Re-Entry: Fall

Night Sky by Bhakti Ziek, 2010

It has been a wonderful summer of friends, weaving, and balance. I am highly focused on work in my studio, preparing for an upcoming show in January 2011 here in Randolph, VT (hope you can make the opening, January 8th at 1pm at Chandler Art Gallery, Randolph, VT), so my blogging is going to continue to be brief, but I will try to keep you posted on the work.

Night Sky is 13.5"h x 44"w, silk warp with tencel and gold gimp wefts, woven on my TC-1 loom in a lampas construction. If you are at the TSA Symposium this week, this weaving and another one of mine are included in the exhibition Binary Fiction: Digital Weaving 2010, curated by Janice Lessman-Moss. It is on view at The Eisentrager-Howard Gallery from October 4 - October 29, 2010.

In another part of the country, Rhode Island, I will be giving a talk on my work this Friday, October 1st. It is for the Weavers Guild of Rhode Island, and will be at 11am at Slater Mill in Pawticket. It is exciting to update my powerpoint presentation, putting in the work I have been doing. Just two days ago I finished a warp, and am tying on a new red silk one now. I will try and post the new work, one at a time, for you to see.

Busy Weaving

March weaving growing on TC-1 loom

It is so good to have obligations on the calendar that force me to stop playing computer games and return to the loom. I gave a talk on Saturday morning for the Vermont Weavers Guild, then they came to my house to see the TC-1 loom in action. I also put out most of my ethnographic textile collection in hope that pieces would find new homes (and a few did). Spurred on by the visit, i got busy last week weaving. I always wonder why I have these long breaks, once I return to the loom--because it really is exciting to see the image grow. This weaving is going to be approximately 42 inches wide so the motif that you see developing in the images above will be on the left side of the final weaving. It is one of the drawings I did when i was trying to figure out classification awhile back (remember, the PBS Art 21 series?). I never did decide where I would place myself, but I like the motif and am very pleased how it is working in the cloth. There is a gold metallic weft that is being used both for the ground and for patterning, and my photos are not giving you a clear sense of the simmer and shine of the piece. Maybe when my new camera arrives I will be able to show you it better. And by then, it should have become much longer too.

Two of my studio walls with structural studies hanging

I hung the walls of my studio with the structural studies for the guild to see. I find them very useful myself but have given up on the idea of making them my art work. They are what they are--and that is enough. I see I have different aspirations for the current piece than I do for them. That means I will be very critical of the weaving when it first gets off the loom, and then, hopefully, I will soften with time.

Some of the ethnographic textiles in my collection

After the excitement of the talk, and a house full of weavers, I had a quiet day putting all the textiles back in the containers where I store them. It is almost a ritual, to take them out, try to sell them, remember when and where i bought them--usually directly from their maker--then carefully fold them up and put them away. I wonder if they will end up in some thrift store when I die? I hope not. India, Guatemala, Uzbekistan and Japan are all represented in the fabrics above.

On Monday, Liz and I had a lesson in coiled pots by Holly. We really had a good time. I definitely felt like a grade-school child, awkward and out of control. I had to put my first attempt back in the recycle pile, but my second attempt has possibilities. It is going to be a spoon pot for our wooden spoons and stirrers. It was really informative to work with Holly and see how skilled and joyful she is with the clay. One little pat or pinch by her and our work would shape up.

Holly Walker and Liz Billings making coiled pots

Yesterday Mark and I drove to Pawtucket, RI to pick up two of my weavings that had been in an exhibition at the Slater Mill Gallery, juried by Norma Smayda (center below) and Jody Brown (right below). Andrian Paquette (left below) was kind enough to show us around Slater Mill, which has wonderful old textile equipment that is still running. Andrian demonstrated the narrow tape loom which is shown in the image below. We also saw the renovated studios where classes are taught and meetings are held by a number of guilds. The waterfall outside the mill was really roaring and Andy said the river was about 8 feet higher than normal.

Andrian Paquette, Norma Smayda, and Jody Brown at Slater Mill

Narrow tape loom which is still weaving, see all the dobby bars on the left side of the loom!

After the mill, we went into Providence to see Kristin Crane's handmade books at Craftland. Kristin was a textile designer, before most of the mills in the area closed, then studied graphic design, but she seems to be thriving as a bookmaker and one of the directors of the gallery. She also sells her work on Etsy. I was a bit overwhelmed by the city--pastoral Vermont has changed me. But not so overwhelmed that I couldn't find Whole Foods and immediately spend my lecture fee and then some. I realize I am glad we don't have a store like that near us in Vermont (I think I am sounding like that cliche about New York--you know, the one that ends "but I wouldn't want to live there.")

Kristin Crane holding one of her travel journals in Craftland

I bought the new Abstract Expressionists stamps at the post office the other day. They are so cute that they will really tempt you to send a real letter. All these miniatures of very big paintings. Some of them are huge though in terms of stamps and when I mentioned to the post person that I would have to turn the stamp to get it to fit on my envelope, and was that okay, he said, "It's abstract expressionism. You can turn it any way you want."

New stamps available at the US Post Office

Trip to New Bedford

Travelling to New Bedford for Lecture and Critiques

I went to New Bedford this week to do a lecture and critiques for the Fibers Department of University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. This was the first time I saw the new studio building since they moved it from the Purchase Street location where Mark did a year of graduate work. They are now located in the center of New Bedford in a renovated department store, and the studios are wonderful. They just hired Deborah Carlson (tenured, full-professor) to head the Fiber Department, which I think was a brilliant decision. Deborah is an inspiring artist and weaver with years of experience teaching and encouraging excellence from her students. If you know someone considering graduate or undergraduate work in Fibers, be sure to have them consider this program.

Students in Fibers working with Deborah Carlson (l), Kristin Crane in center, Paula Becker in front of student display (r)

The program at UMass-Dartmouth has been strong in both art and industrial applications for fiber. Besides Deborah, students are also working with Paula Becker. I first met Paula in Philadelphia, when I was teaching in an industrial textile program and she was a designer for Craftex. Later she went to Cranbrook for an MFA, had a child, did part-time college teaching, and worked for very high-end mills. Currently she has been able to conduct a project with students working with Swarovski and I saw some interesting results using crystals in the critiques. Her students are also getting the opportunity to design and have fabric woven through a local mill, Victor. I was quite impressed with how Deborah and Paula are envisioning the future for their students, recognizing that most mills have closed in the USA, and that small production, like the work shown on Etsy, is a viable model for handwork and art.

Deborah Carlson at the loom and detail of work at right

I did a talk on my work the first morning, and then had individual meetings with graduate students that afternoon. The next day I participated in a critique for the seniors, then had individual meetings with each of them. I was particularly impressed with the work of Dayna Day, shown below. She showed a machine embroidered work that had such flow and energy that it immediately captivated me. At first I saw it as organic abstraction and then realized she had embedded images from her life. Since baking is always a sub-text in my blog, I naturally took an image that shows her mixer.

Dayna Day with her embroidered narrative

The lobby of the art building is an open gallery with display cases used by students (see image of Paula Becker above in front of them), as well as entry to a gallery space, run by Lasse Antonsen. Exhibits vary, but I happened to catch the Merkin exhibit that originated at the last Surface Design Conference. Below are images of works by Elin Noble and Emily DuBois that were in the exhibit. I included the definition of merkin, in case you didn't know the word.

Merkin by Elin Noble (l) and Emily DuBois (r)

Elin and I became good friends when I lived in New Bedford in 1989-90. A few years ago, Elin, Tabbetha McCale, and I travelled through Turkey together. It was terrific to have time to catch up with all the wonderful changes in Elin's life, including a new home and studio with her husband, Lasse Antonsen. I was in extreme envy when we visited their studio Saturday morning. They share a magnificent space, which has allowed Elin to create new work that ranges from large to small. She also has a new free arm sewing machine that she is using on her work. The piece behind Elin and Lasse in the photo below is about 20 feet high. It immediately grabs you by its bold color and patterning, then you approach and you are awed by the intricate quilting that covers the work.

Elin Noble & Lasse Antonsen, details of work by Elin Noble

Elin Noble at her free arm sewing machine

Two marblized pieces by Elin Noble

Elin has always done her own art work, but she also has helped thousands of others through her former work at ProChemical, through the book she has written, and through the workshops she gives internationally. I felt so pleased to see the leap in her own work now, exemplified by the large quilted pieces and these amazing marbleized silk pieces, two of which are shown above. It is so encouraging for me, for everyone in fact, to see another artist find their voice. It affirms the fact that art is a process, that it does ebb and flow, and that perseverance furthers. Not everyone ends up with glorious results, but Elin Noble certainly is in a period of grace and beauty.

Lasse Antonsen in his studio

Lasse is also a case of encouragement for artist and art making. He is an art historian and curator, but has been focusing on his own work in recent years with a kind of joy that comes from, in the words of Joseph Campbell, "Following your bliss." It was apparent to me that these two artists are encouraging each other to do their work, get it out in the world, and share with others. They are great role models, and I really enjoyed seeing how New Bedford has changed through their eyes, which included a trip to The Gourmet Outlet, where we grazed for lunch. They put out recipe cards next to the food they served (Yuzu Salmon Salad, Italian Cous Cous Salad with Dried Fruit, and Jansal Valley Salmon Tartar were among the dishes I tasted) and on their website they also list recipes.

Grazing at The Gourmet Outlet

So I got home in time to host a Power of the Myth potluck dinner last night. My friends outdid themselves with the delicious food we shared, as well as the great conversation engendered by watching the first part of the six part series. Most people felt it was dated, and had some criticism of the first part, but everyone seems to want to keep going and see more. For my part, I still find his thinking and making connections between cultures from vastly different times and parts of the world, totally inspiring. Even more inspiring were our neighbors, Kelly Green and Forest McGregor, shown below. Kelly's stuffed baked potatoes were superb (we had some for lunch today) and so was her outfit. I especially love her gloves.

Kelly Green and Forest McGregor at the end of a great gathering

Halifax - Part 2

Halifax Night Lights

Halifax was lit up for the holidays, as well as the usual city lights, but pictures taken in a moving car in snow and rain show it off even better. Last time I was in Halifax there was a fierce snowstorm that shut down the enter east coast, causing a two-day delay in my arrival. School (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, i.e., NSCAD) was cancelled but some students came in anyway to hear my talk. There was no traffic on the road, snow was knee deep, and I thought the town was a small fishing village. This time I realized it is quite large--especially if you consider Dartmouth and Halifax as one city. I liked everything about it and hope to get there in warmer weather when we can walk along the water and not freeze.

Lesley Armstrong in her studio, Armstrong Textiles

I met Lesley Armstrong on that first visit to Halifax and knew I wanted to see her studio. Lesley produces wonderful contemporary textiles that are woven and then felted and manipulated to become textured and lively. She weaves these fabrics on old looms that she has saved from disuse, bringing some of them from England to Canada. I loved the contrast of the up-to-the-minute cloth with the machinery, which is really industrial revolution (ancient compared to modern equipment). You can see that Lesley is as lively as her cloth--always laughing, smiling and exhibiting genuine enthusiasm. Besides running Armstrong Textiles, she is on the faculty of NSCAD.

Robin Mueller (l) and Frances Dorsey (r)

Textile Faculty at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design

Images of NSCAD Textiles Studios

Morag weaving on tapestry loom, top left

Michelle Alarie at TC-1 Loom, center left

Maddy Andrews wearing her jacquard cloth, bottom right

Robin Mueller and Frances Dorsey are the two full-time faculty in textiles at NSCAD. Although it was the end of the term, and everyone was very busy, they kindly asked me to do a lecture for their students. Before my talk I got to visit the studios, which are in a charming old building, one you could easily get lost in. Michelle Alarie, the technical assistant, was my guide and kept me out of trouble. They have a wonderful TC-1 loom with 12 modules. I wove on it the last time I was there. This time I only looked with envy at the width and the extra modules that i would like to have on my loom. There is a strong possibility that I will return to NSCAD in the summer of 2011 to teach, and perhaps there will be a chance for me to try their loom again too. NSCAD has been a strong program for many years--Sandra Brownlee is one of their graduates. One of the reasons it continues to thrive is because the faculty are working artists, as well as teachers. If you click here you can read an interesting review of Fran's recent exhibition, Saigon. There is also a catalog that can be ordered from the exhibition. Though I don't know Fran well, every time I see her I have the feeling that we are old friends. I guess we must have been sisters in a past life.

Wendy Landry in her studio showing her velvet loom

Another woman who teaches at NSCAD is Wendy Landry. We visited Wendy's studio on Saturday. I knew she was a velvet weaver and had modified a loom, but I wasn't familiar with her work. Once I saw it, I thought that not only should I know her work, but so should more people. She has her loom set up with two different warps for the velvet pile so she can do interchanging colors in pile. She is also a historian and scholar, and her interests show up in the weaving. The bottom left image above shows a weaving she did where she combines pile loops and an area of weft tapestry, like the Coptic weavers used to do.

Sandra Brownlee weaving and images of her studio

Of course, we also saw Sandra Brownlee's studio. Sandra's work is featured in the new book, Art Textiles of the World: Canada. So if you can't get to Halifax to see her current exhibition, you can see her work in that book.

Speaking of books, if you are looking for a gift for someone who loves to read, I strongly recommend A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev. It is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a long time. Bittersweet. It made me want to visit Israel. It got me to write to my wonderful cousin Ahinoam, who I had not contacted in a long time. It's a great read.

I finished my plain weave linen for the curtains. Will take a picture soon to show you the moire effect. I didn't get to light Chanukah candles this year (Happy Chanukah if this is your celebration!) so this tree below will have to do.

Festive Halifax Tree

Colloquy 2009 and a Visit to New Harmony

Images from Colloquy 2009

I had a wonderful week in Indiana, first at Colloquy, then visiting Laura Foster Nicholson in New Harmony. The gathering at St. Meinrad's Guest House has been happening each year for about 14 years, and is a continuation of the gathering that used to happen in Mineral Springs, WI at Ken Colwell's place, The Looms. I was not the only new comer this year, but most of the participants have known each other for years, and this is like a yearly family reunion. Everyone was welcoming and enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about looms and weaving. My talks were well received, and I was able to hear some presentations by others. Brother Kim, who organized the event with the help of Kathy O'Neal (seen above wearing her lovely deflected double cloth scarf), is such a lively person it was hard to get images of him not in motion. He brought a group of us to the Abbey to see some of the vestments. They include some amazing velvets, embroideries, and contemporary woven and constructed garments. I was getting confused between labels such as chasuble and cope, and just focused on the cloth. Brother Kim has woven and sewn some of the garments he showed us, and Murlea Everson, one of the participants, weaves the Bettencourt Collection for Meyer-Vogelpohl.

Seeing some of the vestments at St. Meinrad's Archabby

While we were looking at vestments, some of the others were setting up a three-shaft loom in Brother Kim's studio. His studio has a range of looms that include a computerized dobby and a drawloom. I think visits to other artist's studios are one of my favorite things to do. I also love listening to people talk about their research, especially when they are excited about it. I got to hear Teena Tuenga make a presentation on the weaving she has done exploring color and weave, using parameters presented by George Best during a previous Colloquy. Her presentation really explained why these people gather each year--for friendship, yes--but because they encourage and inspire each other to explore their interests in weaving further. I felt very honored to be asked to talk to them, and to be able to share Colloquy 2009 with them. Plus I feel like I have a dozen new friends.

Brother Kim's weaving studio

Teena Tuenga making a presentation of her research

New Harmony is close to St. Meinrads, so my friend Laura Nicholson, who lives there, came to get me and we had our own form of reunion and textile inspiring discussions. I visited her two years ago, and seriously considering moving there, and once again I found this small modern community built on the memory and ruins of a Utopian community quite fascinating. Main Street, where Laura has her LFN Textile Studio, could be main street in almost any small town USA, except Docey Lewis has her design studio right across the street from Laura's--and how many main streets can boast two brilliant textile designers? When you visit the Harmonist buildings, the Visitors Center/Atheneum is a Richard Meier building, and the Roofless Church is a Philip Johnson building. So you see homage to both the past and the present sitting side by side.

Images of New Harmony, IN

Of course, for me, Laura's studio is the most interesting place in New Harmony. The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art is housed in the same building and all the works in the current print exhibition are shown on their current webpage. Below you see Laura standing in front of her edition of 20 pin cases (I bought two--one for me and one for a friend). You can also see her in her studio. She didn't really want me to take that picture but I love the activity that so clearly shows on her table. She is a force of creativity, and definitely one of my heroes. I also came home with one of her eye sachets--she said I should put it on my eyes and it will help me relax and sleep (it is full of flax and lavender, I think)--but really just looking at it is a feast for my eyes and will bring me much happiness. You can see all the souvenirs I came home with in the final picture. Interesting that Kathy O'Neal gave me an old ribbon loom shuttle (from Henry Riehl and Sons of Philadelphia) and then I bought my most recent additions to my LFN ribbon collection. I never make anything with these ribbons, just keep amassing them--I want one of every design--and always I bring them to show students. Aren't they beautiful?

Laura Foster Nicholson in front of her printed pin case on left and with her ribbons on right

Souvenirs of my trip include LFN ribbons and a ribbon shuttle

Kent Trip and Movie

I had a quick but wonderful visit to Kent State University to give a lecture on the history of woven figured textiles, i.e., drawloom woven, jacquard woven, and thread controller woven, and also spent time talking to students individually. The lecture was well-attended (the lecture room in the museum seats 130 and it was full), which is always gratifying. I was worried that my talk might be too basic for the fiber students, so was relieved when an art history class filed in. I was also pleased that J.R. Campbell, the new director of the School of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Kent, and his wife attended the talk. We met before at a Surface Design Conference where we were both teaching. He is an expert at digital print and engineered garments and if you click on his name it will take you to his blog where he has posted some good images. Kent is very lucky to have both J.R. and Janice Lessman-Moss on their faculty, and I can imagine that they will figure out interesting ways to have their students collaborate. Fashion and its main players are always more prominent than the designers of the cloth that is used to make the clothes. I don't know if I even knew that there was such a thing as a textile designer until my mid-30's; I just assumed that the fashion designer created the cloth they were using.

Before lecture, people looking at some woven studies by Bhakti Ziek

Visiting with Janice and her husband Al, an artist and musician (member of the Hillbilly Idols) is stimulating and reinforces my commitment to live a life focused on making things. Janice is one of those super women who is juggling many commitments at once, and doing them all well. She has built an amazing department at Kent and the exhibition downtown of jacquard work by herself and her students was definitely a highlight of my trip. She gives to the larger field by activities such as being on the board of Textile Society of America. Most importantly, she is an active practicing artist and her studio is full of inspiring work. You might own a copy of Ideas in Weaving, and have seen an image of Janice's Macomber loom, which she modified in order to create shaped weavings. Her ability to conceive of what she wants to do, and then figure out means to achieve her ideas, is staggering--and this is one of the impressive skills she manages to pass on to her students. In her studio I saw large, well-conceived, time-consuming weavings--and in the fiber department and downtown gallery I saw works by her students that showed that they too have learned to think beyond the expected and put in what ever effort is necessary to execute big, detailed projects. Below is a picture of Janice standing near a few of her new weavings, and below that a detail of her and the work.

Janice Lessman-Moss with some of her recent weavings

Janice Lessman-Moss in her studio

It is fun for me to go into a university program and talk to the students. To catch a bit of the energy of hope and exploration and ambition that is present in a good department, like the one at Kent. The facilities are very good--large well-equipped rooms for both weaving and surface design, and the equipment, which is kept in good shape, includes two TC-1 looms. Below are images of two of the seniors that I met, Katie Rothacher and Lauren Mangeri. Katie's recent jacquard in the downtown show, made with hand dyed weft, is not just ambitious, but mature and successful work; Lauren has just begun working with plastic interlaced with other yarns, and already her initial study shows the work is going to become captivating.

Katie Rothacher in her studio at Kent State University

Lauren Mangeri showing her recent TC-1 jacquard in weaving studio at Kent State University

I was only gone three days, but in the words of Dorothy, "there is no place like home." I used to be a movie fanatic, sometimes going to three different theaters in NYC on the same day to catch films playing only on that day--but that was a long time ago and now it is a rare treat to go to a movie. Julie and Julia is playing at the local Randolph movie theater, the Playhouse, so Mark and I went tonight. I didn't expect to like it (dare I admit that I don't like Meryl Streep)--but I loved the movie. I loved everything, especially all the talk about blogs and blogging--and of course all the food--and for the most part, Streep didn't annoy me. It felt so good to sit in the dark, and laugh, and be absorbed by a big screen. I came home and pulled out my copy of Child's book (13th printing from 1966) and maybe I will make that chocolate cake with almonds tomorrow.

Lectures, Mine and Others

I am going to Kent, Ohio this week to give a talk on woven figured textiles (drawloom and jacquard production) at the Kent State University Museum. The poster above has all the information of date, time, place--and if you are in the area, please come hear the talk. It is free and open to the public. There are several exhibitions of work on view too that I look forward to seeing, as well as seeing the work of the students of Janice Lessman-Moss. It is always good to see Janice, so I know it will be a great trip.

Takako Ueki, owner of Habu Textiles, talking to the VT Weavers Guild

Saturday morning I heard a wonderful talk by Takako Ueki, owner of Habu Textiles, at the meeting of the Vermont Weavers Guild. Takako sells the most amazing yarn and is a wealth of information about the materials she sells. She is a natural storyteller, and each time she picked up another skein, she would take us on another fascinating journey. I realized that so many of the processes she was describing have been embedded in cultures for generations--knowledge handed down from parent to child--identified with families and villages. Sadly much of this knowledge--making bamboo dents, splitting ramie into fine almost invisible thread, making double sided gold paper yarn--is being lost to the current generation who has found more lucrative professions. As I listened I wanted to try everything--but of course the skills of the masters she was describing come from dedication to one thing--the person who could make the incredible ramie did not know how to make the woven ikat weft. I don't have time to master any of these skills, nor do I have the discipline to focus on one thing. Trying to become a better weaver is enough for me. Still, it was a wonderful morning listening to her stories, and dreaming about places where people have valued special yarn and the cloth made from it. Each time Takako would hold up a roll of plain weave--incredible plain weave--I would take in a deep breathe and sigh in appreciation.

Six residents of Randolph area reading memoirs

Idora Tucker reading from her memoir as her daughter, Sara Tucker, looks on

Last week six residents of this area who have been meeting weekly at the Senior Center gave a reading from their memoirs. My neighbors, Sara Tucker and her mother, Idora Tucker, are both my friends, and they invited me to attend the reading. When the original organizer stepped out of the picture, Sara, a writer by profession, stepped in to help guide and encourage the others. She is very proud of their writing, as she should be. They did a beautiful job of interspersing their stories, doing three rounds where they each read sections of their stories. I definitely wanted to hear more, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for the people in this community.

Mark starting to paint the house

We are having a new roof put on our house, and while there is some staging on the roof, Mark has started to paint the house. Though we have been discussing potential colors for months, suddenly we needed to make a decision. Choosing color is so hard--especially from a 1 inch x 1 inch color chip that is representing an entire building. We bought some blue green paint but before it even got on the wall we both got cold feet. In my mind the entire house looked like an overly sweet decorated cake. Then we decided on gray, with dark gray trim--and bought those paints. Then we bought a small sample size of green, very similar to the current color. I am not sure how it will end up, and the main part of the house won't get painted until next spring, but we will see.

Elizabeth Billings at Fleming Museum

Exhibition of work by Elizabeth Billings at Fleming Museum

Today I drove up to Burlington with Elizabeth Billings to see her show, The Ties That Bind, at the Fleming Museum, and to hear her give a public talk about her work. The show is up until October 4th and if you are in the area, you really must go see it. Liz is a person with true integrity, and her talk poignantly shared experiences that have helped her shape a life for herself and her family that honors and extends generations of principles connected to and respectful of nature.

Elizabeth Billings at the exhibition of her work

Liz's work often incorporates poetry, or meaningful language. In a series of "handtowels" called Handprint Series, she incorporated one-line entries from a diary written between 1850 - 1865 by Harriet Warren Vail. These pithy remarks ("just the facts, ma'am") capture a busy life, by necessity in tune with the seasons, but also they show us an awareness appreciative of the changes of the elements. It is wonderful to discover the diary on display along with Billings' work at the Fleming.

Diary of Harriet Warren Vail

Part of the Handprint Series by Elizabeth Billings

On opposing walls, you can see two of Liz's monumental pieces, Wall of Ancestors, done in the late '80's, and a Sapling piece, done this year. Before anyone was doing or talking about woven shibori, Liz was gathering areas of her work to create texture. She takes strip weaving to a new dimension, using the repetition of ikatted skulls, to remind us of the generations that came before us.

Wall of Ancestors by Elizabeth Billings

detail of Wall of Ancestors by Elizabeth Billings

In many of her public art pieces, Liz has removed bark from saplings and branches, making magnified ikat threads out of the wood. The beauty of her newest work, with the organic flow of the branches contrasting the delineated line of the bark that remains (the resisted area of an ikat thread), and the scale of the work, which fills an entire museum wall, is not given justice in my photograph below.

Sapling sculpture by Elizabeth Billings

It was a beautiful day in Vermont, and Liz's thoughtful talk made me really aware of the beauty around me as I sat on my porch when I got home, rocking, enjoying the warmth, and the light, and the smell of freshly mowed grass, and even the little bugs swarming and biting. Just in case you think I am having too much fun, not enough work, I did finish my own "ties that bind" and wound the new warp back on the TC-1. Much to my relief, it wasn't just three yards, but 6 yards in length. I bought this silk, 60/2 (I think, but maybe it is 20/2--I will have to search my files), from Redfish at the Surface Design Conference in 2007, and wound the warp in Arizona in the spring of 2008, before we moved to Vermont. Tomorrow I will have to see if I have those crossed threads that have been worrying me the whole time I was tying knots, or not. I hope it is "or not."

Silk warp wound back on TC-1--waiting to discover if threads are crossed or not

Here is an image of the view in front me on the road home from Tunbridge Hill Farm on Monday, when I went to get my farm share. Being part of a CSF is one of the highlights of summer in Vermont. This is our second year participating, and it just gets better. You can see the fresh garlic and radishes that were part of this week's share.

Cows moving from one pasture to another

Produce from Tunbridge Hill Farm, Tunbridge, VT