This morning I walked to my loom and noticed how great all the brightly colored weft butterflies looked. Well, the picture just doesn’t capture that deliciousness. This is an experiment while I get the rest of the yarns dyed for the next project. I also changed the sett, which means that I have now re-sleyed the reed about a jillion times. 6 epi for now. So, what do you think this will be? 60 inches wide, and I’m thinking 5-8 inches high. Lots of bright colors.
Whilst not sleeping the other night, I got out of bed to look for a cartoon of a previously woven piece. To my surprise, I found my notebook of finished pieces, and even more surprising, I found many notes with yarn samples, diagrams, dye formulas, what worked, what didn’t. I have a memory of starting this notebook, but not of getting it so up-to-date. It is by no means a complete record. Many pieces are missing, and there are no dates.
Gardening plans have been scuttled because of rain, and even though a brand new 60-inch warp is tied on, there is no weaving because yarns haven’t been dyed. What to do? Work on taxes? Postcards? I’m making a new cartoon for the next weaving. It’s not a very large cartoon, so I enlarged the design in Photoshop, then selected sections and printed. I ended up with five printouts that will be taped together.
This is not really a blog post, but a collection of articles about artists and textiles. And when I say “artists,” what I really mean is famous artists. The American Textile History Museum has an exhibition called Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol. It will be there through March 29. The Textiel Museum in the Netherlands, also has information on their website, with a different set of pictures. Here’s a great article on art and textiles by Mirka Knaster. Below are a few of my favorite books. What are some more? Let’s compile a list.
Now that I’ve put a new warp on the loom at a different sett, I’m testing weft yarns. You can see the testing above. I put string labels on the different bits so that I could remember what the yarns are later. Starting from the right is my regular Crown Colony from Henry’s Attic, far right is 2 strands used together, then 1 strand next to it on the left. I’m testing some Wilde Yarn double roving, Harrisville singles, my own mohair, some cottons, Mobelatta, and and another that I don’t remember what it’s called. After I finish with these samples, I am going to go ahead and start weaving–after I make a couple of warp adjustments.
On the right combination of blue and magenta, a dye mistake.
I’m doing some lots of dyeing right now. My way of dyeing may be somewhat unconventional because I don’t make dye solutions. I did when I first started, but it’s just so time-consuming, and since I’m doing this in a building without heavy duty electrical outlets, I use a tea kettle to heat water. I bought 1/2 gallon containers to make the solutions, but I just don’t. For me it’s just easier to go directly to the dye, weigh it out and add it to the dyepot. Yes, there are a few colors that require more care, but those I just wet up and add to the dyepot.
This method does have its own issues, though. If your are doing small samples or using a formula that requires a minute bit of one color, well, that’s just a problem. My triple beam scales are good, but…
This is where the new favorite toy comes in. I don’t remember where I read about these scales, but they’re available on Amazon and, at $20, they are not hugely expensive, especially when compared with the triple beam. I used them for the first time this morning. My dye formula needed 98% orange/2% magenta. 2% is hard to weight when you’re not dyeing pounds of yarn. That means that I needed 0.06 grams of magenta for the amount of yarn I’m dyeing. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, but at least this amount was easy to weigh. Will let you know how it turns out.
Oh, yes. The picture at the top? This is what happens when you plan to dye a combination of mustard and blue, but pick up magenta instead of mustard. A nice color, but it doesn’t fit in anywhere in the current weaving plan.
I did it. Cut off the linen warp. I liked the heft it gave to finished pieces, but did not like working with it. I am warping an 12/6 Swedish cotton at 8 epi. That should let me do more of the designs I have in mind. We’ll see. Of course I’ve already made a huge mistake in the warping process. I only did 8 ends instead of the 16 ends necessary for a 2-inch section. Remediation is needed.
ZigZag I, hand-dyed with natural dyes, wool yarns, tapestry, 51″ x 31″ Private collection ©Sherri Coffey
Looking through some old files and came across this piece. Still like it, but you have to look closely to see all the colors.
And, I came across this on Facebook. It’s from this Growing Bolder page with all kinds of cute pictures and sayings. Mostly I just ignore those things. I also liked Kim Bruce‘s photo share of the t-shirt-wearing lady. The shirt says “Old is the new black.”
You may remember that I REALLY wanted to see Matisse: The Cut-Outs at MOMA. So, I did it! Yes, I traveled to NYC in February and lived to tell about it. I was there between storms of the snow variety.
JFK sculpture
New York is not my favorite place to go; it’s just too darn busy. Crowded. Rush rush. First off,, right out of the box, the gate where we landed was at the farthest end of the terminal. I didn’t know that when I set off to wall to baggage claim. I was offered a ride in one of those golf cart vehicles, but no, I was fine. Geez! After miles and miles and miles, I got my luggage and worked my way to ground transportation and the shuttle.
It was important to me to stay within walking distance to the museum. Driving from the airport, dropping off the other passengers, seeing all the familiar things we associate with NYC, well, there’s just something kind of exciting about that. Driving past the famous theaters, seeing the marquees, kind of makes the pulse beat a little faster. My hotel was on 8th Avenue and 53rd. After dumping my stuff in my room, I went out on a reconnaissance mission and a bite to eat.
The next day I worked my way toward the museum for early hours for members. The sidewalks were slushy and slipper in spots, so I very carefully walked across streets. I could just see myself getting flattened after a fall in the middle of the street.
The exhibition was wonderful. I took notes of the pieces that grabbed me the most and why. Nearly always it was the color, but shapes came in a close second.
Unfortunately, my knee didn’t cooperate to the extent that I would have preferred. I got a shot in it just before leaving, realizing that this would be kind of a test for it. I want to go to Peru, which will require a lot of walking. Well, the knee is not ready for Peru. Plan B.
Carolyn Edlund of Artsy Shark and Arts Business Institute interviewed me for an ABI artist profile. She is a lovely person and made this a completely comfortable process. After our conversation, she sent me a list of questions, and I wrote my answers. Our conversation made me think of a few things, so I’m glad I took notes. Since I am not the best writer in the world, I did ask friends to read my answers and make sure they made sense and/or make suggestions. I LOVE that she included such large images with the article.
