A Post to the Artist Formerly Known as a Weaver

Copper Temple, Christine Miller, 2005, Mixed Media

Wow! A new Year and a new Decade (capitalization for emphasis). A lot of life is behind me (I'm 55), and a lot is ahead (God willin' and the creek don't rise!). This year, more than ever is a time to take stock. I have been a textile artist - knitter, sewer, crocheter, embroiderer, needlepointer, stitcher, basketmaker and weaver - 43 out of the last 55 years of my life. The last five years (which have coincided with my becoming a classroom art teacher) have been devoid of my former self. It has caused me puzzlement and consternation. How could this be? How could this have happened when I continued to create, sell and exhibit my work no matter what came my way during the bulk of my life? How has this job of "teacher" usurped my lifelong passion of being a textile artist? What in the world am I going to do now? Where do I start? These are questions I never worried about - one project after another would present themselves to me and I would follow the path. But now they haunt me - taunting me, demanding answers I don't have.

So - this post is personal and I hope transformational. I am rededicating myself to my former self. I have rejoined my local fiber organizations - the Dallas Handweavers & Spinners Guild and the Dallas Area Fiber Artists. I have attended one meeting of the DH&SG in October. I haven't woven a lick in 4 1/2 years, but it is time to get back on my horse and ride. My studio is a mess, my idea jar empty and the fire in my heart a simmering flame, but hope springs eternal. I am adding a new category for these posts - Artistic Journey - and I will use it to relight my fire. Thanks for listening...

Meadows Museum - Etruscan Temple and the Tomb

Diadem, Late 4th c. B.C., Gold.
From Populonia. Florence, National Archaeological Museum

Over spring break I visited the Meadows Museum on the SMU campus to see this incredible exhibit reflecting the Etruscan culture (it will be displayed through May 17, 2009). The exhibit has quite a depth and breadth with over 300 objects exhibited - it is the largest exhibit of Etruscan art shown in the United States, and it is right here in Dallas! The Meadows Museum is honoring the 15th anniversary of SMU professor P. Gregory Warden’s groundbreaking archaeological excavation in Poggio Colla, Italy with this exhibition dedicated to the great ancestors of Rome. The Etruscan culture served as a kind of bridge between the Greeks and the Romans, eventually becoming absorbed into the Roman culture.

This diadem, which is a type of crown or ornamental headband, is just one of the spectacular pieces in the exhibit. Made of gold, the leaves are delicate and soft. The gold is handled expertly and it is remarkable to me that it is in such good shape because it appears to be so fragile.

I attended a lecture that evening: Weaving as Worship: The Role of Women in Etruscan Religious Ritual given by Dr. Gretchen Meyers. I have been a weaver for more than 30 years. The archeological excavation mentioned above has produced scores of weaving implements and tools. It was interesting to see images of the site and hear the ideas Dr. Meyers had about the role of elite women in the production of sacred textiles. Women had great freedom and an unusually active role in the Etruscan culture. It's hard to describe the excitement I felt realizing that I have continued an activity that happened so many centuries ago. I feel a connection to those women and know what it might have been like for them to produce these fabrics.

Lekythos. Attic. Attributed to the Amasis Painter. Terracotta (Black Figure). Height: 6 ¾ inches (17.15 cm). Ca. 550-530 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art (31.11.10

08/09 Academic Decathlon Image #5

Shawl (Rebozo) Late 18th c., Silk Plain Weave with Resist Dyeing and Silk and Gilt Thread Embroidery in Darning, Satin, and Outline Stitches; Knotted Fringe, 30 1/2 x 93 3/4 in. (Art during the Colonial Era)

This luxury garment, the Rebozo, is typical of colonial New Spain and post-colonial Mexico. This particular example is made entirely of silk: embroidery on a woven fabric which is done so expertly it is reversible (a very accomplished feat!). Many women of this time period spent lots of time mastering the art of embroidery. Time was not rushed and the many hours spent in producing a textile like this resulted in a garment that was highly valued. Silk was a luxury fiber then and this rebozo would have been owned by a wealthy woman, though the style was also produced in practical cotton affordable to women of the working and merchant class. These are not just decorative garments, but are also very utilitarian as this website demonstrates.

Student Work - AP 2D Studio Art

There is a wonderful little book I bought years ago entitled "Inspirations for Embroidery Mail - Book of Days" by Jytte Harboesgaard and Debra Virgens. The two women began embroidering equilateral triangles and sent them to each other as a form of communication. After many years, they had 48 embroideries that were collected into an exhibit at The Danish Museum of Decorative Art in Copenhagen. A small sampling of their efforts is displayed as a triangle montage.

I gave my AP Studio art students an assignment based on this idea...take a geometric shape and explore pattern, design and color in your own piece. I feature K.C.'s terrific solution, sans color, but with such strong design and precision of line the color is not needed. Her exploration is innovative and exciting! Bravo K.C.!!

07/08 Academic Decathlon Art Selection #2

Quilting has such a rich tradition in our country! This Bible Quilt was made by Harriet Powers in 1886. Can you figure out some of the bible stories that she is illustrating? Where did she come from and I wonder how this quilt was preserved. One thing about textiles, they are more sensitive to the elements (the sun can DESTROY a piece of cloth!) and are more difficult to preserve. PLUS, critters love to munch on fibers. One of the main stresses on fabric is too much love! When we use, launder and revel in textiles, they begin to deteriorate. I have a quilt of my grandmother's and I remember seeing her tucked in her bed under her quilt. I have it now, and when I wrap up in it, I rejoice in the pattern, colors and the fact that my grandma & I are sharing the experience even though she is long gone. Do you have a favorite quilt or quilt story from your family? Maybe you have another kind of textile story. I'd love to hear about it!

Contemporary Tapestries

Textile Arts are one of my biggest passions! As an art form, they continue to grow conceptually but also technologically as well. The descriptions below each tapestry at the Klaudia Marr Gallery exhibit in Santa Fe indicate an edition size of each design. The tapestries can be sold this way because of the electronic jacquard weaving equipment they are produced on. This allows the artist unlimited design freedom (the designs are read by pixels) as well as a limited production run of their design. VERY COOL!
The Jacquard Loom was the first piece of equipment to use punch cards to control a sequence of operations. Although it did no computation based on them, it is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware. This exhibit shows the best of artistic expression and technology - how exciting and how beautiful!