I love seeing how the work of Frida Hansen and others who have woven in her transparent tapestry technique inspire students in my workshops. Often, as it happens in my own pieces, the students’ original plans change as they begin weaving. That happened with Jill Sparrow Koch, who attended my workshop in San Diego last November. Her plan to weave a simple geometric sample morphed into experimentation on a number of fronts, and she couldn’t resist adding Frida’s black rose where she first planned a rectangle.
Jill’s design was first sparked by an open warp transparency I found online and included in a notebook of designs, both for the interesting geometric design and the beautiful soft color palette. We chose a portion of the design for Jill’s sample.
As Jill began weaving, she decided that geometric was fine, but she couldn’t resist adding one of Frida Hansen’s iconic flowers, like one in this tapestry, Sorte Roser [Black Roses]. This is a detail.
Jill wove her piece on a simple copper pipe loom.
To finish, Jill added some 1880’s Venetian beads on the fringe and wove a narrow inkle band to hang it. I was happy to read the last sentence of her note to me, because it was exactly what I hope all of my students feel after a workshop. “On to new weaving experiences!” she wrote.