The End of an Era - Part 1 (Spinning - Weaving, Writing & Tapestry Commissions)

This particular era began in 1970 when Don and I got married  and I 

walked into his folks house and there in the living room was his 

mother’s antique Norwegian  spinning wheel.  Since I was a sewer and knitter,

this appealed to me, so Don bought me my own spinning wheel, 

which I still have today.  Yes I did spin and dye my own 

yarn for knitting & weaving.

Shortly thereafter I saw an ad in the newspaper about the 

Sacramento Weavers Guild Open House so we went to see what

 was going on.  Long story short, I joined the group and 

spent over 40 years as a member.

 In 1976 a friend asked me if I would go to a 5 day tapestry weaving 

workshop with her.  I wasn’t interested because I had no background

 in art, my background was in business education with IBM.  BUT 

because she was such a good friend I went, and it  not only changed my life,

 it became my life.  

I analyzed and studied every aspect of tapestry weaving 

that I could get my hands on and one day declared that I was going to 

write a book on how to do tapestry weaving.  There were many historical 

books on the subject, but no “how-to” books.  In 1978 I took my IBM Selectric 

typewriter and went to the dining room table and told my 2 high school 

age kids not to interrupt me, but bring me food upon occasion.

I’ve woven everything from small items (tapestry coasters) 

to large commission pieces like this 87 square foot 5-piece tapestry.  

        The client wanted pieces that reflected the crops grown in 

                          their community… Woodland CA

And I bet I’m the only person you know who has handwoven shoelaces!!!

  I wove this 4' x 5' tapestry in 1980 for Don

and it lives with us in Gold Canyon AZ

Doing commission work was always fun because the clients always had 

some specific requirements.  I’ll show you some of my favorites 

not necessarily because of the design & color, but because 

of the story.  Regardless, it was always my  objective to create a piece 

that was technically excellent, reflected the requests of the client, and enhanced 

the environment for which it was created. 

 

Channel 3 in Sacramento was going to hang the piece in the room where 

customers came to review their ads before they aired on TV.  

They asked that the piece include their “3” logo, included imagery of 

the area (I chose rolling foothills, and the Sacramento River and incorporated

 a feeling of 3 tv monitors with the 2 smaller ones containing the

 CA state bird & flower.)  And it needed to include kelly green 

as Mr Kelly owned the station.   

This was my 60” loom with a tapestry in progress. 

 Due to the vertical lines in the design and the shading techniques I 

wanted to use in the background I wove the piece in a side to side direction. 

 The design is placed under the warp threads and used as a guide during weaving.

The finished piece is about 3' 5" x 4'.

The design lines control the direction in which the piece is woven.  

When you have narrow vertical design lines, they are more smoothly woven

 if you weave the piece in a side to side direction.  This 41” x 56” piece 

was woven as a wedding gift for our daughter.   A  close-up of one of the large 

Tiger Lilies was used for the cover of my 3rd book. 

 

This Northern Lights tapestry was woven for our son. The design was inspired 

by the photos he and I took while sitting in his pickup on a freezing night in

  Anchorage AK.  It was so cold when we jumped out to take a picture or two 

that his camera would freeze up and we’d have to jump back in the truck,

start the engine and “defrost” the camera, not the windshield.  The piece is about 4’ x 7’

When the client didn't know what they wanted, I would ask

them what they liked to do.  Their answer:  being outdoors

hiking in canyons or being near a river.  (4'  x 5')

When I called on an interior designer to show her my work.  She ordered 

2 tapestries for her own home.  This tryptic is 10’ wide and 4’ 3" tall 

and hangs in their entry hall.

In this case client gave me a photo to work from and asked me to add a 

couple of other buildings, including theirs (which is the first 

tall office building to the right of center.  This 5’ x 7’8" piece hangs in their 

conference room on the 3rd floor, overlooking lake Merritt in Oakland CA.

This 3’ 7” x 5’ tapestry lives in NY.  The client selected a design from my portfolio 

that I had woven for another client, but she wanted different 

colors.  I added a butterfly and an irregular border, which she loved.

Don and I were driving along the Blackstone River in NWT Canada, when I 

yelled stop as I saw a moose across the road that I wanted to photograph. 

  When I walked back to my side of the truck I saw this view of 

the Blackstone River just starting to break up.  Sorry you can’t hear the noise!!!

It became the inspiration for this 4’ x 5’ tapestry.  After I had it in my bedroom

 for a number of years I gave it to my granddaughter Megan who was 

born & raised in AK and now lives in Colorado, because it went with

 the color scheme in the master bedroom of her new home.  As you 

can tell, I simplified the design a lot… I wasn’t going to weave all those 

branches.  The piece was woven from bottom to top and I 

“needle felted” the trees on the surface out of wool roving… 

the raw fiber before it is spun into yarn.

The story behind this piece was challenging because the client

wanted a 12' wide piece and my loom was only 60" wide.  So

panels to the rescue again.  The individual pieces are 4', 5' and 3' wide.

And these are the world's largest "Bleeding Hearts" - enlarged

slightly from a photo I took while hiking in CA.   The piece

is about 4' tall and 6' 5" wide.  I wove it for my

wonderful sister-in-law Anna and her husband (my brother Roy).

Many of my designs were created from photos that I had taken.

I often stylized the image to my liking during the design

process.  I wove this piece for myself from a photo I took

on a trip to Hawaii.  The piece is 3' 6" x 4' 8".

Stay  tuned for Part 2 of this 3 part series...