World History of Textile Arts was an ambitious project and I don't regret organizing it. 

Here is my overly enthusiastic class follow-up letter from September. I lost my momentum and never sent another one. I need to be more attentive. I love this photo- the studio was a blank canvas in September and full of possibilities.

Hello My Friends,

 I cannot tell you how much fun it was to share my weird and wonderful avocation with you all today. Thank you for helping me to break in the new space. Hopefully, by October 17th, there will be more amenities, including working plumbing!

Here is a list of some of the resources we discussed today. Feel free to reply-all with the books, movies, articles, etc that  you shared with the group while we were all together.

Women’s Work, the First 20,000 Years

 by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, 1994

Prehistoric Textiles, same author ever more information 

There are a gazillion fiber arts books, but the grandmother of them all is

 The Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing Book by Rachael Brown.  

The Woolery: https://woolery.com

The Sears and Roebuck of Spinning and Weaving supplies- feel free to check with me about specific articles that are for sale before you buy. 

If you would like to go down a spinning-tool-rabbit-hole, check out Dancing Goats 

https://sites.google.com/site/thedancinggoats/

Links on his webpage to Instagram videos for great review of techniques, and also a link to his Etsy page. His prices are very fair, but we can band together and buy class sets of the things we “need.”

Local source for great fibers to play with:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ConservingThreads?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1011546584

also- check out The Four-Eyed Ewe on Etsy.

We will be spinning her Nettle and Hemp roving (commercially prepared fibers) next month. 

I know only once a month seems slow paced, but that gives us time to practice and share our successes next time.

My favorite FB pages:

These may require an invite from a member- let me know if you are interested, I can get you in. 

Textile History (I am the admin) it is really boring, no drama just folks posting links to articles about archaeology and artist's renderings of knitters and weavers. 

The Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning. Chock full of information, images and fun conversations. You do not need to own a distaff to join. 

Berta’s Flax - this is the place where I learned about the Austrian Flax Stricks which had been stored away for almost 100 years in wooden hope chests. We will be spinning these from distaff in January. 

Fiber Equipment: Great Wheels, Winders, Walking Wheels, and Spindle Wheels- loaded with images of old wheels and long sagas of the labor to rest them… very nerdy. 

Ravelry is great for knitters but also useful to spinners… 

I will be offering single topic workshops soon- check the O&C webpage for updates, and stay in touch!

 Last year, as the pandemic restrictions began to be lifted, I returned to an old wish. I even made a list of things that I needed to make it happen. 

Today I looked over that list and discovered that I have achieved many of those goals. 

The Loom Loft is taking shape. 

It is hard to be patient, but as an artist with human responsibilities, I am okay with the slow pace. 

Planning for a Weaving Space

August 2021

 Modern Art, in the American sense of things, is painted. But, recently, museums and critics have been “discovering’ the expressive qualities of art made from other materials. The art was there all along, to be truthful.

Chaine et trame interchangeable (translation: Interchangeable warp and weft)

https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/visual-arts/2019/05/11/dallas-museum-of-art-could-snag-another-sheila-hicks-piece-for-its-collection/

During the summer, The Nasher Museum in Dallas, Texas hosted a breathtaking installation by Sheila Hicks. She did not just appear on the International Art Scene, she was not recently discovered, she has been an influential art-maker for decades. That she lived to be 84 and is still lending a hand in her own installations may have a lot to do with her enduring influence.

She studied painting with Joseph Albers and came into the orbit of his wife, Anni, a textile-designing, loom-wielding artist in her own rights.

Hicks forged her own path, but never lost touch with her teachers. Not only the Albers but also anonymous indigenous  spinners and weavers through out the Americas.

I was thrilled beyond words to be introduced to her during a meeting with the education department in preparation for her exhibit. Yo can see how big my smile is in this photo. 

Why do I love her work? I love her work for its simplicity of concept. The art is about shape and form and space... principles of Art. The materials are not asked to take the place of paint, but rather to be exactly what they are: yarn, rope, threads, fabric, colors, textures. 

I loved being in her presence and  seeing her tearing yellow and pink fabric strips with her crew.  

Draw Like an Egyptian

I am under the impression that humans are the only creatures who draw deliberately.  Animals and insects, even the weather, can make beautiful marks but these are not conscious acts of embellishmnet.  If you peel the bark off a stick, you might find beautiful tracings of insects but those marks were made in the search for food or shelter not to decorate the stick. At some point in ancient history, a human replicated a pattern from nature as decoration for a personal object.  Drawing has probably always been a part of human culture. 

I find it fascinating that traditional ceramic bowls from all over the world bear similar marks.  Some are drawings of animals and people, some are lines and patterns derived from nature.  Abstract expressions in art begin in these observations of the natural world.

Jar with Drawing of Boat and Passengers

The Egyptians were drawing a long time before the Pharaohs commissioned massive memorials to themselves.  In fact, drawing seems to be at the heart of Egyptian art- observing and interpreting the physical world and spiritual ideals. In museums we only see a sliver of their rich visual life.  Objects made from stone or terra cotta survived in the best shape (and were easiest to haul to Europe for museums, but that is another topic). Drawings that were made on stone or terra cotta seem to be as fresh as they were the day they were made.

Cat and Mouse Drawing on Stone

Papyrus, a predecessor to paper, is made from a reed that bears the same name.  An image of the plant in full bloom is frequently used as a decorative motif in Egyptian art. It was an essential material for those who lived along the Nile and is useful for all kinds of purposes. In addition to a paper-like surface for drawing and writing, the reeds could be bound together into boats, mats, furnishings, hats, screens and other useful objects. 

When you have a chance to look at a drawing made by an Egyptian Artisan, take your time.  

The Natural History of Drawing

DRAWING AND SCIENCE

Paleontology is a branch of science that developed in the 18th century as a part of an international fascination with science and history.  This page, from a book called Peck”s Historical Atlas of Nature and Science, would have been one of many books to be found in every educated family’s parlor.  These atlases and encyclopedias held as much of the current knowledge as a printing company could cram in.  Taken together, they formed a kind of search engine- information gathered and systemized for research as well as casual learning.  

Before cameras were invented, scientist had to learn to be really good at drawing or have enough money to hire folks who were really good at drawing.  Most of the illustrations in these Atlases and Encyclopedias are unsigned. The artist who carefully rendered the bones and other fossils left us with great information- all except their name. Since drawing was considered an important and useful skill in the 18th and 19th centuries, students always had drawing lessons in school.

Drawing helps a person learn to pay attention to details and notice subtle changes in the world around them.  Even after cameras became widely available, most paleontologists and geologists and archeologists and botanists still depend on their drawing skills to record how something looks she they find it. Here is a story of my favorite pair of amateur explorers.

http://serc.carleton.edu/details/images/6164.html

ROCK ART IN TEXAS

 BY FOREST AND LULA KIRKLAND

In the 1930’s in Dallas, an illustrator and a photographer, who happened to also be married to one another, made an interesting discovery.  They were visiting family in the West Texas and found graffiti in a creek bed.  Graffiti that was perhaps 1000 years old!  Forest made watercolor sketches and Lula took photos of Native Texan Rock Art (Petroglyphs)until 1942.  Most of the Rock Art they copied has since disappeared.  For some of the paintings, Forest and Lula used the local red, yellow and ochre dirt.

Their work makes me happy every time I look at it.  They spent their free time making something that records important history in Texas.  We are all a little richer because of their gift.

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/plateaus/artistic/images/fk.html

Not too Scary Conversations About Art and Artists

This blog will,I hope, provide a glimpse into our art world for the parents who bring their children to Oil and Cotton.  It is very important for all of us to see the connections between the visual arts and subjects like history, science,and math.  

Since this is my blog, I will probably express my opinion and personal speculations a good bit.  I will also include references when ever I can.  Please join the conversation!

These  Offrende were made in my Art Class for Days of the Dead.  The assignment was to make a memorial for a favorite  author or scientist.