Shopping for Tapestry Books?

I know the season of giving is coming, but it is also the season of 'getting,' to some extent. If you don't know what to ask for, or if you choose to 'gift' yourself (as I have done,) there are three new tapestry books on the market that are worthy of your consideration. (Actually, there are a couple more new ones  that I haven't yet received - Are you listening, Santa?)

If you are a beginning tapestry weaver, or if you are wanting to learn the basics of tapestry weaving, look for Rebecca Mezoff's book,  The Art of Tapestry Weaving.  It builds techniques one on the other, like weft on weft, each clearly explained and shown in photos. As a self-taught weaver, this book would have been VERY welcome a number of years ago! It will be a classic text for those of you who are visual learners.

If you are a tapestry weaver, or are working in any art medium, and are wanting to consider how inspiration becomes a work of art, I highly recommend Tommye Scanlin's book, The Nature of Things. Tommye is inspired by Nature, as most artists are, but her journey from inspiration to art can apply to any artist's walk. The book is filled with images, not only of Tommye's beautiful tapestries, but of the photos and sketches that inspire the works. The essay-like discussions are like a personal visit with a professional artist who is very willing to share. I read this book from cover to cover, and I know I will read it again.

And finally, if you, like me, are missing going to exhibits of beautiful tapestries by many artists, Micala Sidore's book, The Art is the Cloth, is like going to a huge tapestry exhibit, that spans distance and time, with photos of over 300 tapestries from the 12th through the 21st century.  Micala was inspired to create the book as well as curating an exhibit of the same name. I had two tapestries in the exhibit (shown below) and the second small one is included in the book. (Both tapestries sold in the exhibit.) I pick this book up like 'inspirational dessert,' to treat myself when I feel the need for a treat. And who doesn't need to be treated this year?!

"Dama con Mangos"  24x36"

"Grace"  8x10"

As tapestry enthusiasts, we are very blessed by the contributions and inspirations these books can give us. Thank you so much, Rebecca, Tommye, and Micala for gifting us with your words, and your experience!

 

The tactile joy of oil paints!

As a fiber artist, I guess it goes without saying that I enjoy media that feels good to use. I constantly pass my hands across my tapestries as I weave. I can’t seem to order knitting yarn online, because I need to know it’s touch before I can spend time knitting it. And, though I use watercolors and colored pencils to sketch, they do not please me in a tactile sense. 

But oil paints! Ah, the feel of squeezing out the thick paint onto the palette, then picking up a good glob (a technical term, I’m sure) of the color and schmeering it onto the taut canvas! Then smooshing it around to where I want it to be, and doing it all again. It really is difficult to explain it to you, but there is a true tactile-ness to painting in oils. It is the same with pastels, I know, but they are too messy for me to have loose in a studio filled with yarn. Or, at least, I am too messy with them; I can’t contain them.

I decided I needed to paint with oils again, a few weeks ago. I haven’t really had my oil paints out for a long time. So I cleared some yarn off my studio table and got out my paints. I did the portrait below first, as a warm-up, to remember how to use the paints. Then I did the portrait above, of my granddaughter. Neither are grand works of ART, but both were so satisfying to do!

I need to now get back to the loom, having scratched this itch. I need to clear the work table of paint supplies, to make room again for the yarn I’m using for my current tapestry. The oil paints will be packed back into the cupboard, the brushes cleaned and put away, these two paintings set aside somewhere to dry, and the palette wrapped tightly and stuck in the freezer, with the hope that I will feel the need to use the paint left on it another day in the not too distant future.