Tag Archives: hand weaving

Follow the Thread Mixed Media Weaving- Terpsichore

The last couple of years have been really intense as I have been working night and day on two new books as well as new tapestries and woven works.

One of the books is now up online available for pre-order (I’ll post links asap) and one of the series of tapestries is now in the gallery (Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton), awaiting the opening on October 18.

This piece is from my ‘Follow the Thread’ series of mixed media weavings:” Terpsichore- Carmen’s Birds”.

Terpsichore is the muse of the dance.

This piece is definitely influenced by my husband, Jim Findlay‘s commitment to playing flamenco.

I was having trouble resolving the piece, because I knew that she needed something to lift her to completion.

Then, my friend, Carma, who sings and dances with Jim and Susan and Barb in Corazone del Flamenco gave me a beautiful little black necklace with tiny birds, and Voila! Done! The birds were exactly what Terpsichore was needing (demanding!)

She’s at the #HarcourtHouseGallery in Edmonton until November 23.

I’ll post more pics of pieces from ‘Follow the Thread’ soon.

#YEG #YEGflamenco #YEGart #YEGweaving #YEGtapestry

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Handspun Alpaca for ANOTHER new book

HURRAH!  In 2020, my publisher (Stackpole books) will be releasing not just one new book from me (I was hard at work for almost all of 2018 on it), but-

WHEEE-   while I was working sooooooooo hard on the book that will be released in January of 2020, I was also busting my chops on laying the foundation for the NEXT book that I am writing.

And, the good news is that they will be publishing the NEXT book  in the fall of 2020, so most of 2019 will have me hard at work on it.

In fact, I am happily working on it now.

Last summer, my friends, Teresa and Darren Griffith gave me a huge bag of fluffy, fabulous fuzz from 4 of their gorgeous alpacas.

I don’t have a drum carder, so I hand carded and carded and carded it all and spun and spun and spun….

this basket of yummy yarn….

It may not look like much, but there is over a kilogram of yarn in that basket!

I thought that Teresa was brilliant to staple a lock of fleece from each of the alpacas to a card, so I would remember the name of each of the sweet alpacas who donated their loveliness!

And, now, I am joyfully weaving the alpaca yarn and will be including it in the NEXT book.

Hurrah!

and a thousand thanks to Teresa and Darren for their amazing generosity! ❤ and blessings to them both

 

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Butterfly Woman Spreads Her Wings Tapestry

In 2012, I wove a tapestry that was quietly part of a series of tapestries that I have been working on for many years:

In the last few weeks, she has let me know that she wanted to really spread her wings….

So, I wove her a face on my hexagon loom from Dewberry Ridge looms: LINK

I built a little loom to weave hands for her, and stitched on butterflies that I had designed and crocheted many years ago.

I used really thick wire to make and armature for one of the larger butterflies.

And, then, she had wings!

I am so pleased with her, and she is very pleased with me, too!

She’s about 39 inches/100 cm  tall and her wingspan is about 22 inches (55 cm).

Here’s a little video that I made about her:

My book, Peg Looms and Weaving Sticks LINK shows you how to weave tapestries on the peg loom.

If you’d like to know how to weave tapestries on the hexagon loom, here’s a how to video:

 

After a very long, very cold and very snowy and icy winter, I do believe that Spring and Butterflies on their way!

 

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Fabula Figure Tapestries

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:

 

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6th Sense One of a Kind Art Dolls

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.

 

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6th Sense One of a Kind Art Doll- Tree Mother

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:

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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:

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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:

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I carved the hand from wood.

I wove the bands on 2 different looms and knitted the grey hand spun cloth of her robe.

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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.

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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.

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6th Sense One of a Kind Art Doll- The Love of Trees

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I’ve just finished a new 6th Sense One of a kind art doll: ‘The Love of Trees’.

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She’s 16 inches/42cm tall.
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I sculpted the face then cast and painted it.
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She’s a combination of weaving and knitting.

Above the trees is a mylar mirror.

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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.

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6th-sense-the-love-of-trees-7-c

 

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6th Sense Woven Woman Art Doll- The Light of Courage

Here is my latest ‘6th Sense’ Woven Woman one of a kind art doll: The Light of Courage:

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The 6th Sense is actually 3 senses rolled into one: Intuition, Inspiration and Imagination.

We all need our 6th Sense to be working well these days, which is why I am making one of a kind art dolls in honor of our Sixth Sense.

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The pink wire star was made using the Star loom that I designed for Dewberry Ridge looms: Link

The copper wire behind the wire star on her forehead was woven on the potholder loom.

Her face and hands are wooden.

The star over her heart is copper wire that I crocheted:

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Because tatting is so contemplative, I have added some tatted elements that I tatted, using tatting shuttles that I made for myself:

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I wove the Dragonfly on the Dragonfly loom that I designed for Dewberry Ridge Looms: Link

The 6 pennies = 6 cents= a metaphor for  The 6th Sense

I wove the fabric for her on 3 small looms: Inkle, 4 harness Structo,  and potholder loom.

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I made wooden butterfly wings for her back:

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The butterfly wings and dragonfly on the front are symbolic of transformation.

She is 16 inches/42 cm tall by 7 1/2 inches/19 cm wide by 3 1/2 inches/9 cm thick at the base, tapering up to 1 1/2 inches /4 cm thick at the top.

 

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Woven Women: 6th Sense One of a Kind Art Dolls

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.

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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’:

One of a kind art doll by Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com6th-sense-intuition-2-c6th-sense-intuition-3-c6th-sense-intuition-4-c6th-sense-intuition-5-c6th-sense-intuition-6-c

 

‘6th Sense- Deep Peace’

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‘6th Sense- Listening to The Voice of Wisdom’

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If you are interested in purchasing a ‘Woven Women- 6th Sense’ One of a Kind Art Doll,

please contact me

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Thank you for your response. ✨

 

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Weaving the Flower of Life Pattern on a Hexagon Loom

I’ve just finished weaving a new Woven Woman mixed media tapestry.  LINK

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

I’ve made 3 video tutorials to show how I wove various aspects of her:

Peg Loom Circle with outside band (c)

How I wove the ‘Galaxy’ circle at her heart: LINK  using the Peg Loom

weaving with wire on weaving sticks

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

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:

LINK

(Lily Speed o Weave patterns and designs)

Another YouTube video for a different  Lily Speed o Weave tutorial :

Happy weaving!

 

 

 

 

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