About my work
I am an artist who observes and responds to my surroundings for inspiration. My primary artistic medium is handwoven tapestry, an ancient method of working with fibers to create images. As I seek images and ideas to interpret into tapestry I experience my surroundings as closely as I can. Photographs, sketches, paintings, and writings all are part of the research I put into my work.
I have been living in the southern Appalachian mountains for most of my life and my surroundings are filled with the natural forms of woods, streams, and fields. My eyes are frequently drawn to the myriad details of the landscape and many of my tapestries are based on aspects of those details, simplified and enlarged in a weaving.
I was interviewed for HGA’s Textile & Tea on April 12, 2022. Here’s a link to that.
Another interview was sponsored by American Tapestry Alliance and San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles November 9, 2021, Here is the link to the talk, “The Nature of Things: How the Natural World Guides My Tapestries.”
Here’s a link to Vivian Liddell’s podcast, Peachy Keen. Vivian and I had a conversation for Episode 20: “Tommye McClure Scanlin—on Teaching, Learning & Tapestry,” November 19, 2018.
A short video of my tapestry weaving process is at this link.