As I settle in comfortably into my studio, seating myself in front of my Leclerc tissart tapestry loom, a feeling of perfect contentment comes over me. I start to think about this contentment and what it is about. This is definitely not the first time this feeling has overcome me as I weave my tapestries. One image that comes to mind as I'm sitting here weaving and I glance around the studio is how I love that I am surrounded with so much yarn in what seems an infinite array of colours and textures. It creates this very special environment. One that I would liken to a nest. No other image describes what its like as well as that one and all that it implies. I also got to thinking about what still draws me here, to this place, creating tapestry. Many other people wonder the same thing as well and I have often been asked why I weave tapestries. The other evening I was at an opening reception for an exhibition put on at the Gibson Centre in Alliston where a couple of my tapestries were included. the two that were selected were Gravity and Joy. One person, who is herself a very gifted and talented weaver, said she was overwhelmed by the size of Gravity simply because she knows how many hours were spent weaving each 'pixel' manually and that it was not done with a computerized loom or a jacquard loom which is the trend these days. Time. How we value time, how we perceive the passing of time, how we want to spend our time, the quality of our time spent here in this life.....are all factors in the choices we make as to how we want to spend it. And when I'm weaving tapestry, time seems completely suspended, though I know it is not.

Another thought that came up was how for humans the sense of touch plays an important factor in contributing to our well being. It seems to me that women especially, due to what I believe are genetic factors, intuitively participate in activities that are tactile. I think these characteristics are inherent, that we have no control over them. I believe women are prewired to be nurturers which makes us more sensitive to the tactile, all needed to care for our infant offspring. What happens then when offspring are no longer or are not a part of one's observable reality then? Why are we so drawn to these activities like knitting, crocheting, felting, weaving even sewing and heaven knows for some, even housework? Why are textiles so vital a part of our frame of reference? I want to know more about the 'science of touch' so here is the beginnings of my forays into understanding why I have always felt that I had no control over feeling propelled to participate in such activities and that it is hard wired in our brains and in our bodies. Read this about touch and one of the points they make about the sensory receptors in our hands take up much more space in our brains than most other areas of our bodies. I think this will give us great insight into ourselves and help us to understand why we can never feel entirely complete in our lives unless we understand that our bodies need this tactile way of interacting with world and of being in the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatosensory_system

Recently a friend of mine returned from Paris and while she was there she visited Cluny and saw the Unicorn Tapestries. Though there is much intersting discussion as to the possible meaning of these tapestries, after having done much reading about them and the period in which they were created, I believe, based on how women were recruited to live as nuns in Abbeys, that these tapestries are about what these women would sacrifice and commit to: a renunciation of terrestrial pleasures, the conduit being each of our five senses. Each tapestry is about the renunciation of each sense in order to live a life closer to God. Many would hotly debate nowadays whether doing any such thing would bring us the feeling of being closer to God, however, I am greatful that women have so many more choices now. And I still choose to weave tapestries after having done so for the last 25 years. The possibilities are still exciting me. So many that are in my mind that I hope one day will come to fruition.

Silent Music: a pre-performance for Tafelmusik

I was delighted when I received an email from Tafelmusik to be part of their Earth Day celebrations as a participating artist. It will be for their concert Forces of Nature: A Celebration for Earth Day which will take place on Sunday April 11 at 3:30 pm.

I have often thought of my loom like a musical instrument and have felt like a musician while I was weaving, making silent music. Perhaps its the physical rythmic movements of the process. Perhaps some aspects of the technical structures, such as the mathematical component to it. The other coincicidence is that baroque music is one of my favorite categories of classical music and I usually listen to it as I'm weaving tapestries. I find it fascinating that my tapestry weaving and Tafelmusik how somehow found each other!

An Ashford loom I am presently using to weave the tapestry Dream Fields will be on display for this event.

A smaller loom will be available for people to weave their prayers, dreams, hopes and wishes for the planet. A book will also be available for them to write their thoughts as well as their name and signature. This finished woven piece will be part of a future exhibition. Each person will be credited for having contributed to weaving the piece. The finished piece will be a part of my Prayer Totem series, which itself is a part of another group of tapestries on Well Being.

For more details on the concert go to http://www.tafelmusik.org/

American Tapestry Alliance Featured Artist

One of my weaving students, Kate, mentioned to me that I was one of the featured artists in the American Tapestry Alliance newsletter. To preview click on the link.

http://www.americantapestryalliance.org/AP/ArtistBio/DufourL.html

American Tapestry Bienniale 8

A few weeks ago I was notified that my tapestry "Joy" was accepted in the American Tapestry Alliance Bienniale 8. I was really surprised they accepted it because it was very different from the tapestry, Gravity, that had been previously accepted at the ATA7. The American Tapestry Alliance received 176 entries from 105 artists representing 15 countries. The juror was Rebecca A.T. Stevens and I am honoured to be included among the 65 tapestries included in the final exhibition. Currently they are planning two exhibits, and possibly a third. The first will be at the Elder Gallery (Nebraska Weslayan University) in Lincoln Nebraska between September 20 and November 15 2010. It will be in conjunction with meetings being held by the Textile Society of America.

The second will be at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Mass between January 21 and May 2011. You can view the site by clicking on the link.
http://www.athm.org/current_exhibitions.htm

Ontario Arts Council grant for Convergence in Alburquerque New Mexico

On Monday of this week I received an envelope in the mail. In it, I had been notified by the Ontario Arts Council that I had received a grant. Part of what I have to do is to use the Ontario Arts Council logo on all media that I use to publicize the event. The grant will enable me to attend the Handweavers Guild of America Annual conference to be held this year in Aburquerque New Mexico. It's something I would never be able to do with my financial resources so for me this is one of my dreams come true. I've always been drawn to New Mexico and I've never been able to afford to attend a Convergence conference so I'll be able to accomplish both in one trip!

I'm attaching a link to the conference site http://www.weavespindye.org/?loc=8-00-00 where you can view all the events that are happening at the conference as well as check out what an amazing place New Mexico is. There is so much to explore and so much for the fibre enthusiast as there are fibre artists and activities a plenty, even without the conference. The conference doesn't happen until the latter part of July of this year. I'm sure it will be scorching but they say its cool in the mountains at night and one even needs a sweater or light jacket!

Of course I had to tell as many people as I could....friends and relatives. Most responded so positively and the one thing that kept coming up was that I deserved it! I felt an incredible wave of support from many friends and this was just as good as receiving the grant from the OAC. So thank you friends for those wonderful supportive words and feelings!

Just this morning I signed up for the workshops, seminars and studio sessions that interest me: warp painting with Jannie Taylor; Cavandoli Tapestry knotting (who knew!); and Natural Dyeing for 2 days. There are lots more I'd like to participate in but the schedule limits how many I can choose. There are tours as well. One is to Santa Fe where we will visit with a couple of tapestry artists.

It's nice to dream about this excruciating heat that I might encounter when I'm there at a time in February when its pretty drab, damp and cold. When I was looking at the accommodation that I might take, I noticed on the website that the temperature today was 30 degrees and it was sunny!

Well....back to work!










The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario

Upcoming Exhibitions

I was very excited when I was contacted by the American Tapestry Bienniale letting me know that my tapestry Joy was accepted in their 8th Biannual exhibition, which will open at Eider Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska between September 20 to November 15 2010 and will coincide with the meeting of the Textile Society of America. It will then go on to the American Textile Museum in Lowell Massachusetts between January 21 to May 2011.

Ontario Craft 09

I was very happy when my tapestry Joy was accepted into this juried show organized by the Ontario Craft Council. I was even more surprised that my fibre construction called Wave was accepted as well. I was especially delighted to see it on the wall at the gallery, where I had stretched it out with long nails on all four corners, allowing Wave to be displayed about 2" away from the wall. This created a very exciting shadow, making a secondary artistic effect. This was not something I had initially planned but the idea evolved into what it became. This is so much what the creative process is about. Those moments where you allow yourself to not know what the outcome may be. Allowing yourself to stumble in the dark feeling and intuiting your way there, whereever there is. It requires faith. Faith that somehow, it will all come together.

I attended the opening reception on November 13. My friend Scott Ford met me there. There were lots of people. I was thrilled Wave sold while I was at the reception. The piece was sold to Jane Alderdice, herself an artist and who also works at the University of Toronto.