Staying Connected

I am laying on my couch procrastinating, you know the feeling.  There is a long list of to do items and my inner pajama clad toddler wants nothing to do with any of that grownup stuff.  I want to stay comfy on the couch looking at pretty tapestry stuff on my tablet.  A waste of time you say... I think not.

In my direct field of vision is this tapestry hanging on the wall.  Holding Space.  I thoroughly enjoyed planning this,  dyeing the yarn and weaving it.  The fingers are itching to weave again.  My quilting is a lovely way of working feelings out in a textile and tangible way but lacks the gravitas of tapestry weaving for me.

Holding Space

I specify for me as for others who painstakingly quilt thousands of tiny pieces by hand with much precision I am sure there is gravitas.  Crap!  I am not using that word correctly. Webster defines gravitas as dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner.   What I mean is that for me tapestry is Slow and Hard! 

 The tapestry muse left several months ago, the desire to weave evaporated.  What remained however was a lovely bunch of connections to the tapestry world.  Friends on Facebook and Instagram, lovely new books on tapestry by Tommye and Rebecca and new work by my friends at Tapestry Weavers South.  These connections kept me pulled into my love of tapestry without weaving.  Not ideal but I will take it.

Quilting provided a different way to look at color, value and proportion and confirmed some things I know about myself.  I will continue to quilt and explore improvisational quilting and let it inform my weaving. 

Love is Not A Victory March

For now, baby steps back into my tapestry.

My Selfie; Disgruntled State Employee 

I will be practicing in the gap with my tapestry.  What gap you say... Well the gap between my taste in tapestry and my ability to weave it.  Ira Glass describes it this way

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.

We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It’s only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

Okay, tapestry is hard and slow and I have to be willing to suck  fail!  Got it!

Holding Space; Beyond the Basics

Taking tapestry classes is one of my favorite things and Tommye Scanlon is one of my favorite tapestry weavers.  I admire her work and love having the opportunity to take another class with her.  The Triangle Weavers Guild brought Tommye in for a Beyond the Basics class.

The Triangle Fiber Arts Center is a great venue for classes. 

Happy tapestry weavers!

Friday, day one we discussed looms, warping and setting tips.

Tommye has dozens of woven samples to illustrate different techniques.

This sample was woven to demonstrate the use of blending with complementary colors.

Decreasing, increasing, hills and valleys oh my.

Saturday, day two involved specific techniques, attaching the cartoon and inking the warp.

Tommye talks about her design process.

One on one assistance with hands on by Tommye.

My yarns and sampling progress.  You may remember these yarns from here.  I dyed them ages ago for a project entitled Holding Space.  I have been waiting for a clear vision of how to weave this piece. My inspiration is the fabric scrap pictured below.

Holding Space is to walk along side someone, be present without judgement or one's own agenda or ego.  When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.

〰လ〰

What is most amazing for me is that in August of 2016, my interest in holding space was related to a dear friend undergoing challenging treatment for cancer.  I wanted to be a support and not presume to know what were the right choices for her.

〰လ〰

The yarns and fabric remained to be used and I continued to endeavor to hold space and be present for those struggling in my life.  December 2016 my sister had a tragic accident and endured three weeks of intensive care.  The opportunity to be present, make decisions against self interest and love unconditionally were abundant. Holding Space for my sister and then for myself after her death was all encompassing.  I am ready to weave this tapestry now.

Filament - New Work from TWS

A small group of tapestry weavers created Tapestry Weavers South in the late
 1990s.  Tapestry Weavers from all over the southeast United States joined together to promote the artistry of tapestry.  On Saturday, May 6th at the Yadkin Cultural Arts Center Filaments, the new tapestry show opened.

Here are a few of the pieces from the show.
Betty Hilton-Nash  and Leslie Fesperson did a wonderful job of hanging the show.

Below are some pictures of the artists with their work at our most recent TWS meeting.

It was a pleasure to be part of this show and even better is being a member of this group.  Tommye Scanlon gave an inspiring talk about the process of weaving tapestry.  You can enjoy it here. TWS Filament.