Saffron String Theory

Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts - Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio - Inuit tapestries and woven crafts

Tapestry 464 - "Winter Game", Elisapee Ishulutaq (artist), Kawtysie Kakee (weaver).

via www.uqqurmiut.com

A wonderful story. Inuit tapestry weavers and they are doing great works. Even if your not a weaver this will inspire you.

Pamela Topham, Tapestry Artist

via www.pamelatopham.com

Ran across another great tapestry weaver's site today.
Her landscapes are wonderful. I love her sense of color and perspective. Great blending of colors for wonderful effects. Check her out. Get inspired.

The Film: A Weaverly Path

A Weaverly Path offers an intimate,  visually stunning portrait of Swiss-born tapestry weaver Silvia Heyden and captures the inner dialogue and meditations of an extraordinary artist in the moments of creation. The film follows Heyden during a year of weaving and reflection. Heyden creates works inspired by the Eno River in Durham, North Carolina and shares  how nature, music, her Bauhaus influences, and her life experiences anchor and inform her weaving. Heyden is a 20th century modernist whose body of work redefines the art of modern tapestry.

via aweaverlypath.com

A film about Silvia Heyden and her work as a tapestry weaver. There is a short clip at this site. Now I need to see the whole movie. Check it out.

William Morris - The Art of Dyeing

Dyeing is a very ancient art; from the earliest times of the ancient civilisations till within about forty years ago there had been no essential change in it, and not much change of any kind. Up to the time of the discovery of the process of Prussian-blue dyeing in about 1810 (it was known as a pigment thirty or forty years earlier), the only changes in the art were the result of the introduction of the American insect dye (cochineal), which gradually superseded the European one (kermes), and the American wood-dyes now known as logwood and Brazil-wood: the latter differs little from the Asiatic and African Red Saunders, and other red dye-woods; the former has cheapened and worsened black-dyeing, in so far as it has taken the place of the indigo-vat as a basis. The American quercitron bark gives us also a useful additional yellow dye.

via www.marxists.org

I've been doing some research on William Morris for a Series of colorways that I'm doing for Saffron Dyeworks. I ran across this article that he wrote on dyeing. Of course for me I'm not using Natural dyes but I still find it very interesting. Maybe one day I'll pull out my natural dye supplies and fire up an Indigo pot just like we did in grad school. That was really fun. I love the look of natural dyed yarns. I keep saying one day I'll get back to it. One day...........

Hand dyed silks for tapestry

Yesterday I dyed some 20/2 silk for tapestry. Normally I'm dyeing yarn for my business Saffron Dyeworks but this time I was dyeing just for me and it felt great. Nothing dyes like silk. It is a pure delight to work with. This will be the first of many batches of this yarn. It's going to blend perfectly on the bobbin with wools. It's nice and fine so I can blend several colors together for just the right thickness. I'm hoping to just toss some in the pots each time I have a dye session for Saffron so I should build up a nice stash quickly. I also need to dye more colors in value like the 4 golds I did here.  My knitting yarn stash is getting pretty large but I need to add to my tapestry yarns. Luckily many of the yarns I dye for knitting are fingering weight and they work great for tapestry too. 

The best tapestry bobbins on the planet

via thewoodemporium.co.uk

The best bobbins I have ever purchased. I have the small brass tipped one like the one pictured on the far left. It is hands down the best tapestry bobbin I have ever used. The brass tips are very strong and the finish on the wood is fabulous. They are not cheap but well worth the price. I'm trying to add one or two to my collection over time. If only all of my bobbins were this perfect. Sigh...........

Phoenix Tapestry by Klara Tamas

via www.symbolgallerynyc.net

I was searching for new works by Klara Tamas and found this. I discovered her work a few years ago. Take a look.

My new space is ready.

Finally got moved into my new little tapestry studio. It's small but it's all I need. Ron painted the walls a nice clean white so I can get great light on a sunny day. Today it is overcast but I did take a few shots with my iphone. I started a little tapestry on my Mirrix Loom and I have that leaning up against my Fireside. I have a great friend and master tapestry weaver coming to help me thread the Fireside in the next couple of weeks. Working small for now is helping me get back into tapestry. It's been a long time. I'm enjoying the process and loving my new little space. 

Getting Inspired

I ran across this video and I wanted to share it. It's a tapestry being woven by Filix Haspel. A very inspirational video I've watched it a few times. I just discovered him so I want to do a little research and find out more about his work. 

 

I've located his site, Filix Haspel. You can see this tapestry finished and many more. I really love his work.

Getting started.............the loom is here but where am I?

Okay here we go. After about 10 years out of graduate school and living and working and working and more working. I'm taking the plunge and getting back into my weaving again. I have a new tapestry loom from Fireside Fiberarts and it is still empty. Hopefully this is going to be my year to fix that. This is a new blog I've started today with great excitement and hope. Hope for the new year and for me as an artist to get back to my weaving and quilts. I have left the Textile Industry which I had a love/hate relationship with. I love designing Jacquards, just loved it but I was not crazy about the industry and where it was going at the time, which was pretty much downhill. I still dream of designing Jacquards but not for industry. I want an AVL Jacquard Loom so very much so I can continue my Jacquard education but on a fine art path instead. This is my dream loom but until that day comes I'm weaving tapestry the traditional way which is much slower but a truly wonderful experience and it's not to be rushed. So what am I going to do to get this show on the road? A place to weave without distraction is a good start. I'm painting and fixing up a room upstairs which has good light. I'm getting my studio set up. That's a great start. 

Here are a couple of shots of my new baby. And my old baby too, my Varpapuu floor loom.