Fiber Artworks Preview

I'm in the midst of a series of fiber artworks, wallhangings, which involve tapestry weaving, knitting, beading, using a lot of my own yarn spun from original fleece and dyed with KoolAid (!) and other people's handspun -- the lovely red tweedy yarn in the long yellow tapestry/bead piece was part of a gift from Heather C., her yarn share in a fiber farm, from sheep we probably saw in their lambcam in the Spring.

Then there's the yellow string, courtesy of the hardware store, and various other yarns courtesy of the thrift store...

This is where I start to look at what I've made to date, and see what is happening. I literally usually do not know this until I hang the show, but that won't be till next year, and I'm still working on other pieces in my head.

But this is a preview of where we are to date. And it looks as if some of the pieces have taken the form of clothing shapes, indirect portraits,



Originally thought of as a setting sun landscape over water, it seems as if a person insinuated herself into the midst of this one.



This is Ear of Wheat in a wheaten colored yarn. My subconscious turned it into a dress piece.



This is a mixed media, plastic pieces and knitted cotton yarn, officially unfinished but enough people have seen it in the house where I hung it to hang out, lengthen, and for me to study and see what's next, people who liked it a lot and thought it was finished, so maybe it is. Visiting Indian ladies last week liked it a lot, wanted to handle and enjoy it. So, is it done? we'll see.

and some become landscapes, again, indirect portraits.



I spun most of the yarn in this triptych, and dyed it, and watched in amazement as buildings and farmhouses and fields and crops started appearing in the work.



This is my first tapestry, made on a loom I created from a picture stretchers, warped with mason's twine. And it turned into a kind of study of crops stretching out to the horizon. A Navajo weaver saw a picture of this and was very encouraging about it, a great thrill, since she's a kind of national treasure.


I never plan and draw these out ahead, just work instinctively as I go. And see what happens.

Always an adventure.