Deborah Thomas traveled from Arkansas to attend the first workshop I taught in Frida Hansen’s wool open warp transparency technique, at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa (September 2023). She wove marvelous roses in greens and purples, channeling Frida Hansen’s use of unconventional colors in her flowers. See this post about Deborah’s roses: “Report from the Vesterheim Workshop: Green Roses Complete.”
As it turns out, Deborah did not waste the warp on the back of her loom! This photo from last year’s class shows her Mirrix loom. She is weaving on the front, and you can see that the warp is in a continuous loop around the back. She finished her first piece, and then switched around to weave the warp on the other side.
What a fun surprise to see a completed second piece. A Frida bird and fish!
In the photo showing Deborah’s two pieces side by side, it is interesting to notice the borders, and how the choice of which areas are woven or left unwoven changes the look. I’ll show them in my upcoming classes for sure.
Deborah finished her note to me with, “And I do have an idea for a transparency design … someday.” I hope she makes that someday sooner rather than later.
Deborah’s work is beautiful; I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Midwest Weavers Conference in Iowa last year. Also a lovely person! Thanks so much for sharing this!