Vermont Weavers Guild Exhibition

The Guest House-6 by Bhakti Ziek, handwoven weft-backed jacquard

Today is the opening of the Vermont Weavers Guild Biennial Show at The Chandler Center for the Arts, here in Randolph. I was one of three jurors this year, plus I am a member of the Guild, though a very inactive one. I joined in September so I could meet fellow weavers and went to a few meetings, but then there was a winter break in the schedule and after that I never remembered when they meet. I continue to be impressed with how many people in this region are weavers. Therefore I was surprised at the jurying that so few people entered work. Still, the show is respectable and worth seeing if you are in this area. It will be open during the Vermont Open Studios next weekend. The Guild is housed at Kimball House, The White River Craft Center and members will be demonstrating weaving both there and at the Chandler. If you come to Randolph on either May 23 or 24, be sure and visit both White River Craft Center locations, as well as my studio. The information for specific locations is on the map in Orange County (click on the link above for Vermont Open Studios).

Nasca Blue by Bhakti Ziek, weft-backed jacquard

Most of the work in the Guild exhibit is small and functional. They invited the jurors to exhibit two pieces each. I chose to put in two weavings that would give the audience another sense of what it means to be a weaver. When I created my series of Flying Monkey Textiles, I also did a warp-tapestry of The Guest House, which incorporated Rumi's wonderful poem. I used Coleman Bark's translation and gave him a commission on every one of them that I sold. The Guest House-6 was created before I made the edition. Rumi was one of the original whirling dervishes, and I used an image of one of my husband's sculptures as the background, since the holes in the sculpture reminded me of the motion of dancing dervishes. Nasca Blue, the other weaving I put in the show, used sections of my writing from letters written to friends, arranged in a format that references both block weaving patterns as well as assembled quilt designs.