Five of my favorite handwoven works are on display in a local exhibit. The Southwest Gourd and Fiber Fine Art Show is the current exhibit (through July 1) at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center in Kerrville, Texas. This is a competitive show featuring artists from across the US. Steve made beautiful wooden hanging and mounting devices for my pieces. Winter Window is a double-binding rag rug that is displayed as a wall hanging. I thoroughly enjoyed the design process for this rag rug, so I am happy that Winter Window received a Judge’s Special Award.
If you hang a rag rug on the wall it becomes fine art. And I’m ok with that.
I call her the ”Rain Girl.” She comes from an illustration in a very old children’s book on our bookshelf. The small tapestry is cute. But with its many slits and single warp wrappings, it falls short of what it could be. I compromised best practices to make it work.
The main fault is with the cartoon. It isn’t weave-able. The image is too small for this sett. There must be a better way to weave this image.
I am starting over with a whole new cartoon! I have now learned that Affinity Designer (computer graphics software) gives me the ability to create vertical parallel lines equivalent to my sett. With those lines in view I can see exactly how each part of the cartoon fits the warp spacing. I am turning the image on its side and enlarging it, and then, cropping to size. This cartoon is going to be weave-able.
All of us have gone our own way. We insistently follow our own cartoon, compromising best practices, while struggling to make it work. There is a better way. Jesus Christ gave himself so that the Grand Weaver’s cartoon could be written on our hearts. In his hands we become his beloved tapestry. Be weave-able.
Drum roll please… And now, I present to you: Siblings
The Siblingstapestry is a woven expression of personal meaning. The tapestry tells a story of a singular incident, almost hidden in the excitement of the occasion. Lucia grasps Ari’s wrist as they approach Sugar Pie, the bunny. In that moment I see something worth keeping—precious sibling love.
Please enjoy this short video of the process of weaving and finishing the Siblings tapestry.
The Park ranger had told Steve and me that if we were willing to drive six more rugged miles we would witness a spectacular overview of the Fresno Canyon that few people get to see. This is an opportunity we wouldn’t dare miss. And the park ranger was right. Oh, what a view! From this high point above the valley the view is phenomenal! I welled up with emotion as I looked over the glorious beauty of God’s creation.
The memory of that scene is in this small tapestry. Most of my small-tapestry weaving happens when we travel, where we make even more memories, which I store up in my heart. I pull from these stored treasures to weave tapestries that reawaken the fond memories.