A BIT TARDY

Just found these two shots hidden in my camera.

And wish I had them a bit  sooner to have inserted in What's On Your Loom

from the other day.

Oh well,

but check out the smiles on those faces!

They loved this unit,

from the warping to the weaving,

to the rust & eco printing.

Fun-un-un !!!

Also on display,

the remarkable Open House walls.

INSPIRATION STRIKES

This was not an assignment but an idea that came to junior Shreya Sheth

after she finished the Eco & Rust Dyed Tapestry project. 

She enjoyed setting up a tapestry loom and weaving so very much that she 

took it upon herself to try another idea.

Here is her second tapestry woven with cotton yarns, twine & rags.

She grabbed some rusty things and clamps for resist,

and dipped the tapestry into the Indigo bucket.

And here is her very cool result.

Later in August I will post how she used this in her final piece.

Clever girl.

And she'll be back next year to try even more ideas.

YES!!!

WHAT'S ON YOUR LOOM?

Recently I posted these delicious little tapestries that my 2nd year 3-D kids made,

Tapestry Weaving with Rust & Eco Bundling

and I just came across some pix that show how they looked before the kids bundled them.

Sadly I don't have them in the same order,

and the reason they are a bit yellowed is because they had soaked overnight in soy milk

I really like all the rusty objects the students found to couch onto the finished tapestries.

And it's so interesting to see the marks these left behind on the finished banners.

This will definitely be a project that I will repeat next school year.

NEW ASSIGNMENT INSPIRED BY ALICE FOX & INDIA FLINT

Two of my favorite artists, 

UK based artist Alice Fox and Australian/Latvian based artist India Flint,

have inspired me to try a new assignment with my Intermediate 3-D students.

Alice Fox

from Tide Marks

India Flint

on Pinterest

I want to get the kids to experience weaving on a tapestry loom,

(their previous experience in Beg. 3-D was weaving thru wire dimensionaly)

and do a bit of experimenting with found rusty objects like Alice does,

and windfall like India does.

Alice's tapestry looms with weaving in progress.

So today we are warping our looms.

We are using handmade frame looms 

that I built 30 some years ago when I started teaching at Whitney.

I'm planning on having them weave up thin bands to experiment on like Alice is doing above.

I look forward to sharing the results later this month.

Here are a few shots from Alice's blog  and book Tide Marks to inspire my young ones.

Tales from the Birdhut

Musings on Art, Walks with the dog, and Life as it Happens

This is the work of Saski, an artist that I recently found via Jude Hill.  She is combining printmaking, eco-printing, stitching and weaving, so many of my favorite things  :)  

see more of her work  here.

Weavings of Jen Mullen

Whimsical and fun, this is how I want my students to know weaving, and this is what Jen Mullen of Bayou Quilts explores on a daily basis.

Look youngsters at how she sets up her foundation, wandering here and there and then filling in later.  This is how I learned to weave in my Crafts Class at Sunny Hills High in Fullerton, Ca. in 1973 with  my instructor Rose Ann Johnson.  

Jen is also exploring the possiblities of burlap as warp below.

What a great idea!

And Jen calls this Nature Crafting, going outside to see what nature has to offer.  Love how she has thought to bring her weaving into these very simple natural objects.

For more on Jen and her art, please see my Featured Artist of the Month across the top of my Home Page.

Tapestry Weaving - Student Art

Well, with this last post, I have finally shown all the highlights from my last school year. I will end with senior Audrey Pulido's sweet little tapestry piece that she wove on a wooden frame loom in the Advanced 3-d class (3rd year). She was required to finish off the piece and showcase it in a special way. I like her solution. She floated it in a wooden frame that she painted and then made her own polymer mosaic pieces that she glued down over the frame. Great job Audrey, and thank you for all the years you worked so hard for me, and created so many outstanding works. And farewell to the fabulous artwork produced for me by all my students from 2009-2010.