Sherri Woodard Coffey

 No not the beautiful insects, but the yarn kind.  Some weavers have thrums, I have butterflies.  I love how they look all together in the big jars that hold them.  I keep thinking that some day I will weave something with them.  Maybe something with squares all over, with the slits obvious and the squares only attached at the corners, similar to the Ellsworth Kelly Sanary below. A poster of this is thumb tacked to my studio wall.

But, somehow, these two by Klee here are more appealing, perhaps because they seem a little more random.  

Maybe shapes like this Klee painting called Three Flowers. 

I would like to explore the squares, I think, with some them extending up into the border, so that there’s a more spontaneous feel to the piece.  Or maybe I’ll do some fantastical faces or even robots! Or maybe just start and see where the fingers take me. Or not…

I’ve always said that if I were to win the lottery (not likely since I don’t play it), I would be able to fly somewhere for a day or two to see an exhibit that interested me. One that I have just missed was described on the blog of Seven Pines Designs.  The Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction exhibit ended January 17, but it looked like one that I would have enjoyed.  I love all the photos that Seven Pines Designs includes with her review of the O’Keefe exhibit.  Lots of inspiration there, from the paintings themselves, but also from the colors used.

One of my favorite photographs is a Laura Gilpin of O’Keefe sitting at a window. I really don’t know why this particular photo appeals to me so much, but it does.”Georgia O’Keeffe” by Laura Gilpin, 1953, gelatin silver print.  You can see a copy of this photo here.

I looks like this particular exhibit may be coming to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe.  Maybe I’ll get to see it after all.  It will be up during Convergence.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Georgia O’Keeffe:
Abstraction
May 28, 2010 – September 12, 2010

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, September 17, 2009 – January 17, 2010
The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C., February 6, 2010 – May 9, 2010
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, May 28, 2010 – September 12, 2010

“[This] revelatory survey of the work…should reopen eyes to an undeniable fact: O’Keeffe produced some of the most original and ambitious art in the twentieth century.”
– Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine

Another exhibit that sounds interesting is “The Subject Is Women: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism,” as written about in the NYTimes.

And then there’s this as stated in the Times:

“Design USA: Contemporary Innovation” at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is less an exhibition than an extra-large design seminar in your head.

This article is mostly about using an iPod Touch as the guide to the exhibit. I might find that difficult since I’ve never used a Touch before. Hmmm….  Cooper Hewitt link here.

Deciding to forgo cutting off the first piece, I have woven some weft for a few inches, then left an inch or so of unwoven warp before beginning the new piece. I would have left a larger area of unwoven warp, but was afraid there might be tension problems later.  On each side of the woven area, the warp not being used for this piece is hanging down, with knots to keep it out of the way.  I usually put on a warp of a certain width and 33 yards long, but not all pieces are of that width.  The extra just hangs down on each side.  When a piece is finished, I cut off that extra warp and measure it to get a fairly clear idea of how much warp is left on the warp beam.  I don’t want any ugly surprises in the middle of a piece! The tape below has stopping points and reminders of what I am supposed to do.  Sometimes, when there are large areas of plain weave, I forget to start the tapestry portion in the correct spot.  Once the tapestry starts, I’ll just follow my to-scale diagram.  The previous piece is visible below the empty warp yarns.