Last year, I wove a series of tapestries that I call, ‘The Fabula Figures’.
Fabula means ‘story’ in Latin… and each of the Fabula Figures is about the power of story.
The one in the photo below is called ‘Fabula Figure: The Storyteller’ and is about 44 inches tall.
She’s one of the later figures in the series.
I had woven a few prototypes for the series before January of 2017, but I really committed to the series on January 1 of 2017, and I haven’t stopped weaving them.
10 of the Fabula Figure tapestries are part of the ‘Faconner’ show that I wrote about in the previous blog post.
Here’s a little video of the Fabula Figures that I wove from January 1 – September 30, 2017:
For many months, I have been working really hard on new mixed media fiber art sculptures.
The 6th Sense is intuition/inspiration/imagination.
These one of a kind art dolls are based on dreams, memories, meditations and contemplations and are an invitation to embrace creativity, healing and wholeness.
They are a combination of tapestry weaving, narrow band weaving, lucet cords, tatting, knitting, wood work wire work and leather work.
Here’s a slide show video of my 6th Sense One of a Kind Art dolls.
Most of the 6th Sense One of a Kind Art Dolls in the video are for sale, but some of them have already sold and gone to live in their new homes.
Last month, when there was a spectacular Super Moon, we stepped outside to admire it.
The gigantic moon looked like it was suspended in the huge trees that line our street.
The image of the Great Tree Mother, rocking the Moon in her arms, rose up in my mind….
and I knew that I had to build one of my 6th Sense one of a kind art dolls.
Here she is:
Great Tree Mother Rocked The Moon in Her Arms:
While I was contemplating how to build the Great Tree Mother piece, my husband and our daughter took the dogs for a walk one morning.
Chloe came home with a wonderfully gnarly branch that had been pruned from someone’s tree and tossed into the alley.
She just knew I needed it…. even though, at that point, I hadn’t told her what I was mulling about 🙂
We have a very deep connection!
It is perfect.
So’s our daughter….
Anyhow…
The faces….
Years ago, my dear friend found a moose antler that had been shed and she asked me if I could use it.
I cut 3 faces from it, and carved them and painted them.
Two of them became part of this piece:
Tree Mother’s face.
She also has a ‘Hidden Face’ that is hidden inside the piece and will never be revealed.
Too bad I didn’t photograph it! Oops…
Here is Moon’s face:
I carved the hand from wood.
I wove the bands on 2 different looms and knitted the grey hand spun cloth of her robe.
All of the 6th Sense Woven Women have 6 pennies incorporated into them, as a metaphor for coming to our senses, and embracing intuition, intelligence and inspiration.
She is 29 inches/72.5 cm tall and the branch spreads out to 15 inches/37.5 cm wide.
She is not for sale.
By the way, she is also a celebration of creative adaptive re-use and upcycling. I love that.
I’ve just finished a new 6th Sense One of a kind art doll: ‘The Love of Trees’.
She’s 16 inches/42cm tall.
I sculpted the face then cast and painted it.
She’s a combination of weaving and knitting.
Above the trees is a mylar mirror.
Like all the other ‘6th Sense’ art dolls, she has 6 Canadian pennies that are a metaphor for coming to our senses, common sense, and the 6th Sense, which is actually a combination of intuition, inspiration, imagination and integrity.
I have been working on new handwoven one of a kind art dolls.
They are a somewhat different approach to my Woven Women Mixed Media pieces.
Earlier this summer, I read a wonderful book, called: A Monk in the Beehive.
The author spoke about humanity needing to come to our senses, and to connect with our sixth sense, which is wisdom, intuition, peacefulness and integrity towards the planet.
This moved me deeply, and I have been thinking about it a lot.
This is how I have woven these thoughts together- in the first 3 of a series of ‘6th Sense’ Woven Women.
Each one is totally one of a kind.
I wove them as contemplations on wisdom, compassion, kindness, peace and peace making, connection, and a longing to care for the planet.
As I created each one, I would hold thoughts of wellness, integrity, and all the other attributes that I mentioned previously.
Weaving is a meditation in motion, and there is love in every stitch.
There is joy and tenderness in the making of the ‘6th Sense’ art dolls.
They are all approximately 17 inches tall and they can either stand and lean on a shelf, or be hung from the woven hanging loop on the back of the head.
Each one has 6 pennies- six cents- to represent the Sixth Sense, in all it’s manifestations.
I wove each of the 6th Sense Woven Women Art Dolls on many different looms, using a wide variety of techiques.
Here’s a video of ‘6th Sense- Intuition’, ‘6th Sense- Deep Peace’ and
‘6th Sense- Listening to The Voice of Wisdom’:
Photos:
‘6th Sense- INTUITION’:
‘6th Sense- Deep Peace’
‘6th Sense- Listening to The Voice of Wisdom’
If you are interested in purchasing a ‘Woven Women- 6th Sense’ One of a Kind Art Doll,
I’ve just finished weaving a new Woven Woman mixed media tapestry. LINK
Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)
I’ve made 3 video tutorials to show how I wove various aspects of her:
How I wove the ‘Galaxy’ circle at her heart: LINK using the Peg Loom
weaving with wire on weaving sticks
How I wove the narrow copper band around her face, using Weaving Sticks: LINK
And, the third video shows how I used a Lily Speed o Weave loom to weave a hexagon, using the ‘Flower of Life’ pattern, with spool knitted cord.
I spent several days shooting a video, showing how to weave the Flower of Life with wire, but the wire just doesn’t show up in the video. Sigh.
So back to the drawing board, and several more days, but this time, using spool knitted cord, because it shows up well in the video.
Flower of Life pattern woven on the hexagon loom by Noreen Crone-Findlay
You can use all kinds of things to weave this pattern that is a celebration of geometry- Lucet cords, wire, thread, yarn, art yarn, roving (use thread or embroidery floss or yarn to tie the intersections), t shirt yarn, fabric strips…. no limits!
By the way: In my etsy shop, there’s a great eBook:
I wove the center galaxy section on a 15 inch peg loom from Dewberry Ridge looms. The dragonflies and star were also woven on looms that I designed for Dewberry Ridge.
I wove the words on my double slotted rigid heddle.
I worked the hand in Teneriffe lace and lucet cords.
It’s 20 inches/50 cm wide and 21 inches/52.5 cm tall.
It took more than 8 weeks of intensive weaving for me to complete this piece.
For many months, I have been working on a new Woven Woman that is based on Rumi’s poem:
‘We came whirling out of nothingness
Scattering stars like dust…..
The stars made a circle
and in the middle
we danced’
I wove the words on the magical narrow band loom that my son and I created- LINK
using a double slotted rigid heddle.
To weave the letters, I graphed out my hand writing and experimented until the letters wove up in a pleasing manner, both technically, and aesthetically.
I also used the dragonfly and star looms that I designed for Dewberry Ridge looms – LINK
And, I included some tatting, too.
I made the face and hands from 1/2 inch plywood and the backdrop from 1/4 inch plywood.
She’s a departure from the direction I have been going with my Woven Women, so I really questioned myself about her.
She spent quite a long time on the dining room table as I moved her component parts from here to there.
And now, completed, she measures 11 inches wide and from the top of the arch to the tassel at her hem is more than 60 inches.
But, I feel really drawn to weave words right now, so I will continue to do more….
I am selling two of my hand carved ‘Story Door’ dolls.
They are each 6 inches tall.
They are fully articulated and stand independently without doll stands, although they are known to play dominoes with other dolls and all fall down without giving notice.
Each of them comes with her hand woven dress and a hand woven shawl.
They are $150.00 each plus postage.
This is The Arbutus/Madrona Tree Story Door Doll:
Her head is tilted up so when she looks up at you quite winsomely.
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 