Treasure Pouches woven by kids!

FestivALL in Charleston, WV was so much fun this past June. I had the pleasure of teaching weaving to children on cardboard looms I had made for them. 

What is GREAT is that some of the kids I taught have sent in photos. I also included other photos to show you what we did those fun days in late June.

In two days in I introduced approximately 120 children to weaving. That's a lot! I am so happy I was a part of FestivALL. It was a great experience and I would completely do it all over again!  Enjoy!

Completed Treasure Pouches! 

Made by Xander, 5-years-old, Charleston, WV

Made by Emma M., WV

Another made by Emma M., WV

Made by Maggie, 4-years-old, Lexington, KY

 

Here's some photos from two days of fun!

Setting up for the crowds!

My Mom measuring out some of the yarn.

Starting at the bottom of the loom and going around, up and over...

Here I am working with the kids and parents.

Kid working hard with their parents assisting.

Close up of a child weaving on the cardboard loom.

Working on the flap for the pouch! Very close to done.

A child working on the flap for the pouch. Almost done!

Ready to slip off the loom!

One of the kids stayed pretty much all day and here's what she did! 

Almost done! 

Completely finished. She had the biggest smile!

Remembering Fall Wall Hanging - Hand-dyed wool yarn

When I was in grad school I had the wonderful experience of taking a spinning and dyeing class. What a world of information I learned, and was completely turned on to dyeing yarns. The class focused on wool, and I was amazed at the amount of colors we came up with. This is nothing new. People have been dyeing wool and other fibers for centuries, but what fun it was for me.

Here are some examples of what I learned. I created these cards as a recipe box to keep, and glad I did that I seeing I want to do this again soon!

Hand-dyeing yarn is a slow process, but a very rewarding one. You don't have to do a project like this one where I used many, many colors together. You can simply dye one skein of yarn and weave, knit or crochet a scarf or any project you choose! With dying your own yarn you get the exact color you like and that is the benefit once you know the technique of which natural dye to use. No one else's art will look like yours because you benefit from the knowledge you gained in dyeing wool. 

"Remembering Fall" is simply an elegant addition to your home. Creatively hand-woven in an eight-harness twill pattern. Each color has been dyed individually by me to achieve the color palette I desired. I designed the weaving as I wove it grabbing the color I thought I wanted to go next to the other and so forth. I finished the wall hanging by twisting the tassels.

The color palette is reminiscent of the soft dull hues of fall. Think of walking through a field, forest or along a pond for color inspirations for this art piece during an early fall day.

This should be hung in your stair well or on a wall away from direct sunlight or artificial light so that the colors do not fade. It could also be a wide table runner or placed over another piece of furniture like an upright piano as a runner. "Remembering Fall" was lovingly created to enhance your home and bring joy to your life every day.

The size of this wall hanging is 22" (approximately) x 72" (approximately - tassels included).

The Best Thing

The best thing happened to me on Saturday. A little guy (around 5 years of age) who I had taught cardboard weaving to came up to me at a rock concert for kids and told me how much he worked on his coin/treasure pouch project. His mom told me how much he really loved it! I was so happy to meet her and see the pride in her eyes. He finished it for his art show that he is having with his classmates in pre-K today. He even named his treasure pouch. How fun!

 

(In the picture I have removed the artist's name. You can still see what he has titled it and what his asking price is. This is a pre-K class and they are learning how to count money and give back change, etc. at their very own art exhibition. His parents will be "buying" this from him.)

 

I am enjoying teaching again. Just a little here and there. I don't have to get through to every child ~ not at all. This past Saturday I really did learn that a student I was teaching last Wednesday totally got into weaving.  This is what makes me happy and I am still smiling.

 

The fun thing about this coin/treasure pouch is that it involves several processes that are core to a child's everyday education. It teaches eye/hand coordination, planning ahead to the next step, the concept of opposites and then of course fine motor skill. It encourages concentration and focus. It is a project that shows the child instant results as they watch their weaving grow into what they are creating. They then begin to understand how something is made. Which then will lead to understanding and questioning how other things are created or made. Logic is never ever a bad thing. Right?


What I love most though is that this "technology" is as old as man practically. People have been weaving for a long, long time. It's a very simple process and yet it takes effort and persistence. Of course it came around because of necessity. People needed shelter over their heads, clothing on their bodies, and items to carry their goods or even babies in.

We take weaving for granted a lot today. Our jeans we wear are woven, not knitted. Most fabric for our furniture, sheets for our beds, curtains for our windows and even our tents are woven. So we still are using weaving in the same way, but today it is done for us. We do not have to create that which we need. We go buy it. Unless you are me and enjoy making what I want!

So, for me just planting some creative ideas into the minds of others in order to understand a process I am in love with ~ some would probably say obsessed with ~ gives me a lot of joy. Once you understand the process and master the technique then your creativity kicks in. New and beautiful things start to happen. Things you dreamed about creating now become reality and you can then share them with the world. This is what art is at it's core and what drives me.

Not too long ago I decided I would get back to what I love and I came up with some plans.  I am so glad I did. This little kid absolutely has made my year and stole my heart. I can't wait until I teach the next time to see what I learn from those I work with one on one. Then see what they create and take away from the project. Learning is life long and the best thing in my opinion.

Born to Create

Often I get this question, "When did you decide to become an artist Valerie?" 

I suppose at some point I did have to make the decision to actually be an artist in this life, but honestly I feel I was born an artist. That may be a bold statement, but it's exactly how I am. I was born this way. I know it and have felt it all my life. 

Very early in my life I began creating. I was a kid that just picked up pencils, crayons, or whatever I could find and manipulated materials. I created with clay out of the creek that I would gather myself. I drew in the dirt. I did whatever I could to use my hands to make something, anything. Sewing along beside my grandma, great grandma and mom gave me my first exposure to fibers.

Encouraged by my family to create I drew or painted my world around me. My grandmother put me in front of an easel with paintbrushes, oil paints and turp at age 4. Exposure to materials early on in my life made it a lot easier for me to pick them up when I got to school. I felt comfortable and did not hesitate in picking up and trying new ideas because of it. I won art competitions or placed in each show I've entered throughout my childhood and up through college because I was not intimidated to try.  I knew how to manipulate the materials to create what I was seeing in front of me. or what was in my mind.

How do I continue to nourish this creative energy though? I've dabbled in many different mediums with many different tools in school through college graduate classes. Once I entered into grad school I had to choose my main focus as an artist. Many, many people thought I would pick painting as my concentration, but I did not. I picked weaving (textiles) and landscape drawing. 

To this day I do not regret this decision. I feel a complete connection to fibers/textiles and I've always enjoyed drawing. The connection is to that I physically touch. I enjoy feeling materials and tools in my hands. I love smelling the newness of unwashed wool with the lanolin intact that is so very soft to hold. I feel the threads I pass through the shed of my loom as I throw the shuttle from left to right and back again. So it's a very hands on approach that I like and makes me feel good as I create. This is what keeps me coming back over and over again.

I am also drawn deeply to process. Not necessarily the beginning or end of a project/product, but the in between of it all - be it knitting, tatting, sewing, weaving. Watching the cloth grow with each move I make, each loop I knit, each pass of the shuttle, or each treadle I change with my feet to create a pattern. I feel most alive with this movement and somehow a part of me is in every single thread I pass. That's the connection that also makes me want to perfect a technique I am working on each time I set down to go about creating a new piece.

Some people never really know what they want to be in life. I am one who knew as soon as my feet hit the ground running. I believe this as a gift and feel an obligation to be committed to perfecting my art as I walk through this life. It's really as simple as this - I was born to create.

My Great Grandmother's Hands

I often think of how much my great grandmother, "Ninnie", used her hands. She was an avid quilter. She also sewed, crocheted and tatted. As a child, a young lady and a wife she made every stitch of clothing for her family. She would create patterns out of newspaper based on drawings in the Sear's catalog. Blankets, sheets, clothing were made or mended also. She tatted making beautiful lace for her graduation dress from school. Her's had the most lace on it.  She could make anything even with three children clinging to her everyday.

She lived on a farm all her life up until she was well into her 80's and worked with chickens, pigs, cows, etc. She had gardens to die for: an acre of flowers, an acre of tomatoes, an acre of berries and fruit trees. She baked with the best of them too. This lady's knowledge I wish I had. She knew exactly how to bring a plant back to life when others would have gladly toss it in the compost. She knew what nutrients each plant or flower needed. She was amazing to me.

Her hands were strong and precise. Every stitch was perfect. Everything she touched seem so effortless. And when you are young you think it is effortless until you try to do what you see and realize that those hands are a work in progress. That those hands worked and worked until they got whatever they were doing right. It took years to perfect some things like the perfect stitches that she would quilt. All hand-pieced, hand-quilted quilts using clothing from years past. And nothing simple, no, not at all, but all very beautiful in their own accord.

By the time I came along her hands were rough and gnarled from arthritis.  Age spots and wrinkles graced her hands. They looked like they had worked from sun up to sun down all her life. To me they were beautiful.

I look at my hands now and think the wrinkles are starting, the spots aren't there yet.  I think of all my hands have learned to do and still learn everyday as I explore the fiber arts I love. Repetition will take it's tole on them and maybe someday someone will look at my hands as I looked at my great grandma's and think: simply beautiful.