Sampling is my Art

Bhakti lecturing to high school students

Yesterday I went to Randolph Union High School for Career Day and lectured to two groups of students in the art room. I brought lots of studies and tried to broaden their concept of weaving and textiles. Most young people know fashion designers, but never consider who actually designs the cloth. I don't think most adults think about this either. One of the things I love about textiles is that the field encompasses so many ways to work within it--textile conservation, textile design, textile art, textile writing, textile teaching. I hope some of these students will look at cloth a little differently after hearing me talk.

I spent two days redoing my compound warp and warp-backed structures and then made new versions of the tests so I could be sure they were correct. This time I used aspect ratio for each section, based on the information from the first studies, and made them approximately two inches high. When I wove today, I used white weft instead of black, which I used in the previous studies, so I could see the affect of weft color. Doing these studies, and going through boxes to find examples to bring to the high school made me realize how much of my work has been sampling, and how much I enjoy this kind of exploration. Someday it would be nice to have an exhibit of just my studies, because these are really my most valuable fabrics. I think it is fair to say that sampling is part of my art.

Second version of warp-backed studies on the loom

I first became aware of compound tabby and compound twill while a graduate student at Cranbrook Academy of Art. I had just purchased a copy of John Becker's book, Pattern and Loom, and used it to try and find an appropriate structure for the narrative textiles I wanted to make. Below are five studies I did at the time--all woven on an 8-shaft loom with the imagery hand-picked. The two studies on the left had a rotation of three colors in the warp, and the next three had two colors. After these I found lampas, which became my structure of choice for many years.

Five Samplers

Two details from the samplers above

One of my favorite weavings I made was called Lucca Math. It had a damask ground based on an Italian textile (14th or 16th century, I don't remember now) and imposed on that were sketches of pots I drew in Florence, as well as the pages of math that i generated when trying to figure out this textile. Woven on an electronic jacquard loom, the writing became the "hand" of the piece. This weaving had the sense of abandonment that I like about my samplers. It is didactic and at the same time illegible; it is like a doodle but in fact it was very considered. I sold the piece but have retained a sampler for my own pleasure.

detail of Lucca Math

Studies Continued

End of Warp-Backed Studies

I just finished weaving the rest of the warp-backed studies. Actually, it also has weft-backed structures in it, which show up where the cloth turns from black and white into color. Where it says "weft-backed 9/1 satin" it should read "weft-backed 1/9 satin." I wrote it correctly in my notebook. I have to continue with these until I find something I like. You can see in the detail below that the top section combines both warp-faced and weft-faced structures. By using two wefts that are different in color to the warps, I have four areas of color. Although the dotting pattern of the two wefts is lively in the warp-backed structures, I am going to ponder how to have just one weft show. So stay tuned. I know my detailing of structures is not every one's cup of tea, but this mathematical game of possibilities really gets me going.

As I was weaving I was overcome with emotion at the fact that I could be working in my studio on my very own jacquard loom. By now I should know better than to say jacquard, since the TC-1 is its own entity, but as Alice and I said in The Woven Pixel (page 17), 

"It will be interesting to see if historians and other manufacturers come to a consensus on a name that will separate 19th century technology, the jacquard, from 21st century technology, the Thread Controller, the Unival, and other hand and electronic warp controlling mechanisms. Meanwhile, we will continue to use the generic term jacquard in this book."

So I guess I will do the same in my blog.

detail showing warp-backed and weft-backed structures

There was a college fair at the gym the other morning, and a nice woman from SCAD gave me a free notebook and pen. It is the perfect size for carrying around and I wanted a new notebook to start writing up these studies. I measured the cloth under tension on the loom, and now I will figure out the picks per inch for each section. Still, when I go to do a real piece, I will have to weave an inch and measure, and if necessary, resize my image. Doing this in Photoshop, as described in the book, is so easy. I still like having a sense of the correct ppi when I design, but these studies were all designed with square pixels. 

Notebook of data about the woven studies

Sampling

Sampling Compound Structures

I started weaving today. I think many weavers when confronted with an end and end warp (i.e., alternating colors of thread) would think double cloth, but I am beginning my tests with structures that show both warps as defined colors but use only one weft. My first four tests are of compound structures. Compound tabby and compound twill (usually a 2,1 twill) were used by Han weavers as early as the 2nd century B.C.E. You can see I just used the name of the structure as the image for each of the four tests. I realize my weaves show up in the opposite place than I expected because I made my structures thinking black, white, black, tussah going from left to right, but on my TC-1 loom, the first thread is at the right, and it is black, so my structures, from left to right, should have been designed thinking tussah, black, white, black. They are weaving correctly--I just need to rename them so I know which threads they bring to the top.

detail showing compound tabby below and compound 2/2 twill above

Then I started weaving samples of warp-backed structures. As in the compound weaves, the colors are showing up reversed from how I planned due to the warp color rotation, but I am getting the information I need. Each strip is 100 picks, so the fact that some studies weave longer than others shows that the picks per inch are affected by the use of twills or satins and which satins. I like the warp-backed cloth better than the compound studies. I will finish this tomorrow and then design some other studies. Chapter 12 of The Woven Pixel is called Compound Tabby, Compound Twill and Other Warp-Backed Structures. So if you want to know more, and you own the book, start at page 229.

Sampling Warp-Backed Structures

detail of study showing warp-backed 3/1 twill below and warp-backed 4/1 satin above

And here is proof--it must be spring in Vermont!

Threading Break-Time

I am almost done setting up my TC-1 with a new warp. I was worried about redenting from the original reed (30 dents per inch) to a new one (15 dents per inch) but when I started, I realized I could stand the new reed up in the top grove of the bar that sits at the top of the reed--and everything went smoothly. I have designed some warp-backed and compound warp structures and two test files and will begin there--as soon as I tension the warp.

Threading New Reed Sitting on Top of Old One

I had the best break-time reading a travelogue of my friend Chad Alice Hagen's recent visit to England. Since i don't have a Face Book account, I couldn't read her posts there, so she kindly sent the written pages to me through email. I had one window open to her account, and another window open to google maps and I was able to follow her journey. At the end I realized I could also click on pictures of the towns and see what they looked like. Chad is a brilliant artist/feltmaker/observer of life, and I returned to dressing the loom refreshed and energized. 

Coincidentally, my friend and neighbor, Sara Tucker, who writes a wonderful weekly blog, The Aggregator, for Conde Nast Traveler, had a post today about google streets, a new feature where you can see photos of the streets, with their buildings, and actually feel like you are walking down them. So once again I was back online, looking at maps, this time exploring Boston. This feature is new and not available for all areas, so I imagine it will be quite awhile before a small town like Randolph is added. Sara's blog always introduces an interesting topic, and then takes you in many directions through links, so a small paragraph can really encompass the world. I joke with Sara that she also happens to be my own personal trainer--she not only gets me to the gym each morning (days she isn't going, I just don't seem to have the will power to go on my own) but she has been terrific at showing me how to use the machines, do exercises in the water, and recently introducing me to exercises for my abs. I think for break-time I prefer her blog and the Internet.

Tutorial Teaching

Maybe you noticed on the right sidebar of my blog that I mention tutorial teaching. Some people have asked about it, so I will talk about it here. I taught weaving and textile design full-time for many years at several universities, and I also have done workshops at various summer craft schools. I think I have a gift for explaining the process clearly, so students absorb the knowledge and can really think through their ideas and move in their own direction. Unlike most people, I feel I started out as a great teacher and slowly became worst (most people I know get better with experience). When the term arrived and I no longer wanted to start from scratch with my syllabus, it became clear to me that I should leave academia. There is always a fresh group of people interested in teaching, and it was time for me to hand over the reins. But I do love teaching, watching as people's eyes go from confusion to clarity and joy (learning is joyful), so I began to think of a way in which I could do my own work, but also do some teaching. When we bought our house in Randolph, I felt this was a place I could make into a studio where I could invite others to come and learn--but on a very limited basis.

Over the years I have seen what others have done. I always remember a wonderful visit to Norma Smayda's Saunderstown Weaving School in Rhode Island. I am still envious of her sea of looms. Here in Randolph we have The White River Craft Center, a wonderful place headed by Kevin Hardy, a skilled woodworker and person of great compassion. Susan Rockwell energetically runs the weaving program, and many beginners go to her to learn. I knew I didn't want to have an open door policy, where students would use one of my looms over time, and I didn't want to set myself up in competition with The WRCR since I admire what they are doing. I also knew that I wanted to keep my teaching very contained. So I conceived of this idea of Tutorial Teaching where students came to me for a short period of time and I tailored each program specifically for that person.

Section from dobby weaving study by Bhakti Ziek

Although many people associate me with computerized jacquard weaving, and the book I co-authored with Alice Schlein, The Woven Pixel, I also wrote a book on backstrap weaving, published in 1978, co-authored with my mother, Nona Ziek. If you read my early posts, you know I own three Macomber floor looms (2 8-shaft and 1 10-shaft), two 24-shaft dobby looms (a small Louet and a 40" wide AVL), and one TC-1 loom. I also have lots of sticks for backstrap looms--so really my teaching can run the gamat from backstrap to digital jacquard. Teaching beginners is one of my favorite things, but so is going through complex structures for jacquard. Probably the only criteria I need for enjoying teaching is having an engaged student.

I am interspersing images from a dobby study I did this summer on my 24-shaft Louet to illustrate this post. I used the instructions given in the dobby chapter of The Woven Pixel to design and make my peg plans for weaving. Then I brought bmp files from Photoshop to PCW Fiberworks on a different computer, which ran my Louet loom.

detail of dobby study

In early May, Tommye Scanlin, an accomplished weaver and teacher in her own right, is coming to study with me for four days. In one of her posts on her blog, she mentions how annoyed she has been about the use of tapestry in relationship to jacquard fabrics. Although she comes from the traditional weft-faced tapestry tradition, and I am coming from the digital jacquard world, I share this annoyance and look forward to many hours of interesting conversation over the four days she will be here. Personally, I always like to say "warp tapestry" when referring to the structure used by jacquard weavers who use compound warps of multi-colors to make "pictorial tapestry" works. Words like tapestry have many definitions, but I still always think, without a modifier, it means a weft-faced plain weave, usually with discontinuous wefts. Anyway, Tommye has done some jacquard work at a mill, and it will be interesting to get her started with some weft-faced structures, like samitum or taquette, on my hand jacquard, TC-1, loom. 

Section of dobby study by Bhakti Ziek

When people come to study with me, they have a choice of staying with Mark and me (and the two cats and one lovely dog) or staying in local accommodations. There is a B&B half a block from us, another within walking distance, and an inn on the other side of town (not far). I always provide lunches, and all meals if the person stays with us. Of course I will cook according to a student's needs (i.e., vegetarian, sweet addict, localvore). I have learned I must make boundaries, which is good for the student as well as me, since I can be very intense--so basically my teaching policy is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour break for lunch. I try to put a walk in there too, and if someone wants to go to the gym, I can take them as my guest to use the pool or use the fitness machines. In the evenings, students are welcome to use my looms or read my books (Mark is making shelves for the stacks that are filling the floor of the office/guest room right now), and I am available for help, but not too much. A good conversation and a bottle of wine is not too much.

detail of dobby study

If someone spends the money and time to travel here to study, they usually want to work with me for four or five days, but some students who live closer have come for two days. Since my fees are high, most people just curious about weaving, not sure of their commitment, would do better to find a local school for lessons, but of course I do think you couldn't find a better first teacher than me. As I said, I can work with you on any topic from backstrap to digital jacquard, and it can be focused on computer work too, i.e., using Photoshop for woven design. If you want more information, please email me at bhaktiziek@gmail.com. Since I need to balance out my own studio time with teaching, I can only take a limited number of students a year. So far, they have all been exceptional people. 

Technical Information

I noticed that Alice Schlein has a post today about her beginning weft-backed studies. So it seems timely to post an image of the study I did after I completed Intertwined. Of course it would have made sense to do this study beforehand. You can see that I took the same area of design and repeated it four times. Each section had 208 picks total, and was designed thinking there would be 104 picks per inch (ppi). The bottom strip used the same structures I used in Intertwined. The one above that changed the ground structure to a 12-shaft satin that was not a weft-backed structure. You can see it caused the ppi to decrease, elongating the circle. The third study used weft-backed structures where the back wefts are all tacked by the same warp end, and the ground also tacks this way; and the top study uses the corrected incremental tacking and a variation of this for the ground.

Study to compare structures and picks per inch

The detail below shows an area in the first study at the top and a similar area in the last study at the bottom. The ground structures, which show the blue warp, are different structures, but the only difference in structure in the white/beige area is that the bottom structure had the ties slid over--as I showed in my corrected structure on March 29th. It was clear while weaving that the wefts could pack tighter, and this was proved when I counted ppi. At top the ppi was exactly 104, but the bottom study wove at 111 ppi. I think you can tell also that the wefts at top were moved out of line to adjust to the tacking points that were adjacent (see structures from March 27th post), where they lie smooth and horizontal in the bottom study.

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Top are original structures, and bottom are corrected ones

Today I wound the new warp--10/2 tencel, end and end (actually black, white, black, tussah). I use a warping mill and paddle when I make my warps. I have a small mill which I usually use, but today I used my big one since the warp is 14 yards--which is a very long warp for me. Tomorrow I will start tying knots--this warp tied to the old one on the loom. All day I have been fussing about the reed. Right now I have 20/2 tencel on the loom, 2 per dent in a 30 dent reed, but I think I will change it to a 15 dent reed and put 4 ends per dent. I am trying to think if there is some easy way to change reeds, but so far I keep coming back to tie the ends, wind the warp back through the old reed and then redent into the new reed. If you have a better suggestion, please add a comment or send me a personal email.

Warping Mill Using Paddle and 4 Threads Simultaneously

I was feeling lazy and wound directly from cones to the paddle, so I wound 4 ends at a time. This meant 220 times to get 880 ends. As soon as I began I regretted not doing 8 ends at a time, and I am sure if I did 8, I would have thought I should have done 12. Still one quarter the time was a big saving. I know that paddles can be a bit awkward at first, but once you understand and are comfortable, you never want to return to single ends. I have friends who work with multiple strands and make the cross by hand each time, but really, using the paddle is so much easier. I tried to take a picture to show you (below). It is just like a rigid heddle with eyes and slots. The threads in the eyes stay put and the ones in the slots can move up or down, creating the cross. (Sorry non-weavers, I did title this post "Technical.")

Paddle Making Cross

Look what I found out in my front yard!! A sure sign of spring. My neighbor has several flowers in bloom. Such joy to welcome a fresh season.

Sign of Spring

Intertwined

Intertwined

I cut the work off the loom today. Here are the two halves of Intertwined placed side by side. You can see the seam, which I will sew closed, but they match so well. I am very pleased. I am not sure if I will keep the circles at the bottom or not. First take, my thought is yes, but I will look at the piece in daylight with and without them and decide. This is the first time I created a larger work on my TC-1 by assembling two parts. I feel encouraged in the sense that there is no size restrictions now, and when I get the new warp on the loom (I am going to wind an end and end warp tomorrow) I will design a piece with even more components.

I don't feel so happy with the results of the weaving that incorporates the knotted warp, shown below. In the detail you can see that I have areas of warp floats, weft floats, weft-backed satin and warp satin (click on an image to see it enlarged). I liked the idea that these floats in the grid design would grow into the hanging warp and knots; but without the tension of the loom, the piece seems a bit soft to me. I will comb out the hanging warps and see if that, and time, improves my impression of it. I am not really disappointed though--I had an idea and I did it. I wasn't invested in the outcome of this weaving in the way I was with Intertwined. I really wanted that piece to turn out the way it did!

Knots

detail of Knots

I also met with Holly and Liz this morning to see how we were coming on our collaboration. Liz brought the designs she is preparing now for weft-ikat napkins, Holly brought some new plates she had done, and I had the place mats with lines cut apart and sewn. We ate fresh fruit salad and yogurt and sat and talked about the combination and how to proceed. We plan to have some finished results by the end of May.

Holly Walker (left) and Liz Billings (right)

Collaborative Place Setting