Category Archives: Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos series of Woven Women mixed media weaving

October 21, 2025 · 5:42 pm

Oh What a Lovely Evening- The Opening of The Oracle of Stillness-Weaving Coherence in the Chaos

The opening on Oct 17, 2025 at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton of my solo mixed media show of Woven Women Tapestries: ‘The Oracle of Stillness- Weaving Coherence in the Chaos’ was wonderful.

I made a wobbly little video after the show was hung but before the lights were set, so some of the pieces don’t show up too well….

Here is the explanation of the show:

This little video by Noreen Crone-Findlay is a glimpse of her solo show of mixed media weaving: The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos. This series of Woven Women tapestries were created by Noreen Crone-Findlay over many years and include many mediums: fused glass, steel rod, steel and copper wire, beading, Teneriffe lace making, Tatted lace, lace and tapestry and narrow band weaving on looms specially constructed for the show by Crone-Findlay, thread, yarn, painting on wood, painting on watercolor paper, found objects, leather work, crochet, wire work, carved Tagua nut, and carved wood. The Oracle of Stillness speaks to the heart about navigating grief, sorrow around personal loss and chronic illness, as well as the shock of living in social and cultural upheaval. Noreen Crone-Findlay works with her dreams, meditations, prayers, poetry, and deep conversation to create Woven Women who embody presence, mystery, magic, The Great Beauty and the Feminine Divine. The Oracle of Stillness Woven Women are immersive, textural, layered and complex. Each one has taken hundreds of hours to complete and invite the gaze of the viewer to listen with their hearts to find the ‘ring of truth’ and point of Stillness int the quiet of the journey ‘Home’. Noreen hopes that you will find a moment of wonder or Beauty in the Oracle of Stillness Woven Women and to follow the complex threads that lead to the very center of our Being-ness. There is love in every stitch, every molecule of each of these mixed media weavings. May they bring healing…. with love. Please go to http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com for more information

Our dear friend, Andrea Gray took photos at the opening, and oi vey, when I was captioning the pics, I spelled her name wrong! For crying out loud! I had one job to do….. sigh… my apologies… its’ GRAY not Grey….

The gallery was packed to the rafters, so it wasn’t easy for her to get the photos and I am grateful to her! ❤

Anyhow here are the pics:

Just a note… they were taken at the end of the evening and I was exhausted, so I do look mighty droopy!

I will keep working on getting photos of the individual pieces up here and on fb and ig.

Hugs all round!

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October 15, 2025 · 5:24 pm

I wove a coat

I have just finished sewing together this coat:

I wanted to make something special to wear to the opening of my solo show- The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos.

I’ve been weaving this fabric on many different looms for about 5 years!

I worked my chops off to finish the last length of it, and then agonized over what on earth I would make with it…. a vest? a tunic? a shirt? a smock? a tabard? ack….

Finally, I settled on a coat-ish, duster-ish, big shirt-ish sort of a thing and cut out slopers and spent a whole lot of hours basting it together, trying it on, pinning new seam lines, basting them, snip snip snip

over and over and over until I was happy with the shapes:

I played around with fitting the various pieces of fabric onto the slopers

And, then eeeeeeeeeeeek I cut out the shapes! Hmmm something horrible has happened to the colors in the photo below… sorry about that!

Then -the long slow process of hand and machine stitching all the fabric components together…

I don’t like the raw edges of hand woven fabric, so I cover them with bias tape:

and hand woven narrow bands:

Every seam is sewn at least 3 and often 4 times (and of course, I zig zag stitched all the raw edges before doing anything at all).

It’s a slow and pleasant process- very meditative and contemplative.

And, of course- it has pockets! Pockets are essential!

Here’s the back:

It’s a very simple construction of an easy going and comfortable coat/duster/big shirt that I plan on wearing for years.

But first… to the opening of my show on Friday night at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton.

Hmmmm…. what to wear under it? Probably basic black shirt and pants, but jeans are tempting, too….

I am pretty sure that I have enough of the fabric left to cobble together a vest, too…

just not this week!

Here’s the link to my show: Harcourt House announcement

Jim and I just got home from the final ‘tweeking’ of the show, and I am so happy! ❤

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October 14, 2025 · 10:52 am

Enough-This Too Shall Pass from the Oracle of Stillness series

The word, “ENOUGH” is a word of power….

It reminds us to be observant- it can signal a sense of contentment, of knowingness that this place, this time, this feeling is lovely and perfect in and of itself.

AND- It can also signal a sense of dismay, of knowing that this relationship, this place, this time, this feeling is totally wrong and must end.

Both ‘enough’s are turning point moments…. One tells us to bask in the perfection of the moment, and the other insists that action must be taken. Both are profoundly healing and life affirming.

We have to move into the ‘Still point’ in our hearts and minds to process each of the ‘enough’s and then

to remember that: This Too Shall Pass. Life moves in swirls, eddies and flow… this too shall pass….

Enough….

This Woven Woman mixed media weaving feels like one of the most important pieces in my “Oracle of Stillness-Weaving Coherence in the Chaos” series.

The ‘Oracle of Stillness’ exhibition is at the Harcourt House Gallery from Oct 17- Nov 22.

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October 12, 2025 · 12:31 pm

Webs of Connection a Woven Woman mixed media piece from the Oracles of Stillness series

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of the year- Canadian Thanksgiving feels very much like a Harvest celebration, as we turn to face the oncoming winter (which has actually arrived for some of us already… shudder) and say heartfelt THANK YOU for all the amazing goodness and miracles that still, astonishingly, surround us!

So HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone here in Canada, and also I hope that there will be beauty and peace and harmony flowing out in unexpected and lovely ways all over this precious planet!


I was thinking about which of the Woven Women in my “Oracles of Stillness-Weaving Coherence in the Chaos” series of mixed media tapestries, wondering… which one says thank you most clearly, and I realized that ‘Webs of Connection’ pretty much says it all….

Each of the pieces in this series is a kind of blessing, a kind of healing and I hope that people will feel the loving intention that is woven into every stitch of them!


They are at Harcourt House gallery (opening Oct 17- everyone invited 🙂 )


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October 10, 2025 · 8:33 pm

A new Woven Woman Tapestry from my Oracle of Stillness series- One breath and then another, one step, then another

Today, I was talking to a dear friend about the incredibly difficult time that she is going through.

I told her about something that has been really helpful to me when I am in a crisis or challenge or other misery…. it’s a powerful, but simple way of getting through the suffering…

I quietly tell myself:
One breath and then another, one step, then another and sometimes, count to 3 and repeat, then repeat again…..

This is the Woven Woman mixed media tapestry that I wove for my ‘Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos”, to illustrate and illuminate this healing practice:

“One breath and then another, one step, then another” is one of 50 Woven Women that I have created over many years for the Oracle of Stillness collection.

Not all 50 of the tapestries have made it into my solo show that is opening Oct 17 at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton (the collection is too big and the space can’t hold them all).

If you are in or near Edmonton on the 17th, please come to the opening- my beautiful husband and 2 of his close friends (they have been ‘The Jim Findlay Trio’ for 21 or so years) will be playing for the opening.

It’s going to be special!

I’ll be posting more photos of the pieces in the show as I can gather up the energy to do it (life with Lupus and Long Covid is a challenge and I have to manage my energy reserves-‘taint easy, but like they say: Tis what tis).

AND… I hope that, in these astonishingly unsettling times, the practice of


One breath and then another, one step, then another

will be helpful to you.

hugs all round ❤

Oh, right! I need to post the link to the gallery! Here it is: Harcourt House Noreen’s opening

The show will be up until November 25, 2025.

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