Shapes are arriving

 Liv Pedersen from Alberta, Canada.

The international tapestry project, Fate, Destiny and Self Determination  continues to move forward energetically. Shapes are starting to come in and in this blog post I am featuring several that have come in over the last week or 2. It's interesting how each person's individuality  emerges through  the limitations of space and the technical requirements the tapestry medium. Some shapes are not tapestry woven, but the emphasis and focus has been with tapestry weaving.  

 

The gobelin loom at the Toronto Weaving School is up and ready for weaving and we welcome you to join us most Mondays and Wednesdays between 10am and 9pm except holiday Mondays. At some point in March we will have an official launch of the project. If you want to make sure we are there you can email me at tapestryline@sympatico.ca.

 

 Judy Dominic from Ohio USA crocheted her shapes

Recently I received an email:

Greetings from South Carolina! My colleague and I are working on a workshop proposal for our professional organization, the National College Learning Center Association. The upcoming conference will be held, Sept 26-28 in Charleston, SC. The theme for the conference is: Weaving a Legacy of Student Success. Our conference workshop title we hope to facilitate is: SPOOLS of THOUGHT. We were wondering if we could utilize the beautiful tapestry image that you have on your webpage on our Powerpoint and presentation website? We would, of course, give your organization credit for utilizing the image. 

Michelle G. Wolf, M.Ed.

Director, Academic Success Center

Winthrop University

University College

106 Dinkins Hall

Rock Hill, SC 29733

803/323-3912

803/323- 3910 (FAX)

wolfm@winthrop.edu

www.winthrop.edu

 Anton Veenstra from Australia

Andrea Thiessen  directed us, in the ATA chat room to read her article about tapestry: "Here's an article I wrote about Tapestry, after a BFA in Textiles/Fiber
Art and many years of teaching .....' http://www.helium.com/items/2288502-the-art-of-tapestry--beginnings

Michael Rohde, a very accomplished member of the American Tapestry Alliance, and whose work you can see at http://www.michaelrohde.com/

Looking forward to receiving more shapes! It's still not too late to participate. If you want to email me at tapestryline@sympatico.ca and I'll send you the info.

Kate Kitchen responded to last weeks blog post about personal style:

This piece was completed in a Textural Tapestry Techniques Workshop taught by Ixchel Suarez. The first week was spent learning techniques and weaving the sampler and the second was spent applying these techniques in a small piece. I have long been interested in textures in the natural world and this was an opportunity to work from one of my photographs to produce a weaving that is both true to the miniature landscape yet appears abstract. It was a lovely two weeks learning from Ixchel.

Personal Style in Tapestry

  Shape by Liv Pedersen from Alberta Canada, shows here how she created her shape.

Le Sort, Destin, et l’auto-determination / Fate, Destiny and Self Determination is an international tapestry initiative funded by the Ontario Arts Council. Weavers and non weavers from all over the world are invited to participate. To date 125 people are participating from 19 countries: Australia, England, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, Argentina, Peru, New Zealand, Korea, Norway, Chile, Mexico, Ireland, Poland, Spain, UK, Wales as well as  Canada and the United States. 170 shapes have been given out so far. At the bottom of the page is a current list of participants. Completed shapes are starting to come in, such as the one below.

Taeyoun Kim from Seoul, Korea,  wove her shape from plastic bags.

The tapestry installation is composed of three sections. Section one will be woven entirely by myself in my studio.

Section two is composed of shapes, not greater than 10cm (4”) as shown above. Anyone who wishes to do so, can have a shape or as many shapes as they wish and weave it in whatever tapestry or rug technique one wishes, with whatever non perishable material or fibre they like. Choose any hue (not a tint or shade) from the colour wheel).

Section three will be woven on the Gobelin loom at the Toronto Weaving School in Toronto at 255 Royal York Road, second floor, room 30. Anyone and everyone is welcome to visit and weave a portion of the pre-determined design.  Agota Dolinay kindly prepared the gobelin loom and we are now ready to start weaving on it. Come and join us in weaving this phase of the project Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am to 9pm , except for holiday Mondays and March Break. You can confirm with me if we are there when you plan to come by emailing me at tapestryline@sympatico.ca. We'll be making a video and taking pictures that will be made public. If you do NOT want your image in the public domain, please let me know.

 

Once all the sections are completed, they will be exhibited in a gallery. All who have participated will have their name included as being makers of the tapestry installation. I’ll be putting together a video and slide show of the project, and those of you who are weaving individual shapes are welcome to make a short video of you doing so as well as submit still pictures to include in the final video/presentation. This video will be exhibited with the final tapestry installation.

 I downloaded this picture from a  Handwoven magazine posting. I thought it was a nice way for a person to set up their tapestry frame loom....using a portable art easel.

Jan Nichols joined our weaving class this January to learn some basic tapestry techniques before she heads to Peru through Sasha MacInnis's Puchka Tours, where she will study with Maximo Laura. She created this lovely felted/knitted bag and as an insert used loosely woven textured yarns, woven as in tapestry, backed it with interfacing, then applied it to the bag, using a matching felted knitted icord (corking) to anchor the tapestry weaving into place. Would be a good idea to create a vest, ornament a woven jacket and much more.

Kate Kitchen has been taking tapestry classes with me at the Toronto Weaving School for almost 10 years now. A couple of summers ago she did a workshop with Ixchel Suarez in Oakville, Ontario learning some of the textural techniques we saw demonstrated in the last blog post.

The above is another sample Kate did with Ixchel, and here we really see Ixchel's influence and style. Which brings up a good topic of discussion. Developing style. Every artist must honour their own sense of aesthetic, and their own creative leanings, and work on developing their own personal style, so that when someone looks at their work, one knows immediately whose work it is. However, in order to do that, its advisable to study as many techniques as possible so that one has a wide repertoire to choose from in expressing your own individuality.

I'll be exhibiting my tapestries at the Artist Project, which takes place at the Better Living Centre at the CNE in Toronto. The show runs from  February 21-24. For show times and other information, please check the website.  http://www.theartistprojecttoronto.com/. I'll be in booth 909.

Participants as of February 7/13
1.       Agota Dolinay, Ontario, Canada
2.       Alfonso Nigien-rhi Peng
3.       Aneesha Parrone, Colorado, USA
4.       Ann Berman, Ontario, Canada
5.        Anna Kocherovsky, Michigan, USA
6.       Anne Vagi, Ontario, Canada
7.       Antje Goldflam, Connecticut, USA
8.       Anton Veenstra, Australia
9.     Aruna Reddy, Middlesex, UK
10.    Barbara Heller, BC, Canada
11.    Bernard Ossant, France
12.    Bonnie Klatt, New York, USA
13.    Bronwen Ellis, Scotland
14.    Charles Gee, British Columbia, Canada
15.    Christence Stubbe-Teglbjoerg, Denmark
16.    Christine Pradel-Yien, France
17.    Christopher Allworth, Nova Scotia, Canada
18.    Chung-Ja Jackson, Ontario, Canada
19.    Ciara Minden, Ontario, Canada
20.    Clare Coyle, Scotland
21.    Debbie Harris, Ontario, Canada
22.    Debbie Herd, Victoria, Australia
23.    Deborah Pawle, U.K.
24.    Debra Dubois, Arkansas USA
25.    Debra Greer
26.    Donna Wills, Ontario Canada
27.    Dorothy Clews, Australia
28.    Elaine Duncan, BC,
29.    Emmanuelle Holmes, Queensland, USA
30.    Emoke tapisserie, Marseille, France
31.    Ewa Bartosz Mazus, Poland
32.    Fabienne Auzolle, France
33.    Fariba Mahmoodian, Ontario, Canada
34.    Francois Seguin, Ontario, Canada
35.    Gabriela Nirono, Argentina
36.    Hilary Slater, Ontario, Canada
37.    Ixchel Suarez, Ontario, Canada
38.    Janet Austin, Rhode Island, USA
39.    Janine Dassonval, France
40.    Janis Hunter, Australia
41.    Jarry Thérèse
42.    Jayne Gaskins,  Florida, USA
43.    Jennifer Stafford, Michigan USA
44.    Joan Griffin, Virginia, USA
45.    Joe Lewis, Ontario Canada
46.    Juana Sleizer, Ontario Canada
47.    Judite Vagners, Ontario, Canada
48.    Judy Dominic, Ohio, USA
49.    Judy Kogan, Argentina
50.    Karen Leckart, California, USA
51.    Karen Piegorsch, Arizona, USA
52.    Kate Kitchen, Ontario, Canada
53.    Kathe Todd Hooker, Oregon, USA
54.    Kathleen Morris , Ontario, Canada
55.    Katia Wittock, Antwerp, Belgium
56.    Katie Rusell, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
57.    Kirsten Glasbrook, UK.
58.    Krystyna Sadej, Ontario, Canada
59.    Linda Cunningham, Alberta, Canada
60.    Liv Pedersen, Alberta, Canada
61.    Louise Lemieux-Berube, Quebec
62.    Louise Martin, Great Britain
63.    Madeleine Darling-Tung, Ontario Canada
64.    Maite Tanguy, France
65.    Mariana Bidinost, Argentina
66.    Marie Drury, New Zealand
67.    Marie-Thumette Brichard, France
68.    Mary Lane, Washington, USA
69.    Maximo Laura, Peru
70.    Megan Cleland, Ontario, Canada
71.    Melanie Siegal, Ontario, Canada
72.    Mercedes Moraleda Garcia, Spain
73.    Merna Strauch, California, USA
74.    Michael Rohde, USA
75.    Mimma Draga, Ontario, Canada
76.    Miriam Constantino, Argentina
77.     Mississauga Guild of Weavers and Spinners, 12 participants as yet unnamed except for Carole Neely.
78.    Myrna Lindstrom, British Columbia, Canada
79.    Noella Kyser, Ontario, Canada
80.    Nowak Bernadeta, Poland
81.    Pam Huntley, Australia
82.    Pam Lowe, USA
83.    Pascale de Coninck, Ireland
84.    Patti Harden, MD, USA
85.    Pedro de Jesus Ibarra, Mexico
86.    Pedro Ibarra Hernandes, Mexico
87.    Ria Hartig, Ontario, Canada
88.    Roselyne Guittier, France
89.    Sarah S. Philips, Antwerp, Belgium
90.    Shanna Robinson, Michigan, USA
91.    Sharon Smith, Ohio, USA
92.    Stella Tang, Ontario, Canada
93.    Stephenie Collin, Auckland, New Zealand
94.    Stephnie Cantoni, Australia
95.    Susan Middleton, Ontario, Canada
96.    Susan Mowat, Scotland
97.    Susana Penaloza Donoso, Chile
98.    Sylvie Boyer, France
99.    Taeyoun Kim,  Seoul, Korea
100.Thomas Cronenberg, UK
101.Tommye Scanlin, Georgia, USA
102.Torunn Soderberg, Norway
103.Tricia Goldberg, California, USA
104.Vera Hazelgrove, Australia
105.Veronica Collins, Fife, Scotland
106.Vicki Jensen, MA, USA
107.Yamile Roa, Ontario Canada
108.Yvonne Eade, Australia

Enthusiasm

 

 

 

Fate Destiny and Self Determination international tapestry project has been sent another shape recently completed by Katia Wittock (http://katiawittock.blogspot.be/) from Antwerp, Belgium. She employed a twill tapestry technique.  To date, 98 people worldwide, from 15 different countries are participating to create a total of 140 shapes. The numbers continue to rise. The gobelin loom at the Toronto Weaving School  is almost ready to start another phase of this international tapestry project. At this location, anyone can come to weave on the tapestry and employ whatever weaving technique they like. To that end, I invited Ixchel Suarez to give a three hour workshop on different textural techniques employed in tapestry weaving.

  

 Ixchel is shown here at the very back demonstrating and talking to the participants in the workshop. About 9 people participated and I was thrilled that there was excitement about tapestry.

According to Ralph Waldo Emerson  "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,"  . The word Enthusiasm first appeared in English in 1603  meaning "possession by a god." The source of the word is the Greek enthousiasmos, which  comes from the adjective entheos, "having the god within". The participants eagerness and inspiration was palpable in the room. It was great to see these feelings stirred up for tapestry!

Ixchel brought some of her textural samples.

Some of the workshop participants results from the workshop....this one by Susan Middleton, herself an accomplished and polished tapestry weaver and artist.

This workshop aroused Julia Pelenyi's excitement about tapestry and got her wanting to do more.

 



CALL FOR ENTRY
The Dufferin County Museum http://www.dufferinmuseum.com/  is pleased to once again be presenting the exhibition Stitches across Time, in 2014. Continuing the theme of the first Stitches across Time exhibit in 2011, the exhibition will celebrate the tradition and history of textile arts.

The DCMA invites submissions for a national juried exhibition of fibre art works inspired by a new selection of six historical pieces from the museum’s extensive collection of textile artifacts. The Call for Entry is attached and may also be found on the stitches website www.stitchesacrosstime.com  http://www.stitchesacrosstime.com  or by clinking this direct link Stitches Call for Entry http://www.stitchesacrosstime.com/index_files/Page677.htm . Works submitted can include any textile/fibre medium or technique. We welcome both two and three dimensional contemporary works from across Canada for this unique exhibition to be launched in the fall of 2014. Images of the six historical pieces may be found on the Stitches across Time website under Photos for inspiration<http://www.stitchesacrosstime.com/index_files/Page449.htm>..

For further details, be sure to visit our website www.stitchesacrosstime.com.  If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to contact me.

Ruby Qureshi
Events & Marketing Co-ordinator
Dufferin County Museum & Archives
P.O. Box 120, 936029 Airport Rd
Rosemont, ON  L0N 1R0
Tel: 705-435-1881 or Toll Free: 1-877-941-7787 ext. 22
Email: events@dufferinmuseum.com
Website: www.dufferinmuseum.com

OTHER LINKS AND RESOURCES
A tapestry weaver, Lynn Hart, recently completed a huge tapestry. Check it out at  http://www.desertsongstudio.com/