Bamboo Shawl, small tapestries and a family heirloom

Gwen Tooth has recently joined our weaving class. Gwen is a practicing artist as well as administrator and teacher, and has been painting for many years. She is currently part of an exhibition opening this weekend. WOMEN IN ABSTRACTION ART EXHIBIT Beaux-Arts Brampton Art Gallery, http://www.beaux-artsbrampton.com/ 70 Main Street North, Brampton. 905-454-5677 Dates: June 21 to July 2, 2011-05-23 Reception Date: Saturday, June 25, 12 noon to 3 pm Regular Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 12 noon to 6 pm; Saturdays, 9 am to 3 pm

Kate Kitchen completed these two small tapestries of landscapes while in the weaving class. It takes little detail to convey the illusion of a recognizable scene, surprisingly enough. These were both woven at 10 epi and she used Paternayan yarn. They still take a considerable amount of time to complete eventhough they are small.



















We have such an amazing group of talented people and I must say I am truly proud of what people can accomplish in this class. This is a bamboo shawl woven by Lis Bastion. To see it in reality is startling in a good way. The shawl is beautifully woven in a Diamond Twill pattern. Twills are difficult to weave well believe it or not. Your tension has to be very consistent throughout and when it isn't, it really shows. Being stressed can really wreak havoc with our weaving but Lis managed to be cool and consistent despite having a very busy and demanding work life! In addition, this is Lis' first project after her sampler. Bravo Lis! It is a remarkable accomplishment!

I apologize in advance that this is not the best photograph. Dark colours can be hard to capture, and in addition the warp and weft do not have high contrast. This was a very subtle overshot shawl using turquoise and mauve Briggs & Little yarn woven by Marion Kirkwood. It is an unusual pattern taken from the Handweavers Pattern Book.

We don't often post pictures of our weaving students and I'm not sure that people do want themselves posted on this website. This picture of Anne was taken by Ellen and she submitted it to me to post for our magazine blog for the class. This will be Anne's first project on a floor loom and when we last saw her she was looking rather disheartened and feeling a little overwhelmed by the project she choose to do: a doubleweave cape in fine yarns. A lot of threads to thread for sure! It's quickly forgotten though once you get weaving!

Barbara Brown very kindly brought in this pink suit woven by her grandmother, and the jacket is modeled here by Jutta. It was beautifully tailored and it was hard to tell that it was handmade.

There are still a few more pictures to come of final projects for the year and I think the last installment will be next week before we resume in the Fall.

Doubleweave workshop, explorations with the knitters loom

The last 6 months have been a whirlwind of projects and explorations. January started with our Doubleweave workshop sampler . In this photo Laura Dymock is working her way through the sampler. We used a 4/8 combed cotton. Results were best if you chose strong contrasting colours so that one could see what occurred with the different treadling and colour sequencing. Most participants were really satisfied with the results and what they learned. We especially enjoyed the doubleweave pick up, a finger manipulated technique allowing you to create your own design. You too can do the sampler if you wish, during upcoming sessions. I've created the handouts so that you can work on your own and get instructor input as any uncertainties and questions come up.


Another part of the doubleweave sampler, the white horizontal columns were stuffed forming ribs. It might be useful for a rug technique for instance. The sample above it was called Quilting. This would be good for placemats for its density and sturdiness and decorative designs which you can create yourself.

Exploring Ashford's Knitting Loom














We have also fallen in love with Ashford's Knitters Loom, which I have mentioned in other blog posts. It's quite amazing how versatile it is and we explored the infinite range of possiblilites that we one can weave on this loom. Because of the excitement we all felt for this very cutest of new looms, I created a handout listing, explaining and illustrating the many weaving techniques you can use on this loom. Above, Kate work's on her first knitters loom project and is setting up on the left. On the right, a bunch of scarves she has sinced woven on her knitters loom, and has since done many more! Below, are 2 scarves woven on the knitters loom by Cheryl Yetman. Cheryl likes to make cowl type scarves and this black and white one is an example of this, here modeled by Marion Kirkwood. The scarf beside it is also one of Cheryl's scarves done on the knitters loom with a sock yarn (Footloose). So you can see that one can weave thick and novelty yarns as well as with fine yarns. Cheryl recently purchased an inexpensive part you can attach to the knitters loom to turn from a 2 shaft loom into a 4 shaft loom so that means one can weave many more patterns than those that only 2 shafts can give you. It requires a 2nd rigid heddle to make this work.














Lastly, a triangluar shawl made on a triangular loom by Kate Kitchen, modeled for us by Maureen Krinicic. The colours of spring and the garden!

There are many more pictures to share with you from these last 6 months of weaving together, so stay posted and next week I'll continue reporting live from my studio on your many wonderful projects.

Precious

When seeing the work of the weaver Judith Fielder, precious is the first word that comes to mind. As I look in the dictionary to see how it is defined, I stumble upon the word that precedes it: preciosity and the dictionary I'm using defines this as "fastidious refinement". This is certainly an apt description of Judith Fielder's body of work. Taken by Debbie Harris, this photograph
gives you a feel of how the morning began - very casually but it was clear that Judith had done a lot of preparation to receive us and share her treasure trove of exquisite work. She had 3 main bodies of work. They were each layed out on a different floor in the house. On the first floor in the living room, she had her earliest work, with notebooks, sketches, inspirations as well as finished garments. Here the influence of African textiles was predominant. On the second floor, her forays into overshot where we saw a jacket, scarf and dress that she created. Below is the fabric of the jacket that has been featured in Fibre Focus and Handwoven magazine in the 90s.

I first met Judith at the Ontario College of Art in the 80s (and Design University) and have known her for many years. Her endeavours have never failed to have a certain fascination for me. At art college, it was hammered into us to create studies, samples, experiment and explore the endless possibilities and potential of an idea. Judith's notebooks illustrated this methodology well.



Several of us took many pictures of the talk and studio visit and there are just too many worthy pictures to post on the blog so I will put only a few here to arouse your curiousity and awe about her work and the remainder I will put on a cd and have it available in the weaving class so that you can look at her work at your leisure. This picture is of Susan Abrams modelling a shawl handwoven and hand embroidered on the loom.






Judith has also had a thing for blankets over the years. Again they reflect whatever weave structure or textile embellishment she happens to be investigating as well as the art or cultural influence. In this particularly spectacular blanket the squares alternate between overshot blocks and hand embroidered motifs that keep recurring in her work.








On the third floor, which she uses entirely for her studio, one feels the magic of her creative sanctuary. Just being there is almost a religious experience. On this floor are her explorations into shibori as well as kumihimo that you see laid out here. It's clear by the end of the visit that one of the main characteristics of Judith's work is its multicultural influences that have always been there from the beginning of her weaving forays. She is also curious about experimenting with different kinds of fibres - notably, all of a certain quality and refinement. In addition, she aims for a certain level of excellence in her weaving that we all found breath taking. All of us that attended the studio visit on May 25 were awe struck the entire 3 hours of the visit, and felt the impact of this for days afters. We only wish the rest of you could have been so blessed and honoured to visit this wonderful weaver.

In the coming weeks I'll be featuring all the great projects that came off the loom this spring! Stay posted!