ARCHIE BRENNAN 'WEAVING ILLUSIONS'

I came across these video's today on You Tube while searching for something completely different. One of the great things about You Tube is that there are a lot of uploads of old programs that would otherwise be lost somewhere in archives, never to be seen again. These documentaries featuring Archie Brennan were filmed in New Zealand in 1992.
The first video begins with that wonderful sound of the tap tap tapping of the bobbin, beating down the weft. A sound so familiar to the solitary tapestry weaver. It is interesting watching Archie weave, sometimes from the front and other times from the back. There are several tapestries that I had not seen before and I particularly like the ones that feature fabrics and windows. I enjoyed Archie's thoughts on the process of weaving and the attraction of working in such a slow medium.

Archie talks of tapestries past and its use as a social commentary of the times. I like the cartoons and the way the women's dresses are woven. Listing to Archie, it reminds me of Grayson Perry's documentary 'In the Best Possible Taste' that was screened here earlier in the year. Archie seems to be attracted to weaving text, something many of us avoid. When commenting on the weaving the Sue Arnold tapestry it gives a lot to think about in terms of beginning a tapestry, as Archie comments that it would have been better woven upside down.

There is something really attractive about making tapestries about textiles. If the tapestries of the shirts and ties were paintings they would not have the warmth they do woven in wool. Don't be fooled by how simple the hounds tooth looks, it was woven by a master!
I won't say anymore about the programs, but see if you can pick out the tapestry in the third video that is woven on the bias?
Many thanks to the up loader for making these video's available again, so many years after they were filmed. They are just as relevant today as they were over 20 years ago. Enjoy!

LETS TRY AGAIN

 
April already, where is the time going? Autumn is really here, the days are quite beautiful but unfortunately it is still very dry as we have had no rain. Easter is the busiest time of the year here so there were lots of things to do. I managed to go to a few open studios over Easter, parts of the Grampians Arts Trail. Lots of very different work on display. It was well supported by visitors which is always a good thing. Tapestry wise there always seems to be as much planning as weaving. I have committed some of my time to work on the Canberra Centenary Community Tapestry. To coincide with the launch of the completed tapestry, there will be an exhibition of small tapestries, open to Australian and International tapestry artists. You can find the information about the exhibition here. I have an idea in mind for my tapestry so I need to get on with getting it down onto paper. Having completed my 'From the Mountains to the Sea' tapestry I really need to concentrate on trying to finish this poor tapestry. It has been on the loom for so long, put aside I don't know how many times to work on something else that had a deadline attached to the project. The gold threads are really difficult to weave with. They are so slippery and test my patients at times as they are also difficult to beat down. But I am determined to finish this tapestry before I begin another!        

TAPESTRY INTERNATIONAL

Tapestry artist Monique Lehman has been working hard producing video's of international artists work to show at the 14th International Triennial of Tapestry Lodz 2013 in Poland later in the year.

It is quite amazing to see your work presented in a different format.

I am aware that these video's have done the rounds a lot on Facebook. But there are people out there who would not be aware of these fantastic videos. The Memorial Tapestry that Monique organized as a response to the tragic events in New York on September 11 is featured in the second video. I am aware that there were tapestry artists from here in Australia who participated in the project who no longer weave tapestry. I hope that they can see the video and see that that your work is featured here.

MEMORIES OF CHAING MAI, AKHA HILL TRIBE

I have finally finished off my tapestry for the 'From the Mountains to the Sea' exhibition. I spent too long trying to decide how I would approach the weaving for this tapestry. There are 7 rows of beads running horizontally and two rows running almost vertically. Small format has its limitations so rather than try to be too particular I decided to simplify the design. I was so inspired by an exhibition in Chaing Mai and took many photos thinking that I would use them at some time in the future for tapestry designs. When I received the details for this years AU/NZ exhibition I thought of one of the photos from my time in Thailand. It could be better described as 'From the Sea to the Mountains'  


The tapestry is 11.5 X 17.5 cm, just smaller than a postcard. Woven in cottons at 18 warps per 4cm or 11 epi. Unfortunately using all cotton for the weft makes it very difficult to photograph. Like many other tribal groups the Akha use cowrie shells to decorate their clothing. So what is the tapestry of?
 

It is a small detail of the woman's belt, along with beads and coins that jangle when you move. 
I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done? 

DO YOU READ YOUR BLOGS OF INTEREST IN GOOGLE READER?

I was shocked this week to find that Google have decided to scrap Google Reader on July 1st. I have been using Google Reader longer than I have been writing a blog, and that has been surprisingly over 6 years now. What that means for people like me is that I need to find an alternative reader. As yet I have not decided which one I will choose. But what it does mean for people who read my blog is that if you use Google Reader, you will also need to change to a different reader as well. When you become a 'follower' on a blog hosted by Blogger, posts made on those blogs automatically come up in your Google Reader. Today I have added a 'Follow by Email' option in the side bar here. The big advantage of using a reader is that if someone posted something and you want to go back and read it again, you don't have to trawl through their blog to find what you are looking for. Google's excuse is that Google Reader has become less popular. By the protests across the net you would not think this is correct. I have a few blogs I read in Reader that I have not added links to here. At some point I will get around to adding them to the list of links. 

I enjoyed watching the video about the recreation of the Hunt of the Unicorn series woven at West Dean. Beautiful colours and such superb fine detail.      

TRADITIONAL DRESS OF THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE

Recent research for a project that I am working on, led me back to an exhibition that I went to while I was in Chaing Mai Thailand almost three years ago. Songs of Memory, Traditional Music of the Golden Triangle was on display at the Cultural Center. Along with musical instruments, each minority group was represented by their traditional dress.

Large almost life size posters showed everyday life in the villages. These women are from the Karen Hill Tribe.

In the Lisu Hill Tribe it seems that the women and girls dress far more colourfully than the males. Although those tassels are pretty impressive.
The narrow strips of fabric sewn together form contrasting stripes.

The Lahu Hill Tribe seem to favor the natural colour of their hand spun cotton. Indigo blues are often in paler shades. It shows how layers of indigo are built up to achieve the darkest of blues.

The tiniest pieces of fabric are sewn together to form the patterns.

Although plain in comparison to a lot of the other clothing. This mans jacket has some interesting detail on the closure. You can see from the slight unevenness of the weave that the cotton has been hand spun.

The Hmong Hill Tribe was my obvious favorite by the number of photos that I took. The attention to detail. Tiny pieces of fabric sewn into patchwork and the incredible cross stitch was what won me over. 

They call Thailand.........the land of smiles. You can see why.
The amount of skill that has gone into this one child's outfit is just amazing. It is difficult to begin to describe the different techniques used here. The skirt on this girls costume does not have the patchwork detail running around the entire skirt. 
The adult skirt has a deep band of cross stitch. The skirts are indigo dyed batik. I actually bought an antique piece of this fabric while I was in Chaing Mai to make into a runner for my dining room table. The embroidered detail in the sash is beautiful. Tiny areas are similar to the woman's top. 
The ornate jewelery looks like it would be very heavy to wear. The pattern on the top is embroidery. Again here narrow strips of fabric are sewn together to form stripes.
 
The amount of detail in the woman's little bag was amazing. Although the strap on the bag appears to have the pattern painted or stenciled on.  

The closures on the tops are interesting, not afraid of making a statment on adding adornment.
A few of the closures and pom pom details were wool, but Thailand is too tropical to keep sheep so they must purchase or trade the wool that they use.

More exquisite embroidery detail.

This boys sash shows the extensive use of cross stitch for decoration.

The Mien Hill Tribe wear the darkest indigo. Appearing almost black. Maybe at first glance the seem the plainest of dress in the minority groups. The ornate women's pants are quite amazing.

These young girls are decked out in their finest.

The Mien are easily recognized by their bright red neck wear.

Simple can be beautiful, I love the detail on the closure of this top.
Exquisite detail of the woman's pants.
Part of a sash on the girls costume.

The Akha Hill Tribe was the only display that did not include children's dress. The jewelry and head dress were wonderfully ornate.

From the poster it seems that this tribe have many different styles of dress. Or maybe they were from a different region of the Golden Triangle.

You can see the coins they use for decoration. Maybe they are handed down through the family.

Tiny patchwork and embroidery detail along with many tiny coins. I do remember that the currency in Thailand is very small and for someone who wears reading glasses it was very difficult to read the tiny writing each time that I bought something.

I had long been interested in the the minority groups of the Golden Triangle and was so lucky to be in Chaing Mai while this exhibition was on. Every Sunday night there is a market in the old part of the city where the Hill Tribes come down and sell their handcrafts. I had never before been to such and incredible market. Many of the stall holders wear their traditional dress. If you ever plan a trip to Chaing Mai make sure that you are there on a Sunday evening. It is a treat not to be missed.

This project Songs of Memory Traditional Music of the Golden Triangle was the culmination of many years of research by Victoria Vorreiter you can visit her website and read about her projects here.

LIFE IN THE 'SLOW LANE'

Sometime I feel that the act of thinking takes more energy than the act of doing. My thoughts seem to graze from one project to another, without concentrating my energy into one project at a time. But I think that this is true of many tapestry artists, as the ideas flow far quicker than the process of the actual weaving. I have been working on some samples on my Stanly Dann loom trying out different warp settings and colour blends. I still have a tapestry in mind that I wrote about once before here. But the image is very complicated and I don't really feel like tackling it yet. It had been a very long time since I used my loom last and I needed to re calculate the loom waste along with a few other issues that I had with weaving on it. My loom has four shafts and it would be easy to get carried away with doing samples, maybe in twill or rose path. But that will have to wait! I am not happy with the small tapestry that I am working on at the moment as the scale is way too small for the detail I am trying to achieve. There comes a point where one needs to consider if it is worth continuing on with, or calling it quits. I am generally not a quitter but maybe this one is actually beating my skills as a weaver. I seem to un pull more than I weave.

Anne Jackson has just curated and new online exhibition on the American Tapestry Alliance website.

'The Power of Slow' features a thought provoking essay about the current relevance of working in the time consuming medium of hand woven tapestry. The tapestry gallery has some beautiful works by international artists.
Janet Austin (USA)
Jo Barker (Scotland)
Sara Brennan (Scotland)
Clare Coyle (Scotland)
Jilly Edwards (England)
Annika Ekdahl (Sweden)
Carmen Groza (Belgium)
Kari Guddal (Denmark)
Jane Kidd    (Canada)
Lialia Kuchma (USA)
Sue Lawty (England)
Philip Sanderson (England)
Christine Sawyer (England)
Sarah Swett (USA)
Kathe Todd-Hooker (USA)


Best go and do some actual weaving, Tess spends more time at the loom than I do!

INTERNATIONAL TAPESTRY PROJECT, OPEN TO ARTISTS WORKING IN OTHER FIBRE ARTS

Canadian tapestry artist Line Dufour has begun an exciting new project which includes a community type tapestry that is open to international tapestry and fiber artists to participate in. You can read the details of the entire project on Line's blog here. Fate, Destiny and Self Determination is a public page on Facebook where you can read updates about the project, including a list of artists who are participating. You should not need a Facebook account to read the page.

Each shape is around 4" or 10 cm.
I received my shape via email from Line last week and the deadline for the project is 1st January 2014. Shapes need not be only tapestry, it is open to felting, woven fabric, knitting, crochet and other textile mediums. I have only woven one shaped tapestry before, a small portion is the picture above. It is not difficult to weave a shape, or finish it off. So please don't be put off that it looks difficult.
I have a tapestry on the loom half woven that I over calculated the loom waste on. So there will be enough warp to weave my shape along with maybe a few others across the top of the tapestry. The only catch is that I have to finish the other tapestry first!