Silvia Heyden: Tapestries

A wonderful exhibition of Silvia Heyden's work opened Tuesday night at the Betty Ray McCain Gallery  This gallery is part of the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.  What a joy to see these tapestries in person.

The exhibition was curated by Lee Hansley and a talk was presented by Silvia's daughter, Francoise Heyden.

Francoise discusses Silvia's last two tapestries.

From Above

Francoise named this tapestry, she explained that Silvia loved to fly and especially enjoyed the view of the clouds from above.

A Weaverly Path

This was Silvia's last tapestry and was cut off the loom after her death by her family.  

Francoise lovingly talked about her mother sitting at the loom staring at this tapestry without the physical strength to engage the treadles and complete the weaving.  The detail below shows the butterflies of yarn and how close to completion it was.

Detail - A Weaverly Path

The opportunity to view this work up close after viewing book illustrations and digital photos was so meaningful to me.  I so admire the tapestries and Silvia's "weaverly"  view of the world.

Greek Wave

Berea Sunset

Detail - Berea Sunset

This detail of the bottom of one of the tapestries illustrates Silvia's feather weave technique.  I submitted my entries for the ATA's Beyond the Edge on Monday.  Silvia's work is a prime example of breaking the "rules" of tapestry and creating distinctive edges.

After the Storm

Eno in Motion

Francoise stressed her mother's emphasis on movement in tapestry.  Silvia said about her work "In my decades at the loom, I have never copied images, but rather have sought to let the patterns emerge organically as dictated by the process of weaving.  Instead of superimposing a form to be woven on the weft, I have always looked with my 'loomish' eyes to see what the weft and warp would allow me to execute."

I know I will be going to see these tapestries a few more times.  Let me know if you want to come along.  I have the documentary and Silvia's book but seeing the work up close brought tears to my eyes.  Thank you Silvia and family for this opportunity.

Recombobulation Zone

My favorite thing in the world is taking tapestry classes.  It is the jammiest of my jam!  I kept stalking Ruth Manning's website to find her woven faces class.  Last May, I gave up waiting for Ruth to come south and signed up for her class at Lost Art Fiber Studio in Wisconsin.  I am so glad I did.

Last Thursday I flew into Milwaukee and drove to Waukesha.  It is a lovely little town on the Fox river.

Friday, we started class with looking at Ruth's work and enjoying freshly baked pumpkin scones and coffee Nancy lovingly provided.

Ruth's work reflects a joy and vibrancy that I love and of course her use of wedge weave with traditional techniques drew me right in.

Ruth brought an amazing variety of colors and textures for us to work with and got us started on our woven faces.

She demonstrated various techniques and because the class was small, provided lots of personal attention.

Not having a drawing or art background, I had trouble with proportion.   The upper left pic shows my fellow with way to much girth, he would have looked like the incredible hulk.  In the bottom pic, the little bit of arm gives more definition to the body.  A helpful suggestion from a classmate.

Day three, the scones were orange and almond and the coffee was plentiful.   We worked on our eyes and hair.  Such delightful characters showed up!

I love this sign just past the screening checkpost at the Milwaukee airport!  I am home and so thankful to have had this opportunity.  Ruth is a knowledgeable and generous teacher and Nancy Wilson a terrific host.  The other students were so much fun, who knew Wisconsin people are so nice.