Laurelhurst Fiber Art Studio and Urban Farm
Tablet Weaving, Ply-Splitting, Mindfulness, and Permaculture
A wall hanging created with
students at DaVinci Arts Middle School
Over the past few years, Providence Family Medicine in Southeast Portland has commissioned community artists to work with students to create wall hangings for the clinic exam rooms.
This is my second project for the clinic. For this hanging, I worked with eleven students from Andrew Butterfield's Textiles class at DaVinci Arts Middle School, with the help of volunteers from the Portland Handweavers Guild. Together, we created a wall hanging that combines ply-split braids with a tablet-woven band.
We made 23 ply-split braids using a technique called SCOT (single-course oblique twining). The braids have changing shapes, including curves, zig-zags, spirals, and areas that divide and reconnect. I was really delighted with how quickly the students picked up the technique, and with their creativity -- they invented many new designs! The students liked the portability of ply-splitting, and did much of the work at home on their own.
When all of the braids were finished, I took them home to finish the piece. I set up a tablet weaving warp in my studio, and used the cords at the ends of the braids as wefts to create a header band. The finshed piece is approximately 45" x 36".
The piece was on display at Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Portland during their 2000 Holiday Show. It is now hanging in its permanent home at Providence Family Medicine Southeast.