The End is Near

Just to refresh your memory, last November I was looking at this design and warping a loom.
 

watercolor proposal and yarn samples, All Are Welcome

Tonight I completed the finishing of the ends and the world looks a whole lot better to me.

Thank you Netflix, you've kept me going...

Yes indeed, 50" later, my tapestry , All Are Welcome, has been cut off the loom. Piles of yarn have been sorted and put back in their little color bags, scraps of yarn added to my sourdough basket of starter yarn, and pipes and rods put back in the basement.

Finally I can get back to my little ideas on my tiny pipe looms.

I'm certainly proud of what I've done, glad to have had the opportunity, and pleased with the values, colors, and shapes of the weaving.

But I've realized how much I missed experimenting and thinking about new ideas these past 4  months. My return to a nearly forgotten 3 inch warp was a joyous one.

This commission heads to the photographers next Monday, so we'll all get to see it then. As we all know, you've got nothing without the photo. And by the way, Porkchop remains unimpressed with the entire situation.

Moments after the exciting cut off

So stay tuned my friends.

Weave On!

Despite the endless cold (not the temperature, the one I have), deadline approaching....I weave on. Bobbins have been my constant companion this weekend.

The tapestry made the turn on the adapted Hagen loom last weekend and now I have 16 inches of the original 50 inches remaining.

"All Are Welcome", in process,  22 x 50 inches

One more figure to weave....

 

Can I do it? By March?

Stay tuned...

 

Time to Advance

My weaving life is consumed by this commission and it's the only tapestry growing right now at my house. Easter, the deadline, is coming up fast. Today I have reached the point where I need to advance the piece.  I keep hitting my head on the Ott light.

My progress seems good and the values of the yarn are behaving themselves, so life is good at my house.

The entire project has taken over the living room, although Porkchop remains unimpressed.

Stay tuned!

Tapestry Commission

It's been years and years since I've done something like this, a large (for me) tapestry commission.

"All are Welcome", watercolor painting and yarn samples

It all started with an RFP (request for proposals) from a church down the street. The space is a wall of the church office. This wall is visible through windows from the central church "gathering space". The piece will be 22 x 50 inches when completed.

Wow. If you know me,  you know I've been working on a 10" wide pipe loom for the past few years.

Tapestry begins, adapted Hagen loom

There have been lots of challenges, but hey, challenges are a good thing. Working on this piece reminds me how much I prefer working "on the horizontal", weaving the piece from the bottom up rather than side to side. Photography helps, you can take a photo, then rotate it to viewing orientation.

the man's face is about 4" top to bottom

The most difficult thing so far was weaving the man with the baseball cap. Because his head is tilted up toward the light the expression of the face is woven at an angle.

Whew! I was relieved when I finished that.

My other challenge is maintaining enthusiasm. I'm pleased with the piece but I'm used to working through many ideas and a lot of those are sitting on the back burner.

about 1/3 done at this point

I'm 3 inches from being 1/2 done. Started at Thanksgiving and needs to be done by Easter.

Ack!

Convergence 2016, Milwaukee!

Ah so many good memories I have of summers spent knee deep in fiber at HGA's Convergence conferences. I think I've been to 8 of them starting with Pittsburgh in 1976. What an eye opener!
Weavers know how to have fun.

Silliness at Convergence 2000 in Cincinnati

And now here I am (I know, a bit older) honored to be one of the teachers at Convergence 2016, a stones throw away in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I feel as though I have come full circle.
I appear to be celebrating with sketchbooks and chocolate, so you know I'm excited.

Happiness with Moleskine and Dove dark chocolate

I'll be bringing my little faces on the road for a 3 day workshop entitled Weaving Expression in Faces. I've been working on a couple of new samples to focus on horizontal vs. vertical weave as it pertains to the face. These two new tapestries are happy to join the group.

new gal woven on the horizontal

two friends at the bus stop woven on the vertical

When we do workshops with faces there are always a few beginners in the crowd, why not try it?
You might just weave a new friend.

This woman is thinking of going, how about you?

woman with pear

Year End Cleanup

Christmas sketching with Santa

It's time to tidy up, a new year offers me a new start and I do like to fritter away a day poking through odds and ends. I tend to get distracted and it's probably time for Santa to move on.

Bus Stop Compliments, 3.5 x 5 inches

I did rediscover a piece I finished this month under the piles and I'm just pleased enough with it that I might even finish it. I wove it for a workshop I'm teaching at Convergence 2016 in Milwaukee. Exciting stuff, more to follow.

But now it's back to sorting, balling up yarn, and wondering what that post-it note really means. I even had a sudden impulse to see if I could create that inspiring studio photo. You know, the one that immediately causes envy?

high end tapestry studio

Didn't work, but I like my selfie. Surely a hand counts for a weaver?

Selfie with Bobbin, 2015

Happy New Year to all!

Donut Man, Part 2

Donut Man, Coptic Style, 3.5 x 5 inches

Finally I cut the warp off one of my pipe looms. My previous post revealed how I seemed to have accumulated 6 warped looms in various degrees of completion.

I'm most excited because the warp I finished has Donut Man, Coptic Style, my new version of the previous sample I did for the Donut Man portrait. I've done more studies for this piece than anything I've ever done, but the explorations might be paying off.

Although I plan a more realistic approach, I was interested in simplifying shapes and values via a group of weavers I admire, the Copts. My aim was to keep the intensity of the eye and see if I could translate the expression. I chose three blue values because the bag of blue yarn was sitting next to me when I started.

An interesting experiment but I think its time to go back to the larger design and work on the setting. I'll keep you posted but it won't be started until fall.

All Are Welcome, 22 x 50 inches

A new loom has been warped (ok, I"m back to 6 again) and I haven't worked on a commission of this size in years, no doubt the subject of a future blog.

Happy Holidays and may you have warps waiting in anticipation for the New Year too...