Tag Archives: tapestries

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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A small video of my ‘Woven Women’ tapestries

Yesterday, a dear friend helped me to hang some of my ‘Woven Women’ tapestries at the Blue Chair Cafe in Edmonton AB.

They will be hanging at the Blue Chair for the months of September and October 2014.

I took a small video after the show was hung….

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Woven Women- And All Shall Be Well

One of my most favorite prayers is Dame Julian of Norwich’s …

“And All Shall Be Well, and All Shall Be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well….”

This prayer is a mantra that I repeat to myself through thick and thin, through the darkest nights and hardest moments-   we all have them, and they are transformed into a wellspring of compassion, but, oh my, how incredibly challenging it can be at times to navigate them.

Thank you, Dame Julian, for these words to live by…..

I love weaving words, and have done many woven homages to Dame Julian.

But, this is the first time I have woven her prayer in tapestry-

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.crone-findlay.com

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

She is approximately 36 inches tall.

I wove the central tapestry panel on my Mirrix 8 inch tapestry loom at 6 epi.

The side and back panels were woven on my 4 harness floor loom at 12 epi.

On her face, there are bits of sea glass, fragments of pottery and seashells, as well as driftwood.

 

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Woven Women-Asking for Miracles

Night and day for the last couple of weeks, I have been weaving up a storm, finishing Part 3 of  Rebecca Mezoff’s online tapestry workshop.

And, I have just finished: Woven Women- Asking For Miracles, which is built around the sampler that I wove for Part 3:

 

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

The dragon ship on her chest is based on images in the Bayeux tapestries, and the tree of life is based on a fragment of the Overhogdal tapestry fragments that I saw in the Viking exhibition at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, BC in July.

The Overhogdal tapestry was woven with a linen background, with the figures outlined in soumak and the colors filled in with colored weft in a kind of brocade technique.

The imagery in these tapestries is just so marvelous that I find them really inspiring and love sketching elements from them.

For her head dress, bodice construction, cuffs and hem, I used narrow bands that I wove on my double slotted Swedish rigid heddle loom.

Her head, hands, shoulder medalions, and feet are plywood.

I drew, cut out and burned and painted all the wooden elements.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Her earrings are made from beads, vintage buttons and reproductions of Viking coins that I bought in the Museum gift shop.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

 

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

‘Asking for Miracles’ was woven on my 16 inch Mirrix tapestry loom and is about 36 inches tall.

And, that title?

Well…. there are a lot of things happening these days that could use some miraculous energy to set them to rights…

you know, the wars, the devastations that are being wrought on so many levels and in so many ways on our precious little planet.

As I weave, I often meditate on sending out peaceful, healing energy…. the stuff that miracles are made of, after all, so to be honest, I think that when I am doing this, I am asking for miracles…..

and may your life be full of miracles of healing, wholeness, wonderfulness in every way!

Miracles.

Yes, please.

 

 

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July 2014 Tapestry Diary

I’ve been so busy catching up since we got home from holidays that I forgot to post a pic of my July Tapestry diary.

Here it is:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com

The title is: ‘Questions’.

It’s 3 inches wide by 5 inches tall.

I wove it on my wee copper pipe loom at 8 epi.

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Woven Women – Spiral Eyes

A couple of days ago, I posted photos of ‘Woven Women- Spiral Eyes’ in process and with the weaving finished, but still on the loom.  LINK

I was planning on weaving more small diary pieces on the same warp, but- oops!

I broke a warp strand while advancing the warp- ack!

So, I cut the warp off and finished framing her:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www..crone-findlay.com

My thoughts while weaving this piece were

that we simply have to come from a place of compassion….

which is what the spirals represent to me-

spiral in, spiral out.

The eyes, of course, are about seeing….

the blue around her face represents tears,

the green in the spirals is all about hope.

So… that’s what’s woven into a very tiny tapestry.  (It’s 3 inches by 5 inches)

 

 

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Woven Women- May Day in her frame

A few months ago, my wonderful daughter, Chloe Findlay-Harder, bought me some exquisite vintage chip carved frames in our favorite thrift shop.

Oh my! Inspiration!

Weave  tiny tapestries!

Make  moulds!

Cast plaster of paris to make many frames!

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

Well…. it’s been a lot of work, and I haven’t been at all certain that it would turn out…

I’ve had a few fails along the way, but….

WHEEEEEEEE!!!!

I finished the first tiny tapestry (it’s 3 inches by 5 inches) – I posted about it yesterday.

She’s called: Woven Women: May Day

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.crone-findlay.com

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I loved weaving her soooooooooooooooo much that I asked my darlin’ husband to make me a teeny tiny copper pipe loom for weaving the rest of the series.  Bless his heart, he built me a poifeck one, but more about that later….

Anyhow, with trepidation, I painted many layers of paint onto one of the frames, added some woven band to the top and bottom and worked out a system that will keep the tiny tapestry secured in the frame.

And, Voila!

Here she is:

‘Woven Women: May Day’ in her frame.  (The frame measures about 8 inches/20 cm tall by 6 inches/15 cm wide).

The photo goobered on me and doesn’t show the paint accurately.  Ah, well, c’est la vie….

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I LOVE LOVE LOVE weaving these tiny tapestries more than words can say!

Happy dancing.  Yup. 🙂

The only problem is that I love working on the tiny tapestries so much, that it’s hard for me to go back to weaving on a larger scale! oops….

 

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Tapestry Diary tiny Woven Women

As part of my ongoing participation in a year long weave along of tapestry diaries, I am weaving small images for my Woven Women show of tapestries and other woven works.

I have just finished 2 new tiny woven pieces – they were both on the same loom, so I had to finish the second one so I could cut them both off the loom and finish them.

And, here they are: (They are each 11 inches tall).

‘Woven Women: Dreaming of Flowers’:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

and,

‘Woven Women: Looking Skywards’

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

Now that the loom is finally empty, I warped up, using a ‘Four selvedges’ technique.

I have begun a series of very very small tapestries that are 3 inches by 5 inches.

This is ‘Woven Women- May Day’:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

I am making plaster frames for the series of 3 inch by 5 inch tapestries, and have started experimenting with how I will be painting them…. right now, the first one looks like a black blob, so there’s not much point in photographing it, but I will soon.

Weaving the tapestry diary pieces is just pure joy.  🙂

I am working on some larger pieces, too.  Must take some photos….

 

 

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Woven Women – Uncertainty

When faced with challenges, one of the ways I work my way through them is to weave.

This tapestry is the result of dealing with a huge challenge- how to cope with difficult news about the health of my beloved daughter.

This piece is called: ‘Woven Women- Uncertainty’, and she has a little poem….

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com

She’s a mixed media piece, woven in soumak, with inkle bands and spool knitted cords.

I spool knitted wire to encapsulate sea glass, seashell fragments and pottery shards.

Her hands are shaped from wire, and they clasp a purpleheart wooden heart.

She’s approximately 20 inches tall by 11 inches at the base.

And, here is her poem:

Uncertainty

is the trembling bridge

crossing from

Here

to

What if?

Courage

is the

breath

that tears

the quivering shadows

from the heart.

Image and poem copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

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