3.08.2007

spring & tapestries are blooming!

Spring is coming! And it usually comes quickly in the desert... bees buzzing, inca doves calling, cactus wrens chugging, & lizards creeping out of hiding to sun themselves. We will probably have one more chill before April ends, but temps are climbing & I am no longer freezing... last night we had to take the extra blanket off the bed! And, I have been able to open windows for fresh air & birdsong.





While most of our plants are still trying to recover from the hard freezes we had, a couple brave ones are putting forth blooms, the mallow & a few pincushion cactus.

My tapestries are blooming as well... I finally feel like progress is being made on cereus expectations.
















The most wonderful news of all is that I have been accepted into my first juried exhibit! My monochrome macro series: agave, will be included in Intermountain Weavers Conference's Fiber Celebrated 2007 at the Durango Arts Center in Durango, Co this July.

3.02.2007

geometry + wool = tapestry?

Gather the following ingredients: golden squares & rectangles, equilateral triangles, harmonic subdivisions, palindromic sequences of Fibonacci numbers. Add a dash of Johannes Itten's color theories. Weave in some wool. What do you end up with? A taste of what it is like to experience one of James Koehler's Color & Design workshops! And an experience it is, one which I would highly recommend to any weaver who is serious about taking her or his weaving to the next level. I had the good fortune to attend his 5 day workshop which was held here in Tucson at the Desert Weaving Workshop. Koehler is well known for his exquisite geometric tapestries, but the content of the workshop can be easily applied to any style of tapestry, whether it be geometric, intuitive, or representational.




James demonstrates technique at the loom.






The workshop palette.





Although I am tired, my mind is still buzzing with all that I learned & with pondering how I will use my newly gained knowledge in future projects! To view more photos of this workshop experience, visit my flickr site.

I'm anticipating future opportunities to attend other workshops he teaches, but for now I must return to my own loom as I have weaving to attend to!