No Slowing Down!

My fibre class at ACAD is really motoring along and I think I will be writing about it well into the new year! Have you ever had one of those days where you can't get any work done because of so many interruptions? That was today!

Just as I got into the groove of loom weaving, Jane, our instructor, told us about a "life after ACAD" talk given by three recent grads - Brook Fung, Andrea Strand and Anne Fetterly. All three are finding success offline and online in textiles related careers. The point that really stayed with me is that there's weird lull that happens after graduation - suddenly you're out of the protective art school cocoon and into the real world, where you may not have an artsy job or artsy friends.

Then there was about another hour of weaving. Our looms are really neat and simple - just copper pipe pieces put together to make a rectangle. Many people probably learned weaving in grade school, but it's so nice to have proper instruction in it. I have added new words to my vocabulary such as shed, warp and weft. A childhood problem I always had was weaving that bunched up in the middle. It's easier to work the pattern in small sections. Our group theme for weaving is "dangerous weather" and the idea is to play with colour and simple shapes. No Bayeux tapestries here yet! I'm really envious of the second year students who get to use the real looms. It's easy to get bug-eyed and weave the wrong pattern.

It's scary how fast I'm falling in love with textiles. I always have loved fabric and wool, The other day I looked up beginner tabletop looms and I think - I think I might just as for one for Christmas :-)