Sometimes too much

I know now why tapestry is sometimes called the art of crystallized weaving. It's been like that every since and before Midwest. It's like watching rocks grow.

Marge finished her piece! It turned out so well. I am so proud of her. It's at the framers today. Tomorrow I'll photograph her piece. She will give it to her granddaughter in about 2 weeks. She's now setting up to weave St Michael's in Sitka. I am going through my photos that I took when I was in Sitka for her. She lived in Sitka during World War 2. I am hoping to find a photo of the church from that time period. I need to really help her simplify and stylize the church. The big problem is would bigger rather then smaller be better or easier use of weaving or time, which is more important? She tires so easy.

I had a great time teaching at Midwest. The people in the class were so much fun. Had one person decide tapestry was not his thing at all. We had a long discussion and he decided that he rather do another form of weaving. Sometimes that happens. He was lucky to find out sooner then later that tapestry wasn't going to be his form of textile expression. I wish him nothing but the best. It was only his second time on a loom. He wants more mechanization. The easels with the drawers were spectacularly great. No sore or tired backs. They helped with the drawers to calm and/or remove a great deal of clutter. I have decided that I will be taking several to all of my classes from now on. I use my easel all of the time when I am weaving my shaped tapestries, which still aren't finished. I sold all of easels to students who must have loved them to. There portability is wonderful. Loved the architecture in Grinnell. I fell in Love with a Sullivan jewel box bank. There sturdy brick boxes to give the look of stability and strength and then decorated to the max with all sorts of ornamentation. Sullivan is one of my favourite architects.He never saw a space that didn't need to be decorated to the max. It amazes me that he was such a major influence on Wright. Wright to me always has a peaceful simplicity to his designs. They seem so very different in styles.

My class in at Midwest. They were a great group.Notice the easels that we put the looms on. They were so great and fun!
There names are

Finding weaving time since I got back from Midwest has been difficult if not impossible. I am such a whiner today. So far I have managed to set in front of my loom for only one afternoon. It's not that I haven't been working. I had to catch up and dig out from the mound of paperwork that accumulated while I was gone. FFP business is rapidly turning into into a full time job at times. Pat is working at the fair with her 4-h-er's this week and then flies to the Midwest Felter's Conference. My idea was to get a lot of weaving and writing done while she was at the Felter's. We can't work on the warping book while she is gone. We are still trying to think of a name for the book. I like the title "So Warped", but "Others" not to be named may not appreciate my sense of humour. My favourite bumper sticker is still "weavers are warped." So true!!!gr.

Blessings and special places in heaven should be granted or allowed for studio assistants that have been taking up some of the slack with Pat's and my schedule. Thank you Jenn and Sara!! Thanks Spencer for always being there when needed.

I am rewriting my handouts for my colour theory classes adding more techniques to use in conjunction with colour. This is my favourite subject other then lines and soumack to write about. The finish date for the book-Colour Movement in Tapestry- keeps getting put off because of things that need to come first such as the book on warping tapestry looms.

I have spent the last 2-3 weeks worrying about my father. My father is extremely ill with a aneurysm, but is in denial. He's 85 and likes to rewrite conversations with doctors until they match what he wants to believe. Not necessarily the reality of a given situation-but what he things it should be or is. He is the most stubborn intractable man I know once he decides he really knows more about a given situation then anyone else. Dealing with Dad is a little like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks. Something I have been trying to learn to do since I was at WWC in the late 60's and watched my Hawaiian housemates do it. But-he is still my father...so I guess I am stuck and fortunate to still have a father! Some day I am going to weave his portrait. I have done numerous cartoons of him, but can't seem to catch his essence. Tommye Scanlin did a portrait of her mother that seemed to catch the essence of her mother at a specific time in her life. So I know it can be done.

Guess I am feeling a little sorry for myself. Best laid plans and all of that. What really got me started was reading an e-mail on the tap. list about finding time to weave. It's a problem that keeps coming back no matter how much one tries to rid oneself of the problem. Talk about fleeting and ephemeral. To me weaving time is or should be just the discipline of scheduling and then telling the rest of the world to take a hike until I have done the weaving time. I can be so easy to distract. I realized today that i really need to reinforce that behaviour and underline that I have to have my weaving time and let stuff hang until I put in my time. It's so easy to get wrapped up the mountain of paperwork that is always threatening to avalanche and overflow the studio.

A couple of hours of weaving of weaving will fix my attitude and perhaps readjust it all. It always does. Perhaps venting on this blog will be like the feathers and threads my Grandmother used to tie to trees and bushes. When the wind blew them away, the problem would be gone. one of her solutions was writing about a problem and burning the note or problem. This, also, helps. Grandma used to say some problems were better burned and then cast to the wind. I agree for so many reasons. There is a certain satisfaction with seeing the effigy of a problem go up in flames. Things on the wind can return if the wind shifts.

There's always hope that this week will be a better weaving week now that the ubiquitous pile has diminished to smaller mountain.

The flowers and sunsets are all pictures I took last month while in Kona.

Cheers, blessings and all.