Social Market for a Mirrix Video #18

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Thanks for joining me on the "Social Market for a Mirrix" campaign.

Social Market for a Mirrix

One of my loves is mask making... the use of masks by indigenous cultures, the symbolism of masks, the masks we hide behind every day as we journey through our lives. So, for some reason, it seemed appropriate to end "Social Market for a Mirrix" with one of my mask collages utilizing one of the weavings completed during the campaign.

This collage / assemblage isn't finished yet but it will be completed in time for the final video on Monday. Once the paint is dry, I'll be able to pull the pieces together relatively quickly.

As promised, I've put together a resource list of vendors I've worked with and can personally recommend. So, in addition to the equipment and supplies offered by Mirrix, you might want to check out the following:

Professional Organizations

• American Tapestry Alliance
• Handweavers Guild of America

Beads

• Fire Mountain Gems & Beads
• Shipwreck Beads

Yarns

• Halcyon Yarn
• WEBS

Weaving Supplies

• Halcyon Yarn

Books, Magazines, etc.

• Interweave

Online Communities

• Weavezine
• Weavolution

When purchasing supplies, please try and support the smaller, independent sellers in your area or online.

Some of my favorite weavers...

• Maximo Laura
• Between the Warps
• Dimensional Weavings
• Kathe Todd-Hooker
• Rebecca Mezoff
• Tangled Web
• "the gift half understood"

And so Claudia and Elena can track any direct ROI for the "Social Market for a Mirrix" campaign, please leave a comment if you purchased a loom or supplies from Mirrix as a result of this campaign.

Social Market for a Mirrix

Remember this piece? The first weaving I completed in the “Social Market for a Mirrix” campaign? The piece I keep referring to as the Southwestern landscape?

Well, it grew up to be this piece. And now it’s finished and ready to go to its new home.

I took the original weaving and beaded the bottom half to give it the illusion of flowers. Then I tied off the warp threads leaving them long enough to form a fringe at the bottom of the weaving. And the warp threads at the top of the weaving were left long enough to hang down to form a veil. I like that the veil breaks up the surface of the weaving and makes the viewer have to work with the piece a bit to understand it. I attached the weaving to a canvas board that had been covered with rice paper and painted with metallic acrylic paint then topped off with iridescent watercolor. I finished the piece off by embellishing it with an old Southwestern style earring. All things considered, I’m pretty happy with how this piece turned out.

One down, two more to go. Tick, tock!

Social Market for a Mirrix Video #17

Social Market for a Mirrix

I’m currently working up the left side of the weaving and starting to level it off so I can cut the weaving off the loom. I’m also trying to finish off the two remaining pieces that were completed earlier in the campaign so I can get those posted by the end of the month.

Susan left a couple of questions for me on my blog…

What tapestry books do I recommend and do I have a favorite?

Based on personal use, I can recommend “Tapestry Weaving: A Comprehensive Study Guide” by Nancy Harvey, “Tapestry Weaving” by Kirsten Glasbrook, and “Shaped Tapestry” by Kathe Todd-Hooker. Those are the ones I have sitting on my bookshelves. I think the Glasbrook book is an excellent guide for beginning tapestry weavers to start with. Harvey’s book is more detailed but it’s also out of print.

The American Tapestry Alliance offers a distance learning program, Helping Hands, designed for beginning weavers who want to explore tapestry weaving with guidance and mentoring from a more experienced tapestry weaver. The details are available on the American Tapestry Alliance website.

What do I like best about the Mirrix Loom?

I really like how easy it is to warp the loom and to be able to get sufficient tension on the warp threads. The coils make it easy to keep your warp threads evenly spaced. I also like the fact that the loom has a nice solid feel to it and it doesn’t wobble, shift, or slide when I’m weaving.

Social Market for a Mirrix

We’re quickly approaching the end of the “Social Market for a Mirrix” campaign. Only 3 more blog posts and 2 more videos before I ride off into the Southwest sunset.

You’ll see there’s been a bit of progress since the last posting. And that orange section in the middle is still bothering me but I’m trying to let it go. If you look at that section on the far right of the weaving, that’s approximately 1/3 the height of the cartoon so this weaving definitely won’t be finished by the end of February. But, it’s coming off the loom at the end of the month no matter where I’m at in the weaving in order to be incorporated into a collage. To be honest, it will probably be far more interesting in an unfinished state.

Right now the plan is to start to level the weaving off so you’ll have a better idea how it would look. I’m finding myself making a lot more adjustments now, especially with the black areas. Actually, now that I'm looking at the picture and have some distance, I think I would be a lot happier with that orange section if I had separated it from the brick red with black.

Social Market for a Mirrix Video #16

Social Market for a Mirrix

Susan posted some questions on my blog I thought I would answer in today’s post.

First, my disclaimer... I’m not good with “shoulds” and rules and boundaries. I tend to work in ways that suit what I’m trying to accomplish rather than doing what’s “right”. This is the main reason I don’t try to teach. This is also one of the reasons I recommended books at the beginning of the campaign for people who want to learn tapestry weaving. So, that being said…

Why do you start weaving in different places?

On the current weaving, I’m weaving in different places instead of straight across because I’m balancing the colors as I work. Even though I’m working from a colored cartoon, I still need to make adjustments as I move through the piece. For someone else it might be easier for them to just work straight across. I think it just depends on how you visualize things.

Does that make uneven tension?

Yes, it could. But the weft of your weaving can also be uneven if you work straight across. Getting a nice even weft is more about practice and developing a feel for what you’re doing.

Do you always use the shedding device on small areas?

I never use the shedding device on small areas. I use the shedding device when I’m working on large weavings or when the weaving that I’m working on has large areas of color.

Do you ever use anything but plain tabby weave?

Sometimes. It really depends on what I plan to do with the piece once it’s off the loom. As you’ve seen, a lot of my weavings are incorporated into collages. I really prefer my changes in texture and design to come from the different yarns and fibers I’m using.

Can you add texture changing the weave and if so can the heddles be arranged to change the pattern using the shedding device?

I haven’t tried it on the Mirrix but I don’t see why not. Hopefully Claudia or Elena will jump in if I’m totally off track on this. My best suggestion would be to just give it a try.

How would it look using your fingers to lift the warp threads and change the weft pattern to add texture or break up a large pattern of color?

It’s going to depend on what you’re using as warp and weft. Warp your loom and just try out all of the wacky things you can think to try. Some you’ll love, some you’ll hate, but I think experimentation is important in order to grow as an artist.

Can you embellish the weaving by adding some metallic thread as a highlighted area?

Yes, you can either weave the metallic thread into the weaving or embellish with it once the weaving is off the loom. I use Kreinik Metallic Threads and Cords. And WEBS (www.yarn.com) offers a limited selection of metallic yarns. They’re generally more expensive than regular yarns.

What about shading an area?

You can play with the colors that you’re weaving with in order to shade an area.

Just a reminder also, videos will be posted on Mondays instead of Sundays for the remainder of the campaign.

Social Market for a Mirrix

I’ve come to the realization I’m going to have to weave faster because I’m running out of things to say about this piece. I must just be boring your stripey socks off. Anyway, my goal at this point is to start to level the sections off so I can at least show you an area with the handspun pulled through the slits in the event I don’t finish the entire weaving by February 28^th. Or maybe I’ll just consider it finished on the 28^th no matter where I’m at in the process so I can cut it off the loom and finish the remaining steps of closing up some of the slits, incorporating the handspun yarn, and mounting it. I’ll see how things progress.

In case you missed the announcement, Mirrix is offering free bead patterns for download on their website. There’s a really great Valentine’s Day heart pattern available that I believe is based on one of Claudia’s zendoodles. I might give the image a shot at some point weaving with DMC #5 embroidery thread. But that’s a project for much later in the year.

The pink and black “weaving over a weaving” is still very much a work-in-process but should be finished this week. One of the ideas that crossed my mind when I was working on it yesterday was what would happen if there were multiple layers of weaving, then areas were burnt away so you could see the underlying layers. Yep, it’s just a matter of time before something goes up in flames.

As I start to look forward to how I will utilize the Mirrix Loom in my future work, I see it being a really useful tool in my mixed media / collage / assemblage projects. I’ve realized over the past few months that for me “traditional” tapestry weaving is very restrictive.

Social Market for a Mirrix Video #15

Social Market for a Mirrix

Due to schedule conflicts this month, videos will be posted on Mondays instead of Sundays through the end of February.

Social Market for a Mirrix

I’ve been re-working a couple of sections so there doesn’t appear to have been much progress since my last post. There’s actually much more contrast in the colors than there appears to be in the pictures. I experimented a bit with weaving the handspun yarn I’m going to use as embellishment into the weaving but decided against it. It’s much more interesting pulled through the slits. I just noticed that I need to increase the tension on the warp threads again which will straighten some of the wonky areas out a bit. I decreased it when I was working with the handspun.

With every project, no matter what medium I’m working with, there are always lessons learned. If I were starting this weaving over and still using the Tahki Cotton Classic for the weft, I think I would warp every other dent instead of every dent. Of course downside to doing that is the really small areas would be problematic.

For anyone in the New England area, the American Tapestry Alliance’s 8^th American Tapestry Biennial is being shown at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA, until May 1, 2011. In addition, two artists will be giving talks:

• March 13, 2011 @ 2:00 pm Susan Martin Maffei “Under the Influence, or Is It Just Inspiration?”
• April 10, 2011 @ 2:00 pm Anne Jackson “Anne Jackson: Knotted Tapestries”

Social Market for a Mirrix

The current weaving is progressing slowly. I’m trying to work from left to right and from the bottom up as much as possible. You’ll notice the large square of orange in the middle has been partially removed. Something truly heinous was going on with that particular section. Somehow I managed to get the weft threads way too tight so I have to redo that area. I’m okay with the edges of the individual sections not being perfectly straight, actually I prefer them to be crooked, but that one was far too distorted for me to be able to close the slits if I needed to. As I continue to weave, I’m finding I have to work in a bit more black than was on the original cartoon in order to break the colors up and provide balance. I’m still happy with the basic color combination though.

I’m also working on the two remaining weavings that I completed earlier in the campaign. The pink and black one you saw in the video on Sunday is sitting where I can see it every day and is waiting for me to be struck by a bolt of inspirational lightning. So far… nothing. And I’m continuing to embellish the first weaving with beads. So, hopefully I’ll be able to post both of those by the end of the month.

Social Market for a Mirrix Video #14

Social Market for a Mirrix

I don't have much of a voice today so I'll be posting this week's video on Monday instead of today.

Social Market for a Mirrix

Remember the sampler I did earlier in January? Well, it’s migrated from the collage elements pile to a collage. One more UFO down. I mounted the weaving on a canvas board that had been collaged with rice paper and a scrap of gold fabric, then embellished with a piece of repurposed jewelry.

I wanted to show these pieces so you’ll know the weavings that come off the loom that might be considered “failures” can still be used. Maybe not in the way you had originally envisioned, but still, not a complete loss. I have piles of “failed” experiments in my studio but most of these pieces will eventually find a home in a collage, an assemblage, or on a collagraph plate for printmaking. And just remember “one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure”. If you attend a class or workshop, you’ll be amazed what other artists might want to trade for from your stash.

The weaving on the loom is progressing slowly. Normally I would be obsessing over the fact that my edges aren’t straight but I’ll be able to correct a lot of sins once it’s off the loom. And since this one will also be part of a collage, I’m not too concerned at this point.

Social Market for a Mirrix

"Sushi" 2011

Okay, this piece is finally finished. I just couldn’t get happy with the yellow beads. I’m not a huge fan of yellow so it’s a difficult color for me to work with. Does anyone else have that problem with certain colors?

I wrapped the chopsticks with the same silk yarn I used in the weaving, then bundled the 3 chopsticks with an assortment of fancy black yarns, letting the excess yarn hang down. I finished the bundle off with the addition of a Swarovski crystal component. I then mounted the weaving on a canvas board that has been collaged with handmade paper and sprayed with iridescent watercolor. Now it feels finished. Finally something has moved from the UFO (unfinished object) pile to the completed pile.

The weaving on the loom is progressing slowly. I’m making adjustments to the design as I go along because some areas just need to be tweaked. They look okay on the cartoon but once the sections are woven with the darker yarns, some minor adjustments have to be made to balance the colors and to control where the slits occur.

For anyone who might be interested in entering, the Handweavers Guild of America is sponsoring “Small Expressions”, an annual international juried exhibition. The deadline is March 7, 2011. Details and entry form can be found here.

Social Market for a Mirrix

I came across the following video this morning and thought I would share it.

Social Market for a Mirrix Video #13

Social Market for a Mirrix

So, after a couple of sessions of weaving and unweaving, I finally decided the direction I wanted to go in.

I mentioned at one point, in last Sunday’s video I believe, that I wanted to outline each section in black so the weaving would have a Mondrian look to it. Let’s just put it this way… it looked better in my head than it did on the loom. Although it might have worked on a larger piece. Anyway, I went back to the cartoon and added in some additional small areas of black to break up the color a little more and anchor sections.

The other change I made was not to use the warp interlock technique but to use the slit technique when changing colors. What this means is that instead of the weft running continuously across the width of the weaving, there will be a slit between each color. There’s a method to my madness.

During one of the archaeological digs in my studio as I was looking for tapestry needles, I came across some handspun art yarns that I had picked up years ago and never used. What I think I’m going to do is work strands of beads into the art yarns then pull them through the slits in selected areas so they cascade down the front of the weaving. The entire piece will then be mounted on a canvas board that I’ve collaged with handmade paper and painted with iridescent watercolors.

I know, I know. My thought processes and how I create seems really disconnected and random at times. But, for me it’s a process of experimenting. Sometimes the experiment works, other times, not so much. And as you’ve probably noticed over the past few months, I’m not afraid to just scrap what I’m working on and start over. And there’s always the infamous future collage elements bin that projects get consigned to if I finish them and decide I’m not happy.