I held a Frida Hansen transparent tapestry workshop at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota this week. Each one feels so new—new energy, new students with their unique experiences and talents, new tapestries on the looms. Yet many things are similar in the way the workshops unfold. Some students come with ideas they want to experiment with; others come ready to weave a bird or flower “from the archives,” so to speak—and those are always fresh, with new color choices and adjustments to the patterns. The goal of the first full day of the workshop is to have all looms warped, all designs honed, and all the colors chosen. Then, inevitably, as the workshop progresses, patterns are changed and some colors are switched out.
Below is a collage of the pieces underway.
Students always comment on how fun it is to be in class and get to enjoy the work of their classmates—which, of course, is marvelous for me also. Two new warp colors turned up. Nancy Ebner wove with a lavender warp, which she chose after that color was sent to her by mistake! Joy Byrum wove with a rich burnt orange, part of a mystery skein that was in my stash. I assume it was hand-dyed because of the way the skein was tied. “It’s my favorite color!” Joy said.
As the students finish, I’ll write more about them. We have a group email set up so that we can continue to share.