Materials Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Sherri Woodard Coffey

Category Archives: Materials

Good and bad, bad and good

I went out to what I euphemistically call my dye studio the other day and saw a big mess. Two long shelves that held several boxes of yarn/weaving stuff had fallen to the floor. This was stuff that I didn’t want to get rid of, but also did not want it taking room up in the house. Way back from the days when I used to sew, there is a box of wool fabrics that I though I would cut up and over dye to have harmonious colors together. Like that was going to happen! There was also a box of yarns, which I opened, beautiful yarns ready to be dyed. I have a very, very dim remembrance of having those yarns spun at some time in the distant past. These yarns look exactly like what I’ve had in my head that I want to weave with now. I took a couple of them inside the house to find out how many yarns per pound they had. And I would have done that, except that my McMorran yarn balance has disappeared. Not wanting to waste anymore time looking for it, I balled up the yarn and then skeined it again, counting as I went along. Turns out that the yarn has about 825 ypp. Each skein weighs in at about 1/2 pound. Since I also really don’t like the warp I’m using, I will wait to use them after re-warping the loom with linen.

Now, what about the rest of that mess out there? A different kind of shelving is definitely a must. Really don’t want something else that will pull our of the wall.

A problem

Yes, this picture probably looks a bit familiar, but I’m using it to ask for help. This is the right side of my board and ikat table. The left side is clamped to the edge of the table with no problems. The right side in this picture can’t be clamped because the distance from the edge of the table to the peg board is too great. All of the small boards you see here are braced against the peg board and another board on the right to hold it in place. It’s not working so well. The only remedy I can come up with is to drill holes in the table and the peg board and then use a screw/wing nut to hold everything in place. But I hate to drill a hole in the table. Any ideas? Anyone?

It’s winter!

Icy trees

Let me say right off, I’m not a big fan of winter. I may have mentioned that before. For sure! Winter did arrive, even here in Texas, although it did not live up to the predictions of the weather folks. The streets were fine here and I could walk out to get my paper without falling. Of course, I had to duck the tree branches hanging down from their load of ice. Even though I prefer to not have winter, the ice on the trees is pretty, as is snow. But for us here in Texas, snow and ice bring huge problems because we just don’t deal with it as often as, say the northeast.

New tool

Measuring ikat

I usually look upon these winter storms as a time to hunker down and hibernate, making art. I get the wood burning stove going in my studio and either weave or work on the ikat tying. Which brings me to that subject–ikat tying. I had a small disaster while measuring the yarns. The whole shebang just disconnected itself from the very carefully placed boards, c-clamps, and whatever else was holding it in place. I have done a search for other forms of clamps, and in fact, went to town to get one kind. I’ve learned some of the vocabulary necessary to discuss clamps. What I needed was one that had a long reach throat. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t work and will be returned tomorrow. The only other thing I can think of to do is to drill holes and use bolts to hold things in place. But I’m going to think about that for a while.

Fall colors

This is what I’m working on right now. This is to be fall grasses, and yes I know that fall grasses (above) are not this bright, but it’s representational. You can see the top part of the cartoon sticking out above the yarns. I’ll move that down after finishing this section. Notice how on the right the loops have been taken off their pegs and tied with a string to outside pegs. That’s because the tying will go to the edge and there’s no other way to totally tie that area.

Happy Thanksgiving! May we all be grateful for what we have, our families and friends, and what we are. So, I will be grateful for winter. I hear that the cold is good for reducing the population of West Nile bearing mosquitos.

Guild meeting-Kay Sekimachi

Nagare VII1970 Kay Sekimachi, born San Francisco, CA 1926 woven nylon monofilament 80 x 9 x 9 in. (203.2 x 22.8 x 22.8 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase 1972.183.* I read that she did quadruple tubular forms. I’m not sure if this is one of those, but it looks like it could be. You can see pictures of more work that is in the Smithsonian Collection here. None of them are on view currently. I wonder if you could see them if you made an appointment.

Our guild is doing something a little different this year by having a couple of programs about weavers who do notable work, but may not be well known locally. The program was given by Sarah, and she did a great job. It happens that I was actually familiar with this Kay Sekimachi, having read about her in American Craft magazine. What I remember most from the article is how organized her “stuff” is, becoming art in itself by being placed on a shelf with nothing else. Take a look at her worktable here. Is that the way your worktable looks? Not mine! Of course, maybe that helps explain her success and her work.

Kay was born in San Francisco in 1926. During WWII she was interned with her family. Later, after seeing one weaving class, she bought a loom. Her oral history interview can be found here; I found it very interesting.

You can always do an Google search to find images. Here are links to a couple of galleries that either have or have had her work: Jane Sauer and Brown Gotta. I love her leaf bowls!

*Personal, Educational and Non-Commercial Use

Personal, educational and non-commercial use of digital images from our Web site is permitted, with attribution to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, for all images unless otherwise noted.

Busy, busy

Color aid papers

Illusion

The latest piece was cut off the loom yesterday and I plan to start the finishing of warp ends today or tonight. Force myself. I have started a series of yoga classes and hurt my back last week. I have no idea what I did to cause that because nothing hurt or felt bad during class. Plus, I seldom have back issues. Today, on the way home, I had a long list of errands to do. That idea was scrapped quickly. I was trying to do these things during the lunch hour– on a FRIDAY! Fridays are always crazy. What was I thinking!

This afternoon I plan to play around with color, since that was successful for me before. Gettin’ out those Color-aid papers. Who knows? I may even cut them! Above is the finished result. When I look at this photo, though, I realize all over again that I need to get to the photographer. Or get some lights. Or something…

Doo wah didlies

Do you ever get in that state of mind where you just can’t focus on anything because nothing is appealing to you? That’s where I am. And I think I’m going to take a week off of weaving and get some work done in other areas, the clean-out-the-garage kind of stuff. Maybe it’s because this time of year has always been a new year kind of feeling, left over from the many years of being in school. Besides, and I don’t know why I fight it so, but I’m an all or nothing kind of person. In my head I can spend part of the day weaving, part of the day doing finish work, and another part doing tasks around the house. Well, nope, that doesn’t work for me! However, I have been doing some weaving-related tasks.

Here’s the code for the numbered arrows:

ikat measuring boards with pegs
spacer board to keep the ikat boards a certain distance apart while stretching the yarn
smaller boards to gain more distance since board #2 isn’t long enough
The arrow is actually upside down. The base of the arrow indicates where the pencil rail is on the drafting table.
These arrows are also upside down. The base of each arrow indicates the clamps used to hold things in place. There are others out of sight.

Here are the boards in use with some of the same parts labeled. It was a real trick to get this project to function as needed. I had to go on a hunt for more clamps and bought nearly everything the local store had. Trial and error. And lots of measuring to make sure all distances are the same on both sides. By the way, there is a cartoon under the yarn that is not visible. Another experiment. If one practices enough (and keeps good notes) there should be a project manual of best practices. Right?

A search for the perfect setup

I’ve been trying to come up with a new way to set up my ikat boards. This latest project really made me tired of sitting, so some way to stand and wrap might be good. I started looking at drafting tables/desks. When I tried out one at World Market, I remembered that when I first set this ikat station, I had tried to think of a way to slant the board. Right now, I have two Elfa drawer units from the Container Store. I remembered that when I first set this ikat station, I had tried to think of a way to slant the board. Right now, I have two Elfa drawer units from the Container Store. A piece of plywood is on top. Since the boards are held down by c-clamps, damage to the underlying surface is likely–hence the plywood. You can see from the picture that all kinds of manipulation are necessary to get the needed space between the boards. Many pieces of various sizes of lumber are on the right side as spacers–no lumber gets thrown away! Oh, and my feet can be seen at the bottom of the picture, a very important detail, vital to good ikat wrapping!

Thursday through Monday

This is what I’ve been doing for the last few days, just a few notes that I made at the end of each day. I’ll post more later.

Thursday–May 2, 2013

the wind is blowing 45 mph and it’s 50 outside. Cold. It’s May!
hotel key cards can be de-magnetized by a phone in a pocket with the key card
my car is so full I can tell a difference in the way it “feels”
set up tomorrow should be fun–see #1
have I mentioned that it’s cold?

Friday–

much better day today, warmer, b ut not quite as cold
set up my booth, learned a few things, added to my list of things needed
walking, walking, walking–lost my pedometer, too bad because I really wanted to know how much walking I was doing
drove past a section of wildfires two years ago, totally depressing, but seeing the houses nestled in amongst the burned trees, a miracle for those folks
when they say that booths are 10 x 10, it’s probably really not, there are leftover pieces . Had room for 9 inside the booth
Tomorrow’s the day!

Saturday–

Wow! Turns out to be a great day!
Discouraged earlier-lots of people wandering into my booth, saying very complimentary things about my work, finally someone came back to look again. Sent pictures to her husband, he said she has to choose. She did, one of the larger pieces-Sine Wave, shown at top. I hung the piece vertically because of space, but maybe it should be hung horizontally. What do you think?
Booths close at 5, artists wander to the old hotel across from the square, awards ceremony, barbeque dinner
Awards ceremony–ceremony is too formal of a word, I won two awards! One for Best of Show and another a “just because I like it.” Monetary awards! Total surprise!
After a couple of years of dealing with grief, estate stuff, house stuff, my creativity had gone out the window. It’s been back for a while, but this helps, believe me! Kind of like validation that this is a good track to be on.
Even before the awards, I had already decided to try fro this show again. The people are nice, it’s a small venue, lots of really good art, many knowledgeable visitors.
This means I have a goal of 9 new pieces. Doesn’t sound like much, does it?
I’ve really got to track time weaving. It IS the perennial question, you know.

Sunday —

easier day today–shorter day, fewer visitors
One of the other artists said I should put my blue ribbon in my booth. Lots of people noticed it and congratulated me
the eccentrics showed up today
bought a painted bunting from Melanie Fain
sent six pieces with Karen Vernon for gallery
Allison and Tony helped with take down
donated From Above
dinner with Allison and Tony at Roadhouse
Arts for Rural Texas puts on ArtWalk. They provide arts for the communities in the area, three counties. This is not just the visual arts, but also symphony, plays, etc.

Monday–

Why does driving make one so tired? Exhausted after four hours or so on the road
Went to Hill Country Handweavers, bought some silk straw, what, is that called yarn?
Drove to the churro farm, picked up two fleeces, saw the lambs, ewes, rams (see below)
Drove, drove, drove

The right tools

One of the things I’m doing this week is cutting more boards to hang pieces on. The boards are 1 x 2s and have to be cut to fit their respective pieces. I have asked in the store for a small, easy to use saw. The men always just say doing it by hand. I explain that cutting by hand doesn’t work for me. They really don’t understand that. I do have a big electric saw, but I hate to bring that out for these itty bitty projects. I’ve been using a jigsaw, but even that’s not the most successful for straight, clean cuts. The other day I was in the big-box home store buying more boards and looked again in the saws. This Dremel was displayed. It says that its maximum cut is 3/4 inch, the actual size of my boards. I looked it up online, and there are attachments to help with sawing evenly to size. This saw is also expensive. What to do? Think about it more. Any ideas?

The list

As the to-do list grows longer and longer, I can at least look at my dyed yarns with a sense of accomplishment. Somehow many of the hanging boards are not with their respective weavings and are missing. A few did not come home from the gallery with them, but I don’t know what happened to the others. So, to the lumber store to buy boards, paint, and maybe more Velcro–they’ve got the strong industrial stuff there. Grrrrrr…..But look at these yarns!