ikat studies

It's been a while since my last post.  It is not because I have taken a break from weaving, but more because I haven't taken the time to stop and photograph my work.  But today is the day!  First day of spring, and of course there is a snow storm, so this means I am forced to stay at home instead of heading out to work on the school house.  It also means I can put the finishing touches on my order for the Craft Council of NL:  tweek my hang tags for my scarves, design some new tags for my pouches, wash felt and dye the last four River scarves, and generally makes sure the whole order looks super duper.

I wanted to document my 16 ikat Swedish lace scarves, but because of the ikat dyeing technique and the colour variation it produces, it doesn't do the scarves justice just to photograph them rolled or folded.  Instead, I have done a series of photos of the details of the ikat effects on the dyed silk warp strings.  I like the imperfections and the static effect that occurs when the dyed warp is threaded onto the loom and the areas of dyed colour translated into cloth.....enjoy!

spring order

The Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador placed a nice, big wholesale order with me the other week.  Their large shop in St. John's, Devon House on Duckworth Street, has been carrying my work since 2007 when I lived in Corner Brook for a couple of years.  The Craft Council of NL has been incredibly supportive to me over the years, especially when I was first starting out.  Every two years or so, they place a a wholesale order with me, and this year, I am really excited about the variety of handwoven pieces they would like.

Part of their order will be a large selection of my Swedish Lace ikat scarves woven with raw silk and cotton.  Partly designed to familiarize myself with Swedish handweaving for my trip to Sweden last fall, this design has lacy open stripes of cotton and plain weave stripes of ikat dyed raw silk. 

 Yesterday I prepared all the silk warps by measuring them out on my warping mill, tying them up with plastic and then dyeing them.  When they were still wet, I stretched them all out again on my warping mill to dry.  The colour palette for this production run is a mix of blues, aquas, and raspberry pinks.

start to finish

Yesterday I posted about my handwoven cloth, fresh off the loom and ready to be sewn into zippered pouches.  Thanks to my trusty Singer Fashion Mate sewing machine (made in Italy in the 1960s, all metal parts, bought on kijiji for cheap), I whipped up 8 new pouches last night. 

The handwoven cloth on the outside is made of cotton with small bits of hand-dyed raw silk.  They are 9" wide (zip to zip) and 5" deep.  I lined them with fine unbleached cotton that I re-purposed from a second hand sheeting.

sample me up

This January, I've been slowly plugging away on weaving cloth for my little zippered pouches.  Varying the dimensions slightly and playing around with weave patterns and stripe arrangements allows me a huge variety of designs and effects.  The last couple of warps, I've been more mindful of designing the cloth for the construction of the pouch, emphasizing a stripe of overshot circles along the bottom of the finished pouch.  In the photo above, the cloth is freshly woven and cut off the loom, and has been washed.  I am now ready to cut apart each different 10' length of colour, buy some more zippers, and start sewing up the pouches.

For these pouches, I dressed the loom with a warp that is about 3 yards long, and then switch weft colours every 12 inches - the measurement needed for each pouch.  Instead of committing to a long multiple scarf warp, this allows me to use the process of weaving the pouch cloth like a sampler:  I get to try out a variety of different woven patterns and explore the effect of different weft colours on the weave....and as soon as I'm finished weaving one warp of pouches, my mind is eager to try out the next idea that has been sparked in the process.

january survey

Here we are in January.  Winter is here and hibernation is setting in.  This means work on the school house gets slowed down or postponed now and then due to weather.  Once I stop fretting and accept the nature of this time of year, I am enjoying cozy times inside with my loom, knitting needles, and sewing machine.

Top: knitting a wavy ribbed mini scarf out of my handspun merino, alpaca and qiviut.  Bottom: a bright mustard yellow woven cotton blanket with sumac technique (I think?) patterning along the edge....I found this beauty second hand today.

 Weaving up a new run of cloth for zippered pouches....definitely a colour theme of warmth.

And, as the school house slowly takes the shape I can get a glimpse of the shape of our kitchen and bathroom, and I've been taking the time to draw out some of what I am envisioning.

Following the Thread: Swedish hand-weaving traditions and Contemporary textiles, part 2

I've been meaning to make my second blog post about my Swedish textile adventures for a while now.  No excuse other than daily life seems to take most of my time with school house renovations underway.  I will be giving a public talk about my Swedish hand-weaving research called Following the Thread: Swedish Hand-weaving Traditions and Contemporary Textiles at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery on Sunday Dec. 16th at 2pm in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island...if you are able, please come!

              (above: detail from a 15th century royal tapestry taken for my father, a beekeeper)

To start off where I finished in Part 1, my first week in Sweden was spent in Stockholm.  This gave me a chance to visit the major museums of the country and see how hand-weaving and textiles are represented in exhibitions and collections. I visited the National Museum in Stockhom, directly across the water from the Swedish Royal Palace. I was very impressed with the quantity and quality of textiles in the museum:  they were a strong presence in both the temporary and permanent exhibitions and exhibited easily alongside design and fine art.  The range of textiles was quite impressive as well:  historic tapestries from the 15th Century, textile design from the 1900s - 2000, and contemporary textile art.

Just like with the exhibition "Vav/Weave" at the Nordic Museum, I was lucky in the timing of my visit to the National Museum.  An exhibition entitled "Slow Art" highlighted a tendency in contemporary art practice to embrace slow, process-based methods of art-making - perhaps as a reaction to the high-speed of today's world.  The exhibition featured a selection of Swedish-based artists, each using what could be called craft-based materials and work methods.  There were four hand-weavers represented in the exhibition, plus a few embroidery-based works - including the life-sized clawfoot bathtub embroidered on organza (above) by Helen Dahlman entitled "Sanitary Furniture" (2012).

This handwoven rug above and detail below is by Malou Andersson, entitled "Tracks" (2008), 150cm x 105cm and was part of the "Slow Art" exhibition at the National Museum.  It is a short pile rug depicting tracks in the dirty winter slush and snow.  This piece of Swedish textile art is a good example of a contemporary approach to textile art in Sweden: using a traditional rug-weaving technique to depict an interpretation of photo-based imagery in a limited colour palette.  Andersson dyed all the wool herself, over-dyeing natural shades of white, light grey and dark grey wool.

The large tapestry above with the sheep detail below is by Swedish tapestry artist Annika Ekdahl, entitled "Road Movie: Visiting Mom" (2010).  It measures 227 cm x 297 cm and was impressively enormous when I viewed it in the museum.  Annika Ekdahl weaves one square metre per month and her tapestries are meticulously planned.  She dyes all the wool herself in small batches, creating subtle variations in colour and a rich palette.  I especially like the detail of the sheep...

This double ikat wall hanging is by Irene Agbaje, entitled "Binary" (1990), and measures 212cm x 144cm.  Hand-woven from cotton, both the warp and weft threads are dyed prior to weaving and the pattern is then created during the weaving process as warp and weft intersect.

 

I have always appreciated the fuzzy, static-like edges of ikat.  I use ikat in my own work and am never meticulous enough to have perfect ikat colour edges, and I love the effect of "messy" ikat: the shifting of the dyed threads looking like a directional coloured pencil drawing.

During my visit to Stockholm's National Museum, I also took in the exhibition "Design 19002000" which focused on Swedish design across all the materials (textiles, wood, glass, metal, ceramics, furniture, product design).  I discovered these wonderful damask weavings (above) from the early 1900s.  I love the use of imagery and simple pattern weaves and they reminded me of some of the effects created by my own inlay work.

 Innovative textile design extended to the use of weaving techniques in furniture design.  The lounge chair pictured above is made from a wooden frame and bands of woven jute which are then woven together to create the seat and back of the chair.  Variations of this chair design were everywhere in Sweden and I really appreciated the integration of woven aesthetics into the design of everyday objects.

Another chair in the "Design 19002000" exhibition using woven ikat cloth for upholstery.  This sensibility to high quality materials referencing hand-woven techniques was such a pleasure to witness. Simple white ikat dashes in indigo blue....

The woven art tapestry/rug above was one of my favourite pieces I had the opportunity to see while in Sweden.  Woven by the Marta Mass-Fjetterstrom (MMF) weaving studio in Bastad in the first half of the 20th century, this piece exemplifies the style and loveliness of the art rugs woven by the MMF studio...the stylization of natural forms into patterns referencing woven patterns, a symmetry that is not quite perfect and the richness of subtle variations and mixtures of colours.  I had the chance to visit the MMF studio in the south of Sweden on a rainy Friday afternoon in September and I will devote a whole blog post to the subject in the future....

This tapestry above depicts the football player Bubba Smith.  Woven in 1969 by famous Swedish textile artist Helena Hernmarck (known for her giant photo-realistic tapestries, now living in the US), she uses a mix of tapestry techniques, inlay techniques, and a variety of different textures of yarn to build the imagery.  I really like the use of tapestry to depict what is perceived as such a macho sport.

The tapestry above was designed by Barbro Sprinchorn in 1966 and woven by the Marta Mass-Fjetterstrom weaving studio I mentioned earlier.  Interesting to see the MMF designs getting a little looser and impressionistic.

A little out of focus, and so bright, the detail above is from a larger weaving entitled "Rosornas gang" by Margareta Hallek in 1983.  I really like the use of woven pattern (rosepath) used as part of a tapestry.  The depth and texture is very dynamic and gives an interesting push and pull between foreground and background.

I promise less time will pass between this and my next installment about my Swedish textile odyssey!  Stay tuned.....

support a P.E.I artisan

When I found out I had been chosen as the recipient of the 2012 W.B. Bruce European Fine Art Travel Scholarship, I felt pretty darn lucky.  The chance to travel Sweden and research a subject I am crazy about - hand-weaving.  I did receive a nice chunk of change from the Brucebo Foundation to complete my travels and research, but traveling is expensive. Staying in hostels, buying supermarket groceries to make my own meals, traveling as much as possible by public transit...even when traveling on a budget, these things add up when one is traveling for five plus weeks.

So, I sought out some supplementary funding. I applied for a Professional Development Grant from the Prince Edward Island Craft Council and I was successful.  This extra bit of money helped me make the most of my incredible opportunity.  And now I am back home on PEI, with a wealth of experience and exposure to Swedish textiles to share with the arts/craft community here.  And research that will influence my weaving practice for years to come. 

(My most recent weaving since returning from Sweden:  a small run of cotton and linen tea/hand towels...definitely influenced by all the incredible table linens I saw in Sweden)

The P.E.I Craft Council just launched an Indigogo campaign as a fundraiser for their Professional Development Fund.  The money raised will go directly to Island artisans who are seeking to improve their skill set and expose themselves to greater challenges within their given discipline.  This could mean attending workshops, traveling to mount an exhibition, or supplement a research project like my own.  As one of the most recent recipients of the PEICC Professional Development Grant, I was asked to lend a hand by appearing in the short mini doc produced by film-maker Rachael Hicken and talking about my experience and the value of this funding for Island craftspeople and artists.....click on the link below to take a look and if you would like to donate, you have a chance to contribute to the further education and development of our rich pool of Island talent.

http://vimeo.com/53051291