Hello!
Just a few small things to share this month…
Online Shop Update
I’ve put a few of these cloths in my online shop — the last time I made them was long over a year ago, and it was nice to weave off 8 yards of this favourite pattern. Made with organic cotton and linen, they are a thick patterned cloth perfect for all sorts of daily tasks — I like to call them everyday cloths, since it can go from being a napkin to towel to wrapper, or whatever else you need.
There are 7 available in three different colours, a dark blue, a blue mix, and brick.
Sante Mente Feature
I was invited to be a part of Sante Mente, an “online library of people who work in fiber and textiles” created by Brielle DuFlon. My contribution lies in the community gallery, a directory “intended to introduce you to a friend, collaborator, someone you might support or source from.” Beyond other weavers, you’ll find natural dyers, spinners, sewers, knitters, and lots more, and the intention is for the archive to be fully bilingual in English and Spanish in the future. Thanks for inviting me, Brielle!
Michelle Marin
My pal Leo and I were talking the other week about our mutual friend Michelle Marin and her amazing painting/embroidery/textile pieces. Mother to All is the name of the above work which is part of an ongoing series of works. Michelle says:
Through my work, I honour the people in my life. My subjects are long-term care home residents and healthcare workers, my Jewish family, my Latin American family and my multicultural friends. Sometimes I make their portraits and sometimes I use still-life compositions as a stand-in for a person or a group of people whose stories weigh heavily on my mind.
How to Read a Weaving Draft
When I took Intro to Fibre in university, I literally could not figure out how weaving drafts came together; I could understand what they meant but not how it all worked. No shade to my teacher (Dorie Millerson, whose delicate lace sculptures are worth seeing), but all those little boxes had me stumped. This is no longer the case, but my latest weaving how-to will hopefully be of service if drafts still have you cross-eyed or confused - read it on the Gist blog!
I apparently give off the impression of being a tidy person — let me assure you, this is not the case (see proof above). Marco was trying out the wide angle lens that we forgot we had, and came up to show me while I was hemming (hence the poor posture). I used to have this beautiful bright and overly large studio and like to whinge about how cramped I feel now, but I was reminded recently of something the artist Ann Hamilton said in Art School: (Propositions for the 21st Century)*:
I knew that my studio was in the books I was reading and in the flea markets and junk stores I visited. I knew I liked to look at objects and that the forms I created came as a process of response to a situation. I was just coming to understand, as I graduated, that a studio is a state of mind and not a physical location.
In digging up this quote I came across an episode of On Being where Ann Hamilton is the guest — I haven’t listened to it, but I think I will when working in the studio later (after I dream about visiting junk stores after our endless lockdown is over).
Be well,
amanda
(*you may note that my review of this book (from 11 years ago!!) is quoted on the MIT website. My hopefully-more-wise self of 2021 may no longer agree with the I-think-I’m-sooo-wise self of my early 20s regarding this book, but it’s an intriguing blast from the past.)