Digital Woven Pixel

Alice Schlein and I have been so gratified by the response to our book, The Woven Pixel: Designing for Jacquard and Dobby Looms Using Photoshop. We have had two successful editions sell out and have decided to go with 21st century technology and instead of printing more books we will offer a digital version of the book.

This will be a win-win situation for all of us--especially our overseas readers who have to endure such high shipping costs from the U.S. The cost of the digital book will now be $125, payable by check in U.S. Dollars or by PayPal. There will be no shipping or handling fees. Buyers will have the right to print one copy of the book for their own purposes, and agree that the CD contents will be for their own use. Once payment is made, we will transfer the book and CD contents via a free on-line exchange. Details will be sent to purchasers upon receipt of payment.

We have tried this method successfully for a few weeks and all our readers are satisfied. This will be the same edition as the 2006 book, which was written for Photoshop CS2. Although some items have moved to different locations in the newest version of Photoshop (CS5), we have not had any trouble using our Woven Pixel methods with this version. Although, we can not guarantee what the developers of Photoshop will do in the future, we can say our methods work in any version of Photoshop CS up to now. To order the digital version of the book please email either Alice or Bhakti.

Emperor by Bhakti Ziek, 2011

handwoven jacquard using shaded satins

photo by Michael F. Sacca

I have a show opening this week at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, Vermont. The weaving above will be in the show. It goes with the weaving I posted a couple of weeks ago. Here is the information about the show or go to the gallery site for more images and more information:

PAT ADAMS & BHAKTI ZIEK

GEOMANCER

August 24 - September 25, 2011

OPENING RECEPTION

SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011

Reception 5 - 7pm

Artist Discussion 4pm

Tutorial on TC1

Karin Muller La Belle from Luzern, Switzerland working on Bhakti Ziek's TC-1 Loom

It's been a long time since I said yes to a private student but Karin Muller La Belle asked to work with me at a time that fit perfectly with my schedule. I knew I would be finishing work for my upcoming show at BigTown Gallery--finishing meaning sewing, not weaving--and my loom would be available for her to use. Karin is the Studio Director/Manager at the Hochschule Luzern and overseas the weaving, knitting and embroidery studios. I have been extremely lucky with the people who have come to study with me--and I couldn't have asked for a more lovely student than Karin. She had some clear parameters for what she needed to learn and she worked diligently to accomplish everything. One of the things she needed to see was how to reconfigure the loom for different setts. When she arrived the loom was set up with two modules by two modules (30 epi). She wove a sample of shaded satins on the remaining warp (you can see front and back in the picture above), and then with the help of my husband Mark, we reconfigured the loom the next morning in about an hour. Now the modules are one behind another. Then together we wound back a new silk warp (60 epi) and threaded together. By evening she had half of the warp through dents, and the next morning she was weaving double cloth. I love this loom. And I think by the end of the week Karin loved it too. She wove 5.5 yards on the silk warp, leaving me about half a yard to go before I reconfigure the loom back to two by two. You can a detail of the beautiful scarf she wove at the end. I have a TC-1 loom, but anyone interested in the loom today will be getting a TC-2, which sounds like it is about ready to launch.

I had a funny experience the other day. I was doing a google search on Henry's Attic 16/2 linen and was surprised to see a link to one of my blog posts--so I checked it out. It was December 25, 2009 and I had posted an image of the curtains I had just made as well as a link to a Gateau Basque that I made after listening to an NPR program. I had forgotten about that cake--but since we had an invite to dinner that night I found the recipe and made it again. It was delicious!

Art Trip

Empress by Bhakti Ziek, 2011

handwoven jacquard using shaded satins

I am finishing the work for the upcoming exhibition I am having at BigTown Gallery. I will be exhibiting with Pat Adams, a wonderful painter. For this show I am mounting my work on stretched linen so the linen shows as a border, the way ethnographic textiles are often mounted. The exhibition runs from August 24th to September 25th, with an artists' reception on August 27th.

Mark and I had an art trip last week. We met my cousins at Mass Moca and also went to the Clark with them. Carol is a painter so we were all serious viewers. The Nari Ward exhibition at Mass Moca was worth the trip. He has made a spectacular sculpture from the floor boards that were used in the previous Anselm Kiefer exhibition. There was a boat in the room, and this huge basket form based on a fishing trap. In the next room he had wooden stalls with images from textile sample books. And beyond that he had a room of foam snowmen encrusted with debris both natural and man-made.

Nu Colossus by Nari Ward at Mass Moca

Stall by Nari Ward at Mass Moca

Mango Tourists by Nari Ward at Mass Moca

Of course a visit to the Sol LeWitt murals is always a treat for me. There are some that I stand in wonder in front of, and others that I shake my head and run past, but all together, they are always powerful and exciting to see.

Details of Sol LeWitt Murals at Mass Moca

This trip we bought the ticket that gave us access to both The Clark and Mass Moca. We all wanted to see the El Anatsui sculptures that were on display in the Tadao Ando Stone Hill Center up the hill from the main musuem. Everything looks good in that space. We also saw the Pissarro exhibition but by that time I think I had seen enough. It was a long day, beautiful drive, great to be with family, and wonderful to see contemporary art--everything fed us.

Sculptures by El Anatsui at The Clark