tapestry

Comminity Threads Week 28

2012-01-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've been back to visit the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners at the Gibson Centre in Alliston and it was nice to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. Above, a newcomer to the guild: Jackie Teunissen. She's lived the last many years in Geneva, and moved to Caledon a couple of years ago. She's enjoying the tapestry weaving process and looking forward to continuing in participating with the guild's activities. The tapestries are progressing wonderfully. Some of the people that have been weaving on them regularly include Valerie and Elizabeth, who have really dedicated their time and efforts to producing their tapestry banners. They are feeling confident to make changes to the tapestries, both editing out the composition, and changing colours, as they think is appropriate. I applaud that they are taking artistic license. They have even decided that they will make some new paintings, of historic properties in the municipality to include in the tapestry banners, and therefore eliminating images that are duplicated in the some of the tapestries. Excellent and all the while, expanding their knowledge of the history of the muncipality. Sandi had some good stories about the churches in the area and we'll have to post this to the blog because it's intriguing. Their pride of place is coming through as they all work on this project, which they in turn put into the project.

Another new face at the guild is Deb Chandler. She's giving tapestry weaving a try on the 'learners' tapestry loom before moving onto the the large gobelin loom.

Jean and Valerie were back this week working on the finishing of the first completely woven tapestry banner. We'll have to start giving some thought as to what title we want to give each tapestry. Linda and Sandi discussed what new pictures needed to be taken, and then transformed into paintings. Linda felt so confident in their newly acquired artistic skills that she didn't feel she needed me to help them do the paintings! Linda reports that visitors to the weaving studio are frequent, which also means that this encourages traffic at the Gibson Centre. Linda and Sandi also talked about bringing some of the portable tapestry looms to the community libraries, and to the mall in Tottenham to promote the project, the Gibson Centre, and the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners in the months to come. They will be giving a special presentation the Alliston Historical Society March 14.

I'll be visiting the project about once a month for the next year to help out, see what developments there are, and give advice when needed. The group are doing a great job! Don't hesitate to stop by and weave on the Community tapestries...everyone's contribution is welcome.

Perseverance

2012-01-17T12:22:00.000-08:00

The president of the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners, Linda Needles, wrote to me recently to update me on the progress of the Community Threads tapestries in Alliston. I'm including what she wrote below. I've also attached the latest tapestries to be completed by assorted members in the group. I'm very proud of them for having the courage to undertake such an ambitious project AND following through with it. What dedication and perserverance, qualities that all weavers and spinners and possess in abundance!

Linda writes: “After receiving the “Artist in the Community” grant from the Ontario Arts Council in the Spring of 2011, Line got us into high gear to begin our “Community Threads” project. This was a project with a timeline of 2 years and, with her enthusiasm and energetic approach to begin the project, we all thought, “My Goodness, what have we gotten our guild into”?
We photographed local sites, painted pictures, made cartoons, sorted wool, gathered looms and began. Newbies we were but oh, what Line helped us learn.

Well 6 months have passed and our fears have been dissipated and our enthusiasm engaged because, we are well on the way.

We’ve come a long way from July, when we began by taking photos of the New Tecumseth area, of activities and places of interest. These photos have now been realized in the paintings and cartoons and are coming to life in the few sections of the tapestries that have been finished.

Elisabeth and Libby are working on one loom (a Penelope), having taken it home Dec 1 and now have finished 2 sections of one tapestry - a golfer and a guitar player.

Valerie also took home a Penelope loom and finished four sections to complete a whole tapestry. Yay, only 11 more to go!

The large Gobelin loom at the Gibson Centre is busy each Thursday during our open studio day. Ann has been working on one of the tapestries and has 1 ½ sections complete. Corrie, Nellie and Linda have been working on the other one and are starting the second section. Nellie, our senior member wants to work on some tapestries at home so she bought herself a new Kromski harp loom to work on during the winter.

Other members gather each week to weave on the tapestry looms and floor looms, to spin, sort wool colours, plan new projects and provide encouragement to all as we move forward with the Community Threads. Our turnout is usually about 12 people, considerably increased from 6 months ago.

This project has generated a lot of excitement and curiosity in the community and consequently has brought in many visitors to our studio, many of whom are directed there by the Gibson Centre staff who are great promoters of the project. In addition, as a result of this project, we have gained a few new guild members who are willing to try their hand on our sampler loom. Recently the Canadian Tapestry Network Newsletter featured the project with lots of pictures and a lengthy article. An article was also written up for the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Fibre Focus.

We hope to engage more community members and start to make presentations to community groups as well as demonstrate in public places to share our enthusiasm with others.

Portraits of Spirituality

2011-12-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

Spirituality and acknowledging that there are forces at work greater than ourselves, that we are unable to control every detail and outcome of our lives, has always been an intrinsic part of who I am, and inspires much of the work that I create. This series, called Prayer Totems have emerged over the last several years. This is how I pray: for myself for others, and for the planet. It makes me ask myself what is prayer to me? It is asking the powers that be for greater insight, understanding, and capacity to have more positive relationships and impact on others, and that this positive interaction I have with those around me, will then inspire others to interact positively with those they encounter, thereby diminishing negativity and destruction. Yes, some will say this is naive and I gladly and wholeheartedly still subscribe to these beliefs, however challenging it is sometimes. I continue to work on this series each year. As my work has often made references to spiritual practice and working on my inner life, it seems that magically, similar energies are drawn to me, which I welcome, and have immense gratitude and appreciation.

Recently I received the following invitation:

"I write to invite your participation in Frequencies, a new web-based project to construct a collaborative genealogy of spirituality.
Frequencies is comprised of a series of essays, poems, and sundry other entries by scholars, artists, and activists. We seek to accompany entries with works from contemporary and emerging artists and photographers.
We envision these entries as fragments in a dynamic, large-scale critical portrait of spirituality as a historical subject and contemporary problem. Works selected will be exhibited on the Frequencies website and circulated among the multiple communities of interest surrounding this epic launch. To see the project, visit http://freq.uenci.es.
I invite you specifically to participate after seeing your work "Joy" at the Lowell Textile Museum last spring. I was impressed by the beauty of your tapestry. Frequencies is a collaboration of The Immanent Frame and Killing the Buddha, and was curated by Kathryn Lofton (Yale University) and John Lardas Modern (Franklin & Marshall College).
Sincerely,

Emily Floyd
Associate Editor, Frequencies

My tapestry Joy Is now posted on the their website. Click on the link here:

http://www.freq.uenci.es/

Community Threads: Week Ten

2011-09-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

Sunday September 11 was the opening reception of my tapestry exhibit Wholeness, featuring mostly tapestries and some other fibre related work. This event was also the official launch day for the Community Threads tapestries initiative funded in part by the Ontario Arts Council and undertaken by the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners Guild. The event was well attended and by my count, about 60 people came by to the Gibson Centre for Community, Arts and Culture. Quite a few of the guests came from out of town and had a minimum of one to two hour drive each way. Thanks to them for braving it. Among the guests, shown here in this photograph, Lynda Mitchell Reynolds, the Executive Director of the South Simcoe Arts Council, Mike MacEachern, Mayor of New Tecumseth. To learn more about this lovely towship go to http://www.town.newtecumseth.on.ca/

Since I had two years to prepare for the solo exhibition, I was able to create about 6 new pieces.....5 of which were tapestries. Shown here, are two of my most recent pieces which the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners helped in the finishing. These two pieces entitled Chakra 5 and 7 are shown here left to right. The chakras present us with a system to weave together body, mind, heart and spirit. This system of beliefs works well in describing how I choose to live my life and practice my artistic and artisinal endeavours, always trying to keep in balance the various needs we have as humans.
The Gallery at the Gibson Centre is a wonderfully restored historic warehouse. It once was a home to manufacturing agricultural machinery. It has been in the Gibson Family a long time, who make a significant contribution to Alliston's economy. They have a fleet of transport trucks that do much of the hauling for Honda, who also employs a large number of people in the area. The building was donated to the community to host its various social and cultural activities. I liked that it had a cash bar for people which meant I didn't have to be out of pocket for refreshments.

I thank Sharon Robinson and Greg Rodrigo for taking most of the pictures (and videos) of the event. Most of the pictures here are ones that Sharon took. Greg put together an outstanding slide and video presentation of the entire process of the Community Threads project to date. Everyone stopped to look at it and were mesmerized and awed.

What has touched me so profoundly is the positive feedback, praise and support of so many people, of the exhibition and the Community Threads endeavour. Debbie Harris, herself a talented tapestry weaver, couldn't believe that the designs for the tapestries had been done by people who had never painted before. Only two or three people had had a lot of experience painting. The rest were novices.

The weaving guild members continued weaving on the Community Threads tapestries during the reception. Here we see Janet Fayle at the top and Elisabeth Bishof at the bottom. Both of these two women have been working steadily during the entire project thus far.

Here a guest, Michelle Brady, an Art Director in the film industry, tries her hand at tapestry weaving.

Funded in part by the Ontario Arts Council.

CommunityThreads: Week 9

2011-09-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

What strikes me most thus far while I am a guest artist and weaver at the Gibson Centre, is how much people can accomplish when they work together. Collaboration. Interaction. Cooperation. Together we can work wonders. Over and over again during the time I've been assisting the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners, one fact is glaringly evident. So many of these people, and in this particular circumstance, women, are doing so much volunteer work to make their community a better place, their environment healthier, and the world a kinder place to live in. I am always so awed by the largesse of people's hearts. My life and financial circumstances don't give me the time and resources I would need to do what these people are able to undertake. Let us just say, that many othose who have more abundant resources do give back in ways I wish I could. They are great role models and mentors to others who will follow behind them.
The main gobelin loom is set up and the weaving guild members are now weaving on the tapestries. In this picture, Nellie on the left and Corrie sitting beside her. Above, we took a group shot of many of those who have helped out regularly over the last two months. Unfortunately, some were not present and certainly deserved to be part of this group shot. It's nice to record the event and project as it evolves.

Today, two gentlemen found their way to Alice's Attic where the weaving guild convenes. On the left, Dan Boucher, from Beeton and David Lloyd who lives in Keswick. These fellows own alpacas are were there to let the weavers and spinners know about their alpaca events and products. Their website is www.DATRIXALPACAS.COM if you want to know more.

Tracy Mulhall from Snap newspaper came by to see what we were doing. She took several photos and some notes on the Community Threads project and also on the Wholeness exhibition of my tapestries. She was very enthusiastic and personable and made us all feel so at ease. Tracy is standing at the back. In front from left to right, Elisabeth, Dawna and Nathalia.

This Sunday, the opening reception of Wholeness and the launch of the Community Threads project. It's shaping up to be a very exciting event with a lot of people saying they will be in attendance. See you soon!

Artist Statement: Wholeness

2011-09-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

ARTIST STATEMENT

To be whole, is described as being healthy, entire; recovered from a wound or injury; restored; free of defect or impairment; mentally and emotionally sound; constituting an undivided unit; constituting a person in their full nature; not having omitted or disregarded anything; a coherent system or organization of parts working together as one; Referenced from Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary

Wholeness. Many of us seek to become whole. To be and become what we can be. To be given the opportunity and the circumstances to know wholeness as a human being. That is undoubtely a blessing. We can find wholeness by engaging in an assortment of activities and relationships that will help us grow, flourish, and lead to our transformation. This has been a theme in my art practice, and my philosophy of life ever since I can remember.

Most, though not all of the work I am presenting for this solo exhibition are handwoven tapestries. Two series or bodies of work are presented, distinguished by their use of colour and the manner in which they are hung. What unites the two groups of work is that both groups of work seek to interpret visually the human experience of emotion, states and interactions. They have been inspired by a large body of research on religion, psychology, spirituality and scientific studies on the effects of colour. The series that employs bright colours is called the Well Being series. The dark, large, three dimensional pieces are part of the groupings called Turbulence.

The colours in the Well Being series have been inspired by the colours used to describe the chakras. In Hinduism, there are physical focal points where psychic forces merge and interact and there are seven chakras, each associated with a colour among other things. Chakras work in dialogue and relationship with each other. It is a body/mind paradigm which is also the case in western psychology especially in the practice of cognitive therapy. The momentum of this movement of well being can be observed in bookstores and on television where it has almost become mainstream, yet seems still to evade so many of us.

The colours found in the Turbulence grouping are more ponderous and heavy. Thoughts, feelings and memories weigh upon us bringing us some measure of discomfort. Acknowledging our shadow side helps us to transform these denser feelings into new insights, that may bring us a more joyful, positive and harmonious dimension to our life.

The two distinct groups of weavings are united in their theme – giving visual expression to the wide range of human emotion and states, and this includes our shadow/dark/ side as well as our more pleasant emotions. The pleasant emotions, the Well Being series, are shown as bright and intense colours, simple in their composition and convey the lightness and buoyancy they bring to our spirit, body and energy. Our darker side/reflective side is represented by the pieces in the Turbulence group, and they incorporate black as the dominant colour, and also a three dimensional technical aspect. This dimension of ourselves is more complex, revealing insights if we the courage to face them, if we are receptive and willing to heed its message. Grappling with our inner uncertainties, fears and uncomfortable emotions in a way that honours them, can transform them and us. This is represented in some of my tapestries that are three dimensional which are also interactive and are able to be hung in different configurations.

It seems really appropriate that the opening for my exhibition Wholeness is taking place on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Who can forget that day? That terrifying day left all of us in shock, our sense of security forever shaken. Taking the time to create work that has been part of my healing journey, I hope my work will have positive transformative effects upon those that view them. I have another reason to feel that this is a good date as well. My nephew was born on that date. For him, and all others born on this day, is reason enough to go forward to make their life, their world a better one, and to not steal away their happiness because of our grief.

Exhibition: September 1 - 26 2011

Opening Reception: Sunday, September 11, 2011

Gibson Centre of Community, Arts and Culture

63 Tupper Street West

Alliston, Ontario

www.gibsoncentre.com

Community Threads: Week Eight

2011-09-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

It took two days to set up my solo exhibition. Barb Hilts, a well esteemed fibre artist and gallery curator for the Gibson Centre assisted me in hanging all the tapestries and other related fibre work. The show and setting work well together. It would have been a gruelling task to try to set this alone so I am thankful that Barb was able to assist me. I have several new tapestries never before seen in an exhibition for those of you who may be wondering if you've seen them all before.

While we were setting up, these two lovely ladies were preparing lunches for people who came to the eating area of the Gibson Centre. On the left Thelma, a volunteer at the centre and on the right, Audrey Gibson, whose family donated the historic building in which the Gibson Centre is situated.

Also while we were setting up the exhibition, Executive Assistant, Marsha Slack. Each month a ticket is drawn to win $1000.

We continued to mix the colours for the tapestries and we manage to get one full tapestry done each session we get together. From left to right, Elisabeth, Jean, Valerie, Allanah and Nicolas. Nicolas also made up a tapestry butterfly dance which he demonstrated for us! Very cool moves! We should have put on some up beat music. Sharon Robinson, Nicolas' mother was there as well as Chris. They gave us plenty of moral support and gave us some welcome distraction from our tasks. Janet Fayle and Valerie Splaine continued working on creating the cartoons with the overhead projector. Sharon Robinson emailed to say: "Thank you ..... for bringing this whole new exciting and learning project and experience to our community!"

On the last day of setting up my exhibition, Barb helped me to bring the gobelin tapestry loom from the third floor to the main floor exhibition area. This is the loom, shown here, that we are using for our Community Threads tapestries . Here Chris at the right, stands beside Sandi Nemenyi, and beside Sandi, Linda Needles. They, as well as Janet, have taken a real leadership role in this project.
Corrie Parsons is shown here starting on weaving the third tapestry. Elisabeth Bishof continued with it when Corrie was ready to move on.
Elisabeth became totally entranced while tapestry weaving and discovered that she really enjoyed the process.

While I was setting up the exhibition, I met Susan Menzies, who is has been the resident artist at the Gibson Centre for the last three years. She has also worked in animation and enjoys mentoring young people.

Next week Snap magazine will be coming to the Gibson Centre to do a story on the Community Threads project and my tapestry exhibition. Hope you all come out and put yourself in the spotlight for this momentuous occassion.

In closing I'd like to tell you about Sharon Robinson. She takes donations of knitting yarn for the CFFC, (Canadian Food for Children) whose friend, Frankie, is down in Guatemala working with the premie babies while traveling and visiting many clinics sponsored, opened and run by the CFFC. Frankie is a neonatal nurse and teacher at Mount Sinai Hospital and two other Toronto Hospitals. It is her 5th trip to one of the 22 countries that the CFFC assists in donations and medical aid. When Frankie returns from each trip with photos of these beautiful villages where communities living in such poverty and no hope, Sharon and her community get are more motivated to do what they can to help. Mother Teresa's motto inspires them: we can't change the world, but we can bring light and hope. Sharon and her friend Frankie hope to have 3000 baby gift sets and they have already prepared 2030.... these gift sets include a baby blanket, receiving blanket, cloth diapers, plastic diaper pants, pins, hats, booties, socks, face cloth, soap, undershirts and sleepers. All donations are accepted for all sizes of babies, children, adults, medical supplies and art and school supplies, food and dried eggs and flour and cereal etc. The high schools do a soap and salt collection several times a year and the teenagers are remarkable in their dedication to make it as successful as possible.... Any donations can be droppbed off at the Gibson Centre, attention to Sharon Robinson.

Sharon writes: "On behalf of Frankie (who is truly a huge force in helping keep CFFC running) and CFFC we are very thankful and appreciate all the ladies from our guild, who have donated so much beautiful quality materials, fibres and clothing of such excellent quality." Sharon and Frankie are always appreciative of any donations no matter how small or big as it all goes directly to the those we promise to serve and help.

Community Threads: Day 7 part two

2011-08-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Linda Needles brought in a copy of the Alliston Herald, dated Augsut 16 2011. Maija Hoggett wrote up an article in the paper about our Community Threads project. She captured the essence of the activities going on. I don't know if you can read the article but a hard copy will be made available by the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners. I'll also attach an email version that will be forwarded to everyone so that they can print out their own version if they want.

I also forgot to mention that Pam Wilson stopped by to visit us yesterday and enquired about the Community Threads project. She is in charge of the catering at the Gibson Centre. Her email if you need to have an event catered is customcatering@sympatico.ca.

Have I mispelled any names? If so please let me know. I do have dyslexia so words and writing is more challenging.

Community Threads: Day 7

2011-08-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

The countdown is on. One more week before my solo exhibition Wholeness opens and since the Community Threads project is part of the exhibit and there are a lot of things to get done before. Barb Hilts popped by hoping to chat with me about those exhibition details, alas I had to stay anchored to Alice's Attic to get everything ready for next week. Barb, herself a fibre artist and Gibson Centre gallery curator, must be recognized for her important contribution to this project. She invited me to submit a proposal to the Gibson Centre for an exhibition and then it snowballed from there.
There's nothing like working in a team and today we worked really well together. I think the best kind of art is one that involves lots of other people, with all their gifts and talents that they bring to the table. Actors, singers and even musicians get to experience collaboration with others, but it doesn't often happen for craftspeople and visual artists. For me this is a revitalizing and refreshing way to work together with others to make all of this happen.
Lots of people showed up to lend a helping hand and we don't have pictures of all of those who did show up today. Here Nicolas Rodrigo volunteered to continue working on the cartoons for the tapestries, enlarging the designs into the size of the finished piece. The picture above, from left to right, Corrie Parsons, Nellie Waterson, Jean Kazmierczak and Janet Fayle and I know that Nathalia Smugden also came to help out with finishing my tapestries. Elisabeth Bishof worked on one of the smaller tapestry looms. She said that she enjoys the preparation more than the weaving, but thought she might like to try the tapestry. Dawna Beatty worked on a guild weaving project.
Our main challenge today was figuring out a way to position our cartoons on the gobelin loom so that they would remain attached while weaving. I think it took about 6 of us to devise a method, without making permanent physical adjustments to the loom that is only lent to us. Finally we found a way and we were ready to start weaving. In this photo from left to right, Jada Needles giving a massage to Sandi Nemenyi who is beside Linda Needles. We must thank Linda for taking many of the photographs that we used for the designs of the tapestries. The two people who started the first few rows of the tapestry weaving was Lucy Tavares and Sandi Nemenyi and Sharon Robinson made movies and took pictures of the events as they unfold.

Here, Nada tries her hand at tapestry weaving.

We had many special guests today. Above you saw that Jada Needles joined in on the weaving, but her brother Clark also came along and stayed with us for the day.
Here, the president of the South Simcoe Arts Council tried her hand at weaving on the tapestry and said that she could stay all day. It made her forget about everything else.

We were also very pleased that Angela Drainville, the Executive Director of the Gibson Centre, joined us with her son, Cohen.

Sandi Nemenyi sits with Chris, who was looking longingly at wanting to try her hand at the tapestry weaving. Alas, she broke her arm (or wrist) while out jogging on a trail. Not only that, she fell on it twice on the same jog! Ouch. That had to hurt!

Sandi shows the design she is translating into tapestry.

Linda Needes brought in the Alliston Herald dated August 16 which features a great article and pictures of the project. My scanner isn't working right now but as soon as it is I'll post it on the blog, hopefully in the next few days. Linda Needles spoke to one of the Gibson Centre board members last and they would like to visit and see our progress.Someone from the historical society also approached Linda, said they'd like to come to the Gibson Centre for one of their monthly meetings, possibly in February or so, in order to see the tapestries and hear the story of them. Now that’s community outreach!

Community Threads: Day Six

2011-08-18T13:34:00.001-07:00

On the way into set up the Community Threads activities in Alice's Attic at the Gibson Centre, I rode up the elevator with Lynda Mitchell-Reynolds, who I believe is the Executive Director of the South Simcoe Arts Council. She has been very supportive of the Community Threads project and very accommodating. How she gets any work done with us making so much noise is a wonder as her office is very nearby!
Things often don't go as planned and so in those situations one makes adjustments and accommodations to the changing circumstances. We had hoped to continue creating the cartoons for the remaining ten tapestries, alas, the bulbs that Sandi Nemenyi ordered for the overhead projector had not arrived for today. One of the tasks we continued doing this week was matching the yarns with the colors in the paintings, and creating 'butterflies' for the various colour shapes in the design and then coding them for easy access and weaving, sort of like a paint by number idea. Nicolas Rodriogo and his mother Sharon, shown here in this photo, assisted me in this task. We talked about many things together and one of the things that Nicolas and I discussed was mastery when he commented how quickly I was getting the task done. According to Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'Outliers', where he discusses what makes individuals successful, the magic number is 10,000. This is how many hours one needs to be practicing a skill set before one has reached mastery. Then it becomes like breathing....like a second nature.
Because we couldn't continue with the tracing the cartoons with the overhead projector, we focused on other tasks. I am really grateful for all the help doing the finishing work on my own tapestries, that just might be ready in time for the exhibition! I wasn't expecting it but it seems like it might be a real possibility. In tapestry studios of the past, and some current ones, many hands would be working on all stages of the tapesties. So it's a continuation of a historical practice. Helping out at this task today was Nellie Waterman, Valerie Splaine, Betty C, Nathalia Smugden, Sandi Nemenyi, Janet Dryden, Allanah Bishof and Janet Fayle....I think that was it.

The last main task that was accomplished today was getting the headers woven on the tapestry looms. First priority was the gobelin loom which will be featured in the exhibition and will remain for its duration.
Here Corrie Parsons and Lucy Tavares are doing this task. I found out from Libby that the gobelin tapestry loom was lent to us by Elaine Bresselier who hails from Penetang.

Libby Hoffman prepares a smaller tapestry loom. I believe she said it was Dutch and it has the most lovely little metal tapestry fork I've ever seen.

Gayle Wheeler, Elisabeth Bishof and Jean K were also in attendance and assisting us in various ways.

In this photo, myself and Lucy Tavares continuing to work on the headers. At the end of todays session, we are now ready to start weaving the first two tapestries. How exciting!

Community Threads: Day 5

2011-08-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Linda Needles, president of her guild, is one of the dynamic forces at the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners in Alliston. She sent me all kinds of links and pictures related to tapestry weaving. I'll post them at the end of the blog for you to reference and learn more about tapestry as well as about historical and contemporary tapestry practices. Of the many images she sent me, this one was included. It is taken at Stirling Castle in Scotland where they are recreating the historical Unicorn tapestries.

There were various tasks to accomplish today. The guild participants helped me in the finishing of my tapestries recently off the loom in an effort to have them ready for the exhibition opening Wholeness, September 11 between 2-5pm at the Gibson Centre for Community, Art and Culture, 63 Tupper Street West. An intensive effort as they soon discovered. This task requires hours of inserting the weft threads into the 'tunnel' that the weft thread creates as it passes over the warp threads.
In this picture, from left to right, Janet Fayle, Elisabeth Bishof, and Betty C.

The advantage of such a task when undertaken with others, is that it is one of those jobs that you can engage in conversation easily. So lots of chatting went on. From left to right, Nellie, our new OHS president Sandi Nemenyi, and Janet .
As I listen to them talking among each other I clearly see that these women make valuable contirubtions to their community. Sharon Robinson Rodrigo summed it up beautifully when she said that these kinds of cultural activities are community building activities. It builds morale, lifts the spirits of not only those who make the contributions but also those who will benefit from their contributions. People like Linda Needles who works to fundraise for a digital mammography machine, Sandi Nemenyi who puts in countless hours voluntarily and unpaid for the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners, Janet Fayle, whose good sense of order and organization keeps the Nottawasaga Guild running smoothly, Sharon Robinson Rodrigo who puts in volunteer hours for her church, and their youth camp as well as their endeavours to send aid to Haiti. All of you that have come out to participate in the Community Threads project ....I can only say it is such a generous gesture to participate in a project of this scope. I'm sure there are many more of you that contribute in other ways that I have not heard of and you deserve a great round of applause. These community and volunteer efforts contribute to our 'wholeness', to the 'wholeness' of one's community and various organizations , which makes this entire endeavour so compatible with my upcoming exhibit entitled Wholeness.
In this picture Sharon Robinson Rodrigo and Linda Needles prepare the paper that will be layered between the warp threads on the gobelin loom.

We learned today that the Gibson Centre has a TV monitor in the reception area where they post pictures of the activities that take place there. I'll be submitting pictures to the Gibson Centre for that purpose....so head's up, your picture might be there! The South Simcoe Arts Council friended us on 'Facebook' and is very supportive of our undertaking. They have made a contribution to the Community Threads project.

Libby Hoffman and Nathalia Smugden finished setting up the warps on the smaller tapestry looms we'll be using. Nathalia mentioned that she took Ukrainian weaving for several years at the Banff School of Art and recalls the luxury of having a swim morning and night, and weaving all day in between. We talked about how wonderful it is to be able to dedicate time to an activity we feel passionate about and love doing. Time out from the usual mundande domestic chores. Time to just focus on what matters to us. Time to not take care of anyone else but ourselves. We all need to do that once in awhile, to feel whole, to feel renewed!

The final preparations of the warp on the gobelin loom overseen by Gayle Wheeler on the right. Valerie Splaine and Elisabeth Bishof undertake the task. Gayle has studied tapestry with Marcel Marois and Archie Brennan ( and also studied with me!). You should ask Gayle what is was like to work with Marcel and Archie. I'm sure it would be intriguing and very interesting!

I spent the day on the floor preparing the colour combinations and butterflies for the one of the twelve tapestries. Everything had to be coded for the days when I won't be available to help.

Below the promised links to other tapestry information, historical and contemporary forwarded by Linda Needles.
This link makes reference to an artist who commissioned the Victorian Tapestry Workshop to create his designs for tapestries that are still hanging in Saskatchewan. See page 12 of the transcripts of this talk given.
http://tapestrycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/8th-annual-lecture-walker1.pdf
This link is to the Stirling Castle tapestries
http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/tapestries
http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/edinburgh-scotland-c-2631/

Canongate Kirk - "kirk," that's what they call churches in Scotland - is at
the lower end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile, near Holyrood Palace.

Built in 1690, its plain, light-blue interior, without embellishments such
as stained-glass windows, reflects the country's conversion to Protestantism
in the 16th century, under fire-and-brimstone-breathing Scottish preacher
John Knox.

But in 2000, some truly lovely and moving elaborations were made to the
otherwise Spartan church in the form of embroidered seat cushions for the
stalls in the apse.

Commissioned by the Fife, Lothians and Borders branch of the Normandy
Veterans Assn., they commemorate the soldiers who died, fighting to liberate
Europe during World War II, on D-day.

Fine three-stranded wool thread dyed in a rainbow of colors was used by
textile artists from all over the world, in patterns well-known to crewel
workers, including Scottish and Gobelin stitchery. The result is radiant,
though it's doubtful that Knox would agree.
Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Community Threads: Day 4

2011-08-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

On the day I know I'm coming to the Gibson Centre for Community, Art and Culture in Alliston to work with the members of the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners I'm always really excited. Today was no exception. I can't believe my good fortune at being able to collaborate with weavers on creating a set of woven wallhangings....more specifically 12 tapestries. I've been given the very fancy title of 'Artistic Director'. I imagine a conductor of an orchestra must feel the way I'm feeling, but in my case, I conduct a symphony of colours, shapes, textures, and human activity to make it all come together as a great 'arrangement'. What is a conductor though without each instrument and a person behind the instrument. Wouldn't be an orchestra at all! And so, today, it was estimated that 16 guild members showed up to contribute in some way, shape or form for various amounts of times and for various activites.

We had other visitors too. Linda Needles happens to be on the Committee for the Digital Mammography Campaign and they are preparing a float that will be in the parade for the Potatoe Festival the August 6 and 7 weekend. Carolyn Maxwell, Marg Barber, and Marilyn Holmstrom who were also working on the float, came by to have a look at the Community Threads project and activities. Goes to show that you never know who you'll meet while on this project!

One of the main tasks today was to create the enlarged version of the tapestry designs (some shown above this picture). We did this using an overhead projector - yes there are still some around!), markers and large sheets of paper. Valerie, Allanah and Chris took responsibility for this activity. We managed to get 2 done today and there are 10 to go. We may have them done at the printer's because at the very end of today's activities, the bulb broke and they are expensive to replace.

The other major activity was dressing the looms. Here Betty and Nathalia are working on this Penelope, a smaller portable loom that the guild members will be taking around to have different groups of people weave on.

Mattie is pre-sleying the reed for the gobelin loom while Flo is supervising! Flo sorted more yarn for us and put them into their correct colour box.

I joked with Gayle that all the pictures I had with her, we could only see her head. Her response was that that was because she was working so hard! And its true....she was! She did a lot of pre sleying the reed and then they had to do it over again because we didn't get the placement of the warps figured out right the first time.

I'm always touched that people want to share their stories. Today, Janet Fayle explained to me that in 1947 her parents bought a farm in this area. Janet and her husband used to come only on the weekends but now live on the property for the last decade or more. I believe it is also a bed and breakfast. You'll have to give me the name of it Janet! Janet and her husband were or are building 'archeologists' and into the heritage of buildings. Janet also has a daughter that is an 'intuitive counselor' that lives in the Gatineau area, Eiza Fayle. Eliza likes to help woman adjust to the ageing process in a way that honours who they are. The main message I picked up from our conversation is how we can continually re-invent ourselves, and that is very clear as she talks about two of her now adult children.

I guess the other message is be careful what you tell me because it might end up here!

From left to right, Sandi Nemenyi, now the President of the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners, Nellie, and Libby. They dressed this portable loom, which belongs to Libby who is lending it to the guild until the project is completed. We've never seen this kind of loom before and have no idea what kind it is, but it's pretty neat! Sandi also brought in a catalogue published about the Leeds wallhangings, the project that inspired Sandi to undertake this endeavour.

Above, Elisabeth Bishoff wound more skeins into balls and helped anyone else who needed helping.
I'm enjoying working with weavers and how fortunate I feel to assist them in this project. I'm used to working slowly, methodically on my own creative endeavours. I'm used to the solitariness of my weaving activities, but how much more one can accomplish as a group, and how much more fun it is to be with others and a part of a large creative undertaking. For what is life really but our being present to the moment and to each other, our interactions igniting our enthusiasm and weaving us together into a conhesive whole. However, it is also significant because it makes reference to how tapestries were woven centuries ago, and in some places, still, for instance Australia, France, Scotland and England. Often there are many weavers that weave on one tapestry. At some points in tapestry history, weavers created the designs. Then it became fashionable to have artists create the designs for the tapestries. Today, both practices are still usual.

I love being able to help people who think they are not artistic to tap into their creativity. I love to help people empower their inner artist. It can only happen though if they are willing to open themselves to the experience. I love to get people and especially weavers and spinners excited about weaving, and help them to discovere more and more possibilities. With a little encouragement, a little willingness, a little guidance, and the right environment, you can do almost anything! See you next week!

This project is generously funded by the

Community Threads Day Three

2011-07-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

My drive to the Gibson Centre for Culture, Art and Culture takes me through pastoral farmland. It's always pleasant to get there no matter what time of year. Everyone is eager to contribute to the Community Threads tapestries project and everyone's contribution is welcomed and finds its way into this absorbing endeavour. Much of the project depends on their contribution and their contribution is one of the reasons we are fostering this artistic and creative undertaking. Donations of time, materials, expertise and labour. In the picture above, just some of the yarn we've collected from many. One of the activities we did today, headed by Chris H, was sorting the piles of yarn we received into colour groupings. Chris was helped by Sharon Robinson-Rodrigo and Linda Needles, the President of the Nottawasaga Weavers and Spinners.

The first thing we did today was collect up all the paintings that had been done. I shared with the group how we were going about editing the paintings and abstracting from them the designs that we would be using for the tapestries. It was hard at first for participants to imagine the purpose of this exercise, but as it evolved, they 'got it'! Creativity, for those who were brave enough to venture there, was/is very much about relingquishing control and having somewhat of a blind faith as to where you feel you are being led. In the above picture, Sharon Robinson-Rodrigo with her son, Nicolas.

Linda Needles, president of the Nottawasaga Weavers and Spinners editing the paintings.

I admired many of the participants who, despite having no confidence in their own artistic abilities, put their fear aside and jumped in feet first! Here, Janet Dryden and Valerie Splaine. Yes, I'm sure many of us had to beat back our inner self critical voices and allow ourselves to find some beauty in the marks on that page that are distinctly and uniquely our own.

Gayle Wheeler is herself a talented tapestry weaver. Her husband Norm Wheeler is a well reknowned potter. Gayle will be lead technical assitant for the bulk of the weaving of the tapestries.

Dawna Beatty (I think I spelled your name right this time!) at work editing her painting.

Today saw a few new participants. Corrie Parsons, shown above at the left, sitting beside Elizabeth Bishof.

We also had a visit from Maija Hoggett, a journalist from The Herald, the newspaper for South Simcoe and based in Alliston. She took all kinds of notes and will be writing an article in the near future about the project.

We were very glad to be graced with the every graceful and abundantly enthusiastic and creative Executive Director of the Gibson Centre, Angela Drainville shown here third from left, wearing black. She came up with the name of the project, Community Threads, which of course, is such a perfect metaphor for what is happening at different levels as well as captures the artisinal aspect of the project. She also donated the space and administrative resources to undertake this Ontario Arts Council funded undertaking. She has lined up an exciting list of entertainers that will be coming to the Gibson Centre soon. To know more go to http://www.gibsoncentre.com/

All the pieces of the edited paintings come together. We are taking the sections of paintings and reorganizing them into strips that work together aesthetically. From left to right, Corrie Parsons, Gayle Wheeler, Elizabeth Bishof and Nicolas Robinson-Rodrigo.

So we designed our tapetries, 12 altogether. We won't let you see the final designs because we like to maintain some surprise and make you curious enough to come to the official launch of the Community Threads project on September 11 2011 between 2-5pm when I will also be having a solo exhibition of my tapestries.

And finally, another task that got done today is creating the warps for the tapestry looms. Above, Janet Fayle and Elizabeth working on the 10 yd warp for the gobelin loom and below, Betty (who I think would like to remain annonymous...if not please let me know)

We all felt really enlivened and invigorated after todays events. Nothing is as exciting to me as sparking the creativity in others. I know how much joy I derive from my artistic and creative endeavours but its even more electifying when its shared with others. I am also in awe and admiration when I look at a group of people who have so much talent and skill and are so humble about it. The participants must be applauded! Thank you all for another great day!

Day Two Community Threads tapestries

2011-07-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

The excitement emanating from the participants and filling the room generated by the Community Threads project has increased exponentially from last week. It was palpable. It is galvanizing weavers, painters, Gibson Centre staff, in a positive, stimulating and creative way. The joy in the room was abundant and I felt so lucky to be a part of this Community Threads project.

So lucky to see transformed before me the participants faces, as their fear about going outside their comfort levels subsided, their self doubts pushed aside, and they joined in the fun. People who were not comfortable in painting last week, joined in this week, bringing paintings they had tried on their own, and joined the others in continuing to create paintings today. People like Flo Thomson (above) who has been in Alliston since 2003 and has lived in Ontario for a number of decades and originally from Newfoundland. Today Flo decided to paint the Obelisk in Alliston, a monument to the founder of Alliston, William Fletcher, 1791-1871.

Lucia Tavares came out today and without reservation jumped in and created a painting towards the project.

Jean Kazmierczak preparing skeins.

Other activities were occurring at the same time. Elizabeth Bishof, Jean Kazmierczak and Nellie Waterson were helping to prepare wool skeins for the dyeing we’ll be doing with Pat Burns Wedland and Barbara Hilts August 6 & 7. The dyed yarn will be then be used in the weaving of the tapestries. Nellie mentioned that the town of New Tecumseh was named in honour of an Shawnee Chief (1768-1813). On line I learned that he fought against white rule, but ended up joining forces with the British in the war of 1812 when they captured Detroit.

Nellie Waterson winding balls from skeins.

Libby Hoffman painted the Gibson trucks, Janet Fayle created a number of landscapes
A few participants braved doing figures....Linda Needles of Scottish dancers, Sandi Nemenyi of a pianist, Mattie Sullivan of hockey players and Allanah Bishof of a female guitarist. All had never tried figures before so they must be commended on taking the risk. Carol Watson, an artist and felter, contributed a winter scene, and will bring in others to contribute to the Community Threads project. Barbara Hilts also got on the painting bandwagon. Barb said she would reserve the gallery for October 2013, when we will hang all 12 tapestries and present the self guided brochure which she will create.

Libby Hoffman

Assembling the Gobelin Loom

Carol Watson, Gayle Wheeler and Dawna Beattie

with chief engineer Mattie Sullivan

The gobelin loom set up.

Judy Pirone from the Alliston Independent who wants to feature the Community Threads project in the paper and weave the tapestries. Beside her Mattie and Flo.

I applaud all of the participants in going outside their comfort level. It is so endearing to see how very humble everyone is about their own artistic and creative talents. How courageous of them to attempt to paint and to create these paintings which will later be translated into tapestries. Their lack of confidence in their artistic abilities only made for more vibrant, vital paintings. I think these feelings are a very important part of the creative process requiring a vulnerability, uncertainty, receptivity, taking the process of making and creating moment by moment, and being present to the flow of your creative forces.

I am learning so much too about the history and community life of New Tecumseh, the important facts about the community and area that I was entirely unaware of. I am getting to know the people participating in the Community Threads endeavour. Making new connections and new friendships.

To those still in the wings, succumb to your curiosity and come see what is going on. We welcome any contribution you can make to the Community Threads project. Warps to be prepared, skeins to be wound, looms to be dressed. We need someone who would be good at making calls to companies and charitable organizations for their donation, no matter how small. There are still a few things that have to be paid for that are not covered by the grant. Next week we’ll also be collecting all the paintings, and organizing them into the final designs for the tapestries. Come and contribute in some way to creating a lasting legacy for the community of New Tecumseh.

Community Threads tapestries Day One

2011-07-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

I was totally impressed with the paintings that were produced by the guild members and guests of the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners, most of whom do not consider themselves artists. I agree wholeheartedly with Picasso who said that everyone is an artist. So many of us have heard so many negative messages about art, about making art, and were well trained to focus our energies and talents into other domains. But if you take a minute to recall your childhood, remember how easily we engaged in the activity of making pictures and how freely we did it. This session was about disconnecting from our critical voices and freeing ourselves to freely make marks on the paper connected to our theme - images that represented community.

People selected mostly photographs they had taken from the the municipality that are representative of the community. Some people also sought out other sources such as magazines and the internet as other themes that represented community were lacking. We've decided to have another painting day next Thursday July 21 10am to 1pm. Eventually these paintings will be translated into designs for 12 tapestries that we hope will hang in different venues in the municipality with an accompanying self guided tour brochures. This suggestion was from Angela Drainville, the Executive Director of the Gibson Centre. She also gave us the title of the project which we felt was very appropriate.

After a brief lesson on design and application of the paints, we got started, hesitantly at first, but before we knew it people were creating amanzing results. Janet Fayle said " I didn't believe I could do it!" When Donna Beatty was done, she said it was ''uplifting" and Allanah Bishof said that painting made her feel good. Mattie Sullivan enjoyed painting with a group and that this was stimulating for her and generated a lot of ideas. She made reference to really being able to get into the 'flow' that happens in painting and being creative. Libby Hoffman was interested in how the painting could apply to her weaving and Gail Sheldon agreed. Painting has many applications for the weaver as a source of colour inspiration for fabric, spinning and dyeing. It will give you ideas about combining colours that you may never have thought of combining before. Valerie wasn't too sure about how she felt about painting but she said she would do it again which is a great sign. In addition, what she was able to produce was remarkable and showed no sign of her uncertainty. Linda Needles felt she'd rather be knitting which, since she was painting madly away, showed what a good sport she is and a team player! Thanks Linda! We had a few experienced painters in the group that joined us as well: Barbara Huson, Carol and Joan (sorry....didn't get last names). Carol and Joan helped some of the novices with the application of paint. We appreciated their input and contribution.

This project is made possible by the generous contribution of the Ontario Arts Council and many volunteer hours and donations.

WHOLENESS

2011-07-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a very exciting year thus far, starting with having my tapestry "Joy" accepted into the American Tapestry Bienniale which took the tapestry to the American Textile Museum in Lowell Massachusetts and the Elder Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska. I taught a Creativity and Designing for Fabric weaving workshop to the Niagara Guild of Spinners and Weavers and had a wonderful time with them. I taught a weekend course on tapestry through the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners at Georgian College, and it was wonderful for me as a teacher to be able to focus only on teaching tapestry, when usually, I'm teaching a variety of weaving structures besides tapestry weaving. All this while I celebrate my 15th year teaching weaving, and 25th being an artist, fibre artist and weaver.

Presently I am working on preparing for a solo exhibition of my tapestries and fibre related work, entitled WHOLENESS and it will take place at the Gibson Centre for Community, Arts & Culture in Alliston http://www.gibsoncentre.com/ which will open September 1 and close September 26 2011. The opening reception will be Sunday September 11 between 2 -5 pm.

This exhibition will be in conjunction with the official commencement of an Artist in the Community Project for which I received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to collaborate with the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners Guild in creating 12 community tapestries.

Why the title, WHOLENESS. Over a lifetime, many of us seek it and this journey makes for an interesting, more engaged life. We all come from many different backgrounds, each of us facing the challenges that our family of origins may have presented to us, and this foundation sets us on our path, and motivates our choices in life. Most of us, myself included, seek to be the most and best of who we are, and we can only be as good as the circumstances, opportunities and environment will permit. We all must contend with the limitations and constraints that life and others may place upon us, and somehow find a way to be whole and to be fulfilled. Through our passages, we feel a range of emotions and my tapestries and fibre work is mainly about giving visual imagery to these very same emotions. To find Wholeness, we need to be in touch with ourselves, with who we are, and certainly with others.

Teaching tapestry at Georgian College

2011-04-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

On the second weekend in April I taught a crash course in tapestry weaving. Is it possible to learn so much in what has taken me years of practice and experience? Hardly. We could have easily used a week of intense tapestry weaving and practice to hone the skills of these very eager and capable weavers. All of the participants in this weekend workshop are registered in the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Certificate program and the Tapestry Unit is the fourth in the many units there are to complete an OHS certification. We covered many technical considerations, such as hatching, slits, colour blending, finishing tapestries, warps, hanging tapestries, cartoons, creating your own designs, yarns and touched upon the history of tapestry as well as tapestry artists . The unit is written clearly so that the registrant is able to undertake the course without an instructor present. It is a 'distance' and I am available to those who are registered as a mentor and to guide them through the unit.

It was exciting to teach people who were really eager to learn about tapestry. I'm looking forward to seeing all their creations.

Since then I've been contininuing my ongoing classes through the TDSB where I teach not only tapestry weaving, but fabric and rug weaving as well.

Recently I learned that I was included in a listing of the top 50 tapestry blogs to check out. Here is the link to check out: http://www.liberalartsdegree.com/sewn-together-by-a-thread-top-50-tapestry-blogs/

OHS Tapestry Unit

2011-03-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today I am putting together a power point presentation on tapestry for those who are registered in the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Certificate program that will be taking place at Georgian College this weekend. As I peruse the many images of tapestries I've collected over the years, this one always makes me laugh and is a good one to show people For some it will illicit shock, others laughter. Even in the 'dark ages' immodesty was coveted in the guise of allegory and metaphor! This particular tapestry/textile was a seat cushion! Hilarious! The title of the piece is called 'Wild Woman' and is considered to be a medieval tapestry. And we thought modern woman to be wanton!

Learning to weave

2011-03-06T07:48:00.000-08:00

I often sense frustration and impatience when people are first learning to weave, whether tapestry or fabric. This creates a lot of stress for them.

In the summer when I was in Arizona I had the privilege of hearing a wonderful Navajo weaver talk about her work. Her name is DY Begay. One of the things that really struck me when she described her own learning to weave in the Navajo tradition was that the learning was not verbal and with words, but with the learner watching then trying. It is very much what learning a material, physical skill requires, as I reflect upon my own learning journey. I remember for instance, learning how to dance. The teacher's instructors were clear enough, I understand what she was saying, and yet the body seemed to not absorb the information as quickly as the eye and mind can comprehend and therefore was not cooperating. A skill requires a different non cerebral kind of learning which is sometimes hard for westerners to comprehend. Just because the eye and mind can process a lot rapidly, doesn't mean the body does.

In terms of my own learning journey in weaving, that the choice was not only about the activity, but what the activity came to represent to me, i.e. the meaning it held for me. I came to understand that my being here as a weaver, that my choice to be a weaver for so much of my adult life, was and is more about a way of life, a philosophy of life, which I believe many indigenous people share.

I've attached a link to her web page below and perhaps this will lead others to new revelations and inspiration.

http://www.members.cox.net/dybegay/

A weaving studio for the One of a Kind Show 2010

2010-11-12T13:08:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited about being asked to set up a weaving studio in the centre of the One of a Kind Show this year. It will be really wonderful for weaving to be front row centre. They've asked for demonstrations throughout the 11 days. Many of my students and 'weaving class partipants' will be on hand to answer questions and demonstrate some basic techniques of fabric and tapestry weaving. I'm hoping it will not only inspire people to buy weaving made locally (especially in my booth W-07) but perhaps they will want to join us in taking some weaving classes through the Toronto District School Board - http://www.learn4life.ca/. Classes start up again January 15 (Monday) and January 17 (Wednesday) 2011. Registration opens November 15 2010. To know more about the One of a Kind Show click on the link http://www.oneofakindshow.com. There you can browse all the artists, artisans, and other show participants in their online catalogue.

Things people say about tapestry weaving

2010-08-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people say things like "you must have patience to do that". My answer is that one doens't need patience for something you love to do. I guess it could be a similar response to those who find it incredibly boring, tedious and slow and I don't find it is at all. Though I often think of the process of tapestry weaving as being like a meditation, that leads to more creativity, ideas and thoughts. I usually have classical music playing, my favorite being piano solos. I also often use my weaving time to listen to podcasts that I download from CBC radio, my favorite source. Shows like Ideas, The Next Chapter with Sheila Rogers, Tapestry with Mary Hines, Spark with Norah Young. All of these shows keep me more than stimulated and learning. It's too bad there aren't any shows on weaving! I'd certainly listen to them. Interviews with other weavers would be interesting too.

The hours vanish quickly while I'm in the studio. And studio time is something most of us feel we never have enough of, much as we like our social lives and other distractions. "Everyone needs a sanctuary to gather thoughts and apply personal tools. It's in a sanctuary where a sense of self is daily repaired and polished. Things begin to make sense in a sanctuary. Even for the most limited among us, a santuary is where progress is made and work gets done". Robert Genn.

Convergence 2010: Day 4, 5, 6

2010-08-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Day 4: July 23 Friday.

Another Breakfast presentation by Jill Heppenheimer, owner of the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery. Her shop carries one of a kind handwoven garments. What an excellent speaker. I wish we could get her to come talk to fibre artists here. Her talk was about how to get into a gallery, the pros and cons of being in a gallery; of accepting that its never a perfect arrangement but that one should choose stores/galleries that have the kind of work that is compatible with yours, and people who feel a connection to you and respect your work. Your retail price range must also match the stores/galleries price range. She stresses EVOLVING, to not disengage with your work, to feel passionate about it, to feel good about it and what you are expressing.

Tablet Weaving workshop at 9a.m. and Inge Dam, a fellow Canadian is the instructor. Inge demonstrates each step very well. My single biggest complaint about the workshops are that there are just too many registered for each one. Often there are 50 or more and I believe we definitely had that many. I find tablet weaving fascinating, and will be happy to impart what I have learned to others, however, it definitely is not my calling! I felt awkward working with the cards. I'm glad that I understand how it works and for anyone interested, it is amazing what one can create with this technique though you are limited in width.

In the evening I attended the opening for, Dialogues, a group tapestry exhibition at the South Broadway Cultural Centre. A great venue and the tapestries were flatteringly presented with suitable lighting and hanging devices. The work was thoroughly enjoyable by the artists Linda Wallace, Elizabeth Buckley, Lany Eila, Katherine Perkins, Elaine Duncan and Dorothy Clews. Linda and Dorothy had the decomposed/deconstructed tapestry pieces that were featured in FiberArts magazine recently, as well as other tapestry work. I am sorry not to have pictures to present on the exhibition but I stronly encourage people to look up these artists to see their work. Earlier in the week, I went to the New Directions in Fiber Art on Central Avenue in Albuquerque featuring the work of Jennifer Moore, among others.

Day 5: July 24 Saturday and July 25 Sunday
A two day workshop in Natural Dyeing with Liesal Orend of Earth Arts. Sooooooooooooooo much too learn and its helpful if one is chemistry oriented. It was fascinating to see what all the dye plants could do and how colours could be shifted with various mordants. Definitely easier for those of you who are scientifically minded (not I) however I don’t think I will let that stop me from wanting to continue practicing it and sharing it with others. It's amazing what we can do all in the name of weaving that is not directly related to it! Liesel did say that the natural dye plant extracts work quite well and are much less time consuming.

By Saturday I had somehow managed to have laryngitis so I was very disappointed I wasn’t able to take more time to get to know and befriend other tapestry artists at their Enchanted Evening gathering of tapestry weavers, which overall was one of my primary reasons for wanting to go to Albuquerque. There were also a couple of other matters that added to my disappointment in regards to the tapestry situation at Convergence this year. Usually the American Tapestry Alliance exhibit is held at the same time and location as Convergence but this year, the one year I could be there, and in addition a year in which one of my tapestry was selected to be in this year's ATA exhibit, the ATA exhibit will open in Lincoln Nebraska in September! It would have been so wonderful to see the exhibit of all the tapestries selected at this time. I hope that is a situation that will change and some kind of resolution can occur between both parties. It also troubled me to see that there were no workshops on tapestry weaving, techniques that can be employed or even on designing and tapestry.
From left to right: Tori Kleinhart, Kathe Todd Hooker, Diane Kennedy

I had a chance to pop into the William and Joseph Gallery in Santa Fe where the Small Expressions tapestries were on display. One had to go to the very back of the gallery in a small room one does not see from the front door......hmmmm.....I think they deserved more prominence in my humble opinion! They were exquisite and mostly whimsical little gems.

The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario

Convergence 2010 Day 3 July 22

2010-08-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

At 7:30 a.m. I attended a talk by local fibre artists and a fibre gallery owner. Jill Heppenheimer (on right), part owner of the Santa Fe Weaving gallery, opened the presentation. She also organizes textiles tours around the world. Irvin Trijulo (on left) is of Spanish descent and his family has been in the area for many generations. He has a shop and studio and lives in Chimayo. He has seeds he uses to grow his plants for natural dyeing that are up to 200 years old. He uses the wool of Truro Sheep. He has established a reputation for weaving Chimayo blankets which are woven in the tapestry technique. For bobbins he uses cardboard tubes from yarn cones and the looms are of the most rudimentary construction. He employs 14 weavers and has orders from all over the world. Designs were handed down generation to generation within the family. I loved listening to Irvin. He has a humble and gentle way and has a lot of integrity. I found listening to him very moving, and I found it so moving that he continues his family tradition of weaving that had come down through the generations. His respect for these traditions is evident.

DY Begay (centre) is a contemporary tapestry weaver of Navajo origins and in her rug and blanket weaving tradition too, designs and technique were handed down generation to generation. Children were supposed to learn by watching and doing and were not supposed to ask questions. This really resonated with me. For the Navajo weaving was introduced to them through Spiderwoman. Her own interpretation of her Navajo traditions are abstracted landscapes. Colours and motifs are inspired by the land, by her environment. Her work can be seen at the Heard Museum in Phoenix Arizona.

My first workshop today: Warp Painting on the Loom with Jannie Taylor. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh....what fun AND it feels so good to be weaving again! I can’t wait to share these techniques with my students and can’t wait to continue exploring them myself. I see infinite possibilities. I made another new friend – Judith Shangold....we initially had talked on the bus for the Santa Fe Opera House and Fiber ArtistTour. She too took the warp painting. I really enjoyed her company!

The workshop took place in a room the size of a football field. About 4 or 5 other workshops were taking place simultaneously. A fellow Canadian spotted me in this melee, Melanie Segal. Melanie and I went to the Ontario College of Art and Design a long time ago! The second Canadian I ran into while I am here. One of the workshops taking place was Rio Grande rug weaving.
Afterwards checked out the various exhibitions of fibre art works and the garments that were featured in the fashion show. Here I bumped into Ted Hallman, one of fibre art teachers from my OCAD days! What a small world. He lives in Santa Fe 3 months in the summer and the rest of the time resides in Philadelphia . Also had a stroll around the vendors hall where I ran into another Canadian, Joyce Newman from the Burlington Spinners and Weavers. Funny....we come all this way, hardly see each other here, and we bump into each other thousands of miles of way!

The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario

Convergence 2010 Day 2

2010-08-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

July 21 Wednesday

I didn’t sign up for anything for this day. My new friend Jean, started her 3 day workshop with Robin Spayde, whose binder of notes were the most spectacular we have ever seen for a workshop. Robin is a very thorough, organized and knowledgeable teacher and Jean highly recommends her. Bobbie was still trying to recupe so Cynthia and I took the light rail train to Santa Fe and visited the Georgia O’Keefe Museum which had of course, an exhibition of her work. The museum shown here is a good example of the adobe style homes that are the norm in New Mexico. Cynthia had gone on the Ghost Ranch Tour on Monday, organized by Convergence. Ghost Ranch is where Georgia O’Keefe lived and painted for many years before she died. I love Georgia’s spirit and who she was as a person.

We ventured up Canyon road where all the galleries are in Santa Fe. We didn't venture to far into them simply because we had to rush to get the shuttle that would take us to the light rail transit. I've already planned to come back to Canyon Road next week and make a day of it in Santa Fe before heading to Taos.

For dinner we took the bus to Old Town Albuquerque which is reminiscent of European squares found in cities and towns, albeit certainly not quite as attractive, yet has some charm.

The Walk In Beauty fashion show was held this evening. I ran into Ingrid Boesel (Fibreworks Software). Some of my favourite pieces were the nuno jacket, with silk rust organza by Susan Bowman; Sarah Fortin & Catherine Pritchett’s collaboration – a brown rust coat in shadow weave; Catherine Pritchett’s woven patches and felted garment; Inge Dam’s skirt made with strips of tablet weaving; and Stephanie Abelson’s window screen bird jacket. Its worth getting a catalogue of all garments exhibited at the show.

An exhibition of double weave wall hangings many of them created by Jennifer Moore at a gallery on Central Ave in Alubquerque.

The same gallery with more current doubleweave hangings by Jennifer Moore.

The coming days promises much more!

Convergence 2010 Albuquerque: Day one - July 20

2010-08-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

I was up at 6:00 a.m. and went for breakfast in the hotel. As I arrived in the dining room and was about to be seated, another conference participant, Bobbie (Roberta) Goering, asked me to join her table for breakfast. She had already asked 2 other women who were attending the conference on their own, Cynthia Miller and Jean Weems. We talked animatedly, our eagerness to be there apparent and vital. We quickly became ‘a group’ hanging out together at various times over the week that the conference took place.

left to right: Jean Weems, Cynthia Miller, Ann Bergeron and Bobbie Goering

At 7:30 a.m. we all checked into the conference and the tour we had signed up to take that morning. While I was there, I overheard a woman introduce herself as Nancy Harvey to the check-in personnel for the conference. It was the Nancy Harvey who wrote the tapestry book. I asked her if she’d take her picture with me for us folks here in Canada! She willingly obliged.

The Santa Fe Opera House was utterly divine. It was lodged in an outdoor space, with a panoramic view. Though it had a remarkable arched wood ceiling the sides were open to the elements. On one side of the stage area are wind and rain baffles. We were given a tour of the costume shop, where not only are the costumes themselves often made, but at times, also the shoes, wigs and hats. There are 65 people employed in this section during the summer months. Out of 900 applicants for technical apprenticeships, 78 are selected. The costumes have a great amount of technical detail. There is an ample storage area, where costumes are stored not only from the current operas, but from past operas. The frequently rent out costumes for productions of other operas around the country. Costumes are created with large seam allowances and no lining to allow them to be taken in or enlarged depending on the performer. We were shown the understage area and props. We were served a delicious lunch where we invited Ann Bergeron to join a new friends group and then it was off to visit 3 studios of local area fiber artists.

The first studio we stopped was Rebecca Bluestone. This gave us an introduction to the kind of architecture that is dominant in New Mexico, the adobe style house. They are very charming, cool in the summer, and warm in the cooler months. She does warped faced hand dyed silk wallhangings on a Cranbook Loom with a sectional warp beam and an epi of 8 using a 12/6 swedish cotton for the warp. She likes to weave with a temple because silk is rigid and does not have the give and amplitude of wool, thus its rigidity causes draw-in. Her wallhangings are quite large and to maintain such a straight edge is definitely technically challenging.

James Koehler’s studio was next, shown above. James creates handwoven tapestries with his hand dyed wool yarn. He mounts his tapestries with Velcro on frames so that they appear more like canvases than wallhangings. He has a number of apprentices and in exchange for work done for him, he trades them hours of instruction. He also uses a Cranbrook loom and works in the ‘bas lisse’ manner. He did say that he was looking into getting a gobelin style loom for he was beginning to find that always working on the Cranbrook loom was more challenging physically. A gobelin style would give him the option of also working upright and perhaps more comfortably. One thing that James did differently in setting up tapestries on looms is, instead of using lease sticks at the back to maintain threads in a more orderly way, he opted for using another reed at the back of the loom between the heddles and back beam. James also sells hand dyed yarns for tapestry. He has a new book available about his work and life available through mail order.

Jennifer Moore’s studio was our last stop for the day. The picture are at the top of the page. She creates double weave wall hangings, scarves and shawls. Jennifer’s book on double weave has just come out, and she also sells dvd’s on the technique. I acquired a copy of the book and asked her to sign it! Jennifer’s studio may be small, but she also is incredibly prolific.

I regrouped with my new friends after the tour. Bobbie was fading because she had come directly to Albuquerque from a trip to France, so she didn’t join us for dinner. Jean, Cynthia and I took the bus to Old Town Albuquerque, where shops and restaurants were organized around a very European looking square. We had dinner at one of the restaurants (Mexican). We faded quickly after that.

Attendance at this conference made possible by the support of the Ontario Arts Council.

Rejections and defeats

2010-07-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

This week I received notification from the Canada Council that I did not receive the grant that I had applied for . This is not the first time I have been rejected for a grant, and likely will not be the last. Though I have never received a grant from the Canada Council, I have received several from the Ontario Arts Council for various undertakings. The most recent grant from the Ontario Arts Council is enabling me to participate in the Convergence weaving conference taking place this year in Albuquerque New Mexico. But, back to my hopes in the Canada Council grant. Rejection. It's not easy to take. What does it mean exactly when an organization such as these granting agencies reject one's application. It's hard not take it personally. On the other hand, what message is it that I should be extracting from it? Does it mean my work is not worthwhile, not valued? Does it mean that for them, tapestry weaving is not what they consider to be artistically significant enough? Is it that I am not significant enough in their estimation? And what is it that would, in their estimation, make my work, my undertakings and my self, worthy enough of receiving, above all, their support and encouragement. When was the last time I ask myself, that a tapestry weaver received support from the Canada Council? Are they saying my work is not good enough? Socrates says " The highest form of excellence is to question oneself." So many questions, and unfortunately, no answers. Furthermore, there is absolutely no feedback to guide one as an artist as to how to work towards meeting the criteria while still trying to maintain artistic authenticity and integrity. In my rejection letter, I am told that if I would like to know who did receive Canada Council grants, that I would have to make a request in writing, in 3 months time, the list of who received the grants. OK. Better put that on my agenda so that I try to remember to do this in 3 months while I'm busy scrambling, like most artists and craftspeople to earn a living.

Rejection is something that one has to accept especially when one is an artist/craftsperson. It's never easy, but one certainly cannot let it prevent one from doing what you want to do, from achieving what you hope to achieve. Of course, receiving grants enables one to achieve one's goals sooner rather than later, especially if one is not independently wealthy or part of 'stable' of a handful of elite artists that these organizations consistently support.

Recently I picked up a book at the Salvation Army, hand bound, filled with poetry. Many of the poems were very inspiring but this one, though not a poem, resonated with me in regards to winning and losing, and this is what was printed in the book:

There was a businesman who whenever someone would bemoan their misfortunes in busines, love or life in general, would take them aside and invite the person to study a framed handlettered sign hanging on the wall. It read:

'31 - failed in busines

'32 - defeated for legislature

'33 - failed in business again

'34 - elected to legislature

' 35 - sweetheart died

'36 - suffered nervous breakdown

'38 - defeated for speaker

'40 - defeated for Elector

'43 - defeated for Congress

'46 - elected to Congress

'48 - defeated for Congress

'55 - defeated for Senate

'56 - defeated for Vice President

'58 - defeated for Senate

'60 - elected President of the United States

signed Abraham Lincoln.

Life is full of these defeats and rejections, which pave the way for the successes and accomplishments we hope to attain. One must keep dreaming, keep striving, keep hoping, and above all keep doing. One must not let life's defeats blind one to the small victories, the numberous joys, and the many blessings that have filled and will continue to fill our lives. One can only accomplish as much as the opportunities circumstances present to one. In the I Ching, the great book of Chinese wisdom, it is said that all of us must work within the limitations life presents. It's important to me that on my deathbed though, I will never have to say to myself that I didn't try as hard as I could to make my dreams come true, that I tried as hard as I could to accomplish my goals and objectives. I'll continue to knock at the Canada Council's door and maybe one day it will open.

Silence and Solitude

2010-05-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

I've just finished reading a book entitled A Book of Silence: A journey in search of the pleasures and powers of silence by Sara Maitland. It's rekindled my esteem for a practice I've had almost all my life and is especially present in my practice of tapestry weaving. I have a great need to have large amounts of time dedicated to activities that do not require talking and tapestry weaving is one of those. This just may be my temperment and natural character. Or it may be a habit I acquired as a child because the adults present in my life did not engage me in conversation. Often, I was not allowed to talk. Other times no one seemed to be hearing me talk at all. I instead cultivated the practice of not talking. Sara Maitland says " ..... I learned that silence....is, in itself, a form of freedom; it generates freedom, free choices, inner clarity, strength. A freedom from one's self and a freedom to be oneself".

The garden has deepened my appreciation of solitude and silence. Everything happens there so quietly, imperceptible to human senses. Yet, it is such a vital place, teaming with life, so dynamic and so vibrant which indicates to me that silence and quiet is definetely not static or deadening. I transpose this rediscovered pleasure of working in silence. I 'transplant' it to my tapestry weaving, enjoying laying in the weft as though planting seeds in a garden. Seeds of awareness. Seeds of mindfulness. Seeds of creativity. Seeds that will grow with the right conditions, into vital, vibrant and dynamic works of art.

In silence, thoughts and ideas come to the fore that would not otherwise. In silence my focus becomes sharp, my thoughts and ideas more clear. In silence I accumulate the energy I will need for planned activities and actions, or periods of talking time. Sometimes while in periods of silence, I think nothing is happening. It feels static. Whatever is going on is not immediately accessible to my awareness.

I appreciate Sara Maitland sharing her research and thoughts about silence. Social pressures were beginning to make me feel that silence is some disease. Other people are often uncomfortable with silence. I have renewed my regard and respect for this practice. It has returned me to honour my inclinations and urge to self possession.

2010-04-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

As I settle in comfortably into my studio, seating myself in front of my Leclerc tissart tapestry loom, a feeling of perfect contentment comes over me. I start to think about this contentment and what it is about. This is definitely not the first time this feeling has overcome me as I weave my tapestries. One image that comes to mind as I'm sitting here weaving and I glance around the studio is how I love that I am surrounded with so much yarn in what seems an infinite array of colours and textures. It creates this very special environment. One that I would liken to a nest. No other image describes what its like as well as that one and all that it implies. I also got to thinking about what still draws me here, to this place, creating tapestry. Many other people wonder the same thing as well and I have often been asked why I weave tapestries. The other evening I was at an opening reception for an exhibition put on at the Gibson Centre in Alliston where a couple of my tapestries were included. the two that were selected were Gravity and Joy. One person, who is herself a very gifted and talented weaver, said she was overwhelmed by the size of Gravity simply because she knows how many hours were spent weaving each 'pixel' manually and that it was not done with a computerized loom or a jacquard loom which is the trend these days. Time. How we value time, how we perceive the passing of time, how we want to spend our time, the quality of our time spent here in this life.....are all factors in the choices we make as to how we want to spend it. And when I'm weaving tapestry, time seems completely suspended, though I know it is not.

Another thought that came up was how for humans the sense of touch plays an important factor in contributing to our well being. It seems to me that women especially, due to what I believe are genetic factors, intuitively participate in activities that are tactile. I think these characteristics are inherent, that we have no control over them. I believe women are prewired to be nurturers which makes us more sensitive to the tactile, all needed to care for our infant offspring. What happens then when offspring are no longer or are not a part of one's observable reality then? Why are we so drawn to these activities like knitting, crocheting, felting, weaving even sewing and heaven knows for some, even housework? Why are textiles so vital a part of our frame of reference? I want to know more about the 'science of touch' so here is the beginnings of my forays into understanding why I have always felt that I had no control over feeling propelled to participate in such activities and that it is hard wired in our brains and in our bodies. Read this about touch and one of the points they make about the sensory receptors in our hands take up much more space in our brains than most other areas of our bodies. I think this will give us great insight into ourselves and help us to understand why we can never feel entirely complete in our lives unless we understand that our bodies need this tactile way of interacting with world and of being in the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatosensory_system

Recently a friend of mine returned from Paris and while she was there she visited Cluny and saw the Unicorn Tapestries. Though there is much intersting discussion as to the possible meaning of these tapestries, after having done much reading about them and the period in which they were created, I believe, based on how women were recruited to live as nuns in Abbeys, that these tapestries are about what these women would sacrifice and commit to: a renunciation of terrestrial pleasures, the conduit being each of our five senses. Each tapestry is about the renunciation of each sense in order to live a life closer to God. Many would hotly debate nowadays whether doing any such thing would bring us the feeling of being closer to God, however, I am greatful that women have so many more choices now. And I still choose to weave tapestries after having done so for the last 25 years. The possibilities are still exciting me. So many that are in my mind that I hope one day will come to fruition.

Silent Music: a pre-performance for Tafelmusik

2010-03-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

I was delighted when I received an email from Tafelmusik to be part of their Earth Day celebrations as a participating artist. It will be for their concert Forces of Nature: A Celebration for Earth Day which will take place on Sunday April 11 at 3:30 pm.

I have often thought of my loom like a musical instrument and have felt like a musician while I was weaving, making silent music. Perhaps its the physical rythmic movements of the process. Perhaps some aspects of the technical structures, such as the mathematical component to it. The other coincicidence is that baroque music is one of my favorite categories of classical music and I usually listen to it as I'm weaving tapestries. I find it fascinating that my tapestry weaving and Tafelmusik how somehow found each other!

An Ashford loom I am presently using to weave the tapestry Dream Fields will be on display for this event.

A smaller loom will be available for people to weave their prayers, dreams, hopes and wishes for the planet. A book will also be available for them to write their thoughts as well as their name and signature. This finished woven piece will be part of a future exhibition. Each person will be credited for having contributed to weaving the piece. The finished piece will be a part of my Prayer Totem series, which itself is a part of another group of tapestries on Well Being.

For more details on the concert go to http://www.tafelmusik.org/

American Tapestry Alliance Featured Artist

2010-03-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

One of my weaving students, Kate, mentioned to me that I was one of the featured artists in the American Tapestry Alliance newsletter. To preview click on the link.

http://www.americantapestryalliance.org/AP/ArtistBio/DufourL.html

American Tapestry Bienniale 8

2010-02-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was notified that my tapestry "Joy" was accepted in the American Tapestry Alliance Bienniale 8. I was really surprised they accepted it because it was very different from the tapestry, Gravity, that had been previously accepted at the ATA7. The American Tapestry Alliance received 176 entries from 105 artists representing 15 countries. The juror was Rebecca A.T. Stevens and I am honoured to be included among the 65 tapestries included in the final exhibition. Currently they are planning two exhibits, and possibly a third. The first will be at the Elder Gallery (Nebraska Weslayan University) in Lincoln Nebraska between September 20 and November 15 2010. It will be in conjunction with meetings being held by the Textile Society of America.

The second will be at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Mass between January 21 and May 2011. You can view the site by clicking on the link.
http://www.athm.org/current_exhibitions.htm

Ontario Arts Council grant for Convergence in Alburquerque New Mexico

2010-02-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

On Monday of this week I received an envelope in the mail. In it, I had been notified by the Ontario Arts Council that I had received a grant. Part of what I have to do is to use the Ontario Arts Council logo on all media that I use to publicize the event. The grant will enable me to attend the Handweavers Guild of America Annual conference to be held this year in Aburquerque New Mexico. It's something I would never be able to do with my financial resources so for me this is one of my dreams come true. I've always been drawn to New Mexico and I've never been able to afford to attend a Convergence conference so I'll be able to accomplish both in one trip!

I'm attaching a link to the conference site http://www.weavespindye.org/?loc=8-00-00 where you can view all the events that are happening at the conference as well as check out what an amazing place New Mexico is. There is so much to explore and so much for the fibre enthusiast as there are fibre artists and activities a plenty, even without the conference. The conference doesn't happen until the latter part of July of this year. I'm sure it will be scorching but they say its cool in the mountains at night and one even needs a sweater or light jacket!

Of course I had to tell as many people as I could....friends and relatives. Most responded so positively and the one thing that kept coming up was that I deserved it! I felt an incredible wave of support from many friends and this was just as good as receiving the grant from the OAC. So thank you friends for those wonderful supportive words and feelings!

Just this morning I signed up for the workshops, seminars and studio sessions that interest me: warp painting with Jannie Taylor; Cavandoli Tapestry knotting (who knew!); and Natural Dyeing for 2 days. There are lots more I'd like to participate in but the schedule limits how many I can choose. There are tours as well. One is to Santa Fe where we will visit with a couple of tapestry artists.

It's nice to dream about this excruciating heat that I might encounter when I'm there at a time in February when its pretty drab, damp and cold. When I was looking at the accommodation that I might take, I noticed on the website that the temperature today was 30 degrees and it was sunny!

Well....back to work!

The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario

Upcoming Exhibitions

2010-01-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

I was very excited when I was contacted by the American Tapestry Bienniale letting me know that my tapestry Joy was accepted in their 8th Biannual exhibition, which will open at Eider Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska between September 20 to November 15 2010 and will coincide with the meeting of the Textile Society of America. It will then go on to the American Textile Museum in Lowell Massachusetts between January 21 to May 2011.

Ontario Craft 09

2010-01-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

I was very happy when my tapestry Joy was accepted into this juried show organized by the Ontario Craft Council. I was even more surprised that my fibre construction called Wave was accepted as well. I was especially delighted to see it on the wall at the gallery, where I had stretched it out with long nails on all four corners, allowing Wave to be displayed about 2" away from the wall. This created a very exciting shadow, making a secondary artistic effect. This was not something I had initially planned but the idea evolved into what it became. This is so much what the creative process is about. Those moments where you allow yourself to not know what the outcome may be. Allowing yourself to stumble in the dark feeling and intuiting your way there, whereever there is. It requires faith. Faith that somehow, it will all come together.

I attended the opening reception on November 13. My friend Scott Ford met me there. There were lots of people. I was thrilled Wave sold while I was at the reception. The piece was sold to Jane Alderdice, herself an artist and who also works at the University of Toronto.

Ontario Craft '09 at the Ontario Craft Council

2009-10-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

My most recent tapestry, Joy, has been accepted into the upcoming group show presented by the Ontario Craft Council entitled Ontario Craft '09. Another fibre piece called Wave was also accepted, though it is not a tapestry. My wave piece can't decide between being a wallhanging or a scarf. I'll keep you in suspense as to what it looks like. Though I am thrilled that the tapestry was selected, this means I won't have a new tapestry to present at the One of a Kind Show.

November 12 to December 31 2009.
Opening reception: Friday, November 13th from 5:30pm – 8:30pm.

Ontario Crafts Council
990 Queen St. West
Toronto
416.925.4222
www.craft.on.ca

a broken arm

2009-08-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Can't weave any large tapestries now! I broke my right arm when I tripped while jogging early one morning last week. It may be a few months before I can. Typing is also awkward. One likely outcome though will be a more agile left hand. Weaving already requires a fair amount of ambidexterity and maybe after this I will more so.

48th Annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit 2009

2009-07-15T12:03:00.001-07:00

As always doing the Toronto Outdoor Art Show is always an adventure, and a highly social event. Many people come back year after year and seek an artist/craftsperson out to see what's new. This is a view of the back wall of my display, which are predominantly the 'art pieces'. The sides of the booth are where I have scarves and shawls for sale. For the most part the weather was mostly cooperative except for the occasional gusts of wind, and a torrential downpour before the show opened at 10:30 on Saturday morning. I was greatful I arrived just as it was happening because pools of water can make the canopy very heavy and cause it to break, and then torrents of water come cascading in your booth. The challenges of nature!

Some people in the art world are critical of doing these kinds of shows, but I feel its important to get the work 'out there' to the general public, maybe even the public who may never attend a gallery. I feel it's important to make art accessible to everyone. One should question the assumptions we might make about others, what they do, and why they do it. You'll likely be surprised to discover that what one has assumed is completely incorrect! I'm discovering this all the time. Another reason I like doing a show like this is that I find it generates a lot of new ideas, and lots of inspiration. However, it is also very humbling, because there are many talented and gifted people participating and sometimes I find it hard to muster up my confidence.
A friend whose work I greatly admire is Judith Fielder and I cherish her friendship. She is an inspiration to many of us. A few other OCAD people went by me in a blur - William Hodge, Robert Wylie, Barb Hilts....

Jane Miliciewicz, an avid weaver and volunteer at the Museum for Textiles also visits me regularly at these shows. She's an opera buff and often does 'opera trips' in Europe. Way to live Jane!

Khadija Chatar for L'Express newspaper, a French paper in Toronto, came by to take photos and a stament so to speak.

Emily Bruusgaard, who once worked at the Textile Musuem of Canada, and who now continues her research in textiles, also stopped by for a visit.

Other friends, like Kathleen Boyle Hatcher, come by to say hello and chat a bit.

Miriam Grasby, the first person to buy one of my tapestries at the TOAE also stopped by. It was delightful to see her after 8 years I think!

The studio always is in chaos, laundry undone, house cleaning fallen to the wayside, before each show. Now its back to try to get order back in my life. The big priority is cleaning the studio and organizing it the way I want. After each show, it changes more and more to suit what I feel my needs are, but mostly within what I can afford, which isn't spectacular! All the same, I just feel lucky that I have room to work, that I enjoy being in my studio, and look forward to it.

To paint or to weave tapestries?

2009-07-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've sometimes thought that I would rather just paint, and for the last few weeks that is what I have been doing. Why? Because there is so much more room for spontaneity than in weaving, tapestry or otherwise. It's so gratifying - one mark makes a world of difference, one colour can make you go wow. Tapestry is such a slow process that I get impatient to create my other ideas and so I think of faster alternatives, like painting. And though we all need immediate gratification every so often, and certainly, more healthier varieties, as I start putting things away I realize I have another reason why I also love the tapestry and the weaving of it.

First, there is no clean up, using tons and tons of water to cleanse the pigments away as we do for painting. As I watch the pigments go down the sink, I have a sick pit in my stomach, apologizing profusely to the planet for the harm I am doing to it. I am not the only painter on the planet so I imagine thousands of people doing the same thing and I am horrified. In tapestry weaving, one is not required to use harmful chemicals and one can make really good environmental choices as to the materials that go into weaving a tapestry. One can use biodgradable materials for instance like wool, cotton and other natural fibres. One can weave with recycled and reclaimed materials to keep them from going into landfill. Little by little my practice tries to include and consider these things.

CBC Radio One Interview for Nora Young's Spark

2009-06-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

Andreanne Baribeau, an associate producer for the CBC Radio One show called Sparks, hosted by Nora Young, came to the studio to interview me about how the internet has impacted on my tapestry weaving. She's in Toronto at CBC for a month , part of her Carlton University placement, and next month will be off to Rwanda. She made being interviewed a fun experience. We're unsure when the segment will air, but she thinks sometime in late August or September. Get hooked on this cool radio show. Go to www.cbc.ca/spark/.

JOY

2009-02-20T13:05:00.000-08:00

Another tapestry comes to completion. Any of my hand woven tapestries, are full of flaws and imperfections. It's been difficult for me to accept this and to be with it. The feelings that come up - discouragement, disappointment, futility of my efforts, and failure. This leaves me feeling very vulnerable. Now I see that any tapestry I make, represents me in my entirety. I will work on trying to feel more comfortable with that. Just because one sees the flaws does not mean I or the tapestry is worthless or of little value. I know that I do not want the tapestry or anything I make to look machine made. Therefore why strive to make it seem as though it was.

What I have learned in weaving this tapestry and seeing it to completion is to practice celebrating my flaws and imperfections for they are the opposite side of the same coin, my qualities. I will practice feeling the joy of being human, however challenging that is.

JOY

14" x 60"

Encounters & Departures: Tapestries of Peter Harris and Line Dufour

2008-03-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

The exhibit of our tapestries was a visually stimulating array of textures, colors, shapes and forms. The tapestry exhibit was in conjunction with a ceramic exhbit, Seduced by Clay, the pieces on loan from the Burlington Arts Centre collection. Lisa Daniels, the curator and director of Gallery Lambton, is teaming with dynamic, enthusisastic , and unbiased though discriminating views of art and fine craft. Without question she is the hub of the cultural excitement happening in Sarnia. I felt that our tapestries were displayed in an unparalleled dynamic fashion. In addition, it is not often that we find such ample space to display our work.

The opening reception took place March 7 2008 and was incredibly well attended by many prominent and respected citizens of Sarnia. The attendees gave the artists as well as the gallery staff much praise for how compelling the exhbit was. I want to thank all of the staff - Lisa, Dave, Holly, and Guy for all their support, and for doing such a wonderful job on the show.

Above, the third picture down is myself on the left and Lisa Daniels on the right. The 4th picture down is Peter Harris (right) and his cousin, Bev on the left.

Happiness

2008-01-09T04:33:00.000-08:00

2' x 5' handwoven tapestry

Since so much of my work is based upon feelings, I feel it is equally important and necessary to honor our happier and joyful feelings. They are necessary to our well being and our health. Because we feel lighter, perhaps even more superficial, doesn't mean that they are less worthy of visual expression than more 'serious' feelings and thoughts. Without the moments of joy and happiness in our lives, would life be worth living? Happiness....the necessary nectar that sweetens the sometimes solemn aspect of responsiblilites and committments and grim events that happen all over the planet.

Ontario Craft '07 Opening Reception

2007-11-16T05:39:00.000-08:00

The opening reception for the Ontario Craft Council's exhibit Ontario Craft '07 was a wonderfully well attended evening....so much so that it was near impossible to get good photos of the event (unfortunately). The exhibit is on until December 31 2007 at 990 Queen Street West, Toronto.

Ontario Craft '07 Exhibition

2007-10-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

Today I learned that I have been accepted into the exhibit Ontario Craft '07, organized by the Ontario Craft Council and juried by the well respected David Kaye. The reception will be November 15 between 5pm and 9pm. The exhibit runs from November 13 to December 31 2007 at 990 Queen Street West, Toronto. The piece selected was Gravity. To know more about the Ontario Craft Council go to www.craft.on.ca. David has his own gallery and in the area as well. Visit his website to know more about the events scheduled there: www.davidkayegallery.com.

5 Canadian Tapestry Artists at one exhibit

2007-09-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

From left to right: Marcel Marois, Sondra MacLeod, Barbara Heller, Line Dufour, and Jane Kidd

September 8 2007 all 5 artists talked about their work. I was eager to hear what the artists had to say about what influenced them, inspired them and discuss their creative process. It was a very moving experience. Thanks to the Fern Hill School for their generous support to the Burlington Art Centre to put on this exhibit, as well as to the Canada Council for providing a grant to have the other 4 artists flown from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia.

Gravity: Maquette of tapestry

2007-07-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

The three dimensional tapestries represent my efforts to interact with others, as an artist, as a maker. It is a constructive step forward, outward from my own inner personal dimensions, into the dimension of concrete reality. Being an artist requires the courage to express and share one's reality the way one sees it, one experiences it. The need to communicate in a visual way, is stronger for me than needing to communicate with words. Using words is just as much an art as any other, and I am not skilled at it. Words however contribute to articulating one's creative experience. I am unable to find the words to describe what it is I am trying to convey, and I find it much easier with images and pictures. I think in pictures. In shapes. In colors. In textures. The visual language, like any language has its own set of connotations for each individual and thus the visual experience of the artist and of the viewer is highly personal.

In this last tapestry called Gravity, I wanted to convey the feeling of grief. Grief about loss. Loss of loved ones. Loss through destruction. The grief we may feel over the alarming state of the planet. When we feel grief we feel torn apart. We feel we are coming undone. When grief inhabits us, we feel heavy. Pulled down by gravity. The weight of the moment. The word Gravity describes both the seriousness of the situation concerning us as well as a scientifically described force on this planet.

It occurred to me that I wanted to describe grief visually because it has visited my life several times over the years, and I am sure no one has been immune to its impact. The last episode of grief in my life was triggered by the death of someone I knew and I decided that I wanted to use this feeling as my inspiration. I took a photograph of myself. Manipulated it on the computer. Printed out the picture. Cut it up in pieces and reassembled it. Having done this, I begin to realize that these sad feelings are nothing to fear. That the kernel within the pain brings immeasurable richness to one's life. I see the beauty of life and of people more clearly. Insights flow that endow me with some measure of wisdom, even if only temporarily. When grief departs, it leaves me a wiser person. A more whole person. A more compassionate person. And the art/tapestry that I have created around it reminds me that these feelings are nothing to fear.

Completed weaving the tapestry Gravity

2007-05-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

I've just finished weaving this tapestry and it is always a thrill when one finally arrives at the end of weaving one, especially if it's large, since it is such a slow process. I'm working feverishly to try to finish it for an upcoming exhibit at the Burlington Art Centre coming up in mid July and will run until the middle of September. The title of the show will be Contemporary Canadian Tapestry and will include other tapestry weavers: Marcel Marois, Jane Kidd, Barbara Heller, and Sondra MacLeod.

I wanted to show you what the back of tapestry looks like after you finish weaving it. All the ends must be sewn in so that in the end the back of the tapestry looks exactly like the front. I'll be sure to post the picture of it once it is completed.

The other exciting news is that I got into the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit, and I will also be doing a show in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge. For more details of all of the above go to my website at www.tapestryline.com and the info is posted on the home page.

On the Midway

2007-05-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

This tapestry was inspired by the tempo of life, which I compare with being on the fair grounds of a carnival. The colours I chose are reminiscent of the kinds of colours one might find at the fair grounds, like cotton candy. The movement within the piecereminds me of a game I used to play as a child; I would spin around in circles, like a revolving top, stop suddenly, and then, everything that was stationary would seem to be rotating around me like a merry go round while I stood still. When things are moving around one so quickly, it is almost impossible to distinguish or isolate objects, faces, and figures.

About Inspiration - from Anni Albers

2007-05-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

A Place in the Sun
2' x 4'

Collection of Miriam Grasby, Montreal

"Art work.....teaches the process of all creating, the shaping out of the shapeless. We learn from it that no picture exists before it is done, no form before it is shaped. The conception of a work gives only its temper, not its consistency. Things take shape in material and in the process of working it, and no imagination is great enough to know before the works are done what they will be like.

We come to know in art that we do not clearly know where we will arrive in our work, although we set the compass, our vision; that we are lead in going along, by material and work process. We have plans and blueprints, but the finished work is still a surprise. We learn to listen to our voices; the the yes or no of our material, our tools, our time. We come to know that only when we feel guided by them our work takes on form and meaning, that we are misled when we follow our will. All great deeds have been achieved under a sense of guidance.

We learn courage from art work. We have to go where no one was before us. We are alone and we are responsible for our actions. Our solitariness takes on religious character; this is a matter of my conscience and me.

We learn to dare to make a choice, to be independent. There is no authority to be questioned. In art work there is no established conception of work. Any decision is our own, any judgement....In making our choice(s) we develop a standpoint. How much of today's confusion is brought about through not knowing where we stand, through the inability to relate experiences directly to us. In art work any experience is immediate. We have to apply what we absorb to our work of the moment. We cannot postpone the use of what we learn. Much of our education today prepares us for a later day.

We learn to trust our intuition....we have to rely on inner awareness.....We learn patience and endurance in following through a piece of work. We learn to respect material in working it. Formed things and thoughts live a life of their own; they radiate a meaning. They need a clear form to give a clear meaning. Making something become real and take its place in actuality adds to our feeling of usefulness and security. Learning to form makes us understand all forming.....

The difficult problems are the fundamental problems; simplicity stands at the end, not at the beginning of a work. If education can lead us to elementary seeing, away from too much and too complex information, to the quietness of vision and discipline of forming, it again may prepare us for the task ahead, working for today and tomorrow.

Taken from Anni Albers: On Designing, p31-33 Weslaeyan University Press, Middleton Connecticut

Tapestry Book by Barty Phillips

2007-04-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

In the book Tapestry by Barty Phillips and published by Phaidon Press, Line's tapestry was featured in the Contemporary Masters section on page 188. The tapestry "Effervescent Ascent" was commissioned by John and Ann Galbraith. The dimesions of the tapestry are 5' x 3'.

Woven poncho

2007-04-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Apart from tapestries, I also weave handwoven fashion accessories that I sell at shows, exhibits, and stores. These include scarves, shawls, ponchos and capes. I teach all this with the Toronto District School Board's Continuing Education program which you can access at www.tdsb.on.ca . Classes run from Fall to the end of Spring, from beginners to Intermediate levels.

2007-04-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

The life of an artisan is a challenging one. A large part of my time and my life has been dedicated to pursuing a rather medieval kind of life. Weaving is a very slow process and is quite a contrast to the fast pace of modern day life. Perhaps this is what I like about weaving. That it is slow. I recently discovered a great website that discusses many aspects of the what is now becoming a 'slow movement' at www.slowmovement.com. I think it is sort of a backlash to how fast we have to live our daily lives. It doens't allow us to savour many of the better moments.

Since deciding to commit myself to being a full time fibre artist and artisan, it has also been challenging to earn a living solely by this means. So, I try to do a number of things, all related and interconnected. I teach weaving, sell weaving supplies and equipment, I do craft/art shows, and participate in exhibitions. It can be difficult living with the financial uncertainty of being an artist and craftsperson but I just can't imagine living my life doing anything but what I am doing. Being an artist/artisan is a way of life. It is also about a certain quality of life that is not necessarily connected to how much money we make.

Bryozoa

2007-03-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

handwoven tapestry

3' x 3'

Bryozoa are collectives of tiny acquatic organisms called zooids, living in large colonies. Often these colonies form flat encrustations as well as erect plant like structures on a variety of objects including rocks, ship bottoms, wharf pillings, sea weed and even the shells of other acquatic animals. They date as far back as 500 million years ago. This tapestry was inspired by how they live, which provides us with some guidelines in terms of ensuring our longevity and well being as a community and thus, as individuals. The long duration of the species can be attributed in part to their collective consciousness. Thus the theme of this tapestry is about our interconnectedness as individuals, and the vital connection this bears upon our structures of community. As citizens, we are woven together like a fabric, through the spirit of collaboration, concern and cooperation, and yet still maintain a sense of our individuality, equally as vital to our existence and survival.