I HAVEN'T BEEN WOOL GATHERING

Who could imagine a better way to spend some time, harvesting lavender at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.  

 I can almost smell the lavender--

Well actually I CAN smell the lavender. There are giant bowls of it around the house

The next step is drying, then cleaning and the final step---lavender sashets!

Hello From Gary

 Hey, remember me? This is Gary, the 48" 8 harness Cherry Wood Fireside Loom, weaving to you in a charming retro-style.

 

Weaving with natural plant matter weft with a jute warp was popular back in the mid 20th century. Bonnie wove countless weed hangings back then.

 When she lived in Montana in the 70's, she was captivated by the unusual and varied dried wild flowers.

 A friend offered her a bunch a willow, and another friend gave me the short stalks of a lavender harvest.

The very first weed weaving she created in 1961 is hanging in her mom's condo, and believe it or not, it still looks as fresh and new as the day she wove it.

Stay tuned for pictures from the weed achieves.

April's Musings

 Where do I want to take Weaving Spirit?
Where does weaving spirit want to take me?

It would seem that I have stopped doing any interesting work, teaching, or service---but I am actually doing lots of all of it---so much so that blogging has become a chore---something that I never thought would happen. 

For the foreseeable future, I will be posting once a month---just to see how this works.  

Woven Words Virtual Quilt Block--Generosity
Most of my work this year has been service related with my donating time, weaving lessons and woven pieces. I wondered what it would be like to spend a year living as if I did not have to depend on my weaving income. Weaving for the sake of weaving---to make the world better. Weaving as prayer---weaving as an offering.


Here is something out of the archives---woven in the early 90's. I recently had students ask me questions about weaving horoscope weaving in something other than plain weave. Here is my best example---twill.

Have Loom Will Travel

I can't believe a whole month has flown by, but now that I am firmly in my 7th decade---time move much more quickly. I am thinking of new directions and themes (still in the thinking stage), but I intend to continue posting on a monthly basis---like a newsletter.

The Saori Loom continues to be a source of joy, not just to me but to the many people I entice to sit down and give it a try. I continue to discover new venues to bring the loom and will have to make (or have made) a travel case for it.

My new home (well not so new now) is shaping up to be a place where I will be able to teach small classes and offer "residential weaving retreats" in the near future.

At last I am getting closer to realizing a computerized winding draft for Color Horoscope Weaving.

Weaving continues to be the center of my life and a source of healing and beauty. May the desire to share this with everyone never diminish.

WEAVING PEACE AT JEANETTE RANKEN PEACE CENTER

A VIRTUAL HOLIDAY GREETING

WOVEN PEACE IN 16 LANGUAGES

I was so excited about making this woven mosaic that I put it up on Facebook before I put it on the blog. I was already asked to explain what I mean by "peace in 16 languages". It is so much easier to demonstrate, but it is almost Christmas and I must be asleep before Santa arrives.

Briefly, the image above shows the stripes horizontal, the way they were woven. The image below is the way I displayed the weaving on Facebook (the way I think the image looks better, but I think it makes the whole concept more abstract). The whole thing is a number code---A= 1 row of weaving, and Z=26 rows of weaving. Over 60 people participated in weaving the four (each 3 yards long) banners, and every person selected their own favorite colors to "spell out" the word for peace 19 languages. (although there are only 16 represented in the image) Peace in English is the green one in the upper right corner. I hope that answers the question. The actual banners are still on display (until January 2) at Butterfly Herbs in Missoula, Montana. You would think that I had taken some pictures of the display. It's not over yet.  In fact, I will be setting up the loom to weave another banner soon. (open to all would-be weavers)

ANNOUNCING!

WEAVING PEACE WEAVING TOGETHER

First Friday December 7 through January 2

Butterfly Herbs , 232 N. Higgins Ave, Missoula

Bonnie Tarses presents the results of an Artist in Residence Program sponsored by the Killdeer Artisans Guild and the Hangin’ Art Gallery in Arlee. 

The Project: To weave a series of Peace Banners to be flown from the sides of the stage at the 8^th Annual Peace Festival held at The Garden Of One Thousand Buddhas in September.      

                Bonnie set up her loom in the middle of the Hangin’ Art Gallery and invited anyone who could count to 3 and could reach the treadles to sit down and weave. During the 3 weeks, over 60 people ranging in age from 6 years to 78 shared in weaving the banners. 

 

What makes these banners so unique is Bonnie’s technique of ascribing a number and color to each letter of the alphabet, so the actual word PEACE is “written” in woven bands of color. Initially, the plan was to weave peace in English, Salish and Tibetan, but as more and more people arrived to weave, 14 more languages were offered: Burmese; Japanese; Hebrew; Hindi; Hawaiian; Quechua; Swedish; Italian; Portuguese; Mongolian; Gaelic; Thai; Mandarin;  and Farsi. Images of the weavers will also be on display.

Bonnie will be weaving additional Peace Banners in her Missoula studio during the month of December. Contact: bonnie@bonnietarses.com  to join in WEAVING PEACE