Time Out

This month I’m on sabbatical.
The botanical weavings for my first show as a featured artist, which deadline is early January for the February show, are now finished.
I will write up the remaining narratives for a journal to accompany the exhibit, a kind of catalogue for the show, when my “time out” is at an end.
Meanwhile, here is a peek at the namesake for the show, “Chaparral Dreams”, which opens February 16 at the Mission Trails Regional Park visitors center.
Chaparral Dreams includes more than twelve different California native plants.

Twigs

Often I am astonished at what lies underfoot...the spread of leaves in dappled sunlight, a soft cushion of damp earth after a rain, the crunch of fallen twigs while the wind rustles through branches above me.
Twigs! I’ll weave twigs!
And what an array of twigs I found over the course of a week!  Their colors, textures, and even their scents astonished and delighted!
Here’s what came of my joy in discovering the beauty of twigs:
(3.5”x30”; $95)

Time to catch up....

greetings!
I’ve been neglecting my blog in favor of my loom, so it’s time to catch up.
I’ve got more botanical weavings than ever before, as I’m gearing up for another show in February.
More about the show later....
If you would like to keep up with each piece as it comes off my loom, please check out my Instagram posts at kathleencook6777
Here’s an overview of what I’ve been weaving, pictured in the following order:
Moonlight and Sage 15.5x34” $285
Where the Rabbits Run 21.5”x25” $375
Chaparral Melody 30”x30” $245 (sold)
Sage Feathers 9”x15” $185
Chaparral Dreams 23.5x31” $315
Beyond Summer 26”x34” $470
Chaparral Bling approx 11”x11” $145

Enjoy!

EAP West Coast Fiber Art Show

The opening reception was lively and the artwork diverse. Our friend Skip was awarded first place for his gorgeous rug (I forgot to take a picture of it!!!) Here are a couple of photos from that evening:

A Really Big Show....

Dear Friends,
SUMMER TRIPTYCH (see post of August 4), ANCIENT PATTERNS (previously untitled; see post of March 26) and MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY (recently completed, see photos below) are part of the West Coast Fiber Arts Show opening this weekend at the Escondido Arts Partnership Community Gallery on Grand and Juniper in Escondido. escondidoarts.org
24 artists are participating, and I am grateful and honored to be one among them.
Mountain Mahogany is a prolific shrub of the Chaparral, found in altitudes ranging from about 2,000” to 6,000”. We are fortunate to have a few of them on our hillside, and Joel brought some cuttings to me one afternoon, thinking that I might want to weave them. Yes indeed!
Here’s a closeup of the cuttings, a peek at me working the fringe, and the finished work:

Summer Triptych

Greetings at the height of summer!  Keeping a balance of activity and rest is trickiest for me when temperatures sway between the 90’s to the 100’s these days, but fortunately I find cool time in the pool and in my studio.
After I cut off my first triptych, I had just enough warp on my floor loom for another small one.  I decided to re-set my sett and doubled up the warp yarns to make the width narrower, since I knew I couldn’t weave much lengthwise.
Aiming for a simpler motif, I succumbed to the lure of the last of the sunflowers adorning the shoulders of our roadway. I picked as many of them as were still blooming, and then gathered soft feathery branches of artemisia (commonly known as California sagebrush).
How my studio was drenched in the scent of the Chaparral for that week of weaving!  It was heaven to my senses!
The three little botanical weavings that came off my loom can be hung horizontally or vertically, with or without the optional cord I attached to each one.  As of Friday they’re hanging vertically at 2Create Gallery in Ramona.  “Summer Triptych: Sunflowers and Sagebrush”.
 I forgot to measure them before I hung them, but my guess is that each one is approximately 10”w x 12”l, without the hanging cord.  $420 for the triptych; $155 if purchased individually.  
50% of the sale of all my botanical weavings is donated to the California Chaparral Institute.
Here’s the pics:

Enjoy these sizzling days of summer, staying balanced in Nature’s cycle of rest and activity.

QuietTime

Joel and I recently returned home from two and a half weeks on the road, through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Most of the time we were in Colorado, visiting friends and family in Ft. Collins, Denver, and Ridgway. It was great to reconnect with loved ones in their home towns and explore places new to us.
And then we headed to New Mexico for some quiet time at Monastery of Christ in the Desert — a Benedictine monastery deep in the Rio Chama valley, west of Abiquiu and thirteen miles off of the interstate highway 84.
The public is welcome to visit, and they also welcome guests who want to share the silence and beauty and spirit of their home. We stayed three nights, two full days of quiet time: the monks request guests to maintain silence.  It was sublime.
This was Joel’s first visit, my second.  I was there last fall, and spent one afternoon collecting botanical treasures so that I might create a weaving to commemorate my visit.  I did create that weaving, and then I realized it was for the monks, not for me.  “Along the Rio Chama”, my gift to them in gratitude for the great gift of quiet time that they provide for all who seek it there.
Here is my photo collage of the Monastery and “Along the Rio

My First Triptych

Yikes!  I can’t believe it’s been almost three months since my last blog post!
On the other hand, I’ve been weaving so much and involved in several weaving related activities that I’m amazed it’s only been just under three months since my last blog post!
In April there was the 17th Annual Ramona Artists Studio Tour (the first in which I participated) and a workshop on dying wool yarns using natural dyes, and then taking those yarns to weave a small tapestry.  Both were fun and opened new doors for me.
In May I wove a blanket in an intricate overshot design in wool and mohair at Weaving Works in Santa Ysabel on one of Beryl’s larger floor looms, and I helped out with a workshop she had for several women new to weaving.  At home I finished up a botanical weaving that I had started way back in February on my rigid heddle loom.  I had also used that project for demonstration during the studio tour.
On June 2nd I finished my first triptych, having started it on March 10th.  I worked on it in between these other projects.
I had extra warp on my larger floor loom, left over from a series of throws that I had woven as gifts for family and friends.  I was ready to try something new, and I thought “a triptych!”  since the sett was a good 45” wide
So here’s the photo journal for this botanical weaving, which measures approximately 22”L x 47”W.  I used sage branches and grasses and wildflowers and seed pods along with the yarns.
It now hangs in the home of a friend: he had expressed an interest in my work and wanted something big, so I emailed him photos when it was finished.
Please let me know if there’s something you would like for me to weave for you❤️

What’s in a Name?

My most recent weaving, which I completed last week and hung at 2Create Art Gallery in Ramona, was woven with more spontaneity and whimsy than any that I have ever done.  My eight-shaft loom was warped and ready to weave; the deer weed I had gathered a few years ago and stored in the garage beckoned; and thrums from a series of textiles I had woven last fall was in a prominent resting spot in my studio.  All came together in a moment, and I was weaving a pattern of yarns and botanicals that magically captured the joy I was feeling in that moment.  Ah...the thrill of the loom!
I couldn’t quite settle on a title for this one.  Perhaps it speaks for itself......  26”x21”. $265
Update 12/11:  upon reflection, I like the title “Ancient Pattern”.

Mesa Seasons

Here’s the scoop on the tapestry/rug weaving I mentioned in my February post....
Skylar Farr is a talented weaver who learned the craft from his mother Beryl Warnes. Together they are Julian Weaving Works.
Skylar is embarking on a new phase in his weaving career, namely teaching, and I had the good fortune of being his first student!
Here are photos from those demanding and delightful four-plus days of my workshop with Skylar, including the finished rug.
“Mesa Seasons” measures approximately 44”square, not including the fringe.

Greetings! To continue on the theme of my previous post:
 a delicate table scarf for my friend Molly, in celebration of her birthday:

And another botanical weaving, in which I used a few tapestry techniques, including soumak, which is a kind of knotting, and hatching. The colors in this piece are mostly subtle blues on a ground of brick red, with Cleveland sage branches among other botanicals.  I named it “Chaparral Blues”.  It’s a metaphor for California’s disappearing heritage landscape. It is currently on display at 2Create Gallery in Ramona. 43”x27”. $310.
Update 12/11:  I have re-titled this botanical weaving “Selah”.  The inspiration for this new and more fitting title came from an article my friend Cecile sent. Roughly translated from the Book of Psalms, it means stopping to look, looking beyond the obvious, to recognize the deep connection which exists in all of creation. I believe if we each can do this, we will see the preciousness of our environment, and rather than mourn the loss of natural places, we will act to restore and preserve its integrity and beauty.

More than three months, five blankets, one table scarf, one botanical weaving, and one tapestry/rug weaving since my last post.  Meanwhile, I’ve been pondering the essential need we all have of comfort and beauty in our life.
Weaving gives me time to ponder, about personal connections, about the comfort of family and friends, and the comfort I feel as I weave something of beauty for someone special in my life, something that will also bring comfort to them.
Beauty itself brings comfort, in a woven wall hanging, in a delicate table scarf, in a colorful tapestry.
My wish for you, and for everyone on Earth, is that you know comfort and beauty in your daily life.
Here are glimpses of some of what I’ve recently woven: more to follow in a day or two or three.....
Blankets for friends and family: