Workshop: Tapestry Portraits from Photographs

Lost Art Fiber and Textile Studio, September 13 - 15, 2019, Waukesha, WI

Just when I think perhaps I've taught enough workshops here and there, an offer comes that's just too good to turn down, another trip to Lost Art Fiber and Textile Studio. And it's not just because Waukesha, WI is a short day trip for me or that owner Nancy Wilson is a warm and wonderful hostess. Nancy's two dogs are a pretty good draw though.

last year's workshop...it's always a good time when Dawn is there...

When Nancy suggested I return after a great workshop in fall 2018, I wanted to shift the focus in this workshop and decided to have students work on portraits from personal photographs rather than letting the weaving process dictate the design.

I marketed and sold work from my studio in Rochester, NY for several years based on this idea. I had a 3 1/2" warp on my pipe loom constantly and did solo portraits up to a dozen grandchildren and everything in between. Special requests were the most fun, it's amazing the ideas people dream up.

I scanned some old photos to show you from a book I used to show clients so they had an idea of how I worked. I wanted to encourage many photos rather than just one. And of course pets appeared quite often.

But, speaking of pets, look at this wonderful weaving one of my students shared with me a few weeks ago. Linda came to a face making workshop last year in IL and has woven some wonderful faces since, then the dogs arrived!

aren't these guys super cute? I love dogs...

Linda has started the base of the weaving and has the main shapes drawn and behind the weaving

the finished tapestry, 12 epi, 8"wide x 6" long

So if you'd like to join us in September this year to work with tapestry weaving, photographs, and like-minded friends, contact Nancy for more information here and let me know if you have any questions.

Hope to see you there!

Update on the Panels, Hallway Transitions

Winter has it's icy grip on Wisconsin.

I seem to have chosen a long term weaving project that mimics the colors I have seen outside for the past 3 months, neutrals or near neutrals. As March approaches I'm wondering if this is a good idea, but it may all work out as the weaving extends into July. Ice colored yarns may help with mosquito season.

back in Nov when you could still see ground, lots of color inspiration outside that day

An update on what I'm calling Panel 1/Hallway Transitions, just to organize it as I weave. This morning I reached the eye of person 2 in this group. So far I think the values are holding together.

I find I am very grateful I took the time to do those samples. They are pinned to a board and next to me as a reference, referred to daily.

More updates to follow as the seasons come and go.

these panels will be woven on the vertical, 8 1/2 " wide, 10 epi

overlapping camo shirt of person 2, lower right corner

organizing yarn selection for next person, much lighter values

where I am today, February 24

Big Ideas Take a Long Time to Develop

And so it has been with "Hallway Transitions", the working title of this idea.
Regular readers of this blog may think I've given up weaving entirely in favor of sketching. I'm the first to admit an obsession with drawing, but weaving has been bubbling away in the background.

these tapestry cartoons are 8 " high and meant to be woven side to side

In order to create a larger group of work for my Substitute Tales idea, I decided a year ago to work on a few tapestries with groups of students from my daily substitute teaching journals. I worked with those sketches, combining groups by cutting out crayon drawings and moving the pieces around, finally drawing three strips with a black crayon.

At a loss of how to continue, I decided last summer to do watercolors of the 3 drawings.

The only thing this did was create more confusion. Adding color didn't seem to help move this idea forward.

I spoke with a few people who's opinion I value greatly and two of them mentioned that they preferred the black and white approach. I filed the watercolors away and focused on the neutral.

I chose to do a 6" sample of the 8"  high drawing...I'm staying with the 8" /10 epi for the final piece

Fall 2018 began and I knew I was not ready to start weaving. I sorted through yarns I had dyed during the summer, organized them into value and realized I needed to weave a warp of samples. I put a 6 inch warp on my pipe loom and completed 4 samples by the first day of 2019.

I tried weaving on the horizontal for this final sample, but will stick with the vertical

I learned so much weaving those samples: yarn value choices, weaving with new types of fiber, leaving holes, horizontal vs vertical. I think I might be ready to start weaving the first piece.

So guess what I did this morning?

it's warped!

Hallway Transitions is moving forward...

Happy New Year Dear Readers

And what a wonderful calm and quiet start we have had here in Madison....snow quietly falling, weaving and sketching happening.

it appears that cupcake t just got a little snow icing on it

I'm participating in my traditional weaving of words in the new year; it's not a tapestry diary, but hey...it's a tradition.
I like to weave these word strips to provide fodder for my morning coffee routine. Weaving as I drink coffee for the first hour of the day is a tradition I started when my daughter was born. Time for myself.  My day really doesn't start right without it.

the front side of the loom, quite dramatic isn't it?

the flip side, two separate strips woven concurrently

This happens to be the end of a warp, a great opportunity for woven words and why not side by side? The piece on the left is a gift for a dear friend; the piece on the right was something that was spur of the moment (my favorite kind of idea), why not weave a piece for the deck posts?
I wonder what words I'm weaving...

I've been nailing tapestries to the deck posts for a few years now, ones that have languished in boxes, not living up to some standard or other. No one seemed to want them, but why shouldn't they be able to see the light of day?

this sad little landscape is much happier out on the deck post

And snow and rain and the attention of a few squirrels it seems.

So now here I am weaving a piece for the great outdoors. Who knows what other craziness will occur in 2019....

After all, you never know until you try, right?

Stay creative in 2019...please.
And don't forget to enjoy it.

Workshop Samples

This is fun to look at, my entire year of workshop samples have been cut off the loom. I did go a bit crazy on the workshop circuit this year and it's a good thing I stopped at four because the loom I had warped was entirely full.

Must be the end of the year is approaching.

My cast of characters fresh from the loom

These samples are woven at the workshop and used to demonstrate a technique or design strategy. I don't plan them out beforehand because I work on these pieces as I get requests during the class. I often bring the loom back with me at night to finish a section in preparation for the following day. The loom was warped with 12/9 seine twine at 8 epi, 4 inches wide.

Yarns are usually grabbed from a table and because of that, surprising things happen.

Architecture with the Milwaukee Guild, a pleasant surprise...

Lost Art Fiber Workshop, she appears a bit wistful, missing the good old days I guess...

Illinois Prairie Weavers, this woman has some attitude problems, don't be so judgemental!

St Louis Guild, some sort of strange Candyland ....

This last sample is a good example of surprises. I was teaching a workshop based on creating a still life of desserts; cupcakes, cookies, pies and the like. After every demonstration I did, the piece continued to grow into a pastry filled sea.

A little fantasy in your life can be a good thing.

Workshop with Illinois Prairie Weavers

It's a treat to teach a workshop nearby, so when Kathy contacted me last year last year to see if I was interested in coming to the Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild for a workshop I was certainly game. Better yet, they chose the workshop that really is at the heart of what I do, Weaving Expression in Faces.

as you can see, I apparently had a good time...

Yes it is weaving people and that makes you nervous, but really...it's just shapes.

Paula and Suzanne sharing ideas...

Each group I teach tends to have it's own personality. This group had a wide variety of ideas, a WIDE variety. Ideas are my thing, you can't have art making without them as far as I'm concerned. Knowledge of technique will vary in any workshop, but the seeds for these face ideas came from all sorts of places.

You want outside the box?, get to know Sheri...I was enchanted

Many of the pieces from the workshop were not completed to the extent that you can see the idea (and yes IPW folks, if you are reading this) yet I'm sure they are committed to finishing, the ideas felt just that compelling.

And these aren't even all of them, only the ones I took decent pictures of!

Blanche has a special place in my heart, a fellow elementary art teacher

and it shows in her work

Cathy's very ambitious FIRST tapestry, and she's doing it!

Pippi Longstocking in process, I love it Maxine

Paula did a very interesting interpretation of a painting by her mother

a fascinating expression by Suzanne

Regardless, it's in their hands now, as happens with all artists.

it would be hard to find a more 'chill' student than Billie, love her

her finished piece posted on Facebook - way to go Billie!

I just want to thank them for letting me come and spend time with them, learn from them as well and see the friendship and goodwill that comes from making art together.

Try it sometime.

Thanks IPW.

A Sketching Expedition

I told you about the wonderful workshop I had in Waukesha WI, now I want to take a minute to share a few sketches from an experiment I will definitely repeat, my Drawing Expedition 2018.

cool cafe in Waukesha

so nice to stay at Nancy's house and be greeted by her dogs...

I decided, as I was planning details for my workshop, that I would extend my trip further east, visit family and friends and spend time along the way in places I'd never been, drawing in my sketchbook.

It was so fulfilling I won't hesitate to do it again.

I'd never spent time in Michigan and I discovered Marshall, a town you should visit.

Who doesn't want to go to a Magic Museum?

Ashtabula was only a stop on I 90 in Ohio for years, you should see the drawbridge there.

And sometimes a rainy day at a laundromat can enrich your day.

I'm so grateful I have a passion for sketching the things I see as I live this life. It's even better when I can share them with you.