One more thing!

I am going to be out of sync again. I can’t post my new pieces. They are already in Albuquerque at Village Wools.   I was in such a hurry to get my show off that I forgot to photograph two of the pieces I had just just taken off the loom and finished. So I guess I won’t be able to post them until they return home. Once again hoisted on my own petard-Something I tell all of my students not to do.  Pat has me convinced that something always happens to those pieces not photographed. My only excuse is that it was way to warm in the studio-103 and I was 6 hours late for leaving to the Puget Sound Bead Festival. I was literally melting. Hopefully nothing will happen to them. It’s been very interesting to see the red sunset and Momento Mori again. Thank you Christine and Tommye.Red Sunset

Well, I am leaving in 5 days for Albuquerque. I am really looking forward to the trip and seeing old friends and meeting more tapestry weavers. . It should be a nice vacation. Well, teaching and traveling to the location are my idea of a vacation. Even if it has pointed out to me that it is in reality a business trip. Some people are such killjoys. There are so many things that I want to see, experience and do along the way.
Momento Morii

My Mirrix is warped for the next pieces. I love the new texsolv heddles. I discovered I really didn’t like the way I had warped the loom the first time. For those of us who are directionally challenged and prone to having numerous interruptions while working it was too time consuming and easy to mix up directions of the turns. SO-This time I put a circular warp on the Mirrix. It was so much easier!!! . I also have the bottom spring attached to the loom, which helps keeps the warps so much more orderly when warping. I am wove the silver bar that was with the loom into the warp so that I can use it to turn the piece around the beams as I weave the tapestry up. When I am ready to turn the piece I’ll loosen the loom and remove the bottom spring. The woven area will keep the warps in order and the tapestry from pulling in on the sides as I move the tapestry around.

Best of all I can begin my new piece on part of the Mirrix. I have already found the hazard mat symbols I want to use in the tapestry. I’ll finish the cartoon in my spare time on the trip.

With this particular warp on the mirrix I am experimenting with the use of neutral coloured warps. The dual duty craft thread that I use comes in 5 or 6 different colours. Most are less bright then the glaring white I have been using as warp. I am hoping that will make the pieces photograph better. The warps no matter how well covered have a tendency at different angles to be picked up by the camera because of the close up digital photographs. There is not enough distance to produce the necessary optical blending that occurs from standing a few feet away from the tapestry.

I have also warped one of my copper looms for my shaped samples for my other class at Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, which could stand a few more students. It’s on weaving pulled warp shaped tapestry bags and using Soumack. I’ll even be teaching a little kumihimo and knotting for the bag straps and demonstrating beaded bag straps. It’s been fun getting ready for the class-a little bit of this and a little bit of that. ..

As for Silversmithing. I learned so much in the 4 classes that I took that it still feels rather unreal. I loved the new polishing techniques that are so much less dirty and hazardous. I made a silver bead. I learned to set stones into a tube bezel. I love the repousse work that I learned how to do. I will be doing a lot more of that, but in Silver. I am still not fond of copper. I still prefer working with silver. One of the more interesting things that I discovered is that Soumack lends itself really well to silver work. The little pods I learned to make are all soumack. The exact same technique that I use in tapestry. Line and Dot soumack. Talk about synergistic.

Anyway, time to finish!

kathe