Parkes has a new book and you’re going to want to go get it right away. It is called Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool. It came out the first of October and I spent my evenings that week reading it. If you are a fiber person and you aren’t yet a fan of Clara Parkes, I recommend taking a look at her work. She is doing advocacy for the fiber most of us love the most, wool. She is asking the questions about the wool industry in the USA and worldwide that need to be asked and with this book, she is actively looking for answers about how to save this fiber we need so much. I heard her speak on this subject when she was the keynote at the 2016 YarnFest in Colorado when she was on her book tour for her last book, Knitlandia.

In Vanishing Fleece, she tells the story of what she calls the Great White Bale. She came by a 676-pound bale of the finest Saxon Merino wool and decided to use it to explore the yarn industry in the USA. She divided the bale into four parts and had them spun in four different ways at four different mills in the US. She also explores dyeing at a range of dye facilities.