Five Years in the Casket Arts Building

Almost five years to the day, I closed the door to my studio in the Casket Arts Building. I’m moving my weaving home. Though I loved every minute I worked in that space, I found that I did not use it enough to warrant keeping it.

Over time, old pieces and new weavings filled the tall walls on my side of the studio I shared with my friend Chad Breckenridge. He was the best studio-mate ever. He didn’t mind my increasing take-over of the space with color and yarn. He was rarely there! And when we were there together, I enjoyed his choice in music.

One of the positive aspects of my stay at the Casket Arts was the opportunity to be an ambassador for weaving, of sorts. Amid the paintings, photography, and pottery, visitors to the building seemed surprised, and often interested, when they stumbled on a completely different medium.

During this time my grandson Fitzgerald was born and the studio became a familiar spot. Early on he slept through warping.

Later on the studio, the loom, and the long, broad hallways of the building became places of adventure.

When I went through all my photos from the studio I was surprised at the number of photos of yarn in a heap, marking the yarn selection portion of each project.

In the past year, I realized I am most excited about weaving tapestry. Since I also spend a good deal of my time publishing the Norwegian Textile Letter, writing, and researching, I decided to sell the Toika floor loom, purchase a larger tapestry loom, and move my work home. The pandemic helped with this decision. My floor loom sold in a blink, by word of mouth, and I found a wonderful Glimakra tapestry loom. (More on that here.)

I also took a lot of photos of projects in the messiest phase. Part of the satisfaction of finishing a weaving is cleaning up and sitting quietly with the completed piece. I never tire of that magic–an idea, threads, time, frustration, slow progress, and then satisfaction (usually!).

Here is the last piece woven on the Toika.

And then the Toika was sold!

Goodbye studio.

Next up: work on the home studio space. I have one piece from my Danskbrogd series that I won’t part with; it hangs now in a cosy reading nook along with my pandemic rug. Looks are deceiving; the rest of the weaving area is still a mess!