Happy Autumn!

Yes, Fall is here ( at least in the Northern Hemisphere) and

it's my favorite season,

cool temps and no WIND! I took advantage of the 90 degree weather on the last day of summer and took the afternoon off. What a great recharging idea, I'm going to keep it up, one afternoon a week just lying about.

While I was relaxing I started wondering what happened to the Mantis that lived in our yard? I think I've become a nature whisperer as this happened with a hawk earlier , Lo and behold , I spy this enormous preying or is it praying? mantis. I snapped the shot and went back to lounging when sure enough along came a hummer!

Oh they had a good 10 minute duel and I really think the mantis had high hopes, but eventually she went on her way and the hummer had a drink and I had a nap.

I have been extremely busy with a student in the studio these last 2 weekends along with dropping pieces to shows , meetings and trying to get weaving done.

Here is Jeanne working away,
and her finished piece!

I am going to The Taos Wool Festival in early October to teach a 5 day workshop and this was great practice.

The idea is to do a sampler that is also a viable tapestry on its own, learning the basics,selvedge to selvedge, I teach dovetail joins because of their strength, (joins are around a warp, not suspended between)

stair steps, 2 different angle slopes and combining the last 2 , a curve.

I teach primarily for students who have floor looms and want to use their beater bars, so it is all line by line, even though my teaching loom is a Shannock upright and we use a beating fork.Here is a picture of tying a

warp onto the dummy warp so I never have to rethread the reed or the shafts! Especially good when you are really busy.

I've got two showsin Santa Fe coming up , one in the Rail Yard District for Santa Fe Design Week that is sponsored by the NM chapter of National Museum of Women in the Arts.

If you have a chapter nearby they are a great group to join.The one here does a lot of lectures and workshops and shows where you have the opportunity to put Tapestry Art on an equal footing with more traditional art forms, and its great for networking.

The other show is an Alumni Art Exhibit at St John's College, also my 30th reunion. Oh boy! I'll have my newest fractured squaresat the railyard and 2 of my math pieces at St John's.No wonder i love Math and Philosophy so much. ( We read and had to understand,ancient Greek and original Papers by Einstein, a varied education for which I am very grateful)

This top photo to left is my newest fall inspired "Fractured Square" and it will be part of a Solo Show I have been invited to do next year at UNM Hospitals prestigious Gallery and I will also be donating a large

( really LARGE and I'm planning on getting larger and larger with my work in general) Fractured Square Tapestry to their permanent collection which is a phenomenal collection!

This little one was done after winding the new warp on as a tester. Yes, the warp went on well, i probably could have started the big piece but better safe than sorry.

Now back to Fall, a time to harvest, a little bittersweet, like the japanese idea of Wabi Sabi, Ephemeral and beautiful , partly because of its fleeting ways.As you sow so shall you reap(spiritually as well as physically so apologizing for those squashed toes and stolen ideas and hurt feelings is in order), the garden harvest was pretty good,Still more beets and zucchini and those winter squashes look tasty. I have lots pesto cubes ready for quick winter dinners so I can weave away, Which I must do now, Back to the loom!