Still Weaving

Just not blogging much. Facebook is so much easier! 

I keep thinking the Chaos Series is over, but apparently not....

(click on image to see full sized)

 Whirling Chaos   8.5 x 8.5"

Sun Sets on Chaos   16 x 24"

Tapestry Touring International: The Natural World

This touring exhibition opened at The Guildhall, Much Wenlock, Shropshire, UK, in October, 2022, and was open for the month. The second venue will be in March, 2023, at Kirkleatham Museum. My tapestry is titled "Earth Bleeds."

Pandemic Tapestries

Here I am, more than a year since the last entry. The pandemic seems to be receding in our state, and to a lesser extent in our country, and since we are fully vaccinated we can now visit with family members. We got to meet our new grand baby in April! Yay for us! 

BUT: I just read that for the unvaccinated, there is as much risk now, as there was during the January surge, and in many other countries the situation is dire, with health care systems overwhelmed. This is not over. 

Chaos: Pandemic

This small tapestry was the first one I wove during the pandemic. 

It is small, only 5 x 4 inches and was the first tapestry woven on my new Mirrix Saffron loom.

Chaos: Pandemic Nights

This is the second pandemic tapestry, also woven on the same small loom. 

Both of these are part of the long series of Chaos tapestries. I keep thinking that series is finished, but then there always seems to be a little more chaos to deal with.

I also finished the large Chaos tapestry that had been languishing on my loom for a few years, finally! It's still waiting to be hemmed and photographed, but here is a detail.

Sun Sets on Chaos

Social Distancing and the Tapestry Weaver

2020 Tapestry Diary, Jan - March

Of course my first reaction, when I was told to stay home, was GREAT! I get to spend hours every day weaving and painting and playing piano and dulcimer and reading books and working in the garden and and and...

Well, I have been weaving my tapestry diary every day. This is it so far, all parallelograms this year, and so far the colors are wintry. That will change soon. For more about my tapestry diaries see here, with links to older posts.

Wintersweet, detail

I finished the small piece for the Unjuried Small Format exhibit that was planned for this summer. Due to uncertainty about the gallery being open, it will now be online, on the American Tapestry Alliance website instead of hanging on a wall. There will still be a printed catalog, and each artist will get a complimentary copy. When the exhibit was here, in 2014, I was the exhibition chair, and we exhibited 219 tapestries from all over the world! Such a fun show! Here is a small detail because I hate to spoil the surprise before the exhibit opens. Title "Wintersweet."

More Chaos in Progress

It took me 2 weeks to get back to my neglected tapestry, the one I THOUGHT would be the last of the Chaos series. It is dawning on me how timely this theme still is, and I suspect there will be more after this one. Here it is in progress, on the loom with bobbins dangling. I have about 8 inches left to go, and I hope to finish it before Memorial Day.

As for the Corvid19 Pandemic, when my governor requested that everyone over 65 should just stay home, 3 1/2 weeks ago, it was kind of a relief since going out had been getting nerve wracking. A few days later the library where I work was closed (as they all are now), the Y where I swim closed, and everything was cancelled. I am lucky to live in an area where I can go for walks without passing more than a handful of people. I am discovering how nice it is not to be driving hither and yon doing errands daily. We are living through a moment in history that will be written about and remembered, and I can only hope that we are doing everything we can to help each other. Stay home, and stay well.

What's happening?

I think it's time for an update on where my tapestries are traveling to, which will be useful for me when I start wondering where they might be....

This small tapestry, "Phantom Trees," is at the Wickford Art Association's Members Exhibit until August 11, 2019. Check it out soon!

"Into the Mist" is in Small Tapestry International 6: Beyond the Edge. The first venue at Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA, it ended last week (sorry if you live nearby and missed it....)  The second venue is Augustana Teaching Museum of Art, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL and the opening reception is September 6, 2019. For more info and to purchase the print catalog go here.

Three of my small Chaos tapestries are traveling to Maine for this exhibit:

tapestry: the new wave

August 6-31, Down East Gallery, Edgecomb, ME

(Click on the postcard to enlarge it)

COMING SOON:


IMPACT: climate change



a collaborative exhibition by TWW (Tapestry Weavers West) and TWiNE (Tapestry Weavers in New England).

First venue: Belmont Gallery of Art, Belmont, MA - Sept 8 - Oct 13, 2109 (reception Sept 15, 1-3)
Second venue: Mills Building, San Francisco, CA, Dec 16, 2019 - March 13, 2020 (reception Jan 30, 2020, 5.30-7.30)

Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water

LaDonna Mayer, Earth: Silk Tree

This exhibition of small tapestries included 10 artists each, from USA, UK and Australia. The first venue was Australia National University in Canberra. From there it traveled to Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Australia; Riversley Art Gallery and Museum, Nuneaton, UK and The Guildhall, Much Wenlock, UK.

Janet Austin, Earth: Another Forest Through the Trees

The 5th and final venue for this exhibit at the Bob Owens Gallery, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA, ended today. I went there for a reception and a workshop by Jane Freear-Wyld (the organizer of the exhibit). Tommye Scanlin helped to make this venue possible. My tapestry is "Another Forest Through the Trees." 8 x 9" (above)

Letitia Roller: Water: The Hea(r)t of it All - Glacier Melt

THE ARTISTS:

AUSTRALIA: Sally Blake-Edwards, Dan Edwards, Brenda Goggs, Dimity Kidston, Valerie Kirk, Lisa Molvig, Whitely Rosenberg, Shunyam Smith, Anton Veenstra, Diana Wood-Conroy.

Valerie Kirk, Earth: Indigo Fossil (left) Christine Sawyer, Water: Loss (right)

UK: Jackie Bennett, Janet Clark, Joyce Coulton, Jane Freear-Wyld, Victoria Green, Beryl Hammill, Lindsey Marshall, Christine Paine, Christine Sawyer, Mike Wallace.

Anton Veenstra, Earth: 3 Steps 2 Heaven (left) Christine Paine, Fire: Born of Fire

USA: Janet Austin, Mary Cost, Alex Friedman, Tricia Goldberg, Mary Lane, Tommye McClure Scanlin, LaDonna Mayer, Letitia Roller, Kathe Todd-Hooker, Sarah Warren.

Dimity Kidston, Water: Waves Rolling In (left) Lindsey Marshall, Four Elements: Water, Air, Fire and Earth (right)

The staff at the Bob Owens Gallery did a great job hanging this show.  So often small work is jammed together, and in this case, there was plenty of space so one could appreciate each tapestry.

Many thanks to Jane Freear-Wyld, who devoted herself to making this all happen. Here is her tapestry.

Jane Freear-Wyld, Earth: Canadian Rockies at Dawn

Oops, Bad Blogger!

It's embarassing to see that the last post was almost a year ago!!! Clearly I am no longer a dedicated blogger. Times have changed. Facebook is easier.  I use a phone and iPad more now, and my computer much less. (I do NOT want to struggle with Blogger on a small screen, it's enough of a hassle on the computer!

After the last post, I was traveling most of the time for 4 months. Being away from the studio is limiting, I can't take my big tapestry loom with me, so the tapestry I started way back when is just a border so far. Sigh.


I made some small tapestries on travel looms. First I worked on wedge weave, which I learned in a workshop with Connie Lippert last year. I really enjoy it. I don't plan these, they just kind of happen. That's a different way of working for me. If you don't know, wedge weave is woven on the diagonal instead of horizontally. It required a different way of thinking. Above  is "Wind on the Water," my favorite wedge weave so far.

Later, I wove 2 very small tapestries on my Hokett loom, based on photos I took at the Valere Basilica in Sion, Valais, Switzerland. One is a detail of this lovely stone roofed house. The Hokett looms fit easily in my suitcase.

Coming home just before Thanksgiving, it took me a while to get back into the studio. One distraction was the enormous (93 year old, I counted the rings) oak tree that had fallen on both of our cars while we were away.

In March, we lost 8 trees in a nor'easter, and are still waiting for the yard to be repaired, sigh.

I promise to post again before next year. There is news on the tapestry diary front.

Time Warp...and Weft

From June 15 - July 29 at the Lyndon House Arts Center in Athens, GA.

[NOTE: click on photos to see them larger]

Tommye Scanlin, 2015 and 2016 Tapestry Diaries

The theme of this exhibit is artists who weave about time. This is the second venue of the show, and we have added work by Rebecca Mezoff this time.

The first was the NOTO Arts Center in Topeka, KS, November 2016, and featured the work of Tommye Scanlin, Janette Meetze, Kathy Spoering, Geri Forkner and me, Janet Austin.

I was lucky enough to attend both opening receptions.

Tommye Scanlin (GA) was the first of us to weave a tapestry diary, and she inspired me to start. Tommye also gets the credit for proposing this exhibit, helping to organize it, and for writing an article about it for the summer 2017 issue of Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot. You can read Tommye's blog post about the opening reception on her blog.

Janette Meetze (OK) exhibited her beautiful 2014 tapestry diary, Red Dirt Days, in the American Tapestry Biennial 11, an international juried exhibition. People are really interested in this idea. You can read about her work on her blog.

Janette Meetze - Red Dirt Days

Kathy Spoering (CO) wove her Calendar Series, 12 tapestries that each represent one month of the year, over a period of 8 years. It was awesome to see them all hanging together. Kathy also made the Topeka exhibit possible. You can read about that on her blog.

Kathy Spoering - Calendar Series

Rebecca Mezoff - Petrified Forest Tapestry Diary

Rebecca Mezoff (CO) spent the month of November 2016 as the artist-in-residence at Petrified Forest National Park, and wove a small, 2x2" tapestry every day.

Later, she put together a book of photos that shows each tapestry with its inspiration. You can read about it (and buy a copy if you want!) on her blog.

Geri Forkner (TN) has been making her daily weavings since 2005. They are all made from things that come into her life (often on her many walks), and she has a rule against buying things for the weavings.

When you see them hanging in the gallery they create a space, and as people walk through, disturbing the air, the weavings sway as if they are alive. You can read more about this work here.

Geri Forkner - Daily Weavings

Oh yeah, Janet Austin (RI) has been weaving tapestry diaries since 2010. It's a daily practice that gets me into the studio, it's an exercise that warms up my weaving muscles, it's a meditation and a path to creativity. You can read more about it here, and follow the links to earlier tapestry diary posts.

Janet Austin - 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 Tapestry Diaries

Tapestry Diaries Going on the Road

NOTO Arts Center, Topeka, KS, will host "Time Warp...and Weft," in November and December 2016 .

The opening reception is on Friday, November 4th, the same night as American Tapestry Biennial 11, at the Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, also in Topeka.

[LEFT: 2015 Tapestry Diary, 45 x 12"]

The exhibit will include tapestry diaries and other works that relate to time, by Tommye Scanlin, Kathy Spoering, Janette Meetze, Geri Forkner and Janet Austin.

For more about my tapestry diaries, here is a blog post that describes what they are about. It also has links to earlier posts.

There are 2 posts about the 2015 diary here and here. I'm embarassed to admit that there are NO posts yet about the 2016 diary, though it is already mid-October. Bad Bad Blogger!!!!

I shipped 3 boxes, with 11 pieces last week. Some of them have never left the studio before, so it's very exciting. 

I will be attending the opening reception and hope to see lots of old and new friends there.

Happy Holidays to All

Long ago, before we were all photoshopping like mad, I had an idea for how to send out "Handwoven Tapestry" holiday cards to 80 people, without weaving 80 tapestries or even paying for 80 prints.

You can read about my Tapestry Holiday Cards in an older post on this blog. Just click the link.

A few days ago, I took the time to visit the Newport Art Museum. This is where my "large" tapestry, "Chaos: After the Storm" has been residing since late August, in the Art League of Rhode Island Members Exhibit. At the opening reception, in September, it was so mobbed that I only got to see half the show, and none of it from a distance. (NOTE: you can click on any photo to see it bigger)

Here is my "large" tapestry (21x33," not so big, but large for me), looking rather small and insignificant hanging on a VERY large wall, among larger works of art. (Second from right, on the bottom) Oh well, it will look enormous hanging in my studio next to its much smaller siblings. Here it is all by itself.

The 2015 Tapestry Diary, is almost done! I will post the complete diary once it's cut off the loom, sometime in January. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits: On TOP is December (Chagall) and a bit of November (Rothko) MIDDLE is October (Jawlensky) and BELOW is September (Johns) and a bit of August (Klee)

Enjoy your holidays, and I'll see you next year, in 2016

Still Here, Still Weaving

Sorry for being such a lazy blogger......these days it seems easier to just post a few photos on facebook with my iPad mini, instead of firing up the laptop. How times have changed....

The big news is that the BIG tapestry (big for me, 21x33") is finally finished, after languishing on my Glimakra loom for over 3 years!!! The title is "Chaos: After the Storm." I got it done just in time for the Art League of RI Members' Exhibition at the Newport Art Museum. The dates are September 5, 2015 - January 3, 2016, and the reception will be Friday, September 25, 5-7pm.

I hate to spoil the surprise, so until after the exhibit opens, I will only share details, not the entire tapestry.

Meanwhile, my small tapestry "Forest Through the Trees" has traveled to Australia, as it was a finalist for the Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries. I am so honored to be chosen for this exhibit, which "was created in honor of the former Deputy Director of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, who passed away in 2008. She was a wonderful role model and leader, and influenced the lives of many young artists." (And some old ones too)

You can see the fabulous winning tapestry by New Zealand artist Marilyn Rea-Menzies here, and if you scroll down there is a downloadable pdf. catalog.

My small tree tapestry, "Anticipation," is traveling with the American Tapestry Alliance's Small Tapestry International 4: Honoring Tradition, Inspiring Innovation.

STI4 opened first at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA; the second venue is the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover DE, October 2-Nov 22, and the third venue will be Artspace in Raleigh, NC, from January 16-March 5, 2016. Details on the ATA website. That's a long time for a little tapestry to be away from home.....

I just got back from my annual vacation on Cape Cod, and as usual the sunsets were amazing. I came home full of ideas for new work and resolutions for improving myself (haha). Much more than January 1, September feels like the real new year.

Tapestry Diary Update

I explained in my previous post about what this year's tapestry diary is all about. You can read about it here.

By now you have probably heard about the crazy snowy winter we had. It started with a blizzard on January 23, 19 inches of powdery snow. After that we had 2 or 3 snow storms a week for about 6 weeks, and then went down to a storm a week until the very end of March.

My February diary was based on a Paul Klee painting that was all saturated colors blended with black. When I started it on February 1st we had only had 2 snowstorms, and little did I know what was ahead!!!

So by the time March rolled around I decided it would make sense to weave something white for the next month, using a painting by Cy Twombly, "Study for the Presence of a Myth." (above)

For April I am using a Miro painting "Peinture." The warm (for April) yellowish color is very hard to capture, so I have created at least 10 different weft blends. This one will be really fun to weave!


Unfortunately I rolled the warp around the loom before getting a picture of the entire diary so far! Here is a photo of most of March and April 1st.

Below is a photo of January, February and part of March, so you can get an idea of what the whole thing might look like now. I took the pictures with my iPad so the colors a bit off (the whites seem to burn out cause of my bright Ott light)

I measured and I am very happy to see that I can fit the entire year on the same warp. Yay! Less finishing!

2015 - New Year, New Tapestry Diary

This year will be my 5th tapestry diary. I started in 2010, then took 2011 off, and started up again in 2012. You can read more about my philosophy in earlier blog posts, all the links are on this entry.

It certainly makes New Years into an exciting holiday!

(Below: Dec 2014) 

The basic idea is to set up a plan, with rules, so that every day I can sit down and weave for 20-30 minutes, without having to make any major decisions. It is a small thing, but when you do it every day, then all the days add up to a year, which is not a small thing.

(Confession: in 2013 I decided to weave 5 days a week and take weekends off. That makes it much easier to catch up if I have to miss a week day because of travel)

This is the 2014 tapestry diary, just cut off 4 different looms, and still looking very messy. Since we were traveling for 4 months, I designed it to fit on a small wooden frame loom. Each of these is one month, and they are 3 inches wide. Sorry it's not a very good photo.

Since we knew we would be overseas for 3 months, I planned last year's diary to fit on a small wooden frame loom when necessary.

One big problem, since I hate the finishing so much, is that I now have TWELVE separate pieces to finish!!!! Luckily, I remembered to put in a row of knots at the beginning and end of each, so that saves one step. I might even leave the warps showing. I will probably frame them in groups.

The 2015 Tapestry Diary will be woven on this Archie Brennan style copper pipe loom. (Plans are available here for personal use only, not to sell. Or buy one already made). Mine sits on an aluminum artists easel.

For the weaving readers, I am using 8 epi of cotton seine twine. The 2014 diary used 16 epi of fine seine twine, but I mostly wove it at 8 epi using the warps doubled. It was very useful to make steeper diagonals and tighter verticals, but it is so much easier and more comfortable using the heavier warp. My fingers are not as nimble as they used to be.

(Above: the first 2 days of 2015)

The idea for this year's tapestry diary came to me in a flash, on November 11. That's the day our new grandson was born. We were in Switzerland for 3 months, and planning to fly home on November 20, his due date, but he arrived 9 days early, taking us by surprise.

I was in the gift shop at the Basel Historical Museum, selecting tapestry postcards, when my cell phone rang. It was my husband calling from the house (2 hours train ride away).

He had just arrived home from his mountain hike to find an email with the announcement. I stood there with tears of joy streaming down my cheeks, then shared the good news with the cashier, who congratulated me and shook my hand.

I had planned to visit the Basel Kunstmuseum (Art Museum) next, but for a moment I thought "What the hell am I doing here, so far from home and my grandbaby?" It was tempting to hop the next train back to Interlaken so I could at least see a picture of him.

Instead, I went ahead and visited the modern galleries at the museum. I was admiring some abstract expressionist paintings when the idea came to me: each month I will weave my tapestry diary using one painting for inspiration. I will only use paintings I have seen in person.

The following week I visited the Kunstmuseum in Bern to get more ideas.  I jotted down the names of some favorites and then last week I printed a bunch of them from photos online.

I am weaving a rectangle 2 1/2 inches wide and about 3/4 inch tall every day (5 days a week). For January I am using a painting by Sean Scully, called Grey Wolf. There is a short video about it here. (You can't tell, but it is really big). I created a template with transparent mylar, and I use it to find a section that is interesting. Then I use tracing paper and a pencil to make a very quick cartoon. I have a stack of these and will choose one each day, perhaps at random. I don't know if I will use the same approach in subsequent months.

I am undecided as to how many pieces will make up the year. I am thinking perhaps 4 pieces, but I will decide later when I have a better idea how the months will fit together.

So, here I go!

PS A great story about the Basel Kunstmuseum: it belongs to the city, and the people of Basel voted, in the 1960s, to spend tax money to buy a Picasso painting for their museum. Picasso was so moved by this that he donated some more paintings, and then at least one collector donated some, so now they own lots of Picassos!