So, here I go

I started weaving about a year and a half ago and am still as much in love with it as I was when I built my first Archie Brennan pipe loom.  I am lucky enough to have two very talented teachers and mentors, Betsey Snope and Rita Landau.  They are both long time members of the Wednesday Group and have quite a body of work to use as teaching tools.  I am so lucky.

I am not the kind of person who takes things slowly so when I announced I was going to do a Yei figure tapestry as my first project they were dubious.  However I persevered and my finished product came out okay for a first try.  

Working in a limited pallet made me long for color so my next attempt was the rose you see in my profile.  I chose to take a Georgia O’Keeffe approach and concentrated on the interplay of colors on the petals.  It allowed me to explore shading, hatching and mixing colors.  Again, not too shabby.

Being the ambitious person I am I then decided that a simple portable pipe loom was just not enough.  I wanted to do something big, a real tapestry.  Something to hang on the wall and really make a statement.  Back to Archie I went, this time it was to get instructions for a 7’ by 4’ black pipe loom. I set it up in my spare room turned studio.  I love it. 

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Warping Wanda  was not easy.  I damaged walls moving it around, I spent days struggling over crossed warp and shed sticks but eventually it was ready to go.  I am happily weaving away now on my inaugural image, a Philly parking lot in grayscale. 

  This week I was off on spring break which allowed me to get some quality time into my tapestry.  I will put up the fruits of my efforts soon. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy reading about my journey as much as I am enjoying the process.  See you soon.