Eri Explorations Exhibition | Silk Weaving Studio

Very pleased to be coordinating this annual exhibition for the Silk Weaving Studio and to be creating pieces for it. This year, our group invitational show is showcasing Eri silk. It promises to be eclectic and interesting with 13 artists featuring visual art pieces, hangings, 3D work, and an array of knitted and woven garments. 

For more details: Silk Weaving Studio Upcoming Event

Texture in Silence | Window Gallery Exhibit

It's been a long hiatus ...

Nearly a decade to be precise.

The time is ripe for the revival of this old time favourite ...

Absolutely delighted to return with this post and so looking forward to our upcoming collaboration.

 

Textile and Wood - an "hors pair" combination

Speaking of the Crawl, it's been a pleasure for a second time around to display some of my weaving along with Stu's work at Beatty Street Woodworkers. We both enjoy playing with the characters of our chosen medium to create one-of-a-kind pieces.

One of Stu's recent design is this wonderful functional piece that hangs scarves beautifully.  Dressing up the claro and black walnut piece are some of my personal favourites - a marvel of burnt orange,  a delightful scarf knitted with alpaca, the cool cross scarf and a recent sculptural woven addition.

This year, Stu also displayed some benches - all of them made of re-purposed timber but offering different lines, shapes, lengths and types of wood.  Each one is unique and combines ingenuity in design and craftsmanship.

The bench below my scarves is made of red and yellow cedar as well as ebony, whereas the bench on the right is made of douglas-fir and ebony. Designed as a low bench,  its main feature is the cast iron legs salvaged from an old window weight pulley system.

The "grand" bench of them all is made of western red cedar.  The legs - offset and angled forwards - capture the attention as a design element, while the claro and black walnut bring contrast to the bench (details on left photo).

Socks on the Mend

Back in August, I sat down with Penny at The Urban Weaver Studio and she helped me refresh my skills on darning socks.

My first sock had the "classic" hole in the heel - too much friction from the good ol' boots I wear all the time.  Originally knitted with a sports weight yarn,  I used a similar weight and colour to construct a weave across the hole.  First by creating a "warp" section in one direction and then by weaving over and under all the warp threads.

My second sock - an all time favourite - wasn't too damaged, but the stitches over the heel were running super thin.  Since I wanted to keep the pattern along the heel cup, Penny suggested that I cut right through the heel - something she's done a lot for toe repairs.  A first for me ... it is with due diligence and trust in her experience that I cut a hole in my favourite sock!  Afterwards, we brainstormed the best way to knit the heel back together and figured that short rows was going to do the trick.

I have one more sock to repair and it's been long time coming for this one.  This pair was purchased in Kamchatka years ago and each stitch pretty much has a story ... so have the holes!

Starting October 1st, you can join Penny at the Urban Weaver Studio for a series of Woolley Workshops and rejoice at wearing your "new" mended socks.

Weaving Beyond Cloth

For a few months now, I've been taking part in The Urban Weaver Project - an environmental art project led by artist-weavers Todd DeVries and Sharon Kallis.  Sharon and I met three years ago - when attending her Autumn shade retreat workshop at MOPARCC - and she introduced me to blackberry vine as a weaving material.  Since then Sharon has been working on some amazing projects in our local communities and abroad - and the Himalayan Blackberry is only but one of several species on her list of invasive plants for weaving.

The Urban Weaver Project has been a great opportunity for me to learn more about "invasive" species and to get involved in the harvest and preparation of these plants for weaving.  I have learned a tremendous amount from Sharon and Todd's teachings on traditional weaving techniques using English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, Flag Iris and Miscanthus giganteus.  The Stanley Park Ecology Society offers a great guide with the descriptive of these "invasive" plants.  As a permaculturist, I rather label them as  "opportunistic" species, but that's a different post all together.

The Urban Weaver Project also included Master Class Technique Exchanges with other local artists.  I feel very privilege to have learned new skills from Haida weaver Giihlgiigaa (cedar),  Squamish spinner and weaver Sesemiya Tracy Williams (cedar and fibre), and traditional wheat weaver Brian Jones.

Since June, the field-house at Maclean Park has been a second studio space and to be part of a new community of weavers has invigorated my own practice.  The Urban Weaver Project is soon coming to an end with our final celebration this week, but the field-house at Maclean Park will continue to offer community projects.

To all these wonderful people,  I dedicate this page "At The Urban Weaver Studio".

June, July ... December

The other half of 2011 has been filled with lots of new knowledge and wonderful fibre moments.

The Maiwa Symposium - with the quality of its workshops, lectures and events - certainly was a highlight. I was privileged this year to assist Michele Wipplinger  with her workshop and learned a lot about colour theory.  I also learned that banana is a great reducing agent for the indigo vat. Who would have thought?  Well ... Michel Garcia did and his workshop INDIGO: The Organic Vat was simply fascinating.

Beyond indigo, my explorations with the dye pot continued on the back porch with carrot tops, peonies, roses, rhubarb and much more from the garden.

All the while, the knitting needles were clicking away and small projects took shape.  Socks, hats, wrist warmers were created and gifted along the way.

As for my time at the loom, it has been quite exploratory. Jumping from colour to lace, to texture and hand spun yarns. My various lengths of cloth are so different to one another, showing openness and tightness at the same time. The dress form is now ready to be draped, and ideas are forming around the design of these cloths.

Fibrations and a couple of SAORI-kai (gatherings) were  also a source of inspiration this fall. And more recently, some time spent on Salt Spring Island.  

My latest piece "Soft and Textural" was woven at Saori Salt Spring. Intrigued by a few weft variations and the effect of the comb reed, I first learned these new techniques and then played with lots of texture while weaving with a soft gentle touch.  So many variations ... so much more to discover. 

Happy 2012 Fibre Explorations!

Saori Chime, Design Workshops, Lau Niu Weaving

And what exactly do the chime, workshops and lau niu weaving have in common?  San-gatsu - the month of March.

It all started with the completion of Maddy's Saori Wind Chime - a second window - also inspired by the elements of nature and unique to Maddy's connections to those elements.  Each piece was created in the likeness and reflection of my first Saori Wind Chime, but with colours, thoughts and additional inspirations that resonated with Maddy. Thanks to Maddy for this wonderful opportunity and to Stu for taking such great photos.

In the footsteps of the commission, followed the weaving of 4 meters of cloth for Marie's design classes.  I first met Marie on Salt Spring Island last year.  I fell in love with the garments and designs she presented to the Weaver's guild as part of the "Designing Women" series.  And so with great excitement, I left for Marie's classes at Knotty by Nature in Victoria. 

  

The Saori-kai and design classes were most inspiring and energizing as we all shared our weavings, ideas, and inspirations.  On that weekend, I forgot my camera at home, however Terri has some great photos on her blog of both the Saori-kai and the Saori Design Classes.

 I find the Saori design process to follow hand in hand with Saori weaving.  In all of its creativity, the cloth speaks for itself, and as it gets folded, cut, tucked and sewn, further beauty reveals ... coming together ever so nicely.  My 4 meters of cloth has become a tunic with asymmetrical lines on one side and fringes at the back.  It's nearly finished ... I'll post more pictures soon. Thanks to Terri for this photo.

And from Saori to lau nui weaving, the month ended in Hawaii where I saw this beautiful basket made with a small section of a single coconut leaf. It was a nice traditional ending to a busy weaving month of March!

Eastside Culture Crawl Commission

In November, my Saori Wind Chime travelled to the Eastside Culture Crawl, and this month - by means of this wonderful event - I have the pleasure of weaving a commissioned piece rich in colours.

Thank you Stu for displaying my window above your wood work and for sharing this photo of our combined creations.

A Colourful Thrum Project

" Painting with Thrums " is my latest piece of weaving and the inspiration for this project came from the desire of exploring what it would be like to weave an entire piece of fabric with mostly thrums of different lengths and colours.

In my post Treasuring Thrums, I touched on colours and textures with a couple of photos: a colourful warp created with the longest lengths of thrums and the weft thrums at the start of my weaving.  I did not have to weave very much to discover that the blending of colours was going to be the true essence of this cloth.

Several more threads of fine silk and silk/wool blend got woven together; nests of tangled yarns found their way into the cloth, and knots from the warp ends were added for texture.

And like watercolours on a painter's palette, a multitude of colours were blended together and woven in the warp.  I nearly made it to the end of the warp before running low on thrums.

A perfect opportunity to explore a different finish. I'm not sure yet what will become of this new piece of cloth, but for the moment - one thing is certain - I keep on treasuring thrums!

Treasuring Thrums

Thrums ... THRUMS ... Thrums
Thrums are full of colours

Thrums offer lots of textures
Thrums are simple treasures

Silk thrums in the warp

 

Silk thrums in the weft

Let's see where those thrums take me and as Misao-sensei would say

"Let's adventure beyond our imagination"

A Saori Wind Chime

My Saori wind chime came together before traveling to the Oregon Coast ... and only recently was it installed outside near by our kitchen window.  In creating this visual display of colors, my desire was to weave several Saori pieces that would dance in the wind.  What I did not expect is the glowing of these colors in the morning sun.

The weaving part of my project was inspired by the Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind, and so I chose to weave with the five colors representing the five elements of nature: blue symbolizing sky/space, followed by white for air/wind, then red for the fire element, green for water, and finally yellow symbolizing earth.


I very much enjoyed creating this piece and really like that it is now part of nature.  The weaving is very colorful when basking in the sun and dancing in the wind ... it is also a gentle reminder for more kindness, compassion and peace for ourselves, others and the earth.

Colours of the Oregon Coast

I treadled a lot in August and September.  However, it wasn't so much while seated at the loom or behind the spinning wheel, but rather from the saddle of my bicycle.  A wonderful cycle touring adventure along the Oregon Coast and through Northern California.  The coast line of Oregon was spectacular, the Redwood Forests majestic, and the pace of cycling ... well, perfect to immerse oneself in the moment and truly enjoy the scenery.  

A pleasant discovery on my way to Cape Blanco was the Wild Rivers Wool Factory in Langlois, South Oregon.  A gem of a store selling and featuring locally produced fibres and finished products from local artists and artisans.  As I walked in, a colorful skein of wool cut my eyes and wanting to know more about my choice,  I asked about the type of wool.  "Well, that would be Romney and the sheep's name is Hyacinth - she lives up the road."  Now, that is 100% local wool!

Another pleasant discovery awaited me in Portland - the annual festival Art In The Pearl.  It is there that I discovered the textile work of Kimberly Morris , a local weaver who crafts amazing rugs with "the belief that all things functional, should be beautiful, easy to care for and last for a long time."  The colours of her hand-dyed, hand-woven wool rugs are absolutely stunning!  Her rugs have a story, watch this segment on Oregon Art Beat.

Coming Together ...

A Fabulous Fibre Month

June was an eventful fibre month with new projects coming along and my latest Saori pieces getting ready to be mounted in the window frame.  I learned to spin wool on the wheel and met some wonderful fibre people along the way - but more about these topics in a different post.

June was also  Victoria FibreFest and a day spent with Terri at her Saori booth in Saxe Point Park.  It was such a great day and I had so much fun helping Terri and assisting people at the looms.

   

The children loved weaving on the Piccolo loom - the perfect size for them, while others chose to weave a section of the collaborative banner for The Saori Bridges of Elm Park project. Thanks to Terri for sharing the photos of the looms - Piccolo above and the banner in progress on the left.

June was a fabulous fibre month  ... and an amazing Saori weaving day in the park!

Photos of my "Cool Cross" Scarf

Very colourful - I love every single colour!

 
Flat - the way it was woven on the loom.

3-D - the warp off the loom

My "cool cross" scarf - a very "cool" way of weaving a three dimensional scarf.  It is my new favourite!

My Saori exploration continues ....

I have just returned from a very refreshing weaving retreat to Saori Salt Spring with Terri Bibby.  Our time spent together was inspirational in many ways and I learned a lot from her, and also from Jill who came from California to study Saori with Terri.  Jill currently teaches sewing classes from her studio Heartgallery and will soon be offering Saori weaving workshops.

For four days, I fully immersed myself into weaving and really embraced the Saori approach to weaving.  Terri shared with us the philosophy of Saori and stories of her recent trip to Japan - there's great photos posted on her blog.  Needless to say ... I can't wait to travel to Japan and visit some of the Saori studios!

Back to Salt Spring Island - Terri shared with us some weaving techniques, Saori clothes-making ideas, and much more.  I was encouraged by her guidance to learn from my own experience and to develop my unique creativity.  I chose to learn and create a three dimensional scarf by weaving a "cool cross scarf".  Wow ... very "cool" indeed!  The scarf is woven flat, but comes off the loom in three dimensions ...  I will post some pictures soon.

In the meantime, if you are interested in three dimensional weaving, Terri is teaching a class this weekend at Knotty By Nature Fibre Arts.

A marvel of burnt orange

I recently finished my Saori piece on the Artisat , and still marvel at the orange burnt colour. In working with one colour of a single yarn, I wanted to explore density by grouping the weft and by playing with different amount of spaces between threads. The contrast is fascinating - especially when the fabric is held in the light. It was challenging to capture the true essence of the fabric, but for an "aperçu" - here's a few pictures.

Gaining Perspective

A first on the Artisat

A few months ago, I became the proud owner of a floor loom: the Artisat.  Though new to me, my Artisat is nearly 30 years old, but in superb condition. The loom has aged so gracefully in the hands and care of its original owner that weaving on it has been a delight. My first Saori project on the loom: a scarf in one gorgeous colour ~ burnt orange!