Hot Flash: a tapestry

Hot Flash: a tapestry

It might be that we don’t talk about peri-menopause enough. I don’t know. I won’t belabor it, but I do think it can make a hilarious subject for a tapestry.

(A whole bunch of people just clicked away, didn’t they! I bet those of you left are over 40 and female… thanks to you my sisters).

In one of the Q&As I did for the Design Solutions class I was talking about the work of Pat Williams and how much I love it even though it is so different from my own work. And then I thought, why not? There isn’t any reason I can’t weave something funny and graphic.

I tend to do a lot of playing around with my tapestry diary/sketch tapestry practice. I figured that I could try a design like this, call it part of my tapestry diary which totally takes away any feeling that it has to be any “good”, and I’d see what happened. Then I decided I wanted to weave it larger and enter it in the American Tapestry Alliance’s Unjuried Small Format show, Renditions. So a 10 x 10 inch design was born.

Change the shed: weaving together

Change the shed: weaving together

Making, crafting, creating… these are wonderful ways to spend time. Many of us participate in group activities such as guild meetings or informal groups with friends where we get together to weave or spin or knit. The worldwide COVID-19 crisis has confined many of us to our homes as we allow the front-line workers to have the best chance at conquering the devastating effects of this health threat. I believe it is helpful to have structure to our days and that weaving tapestry can be fulfilling and calming. I also think that if each of us can remain steady and have some focus, it makes a difference to the world. It changes how we show up for each other and that might well make all the difference.

A skein of hibiscus-colored yarn and a bit of anxiety-managing weaving

A skein of hibiscus-colored yarn and a bit of anxiety-managing weaving

March 2nd. Another round of book edits were due and I had sent them the night before. The new material for the Design Solutions online course was also up and everything seemed to be working in technology world.

March 2nd. Before the world changed so quickly and drastically.

March 2nd. I went to the yarn store because yarn makes me feel better. I ostensibly was looking for yarn for my nieces to learn to crochet with. But we all know the truth. I had met two huge deadlines which happened to fall on the same day and I was tired. And a little dreary. And petting the yarn always cheers me up. I try hard not to stop at yarn stores and when I’m tired or down is the most dangerous time (because who knows how much yarn I’ll add to my already large knitting yarn stash). But March 2nd, I visited. The Loopy Ewe.*

Tapestry looms: 5 things you need to know

Tapestry looms: 5 things you need to know

I’ve written a lot about tapestry looms over the years. I’ve linked to some of those posts below. I get a lot of questions from new weavers about looms and which one might be the best for them. I’d like to summarize some of the things to look for in a tapestry loom. After that, the posts below will lead you to more information about the loom you’re interested in.

I have started categorizing tapestry looms this way.

  • Untensioned frame looms: these are generally small looms that do not have a tensioning device. Examples are the Schacht Easel Weaver and the Handywoman Loom.

  • Tensioned frame looms: These are looms that could be larger than the untensioned frame looms that have a tensioning device. Examples are the Mirrix and the Glimakra Freja loom.

  • Beamed looms: These are looms that have two beams to hold the warp and the woven cloth. Examples are the Harrisville Rug Loom and the Tissart tapestry loom.

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Tapestry diary: Agnes Martin

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Tapestry diary: Agnes Martin

While teaching in Taos, NM in January, I visited the Harwood Museum. I saw many marvelous things there, one of them being the Agnes Martin room. On my Tacoma trip this month, I wove a tapestry diary piece in tribute to Agnes Martin (1912-2004). . . .

I wanted to play with these feelings in a tapestry diary piece both to think more about how her paintings were constructed physically but also as a way to remember my reaction to the work. The tiny 2 x 2 inch tapestry is nothing like an Agnes Martin painting, but the experience of making it absolutely cemented something about the work in my mind and made me excited to learn more about her creative experience.

The making of this little tapestry diary piece was nothing special and indeed, did not take long to weave. But the experience and process of making it helped me revisit the art in my mind and think again about how and why it was made.

Yarn adventures in Tacoma: teaching, Clara Parkes, and all the other bright stars here...

Yarn adventures in Tacoma: teaching, Clara Parkes, and all the other bright stars here...

I was thrilled to be able to teach at the first annual Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma last week. I had a great time and thought you, dear reader, might like to see what happened at this conference.

I’ll start with the workshops I taught. The students were so much fun. I am not sure if this is a Pacific Northwest thing or if this particular show (which was Madrona until this year) just brings in people who are easy-going and eager to learn, but my classes were full of such bright souls. I taught Is Tapestry for Me? which was a 2-day beginning tapestry class. And I taught a one-day color class where we played with optical mixing.