Scarf woven by Line Dufour
The spring weaving class session has started and the excitement and vitality among the students is energizing and stimulating as most are eager to undertake their respective projects or get them done before the spring session is over. Many, including myself, have had our share of weaving disasters ....and we have been happily sharing our mishaps. When I was sharing mine with Sandi Nemenyi a little while ago, she said that Cara Perry, the previous weaving instructor before me, used to say that you are a beginner with each new project. One way one could avoid that is using the same fibre all the time and making the same thing over and over again. Most of us don't want to do that.
The Community Threads tapestries continue and I am glad to report that enthusiasm is not waning in my absence. I visit them in Alliston once a month to discuss and assist in whatever way I can. Linda said they were deciding to create new designs and cartoons and she sent me some photos of some of the new possibilities as well as how much weaving they have accomplished thus far. They are choosing new designs and will be creating new cartoons to replace some of the preliminary cartoons. We are pleased that Jackie has done a wonderful job of weaving the section depicting the Fletcher monument, who are the founders of Alliston. A photo of their home is also included and was one of the first homes in Alliston. A plaque explains the history of the home. Included are photos of St.John's United Church in New Tecumseth.
A new tapestry adventure entered my life this week. An antique dealer named Richard came by with a historical verdure Flemish tapestry that is at least 300 years old. He has asked me to restore parts of it and to have it hang better than it does. I’ve selected a team of weavers to help me do some of the restoration work.
Our 8 week Painted Warp workshop is exciting and stimulating. We invited a guest co-instructor, Barbara Hilts, who is a renowned and talented silk painter and artist. We prepared warps to be dyed using mostly tencel, and some bamboo. We created our first low immersion dyed warp last Wednesday. This week we learned more about how to put colours together, sources of inspiration, and went over some technical details and preparations. Next week we look forward to doing some gradation dyeing on our warps.
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was invited to the Pomegranate Guild in Toronto. I received this email from Rikki, person who hosted me:
Dear Line, What a lovely post you wrote in your blog! I am so impressed with the extensive research you made about the significance of the pomegranate! Very impressed! Your description of the meeting was very sweet. You truly captured the essence of our group. Your hostess, btw, is the president of the guild, and she was very happy to extend a warm welcome to you. As I told you I really love your work. Your choice of colours is magical. But more than that the colours and the designs come from a deep well of emotions and imagery that transcend verbal interpretation. And this is what I and the rest of the group responded to. You very rightly wrote that the fit was wonderful. When people of true faith come together, it doesn't mean that they have the same acts of observance, what matters is that they live true spiritual lives. You taught us a great deal that night. Not only about weaving and overcoming hard times, but also about listening to the voices of our creativity and following our hearts. We all felt the resonance of your words, and were inspired to continue in whatever art we do."Love and respect was palpable in this room: love of people, love of textiles, love of art and creativity."How very perceptive of you to capture our essence. Congratulations about having your work appear on a cover of a book! I am sure that it will give a lot of pleasure to many people for a very long time. It was a real pleasure to meet you and see your amazing work! Rikki.
Toronto Weaving School Summer program
The summer one week kasuri/ikat courses are full, although the July 9-13 week can take a couple of more registrants. Cost is $250 payable immediately. The Designing for Tapestry has only 3 registrants so far. We need more registrants if this course is to run. For more details go to:
http://weavingworkshops.blogspot.ca/ or email me. We are already planning our Summer 2013 courses. We will be happy to receive your suggestions, and we are inviting submissions to teach. Please contact me to know more details.
Photo: scarf by Debbie Harris in shadow weave.
Buy, Sell, trade, donate, give, looking for......
http://www.sistering.org is always looking for donations for weaving, knitting, sewing. Contact them to know more details.
We need dry cleaner clear bags.
Toronto Weaving School needs more more table looms (donate, or buy)
For sale: a drum carder pictured below. Best offer. Address enquiries to me.
Events, Websites and Resources to check out.
• Susan Abrams is asking us to attend the Textile Museum of Canada’s ‘Garage Sale’ in May. The link gives you more details.
http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8239d203275f20ac4c9994bcf&id=1cda020df9&e=15600efaec
• A tapestry blog worth checking out:
http://www.debbieherd.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/australian-tapestry-workshop-masters-of.html
• Michele Dubois sends this along:
Creativ Festival - Spring 2012 (April 27-28):
http://www.csnf.com/s12_index.html
2. 14th Annual Toronto Knitter's Frolic (April 28-29):
http://www.downtownknitcollective.ca/dkc_frolic.html . While on the subject of knitting, check out Arlene Williams own knitting website....a new weaver to our class -
http://webhome.idirect.com/~quanah/.
• Fran Gurwitz informs me of this exhibit at the Design Exchange:
www.dx.org/index.cfm?pagePath=Exhibitions/Current_Exhibitions&id=19195
• Anne Vagi sent how to create easy to do patterned Easter eggs:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/16f3Kj/www.ourbestbites.com/2012/03/silk-dyed-eggs-aka-tie-dyed/
• An email from Kenny Dalsheimer, the director of the following movie sent this email:
We are happy to announce that "A Weaverly Path: The Tapestry Life of Silvia Heyden" is available for purchase on our website. We have DVD and Blu ray versions of the film for Home Use, Non-Profits/Weavers Guilds, and Universities/Institutions. We also have a limited number of DVD/Book Bundles which include the film and a signed copy of Silvia's book, The Making of Modern Tapestry.
http://aweaverlypath.com/
More finished projects from the Toronto Weaving School
Scarf by Judy Hardy
Afghan by Karen Sinclair
2/16 tencel woven scarf in an 8 shaft plaited twill by Marion Kirkwood who is off to South Africa for 3 weeks.
A sweater knitted by Darlene Haywood over 20 years ago using Mano yarn. She’s kept the leftover yarn all these years and used it to make woven/felted scarves.
A rag rug by Joan McKenzie. Not sure what the socks are doing there.....maybe she knit them? To anyone sending pictures, make sure that you give me enough details and that it is well presented.
