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and he’s an origami tortoise named Lafayette. He really does a tremendous job of guiding my shuttle. More than one would ever expect of a little paper reptile… but one must always remember to expect the unexpected in the studio. It is the place where all magic is...

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Just another Friday night in the studio. I’m soaking, peeling, & drying out thin, translucent layers of tree bark from a trunk that washed up on the Washington coast. It’s just occurred to me that what I’m really doing is stripping away from the growth layer just underneath the bark. Growth layer from a dead tree…”Oy”, that means the goo I’m covered in right...

I’m not sure why or at what point during the making of this piece I felt the need to fashion myself a headdress. Looking back it just seemed like it needed to be done. Yup, that’s how things roll in this studio. The piece pictured here isn’t actually complete so who knows what kind of voodoo will will still need to be whipped out...

Over the last two weeks Caley & I have been working on merging our home and studio into one supremely satisfying live/work space. Caley was a rock star. While I recovered from the flu he did virtually all of the heavy lifting. Thanks to his super strength & endurance we may now live surrounded by our work and immersed in what we...

Woven sketches Humanity’s base connection to nature is tied to its most fickle and powerful phenomena. It is not the stagnant landscape that reflects our often outrageous internal worlds. Rather, it is the meteorological and geological forces at work on land, city, and sea through which we personify our emotions & thoughts. Using plant & animal materials, I weave rustic textures of the earth...

I never paid it much thought before, but recently after watching a movie, I realized that I have almost super human capabilities when it comes to the suspension of disbelief. Let me tell you, it is epically awesome. Maybe I should be more concerned that I get so completely lost in made up worlds & stories but I glean far too much pleasure from...

Sometimes it takes years for an experience to come to the forefront again & shape your future for a second time. Like reading a book twice, years apart, each time you glean a much different understanding and it has much deeper effect. That’s been exactly my experience with...

When I weave I get into an unbroken rhythm of thought. It brings up memories & thoughts that live between my mind’s youth & adulthood.  In that state I seem to be protected from the disillusionment that comes with being an adult, somehow suspended between anticipation & memory. Both work in much the same way, in anticipation we await all of the best potential...

The latest finished work to come off of the loom: I have been thinking a lot about the Hopi creation story as I weave and would like to share it.  Spider Woman’s story: In the beginning there were only two: Tawa, the Sun God, and Spider Woman, the Earth Goddess. All the mysteries and power in the Above belonged to Tawa, while Spider Woman...

There is a heady feeling of possibility in the studio tonight and so much progress has been made.  My belly is full of wine & sweets, thoughts about serendipity & randomness are buzzing in my mind, & in my heart…there sits an amplified mixture of hope & worry. For me, the tone for the day was set by a single line  “And the day...

Finished the weaving that I started before leaving for the San Juan Islands. I came home with a renewed vigor that I’m applying toward the series. The warp for the next weaving is already prepared so that I may begin tomorrow. Feeling alive ~ Inspiration achieved ~ Perspiration...

weave 1 |wēv| verb ( past wove |wōv|; past part. woven |ˈwōvən|or wove) [ trans. ] • make (a complex story or pattern) from a number of interconnected...

“Weave-tastic” “Weave-a-licious” “Be-weave-it” Behold, loom number two…and they said “it couldn’t be...

What a total contraption, right? This is my new loom “Giuseppe” or “Beppo” for short. Somebody designed this little guy just for themselves & set about making him from scratch. I’ve never seen a little loom like him before. He’s a table top tapestry loom with 2 heddles & a weighted beater bar that raises & lowers by a pulley. Even the gears are...

I’m taking a beat to learn more nautical knotting, basket weaving, & net making skills so that the structures of the fiber sculptures that I am planning will be self supporting. Right now I’m making some very lumpy technical samples (like the one above) as I hone the skills. My hope & intention is that these techniques will not only create the supporting structures...

This weaving ended up being special for me, one that feels like I’ve brought a little part of my internal world out to live in my everyday life to help reconcile the two. It was meant to be my Christmas gift to Caley but it took so long to finish that it’s now a present to celebrate the New Year. It’s only appropriate, we...

This weaving is still a work in progress but it’s moving fast so I expect it to be finished in a few days. I’ve really been with this one for the long haul. It started about a month ago when I constructed the loom. I use the term “loom” loosely. It’s more like a frame and some nails whacked into it which has slowed...

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