What to do with all those handwovens?

Just in case you didn’t already have a plan for the weaving your working on… Aren’t the lines of these pieces just fantastic? The full story is here. Vogue patterns has a Vintage Vogue category, but whether there are any Valentino designs, I have no idea. I’m pretty sure that Valentino used to have designs in their selection, but maybe I’m thinking about someone else. Here’s a link to the current designers.  There was a time in my life when I sewed for a living. I had taken a sabbatical from school for a six month stay in South America. After returning home, I needed an income until school started again. Voila! Bridesmaid dresses, going away suits, costumes for folk dancers—I did it all. And swore I would never make another bridesmaid dress in my life when September came!

Exhibition visitors are silhouetted next to a dress made famous by American actress Julia Roberts during a preview of the 'Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future' exhibition which features the work of celebrated Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani at Resorts World Sentosa, one of Singapore's main tourist attractions on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. AP Photo/Wong Maye-E.

A woman is silhouetted against mannequins modeling dresses by Valentino, during a preview of the 'Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future' exhibition which features the work of celebrated Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani at Resorts World Sentosa, one of Singapore's main tourist attractions on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. AP Photo/Wong Maye-E.

The weaving I’m working on is almost finished. Another inch of the hem, some knots, and Tah Dah! I plan to put in some filler and continue on to the next project without cutting off. Should be a little faster than tying all those knots again, but has the disadvantage of postponing the gratification of seeing what has been woven. This is an experiment since I don’t know how the finished product will be affected. After the holiday season, it’s hard for me to get back into the swing of things, but I’m working on it. I think that I will cut my “cartoon” into sections for the next weaving. At least in my head that works! We’ll see what happens in real life.

Luckenbach and paper yarn

After wiping the frost off the windshield this morning, we got on the road to Austin. On the way, we made a few stops. First to Luckenbach, where the smoke was already pumping out the chimney for cooking barbeque later in the day. Interesting—the road to Luckenbach is called Town Loop Drive. Most loops bypass towns, but this one is literally a loop that takes you to the town, where maybe two families and lots of free-ranging roosters live. My camera lens kept fogging up from the cold outside as it was still freezing outside, plus it was still so early it was hard to find good light. After this brief detour, we headed to Austin. Below you can see the reason for adding an hour to the return by adding this city to our drive—Hill Country Weavers.Each room in this small house on Congress Ave is filled to the brim with yarns, although most are for knitting nowadays. On a warmer day, Congress Avenue is worth strolling along and poking into all its eclectic and funky shops. Gee, guess that means I may have to go back in the spring or summer! In this shot, the section of yarns below the hanging sweaters is filled with yarns from Habu. I wanted to get some more paper yarn, so I was glad to see this section. By the way, Habu is having a sale.

Fredericksburg, Texas

Pictures came from here.

As often as we have been to Fredericksburg, a town in what we Texans call The Hill Country, we have never been to the Nimitz Museum, pictured above. I have to admit that our hill country is beautiful and the home of lots of interesting places worth a visit. There’s the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Antique Rose Emporium, Wildseed Farms, and the famous Luckenbach, to name a few. However, a cold winter day is not ideal weather for visiting.

The famous Luckenbach

And, once every decade or so, one needs to eat German food in a town founded by Germans. Our effort in that direction was made Sunday night, which just happened to coincide with the first night of Winterfest. We ate at the Ausländer. Our choice was a 30 minute wait or outside Now, it’s only 40 degrees outside, but they have heaters for the outside area. How nuts is that, but that’s what we did. One really needs to be hungry to eat in a German restaurant. I wish I had had a camera to take pictures of the baby at the next table. He had a beer bottle (empty) with his head tipped back like he was getting every last drop. Funny.

Letters

I keep thinking that I want to do a design with letters, but …Maybe something with tessellations? The letters below are embroidered, but don’t they look like they could be woven? Kind of remind me of children’s wooden blocks. If I was really energetic, I’d wish everyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays written in wooden block letters. But I’m not—that energetic, that is! But I found the first one here and the second one here.

Alighiero Boetti, Un'idea Brillante, 1992 (detail). Embroidery on linen, 6 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches 17.1 x 17.1 cm. Photo: Courtesy Marianne Boesky Gallery.

So, let’s all take a little break and appreciate the season, no matter your beliefs. Time for reflection, relaxation, friends, and family. Time to take stock and appreciate your accomplishments. (If we had all of those to-do lists for the entire year, would that make it easier to remember everything we accomplished?) Time to enjoy the ones we love and appreciate all the many reasons why we love them. Time to just enjoy—period!Wawiriya Burton, Ngayuku ngura - My country, 2009, Amata, South Australia, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 152.0 x 122.0 cm © Wawiriya Burton, Courtesy of Tjala Arts.

Nura Rupert, Australia, c.1933. Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia, Mamu (Spooky spirits) 2002, Ernabella, South Australia, synthetic polymer paint on linen 92.0 x 122.0 cm. Ed and Sue Tweddell Fund for South Australian Contemporary Art 2006. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide © Nura Rupert, Courtesy of Ernabella Arts.

A few things from ArtDaily here and here.

Ode to small drawers

Early 20th Century oak and stained beech collectors cabinet. Photo: Bonhams.

Many years ago, I spent many hours at antique auctions. It was a free activity for a couple with little money—at least if you didn’t buy anything! Plus, it was interesting to me. When things were slow, I’d grade papers, only to look up when things were hopping. Always, I was attracted to the items with small drawers. I ended up with several such pieces in my house. One is an old Coats thread cabinet. Another is some sort of oak filing cabinet that’s about five feet wide and four or five feet high. It has all kinds of drawers of varying sizes. The drawers vary in height from about 3 inches to 6 inches. Each drawer is about 5 inches wide. It is used to hold everything from art supplies to glue gun to yarn scale to, well, whatever. I used to have an old dental cabinet with a roll top with drawer/shelves that swung out, similar but less ornate than the one below. Plus, it was mahogany.

Credit

There are also small wooden drawer units that are sitting on top of other furniture. One holds strings of beads, another holds silver that can’t be accessed easily because of the tableau in front of the drawers. So what is it about drawers? I don’t even want to explore that! Above is a photo of a wonderful drawer unit as seen in a notice about an antique sale in ArtDaily.

Woven glass, temporary shelters and weaving, of course!

No pictures of the latest dyed yarns, but today will be spent finishing up on the piece that’s on the loom. Gee, how long has it been since I’ve done any weaving? Then the yarns will need to be balled up. I always like to do that in front of mindless TV, since balling yarns is such a mindless activity. Along with that, I’m working on a couple of designs based on the colors in the painting of the previous post. These samples come from using Color Schemer to pick colors from a photo. They have color schemes already developed by others—wonder what kind of design would develop from using one of the preplanned schemes?I saw an ad for the Haven Gallery on the back cover of American Style magazine that caught my attention. The gallery is touting kimonos and woven glass in the ad, although it’s over by now. Below is a YouTube video via CBS about the process. It’s pretty interesting. In fact, I think I’ve watched it before, but it’s still interesting. Of course, they don’t reveal their secret for weaving glass!

The images below come from the Woven Glass website.

 

A Harvest of Temporary Shelters article and slide show. The pictures depict some really beautiful sculptures of what is intended to be temporary shelter. Take a look at all the slides and see the diversity of the designs and materials.

"Gathering," by Dale Suttle, So Sugita and Ginna Nguyen of New York.

Credit: Courtesy of Sukkah City

Inspirations

Since I seem to have a fixation on gradations and layers right now, I loved this picture from ArtDaily. This is in my inspiration for designs folder. Love the colors! Maybe a dye session of these beautiful colors….

Félix Vallotton Coucher de soleil à Grâce, ciel orangé et violet. Sold for CHF 2,434,500 (Est. CHF 1,800,000-2,500,000). Photo: Sotheby's.

I’m doing some dyeing of the colors to add to the palette for the next piece. Today’s dyeing is violet and violet/blue. The next dye session will be oranges pushed to the yellow side.

Total change of subject: This news about a preHispanic mask. If you go to the page, you can see some of the authentication aids and read more about the mask itself. Isn’t this just amazing! I am always awed at how well preserved these and other pieces are after so many centuries.

The Malinaltepec Mask. Photo: DMC INAH/H. Montano.

MEXICO CITY.- After a decade of controversy regarding the authenticity of the Malinaltepec Mask, an investigation conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has verified it is original. “The Malinaltepec Mask”, a new publication coordinated by Sofia Martinez del Campo, a specialist in funerary masks, integrates 7 studies performed recently by 20 researchers on the Prehispanic piece, confirming it is authentic.

What fun!

This not only looks like fun to me, but from the design I can see on the doors, I would imagine it's difficult.

Cowboy songs

An integrated cowboy crew at mealtime on the Merkeson Ranch in Texas in the 1890s.

When I saw this article pop up about cowboys and their songs, I was interested. After all, I live in cowboy country and close to a city that calls itself Cowtown. Don Edwards is mentioned in the article along with the White Elephant Saloon. I have to admit, I’ve spent a lot of time in the White Elephant Saloon on the “northside.” For the tourists, that area is called the Stockyards, and indeed, remnants of the stockyards are present today, along with wooden sidewalks and old remodeled saloons. I can remember many, many years ago when that area was a high-crime area and seeing a man staggering on the sidewalk with a knife wound in his side. Now it’s safe and is the go-to place for locals and tourists. Of course, the locals are more the college kids, and I passed that long ago! If you visit the page, take a listen to the songs there by Don Edwards. If I remember correctly, Don is originally from New York, came to Texas, and began his study of the cowboys songs and their history. Below is a quote from his website.

An historian, author, and musicologist, unusually wee-versed in cowboy lore and musical traditions, Don brings a rare compliment of knowing and loving his craft. Mostly though, there is the soul of a poet; a man who has never succumbed to the temptations of presenting a glamorized or romanticized version of the West.

And since I usually write about weaving, while looking for songs by Don Edwards, I found this one called Navajo Rug by Ian Tyson. Frankly, my only interest in listening was the title, although I am familiar with Ian Tyson. He does a nice job.

Navajo Rug

Cartoon

A sketch of this has been in my sketchbook for years, but last week while sitting in waiting rooms, I worked on it some more. It may or may not become a woven piece, but the cartoon is ready and is hanging on a door in the studio with masking tape behind the corners.

Several years ago I bought a roll of vellum that has a grid of 4 squares per inch. I tried to draw what I had sketched out and then drawn on 10 squares per inch graph paper. If you look at the close-up, it’s not pretty. You can see where I had to draw over lines with white poster paint, trying to block some earlier lines out.

The numbers are for me to count sections which will become the colors I plan to use. Those colors are will include some of the ones below, plus a few extras. On the left, will be some blue/violet combinations. On the right, the pale colors will be deleted and the oranges will move to yellow. I’ll live with the cartoon for a while and dye the needed yarns in the meantime.

Friday and Saturday were all about appliances—deliveries and installation. You know what it’s like waiting for people to come and do things in the house? That’s what I did—wait and wait. But the new fridge is great and a kitchen stove that actually has a timer that works? Lights that indicate it’s on? Heaven! My old one was over 30 years old, so I guess it was about time, right? And finding a refrigerator without all those water/ice things on the outside took a bit of shopping. Now, we can just hope that everything will last another 30 years!

My guilty secret

I don’t read books that are classified as “romance”. Usually, that is. At the library a couple of weeks ago I picked up The Search by Nora Roberts. Now I’ve heard about Roberts—I mean, how could you not, she’s such a prolific writer. I’ve even read one or two of her J.D.Robb books (her pseudonym), but didn’t enjoy them much. From the blurb, the plot appealed to me. A bit of mystery in a locale not familiar to me. As I read, I learned about dog training, search and rescue dog teams, and a little about Orcas island. All in all an interesting book with humor, and yes, romance. At least it’s not the bodice-ripping kind of romance! Now that I’ve read this one, I have picked up two others because of the interesting material that pertains to the plot. Currently I’m reading Black Hills, chosen because of my travels there a few years ago. I’m sure that part of my choosing these books is also because of the ennui I seem to be experiencing lately. Whatever, they’re interesting now, and this too shall pass.

Around town there are billboards advertising the Amon Carter Museum. While we were there the other evening, I asked about the painting used on the billboard. It is very appealing to me and I’m not sure why exactly. I mean, after all, it does have pink in it! It almost looks like it’s done with pastels even though it was painted with oils.

Morton Schamberg (1881–1918)
Figure, 1913
Oil on canvas
1984.16

When technology drives you nuts…

I have one of those clunky TVs that weighs about a 1000 pounds. There is no cable or satellite in this household, and the switch to digital really did not make me a happy TV watcher. Recently a message came from Netflix that my plan was going up, but there are lots of free movies and TV shows that I can stream. All of this is the lead in to the new television technology out there. I am learning about refresh rates, devices that attach to your TV for streaming movies directly from services like Netflix. There’s dpi, LCD, LED, plasma, you name it. Then there’s the issue of antennas. Outside or indoors. What about size? I already know that one of those giant TVs is not for me. The one I’m watching now is only 24 inches, so what do I want with a 50 inch television?

So, for those times when technology drives you nuts, watch the video below. I didn’t find this myself. It was on Weaverly, but too funny not to pass on.

When technology is just too much…

More printmaking

Friday was another hands-on workshop day at the Kimbell, this one a printing one.

Hieroglyphs from the Yucatan

A block-printing activity on Huun Yucatan paper encourages a closer look at how Maya artists achieved the harmonious integration of hieroglyphs, figures, and decorative borders.

Because of its relationship to the Maya exhibit and since I have never done any linoleum printing, I was really looking forward to the workshop. After an overview slide show and a tour by one of the docents, we received “linoleum” blocks like these from Dick Blick. The cutters we used were similar to these, also from Dick Blick. The ink we used was water soluble, spread with an inexpensive brayer, although I understand there are other tools for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were encouraged to incorporate a part of the graphics seen in the Mayan works that we looked at, similar to this one.

Panel with a seated ruler in a watery cave (Cancuen Panel 3), AD 795, Cancuen, Guatemala. Limestone, 22 5/8 x 26 1/4 x 3 in. (57.5 x 66.5 x 7.6 cm). Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes—Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City. Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum, photograph © 2009 Jorge Pérez de Lara.

Cutting the linoleum is not the easiest of tasks. Choose simple designs! I enjoyed the whole experience, and may try it again, but for now, too many other things are calling my name. By the way, the huun Yucatan paper is beautiful.

You can read a little about how it’s prepared and see more pictures here.

If you visit the museum site, try your hand at the glyph game—an adapted memory/concentration game.

A day

A purchase from Convergence 2010. I’m looking forward to hanging this soon. The link for purchase is below in the blurb.

Handwoven’s wall calendar for 2011 (12” x 12” pages) will enrich your weaving year. Glorious photos of selected Handwoven projects will inspire you each month. Important weaving dates are noted for you, such as regional conferences and sheep and wool shows. You’ll also find interesting tidbits from weaving history—everything you need to make 2011 your year to weave!

Yesterday started early and not very auspiciously. Every night before I go to bed, I prepare the coffee for the next morning. The coffee maker is set on a timer to come on early each morning. Coffee for me is espresso with a cup of skim milk, so I guess that makes it café con leche, right? Thursday started early because of the planned errands and doctors’ appointments. So, what greets me upon walking into the kitchen? My espresso all over the countertops and floor! I had forgotten to put the cup on the coffee maker to catch the coffee! Not a good way to start the day. I had also forgotten to do the laundry the day before, so the washer had to be started quickly—I really did not want to have to dress in damp clothes for the day.

The long day was topped off with an interesting program at the Amon Carter Museum about Leon Polk Smith and lithography. An overview of Smith was presented, followed by a program about the lithography process in the auditorium. The focus was on the Tamarind Institute, which is now in Albuquerque. It was really quite interesting, and as usual, I want to know more! Below is a video of the process. And as usual, I came home quite inspired and ready to do some designing.

Lithography process

When the day requires sitting in waiting rooms, I always take my “toys”, which includes the current read, my sketchbook, and a pencil. I now have my next piece planned using the yarns from the current project—hope there’s enough! There’s enough warp (estimated) still on the loom to do a piece the size of the current one and one more small piece. Then it will be time to warp again. And in anticipation of that, I already have the warp purchased and have received a new counter for the warping wheel from AVL. Now, if I can just remember how to re-attach the counter to wherever it goes!

Doo wah diddlies and how do you know you’re finished?

Or however one might spell it… In my effort to end the siege of the doo wah diddlies, I visited with a friend today, looking at her new artwork. It’s absolutely marvelous, by the way. She asked me if a couple of her pieces were “finished.” I voted for yes. Which leads me to the question: When designing, how do you know when something is finished? In this age of digital cameras and computers, that becomes easier. Pat’s solution was to carefully place the things she was considering and take a picture with her iPhone. You could do the same with your computer. Scan the design or take a picture of it, and play around with the design on the computer. I recently read an article (which no longer seems to be online) about Rachel Brown and her weaving process. She needs a huge palette of yarn as she weaves because her designs evolve in a very painterly fashion. I’ve heard that she used to take pictures with her Polaroid camera of the sections of a weaving before it passed on the the cloth beam and out of sight. Think about how a digital camera improves that process! So, back to the question: How do you know you’re finished? Any special tricks out there?

In the weaving world—now that I’m only a few inches away from finishing the gradations piece—in my head I’ve been designing, using most of the same current colors, but in a different way. Time to get that down on paper, I believe. And I think I’ll go out and measure the hanging, unused warp to see how big a new piece can be, after the current piece is finished.

Ennui

Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 2005 (detail). Fabric, 18 x 22 inches © Louise Bourgeois. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

 

en·nui (än′wē′, än wē′)

noun

weariness and dissatisfaction resulting from inactivity or lack of interest

This seems to be my state of mind lately. I’m blaming it on my thyroid. The doctor is changing the dosage, and until the next blood test, I won’t know if that really is the reason for my listlessness. 

list·less

adj \ˈlist-ləs\

Definition of LISTLESS

: characterized by lack of interest, energy, or spirit <a listless melancholy attitude>

But…that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! Every morning, though, I wake up with enthusiasm that just kind of peters out before too long. I also know that if I were to tackle some dreaded task on the to-do list, some of that listlessness would go away. Will finish up the last few inches on the weaving tomorrow ‘cause weaving always makes everything better.