Building Bridges 2020

Dolly Perkins

DNA Inspiration

Woven tapestry, cotton warp, wool weft.

My metaphorical bridge is to the Tapestry Study Group.

DNA was inspired by a rug made by Faig Ahmed, who changes conventional patterns into the unconventional. DNA exhibits a number of tapestry weaving techniques.

Dolly Perkins

Three Hills

Woven tapestry, cotton warp, wool weft.

It was woven last year and is a reflection on my travels in 2019. No bridges are depicted, though they would no doubt exist in this landscape.

Mary Pflueger 

Taming the Virus

5-shaft satin, 16/2 cotton, woven on a drawloom.

My book cover was woven at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, bridging chaos (virus) to calmness (weaving). I submitted an article and photos to Complex Weavers Journal for their June issue. I knew the article was going into that issue, but was completely surprised to see the fabric on the Journal’s front cover when my copy arrived in the mail!

Mary Pflueger

The Celtic Circle

From Celtic Charted Designs by Co Spinhoven.

6 shaft twills, 20/2 perle cotton, woven on drawloom.

Alternate circle motifs are woven in reverse. A bridge to my Irish heritage.

Mary Pflueger

Tabula Rasa meets Bateman

Pattern from Weaving Innovations from the Bateman Collection by Robyn Spady, Nancy A. Tracy, Marjorie Fiddler.

6 shaft twill, 10/2 mercerized cotton warp, 20/2 mercerized cotton tabby weft and 5/2 mercerized cotton pattern weft; two patterns woven from the same warp.

The bridge between Rae Cumbie’s Tabula Rasa Jacket and workshop and actually weaving fabric and making the jacket.

I learned a lot from my first handwoven jacket from fabric to sewing techniques. And thank you, Rhea Cosentino and Carol Hamelink, my fellow collaborators, for this adventure from sampling to finished jacket!

Susan E. Picinich

Cuban Coffee Pot: A Bridge to the Caribbean

Loom-woven pulled warp, cotton seine twine and silk rags, papier mâché armature. 9.5” x 7” x 5”.

When visiting the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, I saw Roberto Fabelo’s installation entitled “Cathedral” made of aluminum coffee pots, and in Trinidad, Cuba, I saw a local artist’s anthropomorphized coffee-pot sculptures “Los Conspiradores.” These inspired me to weave a coffee pot, which as a symbol of domesticity and hospitality exemplifies a bridge between people

Carolyn P. Rose

The Real Thing

9.5inX9.5in, 8epi, cotton seine twine warp, wool weft (3 strands of Faro for color effects).

This tapestry was inspired by my daughter’s reflections on differences in tastes in ketchup between her new home in Oregon and Pennsylvania where of course, only Heinz 57 will do! As you look through the layers of the tapestry design, see a bridge between worlds of taste. Look for a 57, a Keystone (the Pennsylvania stats symbol), a Heinz ketchup bottle, plaid (in honor of Carnegie Mellon, in Pittsburgh), and of course, tomatoes!

It was previously displayed in the Renditions 2020 small format exhibit at the annual meeting of the American Tapestry Alliance. The close up is of a color effect I tried to achieve in which you can see the tomatoes in color within the ketchup bottle, but outside of the bottle you see the image in greyscale. I worked with two sets of color bundles in which my goal was to keep the value equivalent across the color and greyscale variants so the picture would look continuous as the eye moves between color and greyscale portions.

Ann Rader

Homage to Peru

Original design.

One of a set of 6 napkins. Predominantly 10/2 mercerized cotton in black with a profusion of bright colors in 10/2 cotton and 8/2 Tencel in warp; 10/2 black cotton weft. Executed in tabby on 4 shaft loom.

On a trip to Peru years ago, I bought a traditional Peruvian tablecloth: black background with lots of bright color stripes and stripe-like designs. I wanted napkins to pair with the tablecloth that mirrored both the colors and spirit of the purchased piece of cloth. My bridge is connecting cultures, in this case color, spirit, and the combination of the traditional cotton with the elegance of Tencel, a modern fiber.

I have never shown a piece because I thought my work was never mature or intricate enough to share with an audience. As we discussed the interpretation of “bridge” within the Guild, the attempt to include everyone, regardless of skill level, was obvious.

Anne Sanderoff-Walker

Knitting Meets Weaving

Knitted portion is based on Kim McBrien Evan’s “Conflagration.”

Hand dyed yarn throughout. Superwash merino in plain weave with Tencel weft in weaving and superwash merino with sparkle in knitted portion. The knitted edge was accomplished by picking up the stitches directly onto the selvage edge.

Bridging three techniques that fascinate me: weaving which is a passion, dyeing which gives me opportunities to explore color, and knitting, a rediscovered love of early fiber experiences.

This was a seven-week project started just as the pandemic shutdowns were going into effect.

Sarah Soisson

Fruition

Weaving draft: artist’s own adaptation of “Bethlehem Star” networked.

Dress pattern: Simplicity S8836

Yarn: 8/2 Tencel; bodice fabric warp dyed by artist, weft and all yoke in “Navy”. Fabric: 22epi, 22ppi. Bodice: 24in width in reed (528 ends), yoke: 12in width in reed (317 ends). Loom: 8 harness, 8 treadle

This piece consists of many “bridges:” the bust line/yoke has the shape of a bridge and creates motion in the dress, the color of the weft in the bodice fabric acts as a bridge to connect the dyed warp to the yoke fabric.

The process of making this dress was long and started in a completely different place than it ended. Originally, this warp was conceptualized in 2018 to be an evening shawl, but when the fabric was completed it rejected the idea of a mundane shawl, relegated to the back of my closet, and instead insisted on becoming a dress with classic lines. It took two years to find a pattern to do the fabric justice and in June of 2020 the first pattern pieces were cut. The yoke was originally planned to be in the same fabric as the bodice, but upon the advice of wiser artists than me, I quickly wove up a complimentary plain weave fabric to use as both yoke and facing. The result is a completely handwoven dress that will never go out of style.