From There to Here

It's been a wonderful start to 2015. While I miss the energy and the people of Asheville's River Arts District, I love being in my home studio every day and seeing the mountains come to life this Spring.  

I have had a busy start to the new year business-wise.  My work is being shown on several online shops as well as brick and mortars in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.  In addition, I am pleased to have launched Sutherland Seasonals. Each quarter I will be shipping out a linen towel designed to reflect the season to each subscriber.  Subscribers may be annual or quarterly. The Spring towel shipped mid-March and I am happy to have received lovely kudos from many subscribers. If you want more information please go to my website (www.sutherlandhandweaving.com) and click on Seasonals.  

While I am working on my commissions and wholesale orders, I also am taking time for learning.  I have always been interested in embroidery, so have begun to take classes from Linda at The Williamsburg School of Needlework.  My end goal is to learn whitework, but in so doing, must learn many steps along the way.  This is purely for my own joy and use and will only be incorporated in my weaving work in a minor way.  

My sweet niece, Katie, has been helping me with my website and expanding my online and storefront presence with wonderful results.  I could not have made this shift from retail to wholesale without her.  I am so proud of her and of all she is accomplishing. Although I will not be present when she runs in the upcoming Boston Marathon, I will definitely be cheering her on from my loom bench. 

Cheers!

Moving along

Just when I thought the New Year would ring in quietly, everything changed. Isn't that the way it always happens-when you least expect it? Karen and I had settled into a lovely routine around her class schedule at Haywood Community College, inventory was at a decent level, and all the 'capital improvements' (ie expenses for upfitting the studio space) were pretty much complete. Thus, I thought the New Year would herald calm and time to be a tad more creative. Not to be.

About to renew my lease at Curve Studios a fellow fiber artist, Barbara Zaretsky (http://www.clothfiberworkshop.com/), called and said there was studio space opening up next to her. Now, if you do not know Barbara's work you need to follow the link. She is not only a surface designer, she is teacher, a seamstress, and so much more! Anyway, I trotted down to The Cotton Mill Studios, less than a tenth of a mile further down Riverside Drive, and rented the space that afternoon.

The space is marvelous. Full of light--seven windows in all, plenty of space for teaching classes and looms to be spread out, room for a large design table on which to work, and more! Best of all we will have a shared door with Barbara and be able to begin textile collaboration. Needless to say Karen and I are almost drooling at the prospect. The move will be at the beginning of March.

As if all this news is not enough, there is more. Our website will go live mid-March, so keep an eye out for this at http://sutherlandhandweaving.com. As it was pointed out to me in all of this social media hoopla, we needed to begin Twittering. We have begun this and you may follow us at http://twitter.com/#!/sutherlandweave.

With all this exciting news, we will try to post pictures often and let you see how things are progressing on our soon to be new home!

Never in Our Wildest Dreams

I love Fall. Everything about this time of year makes me happy. I especially love the way the sun falls through the woods and makes long shadows of even short trees.

Last year this time Karen and I were experiencing a few sleepless nights planning the opening of sutherland. Never in our wildest dreams did we think ten months after opening we would be hosting Daryl Lancaster for a workshop.

This past week Daryl not only taught a color class at sutherland, she also taught a garment construction class at Haywood Community College, and was a judge at The Blue Ridge Fiber Show opening next week at the NC Arboretum.

I had taken a half day class color class taught by Daryl at Midwest Weaver's Conference 2009 at Grinnell College, so this time I sat out and manned the studio. I admit I did sneak in from time to time to see what the students were doing. I also listened to Daryl's lecture, inspirational in her instruction as always.

It was fun to see how each student was progressing through Daryl's assigned color exercises. The last exercise requires each student to use a photo as inspiration for a color wrap which could be used as a warp. The photos show some of the students work(for some reason I am unable to load them all), but really do not adequately depict just how beautiful their work was. One of the members of the class expressed her true dislike for the color orange at the very beginning of class. And, yes, hers is the one with the rock striations and blue sky. Just goes to show you the magic Daryl has in making everyone recognize proportion and balance int he scope of color.

The Daryl story continues in the next blog installment....

New Mexico Sunset and Northern Lights

So, we have been very busy.

Karen has been working on two very detailed pieces; each for entry into The Blue Ridge Fiber Show later this month. The piece Karen is holding in her left hand(on the right in the photo) is the one to be juried; it is quite fine yarn for her and is woven in Beiderwand. If you put those two things together you get a lot of picks per inch, hence lots of time at the loom. I love anything orange, so you know this makes me most happy. The other piece Karen is holding is what she wove with the extra warp. I love the window pane effect with the various colored weft colors used. Fellow studio mate, Pattiy Torno, has already placed dibs on it.

The second piece Karen will be entering into the BRFS is a tapestry of a puffin. I will post a photo as soon as I have one. For now you must take my word it is amazing. Karen really doesn't like to admit it, but she is a tapestry weaver. Just ask Madelyn Vanderhoogt if you don't believe me.

As for me I have been working on a rather large commission piece for installation on a client's dining room table. As inspiration I used the couple's painting in that room as well as a recently commissioned painting by fellow CURVE studio and garden's artist Constance Williams installed in the area adjoining the dining room. The warp is 60/2 silk and the weft is 60/2 hand dyed silk in a multitude of colors mirroring the colors in the home and paintings. It measures 19.5" x 120". I must say when I took it off the loom yesterday it was a delight to see how it turned out. When I placed it on the couple's table today it was magical. Will make final installation Monday when I have hemmed it and finished the corners with beads. Photos to follow.

And speaking of photos-I need to work on how to make the photos in the blog work with my writings. I am failing in this aspect miserably. Think I will ask my daughter.

And for anyone interested the rug hanging on the wall behind us in the photos is woven by Wence Martinez. He is from Mexico and will be having an Exhibition opening at sutherland October 8. We would love for you to join us for this event. More on that later.

Have I mentioned?

This past week I began on a journey of weaving about which I am most excited. The journey began this past spring when a couple came into sutherland during The Studio Stroll in the the River Arts District and asked me to weave them a table runner. Not just any table runner, mind you. They desired a true art piece for their dining room table.

So, after months of acquiring over a hundred skeins of hand-dyed 60/2 silk to "paint" the picture of the piece I have in my mind, I have been to dress my loom. This has been tedious. And if you know me as a weaver, there is nothing I love more than tedious. First, I had to add 400 more Texsolv heddles to shafts 5 through 8 on my Harrisville floor loom at home as my warp has 1050 ends of Habu silk which is finer than human hair. Next I have had to wind each of those 104 skeins of yarn into balls before I will be able to wind them on to individual bobbins. Then there has been the winding of said 1050 warp ends on the warping board and then onto my back beam. I admit I had Karen help me with the latter task and it was a huge help! Then the task of threading began. I am half way through this and plan to finish this up tomorrow. Warping back to front on my big Harrisville requires a fair amount of leaning into the loom, hence neck and back fatigue. I am up and down a fair amount to give my body frequent breaks, which helps immensely.

I am hoping to be able to start weave this commissioned project by the end of this coming work week. I am excited to see the shuttle flying back and forth with these beautiful had-dyed silks.

Thought I would include some photos of the beginning of this piece. The photo with the pencil shows the entire warp, all 1050 threads, and just how fine they really are.

Oh, and have I mentioned I am excited??

My Library

I returned last weekend from a trip to Seivers on Washington Island, WI exhausted but very happy. I traveled with a fellow weaver and we took "Weave, Cut, and Sew" by Mary Sue Fenner. It was so much fun to see 8 of us returning from last year's class and to meet the 2 new students. May Sue, as always, provides wonderful instruction mixed with an abundance of enthusiasm. I admit this year I did not weave the fabric with which I sewed: not enough time and I really need to learn to sew so I just wanted to concentrate on that aspect. Those who actually wove and sewed a complete project while there simply amaze me. Candee's yardage was woven with the more red portion along the bottom of the jacket and the backs of the sleeves as the selvedge of the fabric and then incorporated it into the jacket.

As you know, when attending one of these types of classes all manner of discussion arise. One of the 'new' members of the class was Rina, an art teacher and wonderful weaver and seamstress. We were chatting one day as I was helping her with some problem on the loom, when she happened to mention to me she has a lovely weaving store nearby and gets all her yarn from there. Upon further questioning, she told me she only buys yarns as she needs them when planning a specific project. I was aghast! Seriously, I asked? I am still amazed as I write this that there is a single weaver who actually does this. I am sure her husband must love her very much since she is the only hold-out on the planet who does not own a stash. When I used the term stash she looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted another head. So we further discussed the necessity of her acquiring a stash so as not to make the rest of us look bad. If she follows my instructions her husband may still love her, but he will certainly not like me!

My sewing turned out rather well and I promise to post photos of my projects when Bill gets home to take them. I am pleased with my accomplishments from the class and feel much more at ease in front of my sewing machine after this year's class. I am looking forward to wearing the fruits of my labor.

So, I am back in the sutherland studio this week warping for my next project when I overheard my studio mate, Pattiy Torno talking with a customer. Pattiy was showing them one of her wonderful quilts and her fleece stash, when the customer up and called the stash her library. Eureka! I love a new use of a word.

And as for me, I came home from Seivers with 2 small cones of purple and grey variegated mohair and silk yarn from Habu to add to my library.

A Towel Anyone?

There is nothing like a field trip to renew and replenish. And that is what Karen and I set out to do this past Monday. We headed West towards Dillsboro, NC to meet up with two lovely ladies whom we had met at our Web Chats with Alice Schlein oh these many months ago.

First we stopped by KMR Handwoven where Kathy Roig has set up shop. She is is a fabulous weaver and has wonderful pieces hanging she has woven on her beautiful draw loom. Not only that, but she is a magician in the dyeing of warp yarns. I have included some photos to give you a sense of her work as well as her work space. Needless to say, Kathy almost had to put towels on the floor to catch all our drool. It was lovely in every way::inside and out.

The drawloom you ask? The photo alone does not do this beautiful loom justice. Kathy graciously explained the basics of how it worked (none of which I feel comfortable even trying to relay in this blog-it will take more intense study on my part), even telling us how she learned from a book. Ok, have you gotten the idea I was impressed?

Next we walked just around the corner to see Susan Leveille at Oaks Gallery. The beauty of the rooms with the natural light drew us both right in and we were browsing lovely artisan works in any number of media, from furniture to glass nail files(yep, you guessed it, I have started Christmas shopping already). Did I mention a little shopping for moi as well? A lovely cuff bracelet made from birch wood painted with just the lightest of green fading into an light orange. How could I turn down something in my two favorite colors? As we wandered amongst Susan's artfully placed works for sale, she gave us a delightful history of the building(s) in which her shop is located. She also mentioned she and her husband, his name is alluding me this moment, had done the design of the famous Grovewood Gallery located next to the Grove Park Inn. Again, towels were needed for Karen and me.

In the tradition of weavers, Kathy and Susan took time out of their day to sit, have lunch with us (in Kathy's studio, where we felt quite at home), and talk about all things weaving. These two ladies provided us with enough things to have swirling around in our heads for weeks if not months to come.

After lunch we headed to Waynesville as Karen needed to update one of the photos for a piece in the Blue Ridge Fiber Show Raffle which is currently showing at Textures located on North Main St. This shop provided much enjoyment for the two of us. They have for sale several wonderful woven pieces from none other than Kathy Roig and Neal Howard.

Last but not least we stopped by Karen's other home away from home(aka sutherland) and that is Haywood Community College. She began her journey in their textile degree program there this summer and I wanted to see where to place her in my mental "picture". The ever lovely Amy Putansu was there and was working away in a frenzy of serious fan weaving amid 3 installations to be up in the next few days. The campus and studio seem to be full of energy while at the same time quite serene. Maybe only a weaver can understand what I mean by that. Let me know what you think about that please.

As we headed East we talked non-stop, our creative juices flowing with renewed energy. There is just nothing like a good field trip to recharge the battery.

Thank you much to all the lovely ladies who made our day this past Monday.

Oh, and note to self:: do not wear sandals to Karen's again, her puppy loves to lick toes.

May I Touch?

Several months ago I met up with a friend from nursing school to celebrate a very important birthday. Oh, who am I kidding? At this age they are all important. Anyway, we had not seen each other since graduation for many many years (or should I say decades?) and so it was also a reunion of sorts.

Roxane had invited several friends to join her at her lovely mountain home in Dillard, Ga. I had never been to this beautiful area and it was quite a treat. This was a really fun gathering--there were four of us and the only one who knew everyone was the hostess. There was Laura, from the west coast, and Jeanne, from the North, and me from WNC. It took a lot of nerve to invite three women to come together who had never met before, including me who Rox had not laid eyes on forever. I guess she knew what she was doing as it was as if we had all known each other for years. We did not stop talking. And talking.

You are probably wondering where in the world I am going with this, but I am getting there. In all that talking, Laura mentioned she had seen a metallic silver scarf in a magazine and wondered if I could weave her one like it. I thought that would be the end of that. Nope, she texted and then emailed me a photo. She was relentless.

I was enthralled with the challenge of working with a yarn I had not ever woven. There are lots of yarns I have not used, but this is would be way out of the box for me. So I did my research and ordered what I believed to be the best choice for this project. Silk City came through with a nice weight yarn and when it arrived Karen was at the studio and I was at home. She emailed and asked "May I touch?" The most important thing any fiber enthusiast wants to do. She quickly emailed me back and told me it was lovely. And slinky.

With each step in the weaving process I kept thinking something would become difficult with this yarn, but it never did. It was so much fun and even the slinky part was not hard. The sett is 30epi and I used my favorite 120/1 silk from Habu as weft.

I took the piece into the studio today to show Karen before I shipped it off to Laura. As soon as she saw me she said "I have to wash my hands, I want to touch." And she did. We both decided I must weave another one. Soon. And I will.

My thanks to a new friend who got me out of my silk and tencel box and into something different. I'll let you know what she thinks when she gets the piece in the mail.

Oh, that's Laura and her scarf::separately. Next photo I hope they will be together.

Where Do You Live?

Whenever a customer comes into the studio I am drawn to ask them where they live. I am fascinated by all the different places people come and also why they are visiting the Asheville area.

Today there were the Snow Birds heading back to New York, the couple from Cincinnati who diverted due to the oil spill, the sweet elderly couple from Santa Fe, the Lady from Toronto, another from Minneapolis, Seattle, and more. The reasons for visiting are as diverse as the places from which they hail.

After work I met up with a new friend for dinner while her husband was taking a photography class at A-B Tech and she asked me how Karen Donde and I met. As some of you might already know, we met at Convergence four years ago when Grand Rapids hosted this wonderful event. She was living in New Jersey at the time and I was in Columbia, SC.

When I returned home from dinner, I got to thinking (scary, I know) about how fortunate I am to have met Karen at just the right time and where that has led us today.

She is doing what she loves (well, maybe not right this minute unpacking all those boxes from Jersey) by teaching weaving and starting classes at Haywood Community and I am doing what I love-just weaving and talking to the people who walk through the door. I have had many years of practice talking with people while I was giving outpatient chemotherapy and it is serving me well in this new part of my life. I was thrilled today with the sisters, one a first grader the other a fourth grader, who came in with their mom as part of their homeschooling for the day. I was able to show them about making cloth and it made my heart sing to see how excited they were.

I suppose the point to all my rambling is I am amazed each day by the gift of friends, new faces, and smiles when people walk through the door of our studio. Thank you.

Oh, and in case you are interested I am posting a few pictures of what is either on the loom or what I have recently taken off the loom.

inspiration

Several weeks ago Karen had this lovely idea to weave a piece of fabric to be a representation of Akira Satake's work. She has been so busy teaching, taking her math test for acceptance into Haywood Community College, and moving the rest of her life from NJ here she has not had time to start. And I had not even thought about it until I took this piece off the loom and realized I had done just what she plans to do without meaning to do so. I had woven this piece for a shop in Venice, CA named Roots, where I met the proprietor while visiting my daughter. She expressed interest in my work and so I thought I would weave something within the parameters she desired, and this is what evolved. It is all silk and just lovely.
Thank you Karen for your inspiration. And Akira for your work.

Walt Disney was right after all...

Last weekend Curve Studios and Garden hosted our Spring Open House. If I must say so myself it was quite a success. How often does one's Open House begin with a drive-by featuring the President of The United States. That's what I said: the Obamas were in town and they ate at our local BBQ joint across the street called 12 Bones. So the whole weekend we were all on a presidential high, as it were. (And just in case you missed it, I have included the link to the video our very own Pattiy Torno took of the Obamas ordering at 12 Bones.)

All the artists in Curve Studios and Garden opened their doors on Friday night for a Twilight Party with cocktails and delectable goodies to say thank you to our neighborhood and customers. We are guess-timating there were 400 people or so who stopped by over the course of the evening. A good time was had by all.

We had much foot traffic all weekend long and Karen and I thoroughly enjoyed showing off our new space. Karen was by far busier than I. She had students on both Friday and Saturday for a Just Weave class, where she had the looms dressed and ready to weave. The students came in and after a brief tutorial were off and weaving. Looked to me like they all had a grand time and each went home with a finished scarf they had woven. Aside from all that, Karen also had set up a loom for customers to "try out" if they were so inclined. The two people who seemed to not get enough of this action were middle school kids. So with that in mind Karen is now mulling over having some classes for the younger crowd. The thought of young people wanting to learn to weave just gives me chills!

With all the comings and goings throughout the three days, I met lots of new people and caught up with some I had not seen in awhile. One of my favorite stories of the weekend was a family who stopped by to look around. As is my usual, I asked from where they were visiting. Turns out they were from Keene, NH, just 12 miles from Harrisville, where I took my first weaving class. Not only that, but the grandmother in the group had lived in the little town of Harrisville for a number of years and knew the family who owns the Harrisville Mill. My first loom and my favorite is my 48" 8 shaft Harrisville.

And that is where old Walt Disney had it right: it is a small world after all.

New Pups on the Block

When Karen and I first started talking about opening a shop together last summer, we talked about looms, classes, and yarns. we would each go back home and think and email and Google, and then talk some more about all the ideas swirling around on our heads. Karen even started keeping a notepad in her bathroom because she said all her great ideas popped into her head while washing her hair!

Well, nowhere in all the planning and talking did we ever think we might need more than the four Schacht Baby Wolfs we either had already or would soon purchase second-hand. I don't know about Karen, but I felt like we would be lucky if we filled up one class. Who knew her class list would be so popular we would end up purchasing three new Schacht Wolf Pup to keep up with the class demand? I hope this is not a fluke and the interest will continue. Weaving is such a lost art and the only way to preserve it is to continue educating. In one of Karen's classes she has a student in her early twenties. Needless to say we are thrilled.

And in all this excitement we are pleased to announce sutherland is now an authorized dealer for things Schacht!

Karen worked really hard to get these Pups all put together in time for her class this past Monday. The photo shows her success.

Tomorrow will mark another milestone for sutherland--our first book signing. Alice Schlein, an authority on sophisticated pattern design for multi-shaft and computerizes dobby looms will be joining us from 10 a.m. to Noon. We will have an informal discussion while Alice sells and autograph copies of her latest book, The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms with

Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements®.

Same But Different

With my weaving blip behind me as told in my last blog note, I have gotten back into the 'theme' scarf idea. Not really sure where this plan was taking me, I just started to weave. The first scarf in this series was the one I wove for my friend, Walker and I called it "Sixty Years of Walker". (Ha Ha--it was a birthday gift. ) As I mentioned, I loved the pattern and wanted the series to use this as the basis of the theme.

Next I decided to use a space-dyed alpaca and tencel as the weft with a Gemstone silk from Halcyon in a sky blue color.

Then today I wove like a madwoman--i had my warp chain ready to go as I had done that last night while watching the Olympics. I was using a the same tencel in the warp and weft to see what effect this had on the pattern. As I started I quickly saw the pattern was not nearly as noticeable using this dyed yarn, but i love the tweed-like look it has while still on the loom. I have wet finished the cloth and it is drying. One of my favorite times is when I awake the morning after I have wet finished a piece to see what it looks like, what the hand is like, and finally pressing it to see the finished result. Tomorrow will be one of those lovely mornings.

I am not through with this series and will continue with several more pieces to see how this pattern works with different yarns. As I weave them I will post photos along with my thoughts on how they look.

Let me know what you think as well.

Another Milestone-Curvelinear

I think I can speak for both Karen and myself on this--already in this New Year we have reached several milestones we had not dreamed possible this quickly.

First, we have had the great honor to be included on the Haywood County Arts Council exhibit in Waynesville, NC called Curvelinear. The show opened January 12 and will run for about 6 weeks. We dragged along the Mr. Weavers (aka husbands) with us to the Artists Reception last Friday night and even they had to admit they were impressed. We have to give a big hand to the phenomenal efforts of our curator Greg Vineyard. He spent much time setting up this beautiful exhibit and everything about its presentation exudes his care and artistic ability. These few photos I have posted do not really do his hard work justice, but I have tried.

Secondly, Karen's 8 week Beginning Weaving class is overflowing. Not only did she fill the 3 Baby Wolfs we have for class, she added Hardy, a very enthusiastic new weaver who has his own table loom to bring to class. And just when we were celebrating this achievement, we had not one but two others express serious interest in class as well. So here we are with the delightful dilemma of having students and not enough looms! We are hoping this is not a fluke and the interest continues. It is infectious to see Karen's enthusiasm for teaching new weavers.

Thirdly, and this is very much related to the previous topic, we are already busting at the seams. A problem, but another delightful one at that.

With all these things, in the next few days we will be in serious discussions concerning how to work towards getting these new students all taken care of as well as setting up a dealership with Schacht ASAP.

We have met so many new friends on this new venture who have all helped add to our enthusiasm. Thanks much to all of you here in Asheville and beyond who have encouraged and assisted us. Karen and I are both grateful.

Resolutions

Happy New Year! I'm not much for resolutions, since the only one i have really ever kept is to floss daily; but I have made one for this year. I am going to to do a better job of weaving documentation. If you are a weaver, you know all about this. Every teacher I have ever had has stressed this point, along with sample, sample sample. I'm still not a convert to sampling for sampling sake, but I am resolving to be so for documentation's sake. My method may not be a perfect one, but it is mine and I like it.
As part of the documenting process, I have been taking photos of my pieces to help jog my memory and to post on this blog.
So, as the New Year is being rung in, I am starting my resolution. This piece is being woven with 60/2 tencel hand-dyed in variations of lovely steel greys. The weft will be 120/1 silk by Habu, with a finishing touch of seed beads on each end. I have 40 epi with a width in the reed of 15 inches. I had quite a blast dressing the loom and loved the feeling of the tencel while I was doing it.
So, here is a toast to every weaver who struggles to document well. May everyone's New Year be full of love, laughter, and happiness.

Treadle on...

Weaving Deficit

We never discussed it outright, but both Karen and I came into the studio today and started new projects. When I started to think about it while driving home this afternoon, I decided our actions most likely were due to what I might term "weaving deficit". This can be defined as the following: when life gets in the way of a weaver's need to put into action a project on their loom.

We both have been consumed with the holidays in the middle of getting the studio up and going, as well as talking/planning the future of this fabulous new venture. And Karen has also been wearing the hat of journalist extraordinaire, to which she has been devoting much time.

Any weaver will tell you the process of weaving is very calming and almost 'spiritual'. This is not to be confused with times we want to pull our hair out from threading problems and the like. So today Karen and I had a relaxing day of planning our individual project (ie math), warping the board, and beginning to dress our looms.

Karen is putting a warp long enough for two scarves on: one for her son's girlfriend as a gift, the other for sale. What is most amazing is she emailed me over the Christmas holiday she had dragged (I am almost positive she used that word) her son into a knitting store in Asheville to pick out the yarn. She fell in love with this delightfully soft wool blend in lovely blue/orange dyes. Well, when she showed it to me today, I reminded her I had used the exact yarn from the same store to weave the first scarf after moving into our new studio. Amazing how our creative minds think. And in all the planning did she have enough? Nope, but I had a nice sized ball left from my stash she was able to use. Funny how things work out.

I am putting on some 60/2 tencel hand dyed by Just Our Yarn in shades of steel grey. The epi is 40 and I will be using a 120/1 silk from Habu for the weft. If all that doesn't mean anything to you, then just picture a very light and gauzy piece of cloth and you will have the right idea.

It is always nice to see how a project moves from warping board to loom to completion. Photos help with this and so I have added them for you to see just what our 'weaving deficit" has produced.