Connecting...

This week I have been at the computer, rather than at the loom or easel. I have perhaps vaguely alluded in the past to the exhibit that I am working on for the American Tapestry Alliance. It is a juried exhibit of international small format tapestries, and you can find out more about if you go here. I mention it now because I feel like I have been 'chatting' with all of the artists who entered the exhibit, one by one, all week. The jury results came back, so my task has been to get a letter out to each artist to let them know if their work will, or will not, be in the exhibit. Although the letters I am sending out are, of necessity, form letters, that does not mean I, as the sender, don't take each of them personally. You probably don't realize that when you receive one of those letters. You are just relieved and excited to have your work accepted, or disappointed and a bit angry to feel like you have been 'rejected.' But, having lived and worked with the tapestry images for quite some time, inputting them into my computer, and putting together the slide presentation for the juror, I do feel a personal connection with each tapestry, and through them, with each maker and weaver. I do feel the disappointment that will be felt with each letter that bears the news that there is not room in the exhibit for their piece. And that is the reality... there is only room for so many pieces. Some absolutely stunning pieces by some wonderful artists will not be in the show. And, as the jury process is so subjective, any other juror would have chosen a totally different show. I entered the "All Passion Spent" tapestry, and it will not be in the exhibit, but I KNOW that I am in good company, so I don't feel too badly about it. I really wish I could share all the entries with all of you. It would be a true gift for you to be able to see, as I have, 184 amazing small tapestries from weavers who work in our medium all over the world. If you get a letter from me this week, on behalf of ATA, know that I was truly thinking of you when I sent it, no matter what the jury results may be. And, Thank You for sharing your work with me as I have worked on this exhibit! It has truly blessed me.

A bit of Progress...

The mornings have been foggy here lately. They remind me of the photo I took last winter, which I developed into a tapestry maquette. It will probably be the next thing I weave, if I can find where I put it! The above photo was taken yesterday from my sitting room window.

I think I mentioned before that the piece I'm working on now will be called "September." The last one I did was "February," so the foggy one would be called "January." Maybe I will get all the months woven, but I'm not making that promise/commitment to myself just yet. Here is where "September" is, progress-wise, at this point. There are only 7 inches left to weave, but I may not get my 3" woven this week, as we'll have houseguests for several days, and I am cleaning (or taking a short break from cleaning) right now to prepare for that.
Across the room from the loom, I've made some progress on my painting, too. I have the 'first layer' of paint almost covering the warm underpainting, which you can still see in the lower right corner area. I have a lot of reworking to do before this will be done, but it is always good to at least get it blocked out. I may get a few snatches of time to work on it this week. I don't want it to be completely dry before I work on it again.

Illustration Friday: Climbing

I did this tiny oil sketch, with my no-drawing method, for Illustration Friday this morning, as the topic is 'climbing.' It isn't a great sketch, but it was a good warm-up for the painting I want to do today. It is of my grandson climbing some playground equipment at the park near our house last summer. The sketch is about 5"x5" and is oil on canvas.

New Beginnings....

This is today's beautiful sunrise from my sitting room window.

Seeing the day begin, and thinking of President Obama's new beginning, I am thinking of how difficult beginning can sometimes be. When I begin a new tapestry or a new painting, I look at what I want to create and I think, "I don't know how to do this... This is beyond my skills... I don't remember how to paint/weave!" Yes, I do think those things - even though I have been doing this for over 25 years. I went through it earlier this week when I began a new painting.

But then I fill the water bowl, squeeze out some fresh paint, pick up the brush and begin. As I begin, that voice is still there, saying, "This is not going to look right... This is going to be really awful!" But I keep moving the brush from the paint to the canvas, or the yarn through the warp, doing what seems to be right for each mark, each area of color. Then, when I walk away from it and later return, I am surprised to see that it is looking like I wanted it to look like; it's beginning to become a painting or a tapestry!

This process of doubt and surprise happens to me over and over. You would think it would eventually go away. The process for weaving is the same, but I have learned to trust my cartoon and my maquette, even when I don't trust or believe in myself. I guess this is why I don't feel like "An Artist." I know that all I really do is to move paint from the palette to the canvas, or carry the weft threads through the warp threads. I know that I am as surprised as anyone, or more so, when the resulting painting or tapestry turns out to look like I wanted it to. That element of surprise makes me feel like a fraud... Surely a 'real artist' would always expect success!

I imagine President Obama is having some doubts that he is up to the huge job ahead of him. But I have faith that, if he just keeps doing what seems right for each task, he will do very well.

Addendum: If you want to see something to make you smile, go here.

Oh, Happy Day!

I finished the apple and the first pear yesterday. I am pretty happy with the apple. The lost and found edges worked pretty well with it. I don't expect to get much weaving done this morning, as I intend to be watching the inaugural events. Tissues ready for President Obama's speech. I believe a man who can bring us to tears with his words can find and soften the hardened heart of America. I have great hopes for us under his leadership. Today is the first day of a better time for our country. Let's all get behind this president and make it happen!
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. ~Barack Obama

... and a Pear

As you can see, I did reach my goal again. I won't weave any more this week, but will try to get some painting in. And cleaning. And laundry. And that biggest job category of all right now: ETC.....

Next week's goal (another 3 inches) will take me up to the bottom of the upper two pears, which will be past the half-way mark. All 'up-warp' from there!

Illustration Friday: Pale

The IF topic today is Pale. Hmmmm. It made me think of this tapestry that I wove long, long ago called "Northern Lights." It was so long ago that I didn't have an image of it in my computer (maybe a pre-computer piece), so I had to scan a slide of it. It's not the best image, but it is pale! (In fact, the image itself is pale in comparison to the more colorful tapestry.)

I looked it up in my invaluable green book; the one that has all my tapestries listed, with all pertinent information about each of them. It was woven in 1995 and is 35"x35".

An added tribute: Andrew Wyeth died early today in his sleep, at the age of 91. I don't have many walls for art in my home, and the few I have are covered with my own tapestries, or paintings by myself or my friends. The only print I have is the one below, by Andrew Wyeth. It so captures reality, as does all of his work. We have caught Wooster doing the 'life imitates art' bit, in this exact pose. I have always been so influenced by Wyeth's work, and the work of other illustrators, that I don't refer to myself as a 'tapestry artist' but rather as an illustrator of life who works primarily in the medium of handwoven tapestry. When someone like Wyeth leaves us, there is a huge gap in the world of illustration and art. It will be quite a challenge for us all to fill it!

Now I'm back to the loom to finish up a quite UN-pale pear!