Cover Crop, Woven Photo Transfers on Cloth with Embroidery, 23" x 11"

My friend Kim and I were accepted to a very exciting project with the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell, ME called CSA - Community Supporting Arts.  We were paired with a local farm, Wholesome Holmstead of Winthrop, ME,  and we are going to create a body of work based on our inspirations from the farmland, the farmers, and their community interaction.  We've visited the farm twice so far and have been having an amazing time.

We went back today, hoping to spend all day on the farm painting and taking photographs, but today's temperature and wind was just too much for us to handle!  We literally only lasted 10 or 15 minutes outside. We couldn't feel our fingers after taking our photo adventure.


So we went to the farm stand to purchase some food to take back to my warm studio and ran into our farmer who taught us about cheese making.

Kim's a great fiber artist and recently taught me how to weave. We first bonded with each other about being photographers so we thought this was a great way to combine our interests and connections. The idea is that we'll take tons of photographs over the seasons, focusing on how the farm and farmers are woven into their community. (all puns intended)   Our first joint effort -- a prototype/work-through sketch of a fiber and photography project we have in mind. These are photo transfers of farm images we have taken so far.  

LOVING the colors of my newest scarf! This is only my third woven item and I'm ok with saying that I'm proud of myself! :)   After being shown by my friend how to weave on a loom and researching, reading tutorials and blogs, watching videos, etc, I wasn't sure if I could handle the complexities of weaving. But taking some step by step directions really helped me-- breaking it down into smaller parts and taking my time really made it seem doable.

I worked out some loom tension issues after my second weaving and this third one came out straight-- hooray!  And this is so darn soft!!!

Warp: 5/2 Egyptian Cotton- Chestnut Rose
Weft: Bulky Cotton Boucle- Moccasin & Light Worsted Cotton Boucle- Egypt-- all yarn from Yarntopia Treasures

90 threads, 10epi, multi-patterns

Made this one for myself and now I'm going to work on some to list in my Etsy shop.

My new loom

Last month I posted about my new venture: weaving. I've since acquired a Structo Artcraft table loom. The loom is 21" wide so it's perfectly suited to make scarves, placemats, and small rugs or runners. I've started off with scarves and am absolutely loving it!

My 1st scarf - cotton chenille & cotton

2nd scarf - bulky cotton boucle & cotton

I've always been drawn to fiber but didn't quite know how to incorporate it into my art and craft. I have a friend who weaves and she sat me down in front of a floor loom and taught me the ropes, so to speak. A very comprehensive book and many Youtube videos later and I'm throwing that shuttle as fast as I can!

It's a nice break to take from the painting studio and a great thing to do while watching tv. I have my loom set up on the coffee table so that I can be fairly comfortable (if you know of an ergonomic loom, please let my back know!)

The major downfall to weaving is how completely addicting it is! The worst part is all of the beautiful yarn out there!! I've been so enamored with the hand dyed yarn from Yarntopia Treasures-- she will custom dye to your whim or you can choose from her color palettes and/or at hand supply.  I've been using her bulky cotton for my weft (the shorter part of my scarves) and just purchased some thinner yarn to be used in future warps (the long threads that run the length of the scarf.) It's the best and the cotton boucle is so darn soft!!

I'll keep posting my progress-- more very soon!

...almost done... Because I can't stay only on one project and because I can't help but learn new things... I started learning how to make rag rugs!  Inspired by the weaving of an artist I am mentoring- she showed me how to weave on a loom and I was so taken with it!  I'm working on getting a table top loom but in the meantime, I needed to learn how to weave something fast.   I've always been drawn to rag rugs and decided to research how they were made.  Some google searching and youtube watching later, I found out that I could make my own rug frame. Since I'm a painter, I have a ton of canvas stretcher bars hanging around the studio and they work perfectly! On the shorter sides, I put some nails in one inch apart and then strung some dyed cotton yarn as the warp.   The piece above is bathmat sized and a good starter project.  I'm going to go bigger and tighter on my next rug and I think I've found a great new hobby!  (I'll post a tutorial soon!)

a view of the warp before I started weaving