Spring is here, and like most plant weaving folks I’m in the midst of all the designing, constructing, gathering, and preparing of materials that the season demands.
But before I rush off to all the new explorations of materials, and adventures in learning through art-making, I’d like to express my gratitude for the work I was able to complete this winter.
I enjoyed weaving “Lopez Wing” for a wonderful couple who recently moved to Lopez Island. Birds and their ability to take flight have always captivated me, and in my mind represent a place of transitional existence, somewhere between the material world and the spirit world. I used three of my favorite materials: ornamental plum limbs, inner bark of the Western red cedar, and Yew limb buttons. The size is approx. 60″ wide x 20″ tall x 2″ deep, if hung horizontally, but the piece can be oriented to the space in any number of ways. I had a lot of joy in the weaving of this through some of the colder darker days of winter. Thank you for this commission!
Another project I truly enjoyed was learning to rush an antique chair seat in the original traditional materials. I used all of the cattails I had planted in a small patch in our garden, and harvested each year for the past ten years. I was surprised that the seat required so much material, but by the time all the pieces were twisted and compacted, with all the trimmings and ends used as stuffing, it became such a soft and comfortable seat! Many thanks to the client in New York for providing me this opportunity to learn another traditional plant fiber skill!
And thank you to a flower-loving friend in Mossy Rock, Washington, who suggested I make her a quart-jar vase-cover for her flower arrangements. I kept it simple, so the beauty of the cedar could compliment the flowers.
And another personal project my husband and I are very happy to have done is a new roof for this sweet old house!
Now into the garden we go!
