July '25
We are past the solstice, which means we are in the middle of summer. I am trying my best to make use of the short couple of months that I have each year to get a lot of weaving done. First Friday Canton will be on Friday July 11th this month, as will the Italian fest, so I hope to see some of you at my open studio from 5-9pm. There will be lots of art for sale, so come and check it out! Below are some pieces that I am looking to offload to make room for other future work.
Please contact me if you are interested or schedule a studio visit with me!
I have a new studio mate- Kaley Weaver, who was my student teacher in 2021. She has since started working as an elementary art teacher at Garraway schools, and will have a fun solo show with her illustrations inspired by popular film and television shows. It has been great to look over and get excited to work seeing her progressing on her watercolor paintings.
This past month, I was working on a client commission and then used some ideas from that project to make some more pieces. To create these pieces, I am using a "waffle weave" structure, but with paper in the weft to make a fun and interesting texture.
Working with my client, I was able to get a better idea of what she wanted in the piece. Above are 2 samples, and a drawing that I made to show what the weaving would look like when it was finished. She ultimately chose the #3 Section of the sample, saying that she wanted the piece to be very neutral in tone. Next, I sourced some materials and started to weave the final piece.
I decided to also make 2 additional pieces while I was weaving this first one. In order to do that, I carefully measured out my warp into 5 different bundles and dyed colors into some approximate locations so that they would line up on each piece. Dyeing is always a little risky, and so my colors didn't turn out exactly like I wanted them to. In the end, however, I enjoyed how they revealed themselves in the final pieces.
Tying up or Dressing the loom is usually my least favorite part of any project. This is the place where many invisible mistakes can happen that might not show up until the end of the weaving. This piece does not have complex threading or treadling, but it is a place where I sometimes drift off and forget to count the right way. This time it turned out pretty well, and I didn't have to re-adjust any threads!
Next it is finally time to weave! Using paper weft is a complicated process, but it is really fun watching the paper compress into a crunched texture in the weaving. I have woven things with paper before, but never with so much paper, or so large. It was a little intimidating at first, but working with non-traditional materials in my weaving usually ends up with interesting results. The video below shows how each piece of paper is woven on the loom to create this diamond design.
After I was finished with the all white piece, the colors started to appear in the warp strings where I had strategically dyed them. It was time to weave the colored paper that I had painted with fabric dye. For this process, I used dyes that are for plant fibers to make a diluted pigment that will hopefully be permanent in the mulberry paper fibers.
Sometimes it is necessary to cut off the warp and re-tie it in the front to fix tension issues. This wool is beautiful and it comes from just outside of Columbus, Ohio. I enjoy using it because it takes colors so well when I dye it. However, it is very stretchy. While the loom is under tension, I have observed that it can stretch up to 10%, which means that to make this 36" piece, I actually wove 40" each time. Sometimes, because this is small batch yarn and I am winding it on by myself, tension issues occur. Thankfully I was able to fix it, and weave the final variation in peach and mustard colors with the green paper weft.
And these are the resulting pieces! Not quite finished yet, as I have to sew the ends, but they are almost ready to go to their new homes, or be in an upcoming art show. I really like working with client suggestions, because it leads me on a journey exploring combinations of materials or colors (or lack of color) that I would not have made on my own. I am hoping this summer to make some other variations on this work, and keep working with paper, or another fun material.
Finally, some "were is Stephen" selfies- 1. Me at the Groundhog Show in Akron, 2. Me at the last weekend of my show with Stephen Drake at Gallery 202 in Cleveland, 3. Me being way too hot after spending the day seeing the Fiber Arts International show in Pittsburgh.
I hope everyone has a safe, restful and hopeful holiday weekend!