"Thought is like a little boat upon the sea..."

That line is from Donovan's song, "Happiness Runs," which I haven't been able to get out of my head for the past few days. Must be weaving all these boats! Oh well, there are a LOT of worse songs to have filling my head. Like the summer I couldn't rid my brain of Harry Nilsson's song, "Coconut."

Today I have to take a break from the loom to ready two tapestries to ship to the IWC exhibit in Durango. The two pieces that will be going are such different images! They make me think of the time, years ago, that Carol Russell told me that I need to develop a more recognizable look to my work. She said some of my work looks as if it's woven by two totally different artists. The funny thing is, my oil painting teacher told me the same thing about my painting last year. I guess I am just an artistic schizophrenic. But I love both of the styles I use. I love weaving 'stories', which seem to require me to use a more illustrative style; and I love bright colors and more simplistic shapes, which is the style I use to weave things which are more representative of feelings than of specific stories. The two tapestries going to this exhibit are examples of both styles. Actually, I thought the exhibit would only accept one piece per artist, or I'd probably not have entered both together, as they truly do look a bit like two artists did them.

"Dama con Mangos" is about my feelings about Honduras, where we go to work in a free medical clinic. I don't even think I could easily put into words how I feel about Honduras, especially about the women who live such difficult lives there. But I love this tapestry, which was woven with love and respect, and I hope it speaks for me. It is not a large piece. It is 24" x 36".

The second tapestry is the Winter tapestry from the Seasons series, which is called "A Peace of Quiet." It is one of the illustration/story tapestries. I love story tapestries, because historically, that is what tapestries were woven for. I love the old hunt and unicorn tapestries, and think of the stories that would have filled their viewers on seeing them. They still do, in fact. I hope my tapestries will be around a long time, as those tapestries have been. Then people who see them can know something about the stories of my life. That is such a cool thought to be floating in the little boat upon the sea!