My tapestry diaries date from 2009 and are an ongoing daily practice. Each day of the year I weave a small area. Sometimes it is simply a color block, while other times the day's entry might have other colors within it.
In 2010 I was away for several weeks at a time, first with a two and a half-week teaching stint at Penland School of Crafts. Later, I spent two weeks at an artist residency. There were other away-from-home times throughout the year, as well. However, the longest time I was gone was in November and December when I was at West Dean College in England, for six weeks of tapestry study.
For my 2010 tapestry diary I decided to represent my "gone" times with empty warps. The color blocks of the days seem to float within the empty days of my travel... empty from my home but full of activity and adventure.
In 2102 I began to consider weaving imagery within each day and did simplified suggestions of hills, buildings, airplanes... and even a turtle I carried across the street one day.
I can look back at the simple images I wove throughout the year and remember the event or the emotion I felt then.
For 2013 I returned to a simple block of color with something slightly different being done with each month. I used hand dyed wool from a sample set made a few years before. My out-of-town days were shown by weaving linen in the space to fill those days... hence, the sprinkling of the linen/tan color throughout the year.
For 2014, I continued to use up the dyed wool that remained from the previous year. I made a change of approach to the weaving each month, yet kept the methods within a weaverly approach in which I wove bands or stripes of colors, or made diagonal directions.
For 2015 I wove individual days, still as blocks of color--but I also wove during each week to show a version of something growing on our property during that season of the year. For instance, January began at the bottom of the warp with dried oak leaves that were still in our yard from the fall. February was represented by four different views of pecans... those were also still in the yard. There was an ice storm in March that brought down lots of limbs... hence, the sticks for that month. Each month brought its own challenge of finding an image that I could show in four different versions.
In 2016 I simplified the image into a monthly one. For the year, I watched the season of change of the black walnut tree in our yard, and made a painting from an aspect of the tree at that time. I also dyed much of the yarn within the month areas with black walnut dye.
Handwoven tapestry, wool, cotton, metallic, linen.
Handwoven tapestry with natural dyed wool weft and linen warp.
Handwoven tapestry. Natural dyed weft and linen warp.
handwoven tapestry
natural dyed wool weft, linen warp
60.5: x 11.75”
handwoven tapestry
61.5” x 14.5”
handwoven tapestry
natural dyed wool weft, linen warp
59” x 11.25”
Handwoven tapestry, linen and natural dyed wool.
56” x 11.25”
During the year I wove separate tapestry diaries for each month. The sizes range from 48” x 2” to 7” x 4”. I used different methods each month, staying consistent to the theme for the month. By the end of the year I realized I preferred to have one entire tapestry to include all the days rather than having separate smaller months.