My transparent tapestry workshops are usually preceded by a general lecture on Frida Hansen’s life and work for the full Weavers Guild membership. In Seattle, I was asked to give two lectures on the day before the workshop. Before lunch, I spoke about Norwegian historical and contemporary tapestry; after lunch, I focused on Frida Hansen. Their guild is very active—about 80 attendees came in person, with more joining via Zoom.
My host, Lauren, said she knew the talks were successful when the floor loom weavers who claim they don’t care about tapestry were enthused. I was enthused as well—it is a pleasure to speak with real people in front of me, rather than just a Zoom screen.
In each workshop, students arrive with varying levels of tapestry experience. Some bring fully developed ideas or mapped-out patterns, while others plan to use a design drawn from one of Frida Hansen’s transparencies. I’ll share just a few of the pieces in this post. I look forward to—and you can look forward to—seeing completed works in the coming weeks.
Joelle Sandfort, who is relatively new to weaving, encountered a painting at the Frye Art Museum a few days before class. It featured a net-like image, and she initially considered weaving a similar design, with irregular, stone-like shapes left unwoven. While working on color sketches, however, she decided to weave the abstract shapes instead. As she began weaving on the first day, she made another shift—leaving some of the shapes open at the center.
It happens often that the finished weaving differs greatly from what a weaver first imagines when they throw their initial shots. As they work, they come to understand more about the possibilities of the technique, or they realize a color choice isn’t quite right in value or hue.
Emily Cabaniss changed her colors and her borders and the leaf at the top, all to suit her design and make the technique work well. She wove a snail, using open warp to delineate the spiral of the shell. “That part will be the hardest,” she said while weaving its body. She completed the shell before the end of the workshop—but I neglected to snap a photo of the bright red spiral!
Jane Banfield drew a butterfly and carefully planned open spaces to enhance the shapes within its wings. When she reached that stage, she said, “I might just weave it as a solid shape. It might be too hard to leave the spaces.” No—it would work beautifully, I assured her, and it did. I can’t wait to see the rest of those wings develop. Jane found it fastest and most satisfying to weave using a tapestry needle.
In every workshop, I learn from the inventive ways students approach both cartooning and weaving. Rebecca Cushman, the president of the Seattle Weavers Guild, wove irises using a single pattern for all four flowers. She mounted the design on cardboard, moving and taping it to the loom as she worked each iris. This made it difficult to get her fingers under the warp, so she often used a tapestry needle. (See a video of her moving her pattern here.) Her weft was slightly thicker than the Norwegian plied tapestry yarn used by most students, but it worked beautifully, giving the flowers a subtle sense of relief against the open warp background. She also tied in a thin rod at the bottom to help maintain the shape.
There were twelve students in the workshop. Other blossoms and two West Coast birds are underway. Lauren Lee and Eda Lee Haas, seated at opposite ends of the table, didn’t realize until the second day that they were both weaving sections of Frida Hansen’s Wild Roses—each with different warp and weft colors. It will be fascinating to see how those choices shape the mood and effect of each tapestry.
Each piece has already taken its own direction—open warp, open possibilities—and I look forward to seeing where they lead.
This short Seattle trip was so memorable, with a super group of students who enjoyed each other’s company. The weather was sunny for the first three days. PLUS, when my host Lauren Lee drove us to the Tacoma harbor for a walk, we drove past long lines of people along the edge, all facing in one direction. Orcas! We found a spot among the many people with huge lenses on their cameras. Every time the orcas breached the crowd erupted with admiration. Lauren said, “We have had so many guests look for orcas, and it has never happened before.” And I didn’t even know to expect it.
At lunch on “No Kings” day, a group of us joined the protest in Ballard. It wasn’t the 200,000 at the Capitol in Minnesota, but it was a spirited five-block long gathering. On the last day at lunch I visited the National Nordic Museum a short distance away. I recommend the new exhibit, “Tove Jansson and the Sea.”
