Seed to Scarf X: Finished Scarves

While all six scarves are now off the loom, only the first two have been trimmed, tied, and dyed.  That is because they already have a home: this series began as a commission, and the design was inspired by a memory.  I might be calling this entire group of scarves "Seaweed," but someone else is calling these two particular scarves "Irish Eyes"  (see my first post in this series for more on that).  I feel really good about this series: I tried a new technique that resulted in more control over the shifting of the image, I satisfied a very personal request while still making a motif that I find visually delightful, and as always I learned a bit more about what on earth I am doing on this little business adventure.  You'll never guess what I'm going to try next...

The Website is Live!

Yeah, remember last year when I decided to have a website built...one with a real and official-like online shop?  It took longer than expected, but it is now finished and fully functional.  Well worth the wait, in my opinion.  Please visit, I'm very proud of it:

www.littlefooltextiles.com

Seed to Scarf IX: Finally, We Weave

After this very long warp takes a very long time to wind its tangled way through the body of the loom, these little bundles are the only knots in sight.  Time to weave!

Still-life...or self-portrait.

Seed to Scarf VIII: Wrasslin'

The knots are tied.  I begin to turn a crank, pulling the threads through the reed and heddles until they begin to wrap neatly around and around the back beam.  Suddenly, tension!  The beam isn't turning.  The threads are straining against their heddles, threatening to break.  I peer apprehensively over at the front of the loom, and am confronted with a monster tangle.  The entire 16 feet of warp threads have somehow constricted themselves into one cubic foot of pure knot.  But I won't panic: gentle tugging and the patience of a zen master are the only weapons I need to take down this beast, one inch at a time.  Meanwhile, I get to see the fruits of my labor as my painted pattern emerges from the chaos.

Love for Philadelphia

Goober tourist finds color in the city.

Mutter Museum (it's MOOter)

Phila, not Philly.  That's what my friend Nancy Blum, an amazing artist currently calling said city her home, calls it...and I think it's charming yet hardcore...just like the city itself.  This past weekend I found myself in Philadee (um, that's my addition...not so hardcore anymore) for the opening of my exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Alliance.  We are talking about large-scale weavings today, not scarves.  My work was one of three new shows opening there Thursday night.  The PAA is actually a mansion-turned-gallery, so my space, though high-ceilinged and open, had the domestic touches you would expect to see in a ridiculously huge home (two small crystal chandeliers high up by a sculpted ceiling and a vast dark wood mantle and fireplace covering an entire 20-foot wall).  Happily, my work looked perfectly comfortable (in fact, it looked great) among these luxurious trappings.  Know what else was great?  Philadelphia.  I walked all over the city in the three days I was there.  I ate a lot of good food, had some highly artistic cocktails, and saw some amazing art and architecture.  I stopped longest at the Mutter Museum (gawking, cringing, and staring in wonder at their collection of wax models of human ailments and the wall-sized cabinet of human skulls) and the Fabric Workshop and Museum (lots of gawking here, too...Nick Cave's exhibition and the video of his performance there absolutely blew me away).  I did notice, while out and about in the 40-degree weather, that everyone seemed to be dressed in shades of black and grey.  Maybe it's got something to do with those tall buildings and the lack of sunshine in the heart of the city, but I was an anomaly in my yellow coat and green Lf scarf.  The locals seemed to approve, however.  My scarf was noticed both at the PAA and the Fabric Workshop (business cards left behind at both places, of course).  Maybe Little Fool can provide big Phila with a pop (or many pops) of color some day?