Quest

Bonnie Klatt sent pictures of the progress of weaving her shape. 

The Fate, Destiny and Self Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto determination project continues to evolve. To date I have received 162 submissions from 22 different countries. You can see the progress of the project on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fate-Destiny-and-Self-Determination-An-international-tapestry-project. I recently received news from my sister in France and in it she stated that this project must be all wrapped up by now. Of course, it's far from it. I guess she hasn't seen exactly how tapestry weaving is done and how slow and laborious it is. It will probably be a good 6 months before it is entirely ready for display. The tapestry panel that was recently completed in terms of weaving, is now ready to have us do the 'finishing' processes'. Agota Dolinay did a huge amount of it over the Holiday Season and we are grateful indeed. More work still needs to be done on the finishing, so if you have an hour or two to spare, please come to the Toronto Weaving School (at no charge ) to help us with the finishing. You don't have to know how to weave to do it. You can come Monday and/or Wednesday between 10am-9pm, 255 Royal York Road, 2nd Floor, Toronto. tapestryline@sympatico.ca.

I associate fate and destiny to some kind of quest. What that quest is, varies from individual to individual. I love to look up definitions of words because it helps me to apprehend the word in greater dimension and depth. and when I looked up quest these are some of the definitions I found.

• a long and difficult effort to find or do something. (This would definitely apply to tapestry weaving! )
• an investigation
• an act or instance of seeking, pursuit
• a chivalrous enterprise in medieval stories involving an adventurous journey

Bonnie Klatt, Buffulo, New York

Bonnie does mostly liturgical commissions. Her work can be viewed on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bonnie.klatt.5?fref=ts

In religion, mythology and literature, a quest usually involves a journey that is required to accomplish a (lofty) goal and is often the central focus of the plot, and usually a symbol or metaphor. Quests appear in the folklore of most cultures and usually require a 'hero' to overcome the great obstacles that are strewn on his/her path. This often includes much travel. 

Christa Weitbrecht, Germany

Recently I was looking at Jean Lurcat's tapestries "Le Chant du Monde", inspired by the Apocalypse tapestries in Angers and where they now hang at the musee Jean Lurcat in Angers, once a hospital for orphaned children. Therese Jarry (France), who submitted a shape for this project a while back, sent me this book as well as another book on the Apocolypse tapestries that also hang in Angers, France.Lurcat definitely fits the 'hero' archetype as found in literature and myth. He traveled extensively throughout his life. According to numerous definitions  a 'hero' describes someone who in the face of danger, adversity, challenges or position of weakness or disadvantage, displays courage and the will to undergo discomforts and/or sacrifices in the effort of obtaining some greater good for others, which is usually cathartic. The 'hero'  also holds exemplary moral beliefs and seeks to personify that in his/her behavior. The word 'hero' originates from the Greek and literally translated meant "protector" and  "defender". In that light, Jean Lurcat clearly stepped into that role for tapestry.

Christa Weitbrecht, Germany

Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, describes several uniting themes or stages of the hero in a story which are universal, in spite of the vast differences in cultures and language. The 'Hero's Journey', called a monomyth, consists of three separate stages, including the Departure, Initiation and Return. "Within these stages there are several archetypes that the hero or heroine may personify including the call to adventure (which they may initially refuse), supernatural aid, proceeding down a road of trials, achieving a realization about themselves (or an apotheosis), and attaining the freedom to live through their quest or journey." Wikipedia.

In Jungian psychology, the quest is one of seeking wholeness, defined as the "integration of conscious and unconsious components of the psyche) through individuation. Jung identified instinctual behavioral patterns  that he named 'archetypes'. 

And to help you on your 'quest' here are a few inspiring links and resources for you to feed the fire of inspiration and enthusiasm.

EXHIBITIONS

North Caroline, USA. Sylvia Hayden and Edith London: Together Again. Durham Arts Council http://www.durhamarts.org/exhibits.html

Angers, France. Artapestry3: Aller-Retour

RESOURCES

Rebecca Mezoff reviews a book on tapestry weaving: http://rebeccamezoff.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-threads-course-in-tapestry.html

Apocolypse tapestries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Tapestry

Musee Jean Lurcat http://musees.angers.fr/les-musees/musee-jean-lurcat-et-de-la-tapisserie-contemporaine/le-lieu/index.html

The Apocalypse Tapestry of Angers, Liliane Delwasse. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18323254-the-apocalypse-tapestry-of-angers

Jean Lurcat: le chant du monde angers. You tube video describing the tapestries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3qsnrjutVQ

Tapestry weaving classes continue at the Toronto Weaving School. For more information contact Line Dufour at tapestryline@sympatico.ca.

Enthusiasm and Inspiration

Sue Weir, New Zealand. Her work is featured here: 

http://americantapestryalliance.org/education/educational-articles/what-students-say/susan-weir/

The enthusiam with which people have embraced this international tapestry project/installation Fate, Destiny and Self Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto-determination, has exceeded my expectations. More shapes continue to come in from all over the world, the bulk of them are woven tapestry. What is this thing called Enthusiasm? Originally it referred to inspiration or possession by a divine energy (eg God ). In the first English dictionary, enthusiasm was defined as a "vain belief of private revelation". The contemporary meaning of enthusiasm refers more to enjoyment, interest or approval....to me a somewhat watered down description of what enthusiasm actually feels like. 

Karen Stevens Australia

felted

Centuries ago, an enthusiast was a person considered to be possessed by a god. It was and still is also used interchangeably with the word Inspiration. At one time it also referred to intense religious fervour, eg a Syrian set of the 4th century were identified as Enthusiasts, who believed that through constant prayer, "ascetic practices and contemplation, man could become inspired by the Holy Spirit". During the 18th century the British employed the term pejoratively for any group that advocated for political or religious causes publicly.

Karen Stevens Australia. Crocheted. Felted.

The Greeks believed that inspiration was equivalent to enthusiasm, which was obtained from the Muses and the Gods. The Norse, Hebrews and Christians, believed that inspiration and enthusiasm was derived from the divine elements and forces. This belief was persistent even in the 18th century with the writings of the philosopher John Locke and Romantic poets (Coleridge and Shelley) who believed that the poets soul was more receptive and attuned to the divine and mystical forces made evident through the results of their inspiration and enthusiasm. That one is suddenly transported beyond one's own mind, and connecting to a force, visions, thoughts, ideas that seem to manifest inexplicably and seems to lift one up above the small and the mundane of everyday life,  is a constant denominator of what it is to be inspired and feel enthusiastic, resembling a religious fervour. That one obtains a 'revelation' also ties it to this spiritual and religious experience.  In many definitions of inspiration over the centuries, it also considered to be a gift that something greater than ourselves gives us.

Karen Stevens Australia. Crocheted.

By the 18th century psychology began to emerge from philosophy with the writings of John Locke who described inspiration as being "a somewhat random but wholly natural association of ideas and sudden unison of thought." He realized that people became practiced in thinking a certain way that enabled them to make connections of what appeared to be disparate things, in other words, hone their abilities at creative thinking, which accounted for greater and lesser insight and inspiration in artists.

Karen Stevens Australia. Felted.

I was surprised to discover that some people think that being creative, inspiration and enthusiasm is only available to a person with a more leisurely life, that is to say that they have no concerns or constraints on their financial situation. Creativity is not selective that way, though, admittedly, it can constrain to what extent one can engage with it, either by restricting one's ability to purchase required equipment and materials, to even limiting the amount of time one can give over to attending to it and producing a certain quality or quantity of work. Given that situation, and having observed what is exhibited in galleries (public and commercial) it does make me wonder if some of our societal systems favour the creative endeavours of those who have financial means. Those with more financial means certainly will have more advantages in that regard. That might be so, but for those who must be creative and live to be inspired and feel enthusiastic each morning when they get up, financial obligation is not an obstacle, even if it means living in a more limited way in other areas of ones life.

Karen Stevens, Austraila. Crochet.

Lori Laberge, NC USA website: http://www.lorilaberge.com/

CALL FOR ENTRIES

UNTITLED/UNJURIED: small format tapestry 2014 

July 8 - August 8, 2014 

URI Feinstein Providence Campus Gallery, Providence, RI

The deadline for entry, which is only your intent to participate, is January 31, 2014. The tapestry is not due until March 31, 2014.Exhibition information. Online entry. Download an entry form for mailing.  Questions? Email Exhibition Chair: Jan Austin.

EXHIBITIONS

Interweaving Cultures

Peter Gray Museum of Art

CUC Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco

November 22, 2013 - January 2014

ATB 10 

Visions Art Museum

May 2 - July 20, 2014 

Opening reception May 10, 2015
San Diego, CA

http://www.visionsartmuseum.org/index.asp

Kent State University Museum

September 25, 2014 - January 4, 2015  

Opening reception September 25, 2014
Kent, OH

http://www.kent.edu/museum/index.cfm

Kaneko 

February 6 - April 18, 2015 

Opening reception February 6, 2015
Omaha, NE

thekaneko.org 

Mississauga Handweavers and Spinners

Carole Neely

Carole Neely from the Mississauga Handweavers and Spinners rallied members to weave shapes for the Fate, Destiny and Self-Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto determination tapestry project. What a surprise to receive a dozen a half shapes in the mail.

Carole Neely

When you look up the meaning of guild and its historical evolving role, I couldn't help but notice that guilds have always been associated with learning and education, of handing down time honoured practices, of a respect for the tools and materials be worked. This is certainly what weaving guilds continue to do - provide a fraternity of a sort, focused on the practice of weaving and spinning, and now sometimes also felting, knitting etc... For more interesting information about guilds go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild

Cheryl Seaton

Guilds also at one time became very powerful and wealthy but then suffered a decline because they were not responsive to changing times and needs, in particular, they seemed to impede capitalism. Reading books by Ross King such as Brunelleschi's Dome, gives one great insight on how significant a role these guilds played. 

Cheryl Seaton

In this book, silk merchants, became very powerful and wealthy in Florence for instance and literally shaped the appearance of the city by overseeing its architecture, and art such as sculpture.

Cheryl Seaton

Guilds and the system they had in place for training and creating masters at their respective craft, brings to mind also manufacturing to some degree. It is with tapestry  that manufacturing was first coined as a term to produce a quantity of similar products. It started with the Manufacture des Gobelins, situated in Paris on 42 rue des Gobelins. Guided visits are at 1pm at last check in, when after reading on the website that visits were at 2pm and arrived too late! I was very disappointed. Here is more about the museum and site: http://www.museums-of-paris.com/musee_en.php?code=349 To learn more about the history of  manufacture Gobelins go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobelins_manufactory. 

Cheryl Seaton

Gobelin started creating tapestries in 1602. Prior to that they were a dye house and this is how they built up their assets and wealth. Their main competitors were Aubusson and Beauvais, especially in the 17th and 18th century.

Heather Lawrie

To some extent it does feel like this tapestry project is being 'manufactured' because I give it over to others to accomplish the work and weaving on so much of it. It differs in that the manufacturing is not happening in one locations, but in many locations all over the world. Social media and technology is transforming many of work situations, and artists and craftspeople are not excluded from this transformation. I can see it now.....I'll be able to print a tapestry with a 3d printer......

Marion Matson

Thanks to the Mississauga Handweavers and Spinners for the immense contribution to the project.

Susan Smart

Susan Smart

Kathleen McDonald

Kathleen McDonald

Kathleen McDonald....this one looked like it was done with handspun!

Louise Fulton

Louise Fulton

 Learn more about this guild - http://mississaugaweaversandspinners.wordpress.com/

Thomas Cronenberg

Thomas Cronenberg sumbitted these four shapes for the international tapestry project: Fate, Destiny and Self Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto-determination. Thomas wrote: 

I've woven a T within a non-square shape; it seemed more appropriate to the feeling of the project. I like the way the shapes look like shards, or fragments. This T could read a T, or perhaps an arrow or other character. There is something slightly enigmatic that I like about the approach.

When I was a little girl, I remember I had to sing the song Que sera, sera for a concert. It was a song that Doris Day sang in the 1950s and made popular. Essentially it said that we are unable to predict the outcomes in our lives and that our fate/destiny is not entirely knowable, predictable or controllable. Somehow, the future is obscured and vague and ambiguous. For some this is comfortable. For others it causes great uneasiness. Regardless, when faced with our own hopes, dreams and aspirations it can certainly be baffling, bewildering, confusing, perplexing and puzzling. Often I feel I am just groping my way through, as though blind....and taking it day by day, feeling and thinking my way through life, with my goals shaping the actions I take and the words I speak. 

I've always like that sense of mystery of not knowing for in that state, there is the opportunity of exploring, of venturing out into the world, of finding out, the unfolding of a life, which may or may not be exactly as one had anticipated.

To see more of his work go to : http://www.tapart.de/ and http://thomascronenberg.wordpress.com/

To see the entire Fate, Destiny and Self-Determination page on Facebook go to the link below. While you are there, like the page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fate-Destiny-and-Self-Determination-An-international-tapestry-project

Cite de la Tapisserie - Aubusson newsletter
http://www.cite-tapisserie.fr/newsletter/2013/13_12_05/index.html

Call for Entry:
https://www.facebook.com/KantinVlaanderen/posts/465184143599250

A Solitary and Social practice

Ellen Allas at the loom in Peru with Puchka Tours and the Maximo Laura workshop/studio.

Tapestry weaving is usually considered a solitary practice, In part this is what can draw people into tapestry weaving.  I've read some great books about solitude and it's very much connected to the process of creativity. In solitude, we have time to connect to our own thoughts and feelings, our own ideas. Through solidtude, we reflect on other things going on in our lives and to find meaning in it all. From the chaos created from the tangled threads of thoughts, emotions, relationships and life situations, we can find some order in these moments of solitude. 

Corrie Parsons with her recently finished panel for the Community Threads tapestries. 

What has been great about the Community Threads tapestry project in Alliston and the ongoing Fate, Destiny and Self Determination international tapestry project is that it has introduced a social element into the process. The weaving classes themselves are also a vehicle for sociability in weaving. People making new connections, new friendships, and of course learning all at the same time. 

Agota Dolinay shown here helping with finishing of section one of the international tapestry project, Fate, Destiny and Self Determination/le sort, le destin et l'auto-determination. Bambi Rutledge also came in today to help get this part of the process underway. 

Overall I think most of us seek some balance between the two...times of solitude, times of sociability - neither of which we would appreciate if we didn't have both. 

At the Opera, by Bambi Rutledge

Christine Shipley wrote: The only thing one can give an artist is leisure in which to work. To give an artist leisure is actually to take part in his creation. -Ezra Pound, poet (1885-1972) Perhaps I would add to that solitude as well for without it, it is more challenging to be creative. By receiving the Ontario Arts Council grants for the two tapestry projects, it has certainly enabled me as an artist to follow my larger creative urges.

Emmanuelle Holmes, Australia

Sidsel Moreb, USA (Florida)

Janis Hunter, Australia. 

Christine Shipley created this shape with handspun merino/bamboo and hand dyed yarn. Christine teaches weaving in Scarborough Ontario through the Parks and Recreation at Cedar Ridge as well as at the Markham Guild of Weavers and Spinners. 

"When from our better selves we have too long
Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop,
Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired,
How gracious, how benign, is Solitude."

— The Prelude by Wordsworth

 102 shapes from 21 different countries have been received to date and more are on their way. 

Resources

Dorothy Clews shared this link on Facebook about how one woman created a tapestry warp: http://whereisrachelhine.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/my-one-and-only-tutorial-warping.html

Susan Middleton sends along this link to a video featuring Peter Harris talking about his work: http://vimeo.com/63367930

101st shape received

Sidsel Moreb from Florida USA submitted some of these photos of her process. One of her tapestries is featured here:  http://tapestryweaverssouth.org/sidsel-moreb/ and you can friend her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sidsel.moreb.

Emmanuelle Holmes from Australia send two shapes. Her family is focused on this endeavour: www.dogsandtheirfamilies.com.au. and you can find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/emmanuelle.holmes. 

This gem arrived from Australia. Janis Hunter wove it. Janis didn't send me any other information about her tapestry weaving endeavours unfortunately. 

Woven by Juana Sleizer, Toronto Canada. http://tapestryworld.blogspot.ca/