Northern New Mexico Studio Tour

In conjunction with Small Tapestry International 2: Passages, the American Tapestry Alliance organized a Northern New Mexico Studio Tour on Saturday, April 2. We had a mini-bus with local tapestry artist and blogger Rebecca Mezoff as our guide, and a very pleasant and reassuring driver, who ferried us to four studios in the area.The first stop was Metier Gallery, in Dixon, where we saw all kinds of handwoven items, from rugs and tapestries, to baskets and delicious wearables. Next was Centinela Traditional Arts, in Chimayo, which is owned by the renowned Rio Grande weavers, Irvin and Lisa Trujillo.

Jeane George Weigel wrote two wonderful and thoroughly researched stories about them, with photos and video, on her blog High Road Artist. After you read about Irvin, read part 1, about Lisa here.Both Irvin and Lisa weave gorgeous tapestries and rugs and have won many honors and awards. They also operate a business that sells their own work and that of other local weavers to collectors around the world, enabling many weavers to earn a living.

Lisa showed us how quickly she can weave a large Saltillo rug, standing at the old loom that Irvin’s father built.

Then we watched Irvin weave on the 12 foot wide loom he designed and built himself.  Very impressive and inspiring.

I’m intrigued by the standing looms. I suspect they may be better for the body than sitting all day long.

A fabric weaver friend was diagnosed with a case of Weaver’s Bottom (really!), and standing would certainly prevent that! I don’t know if it’s hard on the feet or any other body parts…. 

We had lunch at the famous Rancho de Chimayo, where we enjoyed comparing the amount of heat in the red sauce vs the green.  I thought the red was a bit hotter, but both were pretty mild.

Then on to Ortegas Weaving Shop, also in Chimayo. This spacious shop has huge piles of rugs from small mug rugs and placemats, to large floor rugs, all with simple traditional designs.

I think the delicate white lines in this piece are called jaspe, but I can’t find any confirmation of that. Please let me know if I’m wrong. Ortega’s also sells clothing made from the handwoven wool fabric.  The last studio we visited was the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, a cooperative gallery and educational facility.

You can buy all kinds of fiber art there, as well as materials and equipment. 

I was delighted to find some of the lovely white wool warp (Clasgens) that I’d seen Lisa Trujillo using. It’s thinner than any other wool tapestry warp I’ve used before, and I think it will work at 10 epi. I can’t wait to try it out!

We used one of the rooms at EVFAC for a slide show of work by Rebecca Mezoff and Cornelia Theimer Gardella  (Connie).

The slide show included images from  Interwoven Traditions: New Mexico and Bauhaus, a collaboration between Rebecca, Connie, and James Koehler. The exhibit traveled from a modern Albuquerque gallery to a small church, in the medieval town of Erfurt, Germany, last summer and fall. Such beautiful work.

After the slide show, Connie showed us some actual tapestries, and dye samples (left). We were all impressed with Connie’s perfect tapestry circle, which, as any  tapestry weaver can tell you, is very difficult to achieve.

My photo was taken from a strange angle as the tapestry is fairly large, and it was lying on a table, but you can still see how smoothly the curves are woven.

It was a wonderful day, and in addition to visiting the studios, we had the excellent company of our fellow tapestry artists. It was fun catching up with old friends and getting acquainted with new. We arrived back at the hotel with about a half hour to clean up and walk across the street for the opening reception at Weaving Southwest.

Technorati Tags: tapestry weaving,New Mexico weaving,Rio Grande weaving

Small Tapestry International 2: Passages

When I entered this show, and saw that the first venue was Weaving Southwest, in Taos, NM, I told myself “If I get in, I’m going to the opening.”   I did, so I did!I arrived in New Mexico last Thursday, and spent the weekend basking in the dry, sunny, and at times quite warm weather. Aaaahhh. . . After this horrible winter, and the cold rainy spring so far, it was quite a relief.

I stayed at the Historic Taos Inn, a lovely un-hotel-like place, and right across the street from Weaving Southwest. Did I mention that I love Weaving Southwest? and Taos? Now I love the Taos Inn too.  I spent most of Friday wandering around Taos looking for a necklace or earrings to match the red border of my tapestry, and luckily I found both! I like to dress to match my tapestries when I attend opening receptions, just in case someone takes my picture in front of my tapestry; wouldn’t want to clash! 

I had lunch with fellow tapestry blogger, Kathy Spoering, who was in town to review the show.

Then I attended an Arlo Guthrie concert at the little auditorium right next door to the Taos Inn. Awesome concert, by the way, he’s an amazing performer.The opening reception was quite well attended, and I’m sorry I didn’t take enough photos, but I was buy schmoozing.  You can see all of the tapestries in the very reasonably priced catalog, or visit the exhibit either in Taos, or at one of the 2 other venues:

Handforth Gallery, Tacoma, WA   June 1 - July 2, 2011

The Cultural Center at Glen Allen, VA   Sept 15 - Oct 30, 2011

The exhibit is sponsored by the American Tapestry Alliance. Kay Lawrence, the Director of the South Australian School of Art, was the juror, and the show includes 47 tapestries by 41 artists.

My tapestry is the latest in my Chaos series.

I have a hard time remembering which of the Chaotic Fragments are Parts 1,2,3 and 4, so I decided to give this one has its own name: “Turning From Chaos.”  It’s 10 x 10 inches.

Technorati Tags: Tapestry Weaving,Weaving Southwest,Tapestry Exhibits,Small Tapestry International

Tribute to James Koehler

The first time I met James was a few years ago, at the Fiber Art Center in Amherst, where he spoke to TWiNE (Tapestry Weavers in New England). I had seen his amazing work of course, and knew how successful he was, so I was quite surprised to find him unassuming, friendly and kind.  His lecture was thought provoking and inspiring.

Last summer, after Convergence in Albuquerque, I went to St John’s College in Santa Fe, for the ATA retreat “Tapestry Enchantment,”  where I spent 3 days learning from James. I discovered that his reputation for being an incredibly generous teacher was well earned.

 On the first day, James talked to us about creating layers of image and/or meaning in our designs. I was working on sketches of Moon Snails, and once he realized I was drawing a complete blank, he suggested the word Moon!  Pretty obvious, but it had not occurred to me. My design process does not involve a lot of thinking, so after the initial excitement, I was still baffled as to how the moon could be incorporated into a design with the snail, and decided to forget it.

That evening in my room, I decided to draw the shell again, only because my first drawing was too small. I felt my drawing needed more depth, and decided to draw the shadow. In one magical moment I realized: the shadow of my broken moon snail shell was a perfect waning moon! 

James invited all 32 of the retreat participants to visit his home and studio one evening. Here are a few photos from that visit.

Although he could be wickedly funny at times, this photo shows how seriously he listened when his students asked him questions. He told us that if we had questions later we could email him, and if he felt it required more than an email he would talk to us on the phone. He said that once we took his class we would be his students forever, and he was right about that. I’m sure none of his students will forget what they learned from him.

Seeing his luminous hand dyed yarns on the shelves, and his tapestries on the walls was inspiring. Everything about James was inspiring. I was  completely shocked to hear of his death. It is a huge loss for the many many people who were touched by this exceptional artist and man.

Perhaps the best tribute will be for his students to make an extra effort to live up to his example, in our art and in our lives.

 

Technorati Tags: James Koehler,Tapestry Weaving

Moon Snails All Over

I have always loved Moon Snails. I find them on the beach at Cape Cod, and out on the flats at low tide. Usually they are broken, but sometimes not.

One day I brought home a handful of them, and was standing in the front yard chatting with a neighbor when I felt a tickling in my hand. A hermit crab had set up house in one of the shell fragments! So I had to carry him back to the beach.

Some of my shells are Sharks Eye, which are a type of Moon Snail. My favorites are the Northern Moon Snails, which are more colorful and have more dramatic spirals, like this one.

The spirals always go the same direction: clockwise from the center, when you look at the outside of the shell.

My brother, who reads a lot, tells me that there are rare snail shells that go counter clockwise, so I am on a lifelong quest for  the “widdershins” Moon Snail! (Did you ever wonder what they called it before the invention of the clock?)

I have been drawing and painting Moon Snails for about 30 years. This is an oil painting I did in graduate school, about 1981 I think!

 Last summer I took a workshop with James Koehler, and he asked us each to bring along supporting materials for a concept or symbol of our choice. I brought Moon Snails.

This is the sketch I came up with for a small tapestry: a broken Moon Snail shell, with a shadow that is a perfect waning moon!

That was in July, and I have still not finished it. It’s being woven sideways, the left side in this photo will be the top of the tapestry. In other words, I will turn the tapestry clockwise when it’s done.

I got stuck on that thin yellow curve, and had to figure out a better way to do it. Now that I fixed that, I should be able to finish it pretty quickly, and I will….tomorrow…..or maybe the next day.

Meanwhile, my 2011 Sketch Diary is well on its way. Every day I draw in one of the squares. My rules are fairly simple.

Rule #1 Sketch every day  #2 No going back to fix what I did the day before. #3 Don’t think too much or judge what I’ve done #4 Draw what I feel like drawing  #5 Work quickly.

I started page 1 with Moon Snails, thinking I would change the subject for page 2, but I ended up doing 3 pages of Moon Snails!  I just started page 4 and it is much more abstract. More about that later. Here is page 1. So many Moon Snails!

“An Artist at Work!”

Last Saturday I took my show on the road, to the American Textile History Museum, where I demonstrated tapestry weaving outside the gallery where the American Tapestry Biennial (ATB8) is installed.

I love weaving in public, and answering all the questions.

As usual I brought my Harrisville “Friendly Loom,” which is just a frame on legs, with pegs for the warp.

The height is adjustable, so it fits easily in my car. I don’t use the pegs, because when I tried, my very tightly wound seine twine warp pulled the frame out of whack.

So instead, I just wind the warp around the frame, which means I can weave on both the front and the back. 

I put a piece of black poster board between the two sides so my eyes don’t get confused seeing both warps at the same time.

For this demonstration I put two narrow warps on the loom.

I started a simple geometric tapestry using the initials of the museum ATHM, woven sideways, on the right, and a landscape, also woven sideways, on the left.

The colored designs are taped to the top of the loom, and inked cartoons are stitched to the back of each tapestry .

This loom has no shedding mechanism, so I use a shed stick for one, and pick up the other by hand. I like weaving this way.

If you live near Lowell, Massachusetts, go see ATB8, and better yet, enjoy one of the upcoming lectures:

March 13, 2011  Under the Influence; or Is It Just Inspiration? 2 PM    

Susan Martin Maffei explores the effect of textile history, both of the past and personal, on the creative process and growth of her own work in tapestry. Her path, including an overseas internship, commercial studio work, and gallery conservation of antique textiles, provides insights into the development of the artist/ weaver of the 21st century.

April 10, 2011 Anne Jackson: Knotted Tapestries   2 PM

Anne Jackson makes vibrant, complex tapestries exploring contemporary ideas, often in a historical context. Focusing on her current project, 'The Witchcraft Series', her illustrated talk will cover the development of her work and take a wry look at the place of textiles in the art world.

May 1, 2011 Bodies of Work   2 PM

Focusing on the human form in tapestry, Micala Sidore examines the history of tapestry weaving from an Andean culture in 500 BCE to the present. For both newcomers to tapestry and those in-the-know, she suggests an approach to viewing tapestries, understanding what makes them successful, and appreciating the weaver’s work.