Thursday, June 28, 2012

New Show at the Hangin Art Gallery

So besides moving (during a hail storm) and sitting in the middle of a mountain of boxes, I am the featured artist in a show opening on Saturday. Now to stop unpacking and posting, and get busy writing my artist statement. I think I am even going to be in the newspaper. Wouldn't you know that my 15 minutes of fame would come at a time when I can't find where I packed my toothbrush (grin)

Saturday, June 23, 2012

It's Hard to Hit a Moving Target

I'm on the move again. I just had to take a break though and share my THIRD ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF MOVING. The movers come on Tuesday, and I am far from ready.

The good news is that Grace and Gary will be reunited.


More good news is that I only moving blocks away. And even more good news is that I will be able to do some one on one teaching "retreats" in the new place, but more on that later.


And more good news is that 2 of the 3 towels have been sent. Sue Bye, please email me your mailing address, and I will send yours (after I move)


And last (actually first), my classes at the Montana Conference went extremely well. I wish I could say the same for my camera. It seems to have developed a problem. (also a topic for another post)

Perhaps the move will be the beginning of a resurgence of enthusiasm and continuity in posting. It is not that I don't have anything to say. It is more that I have too much, so I just don't say anything at all.

But very exciting things are coming down the pike.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Tencel---Learning and Teaching

What promises to be another phenomenal Weaving Conference begins tomorrow! Interestingly enough, this Conference is taking place on the University of Montana campus (in walking distance from my soon to be former residence (but that is a post for another day).

I will be teaching 2 one-day workshops: Intentional Design and Almost Ikat. I decided to challenge myself a bit with the Almost Ikat workshop and try a new fiber (for me)--TENCEL.
My interest in tencel stems from the fact it is produced in Canada and dyed in the USA. WEBS carries an interesting array of colors, including many space-dyed options. With not a moment to spare (after returning from the Alberta Conference), I ordered up a box of assorted colors which arrived last Thursday (waiting on my doorstep after I returned home from hanging my solo show which opened on Friday evening. This, too, is a topic for another post!).


As you can see, these are not my usual colors (except for the red and turquoise, which I ordered because two of the colors in the main palette were currently not in stock). The colors were actually selected by a client who has commissioned a Woven Words scarf (so I am really "killing" 3 birds with one stone/cone of yarn).

The students in the Almost Ikat class will be winding a warp using these very yarns, so I thought I should give it a test run. I wound this warp on Sunday, a 6" scarf, sett at 24 epi.

I tested all the colors in the weft---including some tencel yarn I had from "Just Our Yarn" to see if I could combine it with the yarn from Webs.


I cut off a portion of the warp and laundered it, so I could see how a finished scarf would look. Below is how it came out of the dryer with no pressing.


With a 1-day workshop, the students will just be able to wind their scarf warp to take home and weave, so I will only be able to send images of the various warps. Since the scarf above was purely a test of fibers, the design is not as powerful as will be all of the student warps.

So if you are signed up for this class, be prepared for a rockin' good time with Tencel! Plus I have some surprises in store (grin)