SEASONS OF A LIFE is completed and thankyou to the Dufferin County Museum for giving me the opportunity to show my work in 2016.  The kimonos were well received and since the show ended some of them have gone on to be juried into shows in both Canada and the United States.
This was an incredible project for me and a wonderful way to celebrate the 70 years  of my being on this remarkable planet.
Thankyou to everyone who came out to celebrate with me.
Thanks to the Dufferin County Museum & Archives; Dufferin Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of this project.
PictureFor weavers this is the very basic winding the warp. For those who do not understand the process, each thread has to be measured out before it is put on the loom. In the case of my kimonos, I weave 30 inches wide by 30 threads per inch, in other words, I have to measure out 900 threads and in this case each thread needs to be 28 yards long. I am using 2/20 silk as warp and weft.

PictureOnce the warp has been wound on the loom next comes the threading, first through the wire heddles then through a reed to space the threads.


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The loom is finally set up, tension has been checked and weaving is about to begin. This is a very basic weave structure, tabby which means that one thread goes over and one under. The reason I use this structure and have my sett so close is to be able to withstand the constant abrasion on the surface of the cloth when I surface design the completed fabric. A pattern in the cloth would take away from the patterning I intend to put on this cloth as well as give me very sharp lines and a sturdy canvas on which to work.
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THE WEAVING HAS NOW BEGUN. While it seems quite simple and it should have been, the silk gave me a great deal of trouble and having discussed it with the supplier we came to the conclusion that because the sett is very close the silk tends to stick and therefore winding one thread at a time was the problem. Normally I wind 4 threads as one, lesson learned. I could only advance the warp onto the back beam 4 inches at a time, and when you have 28 yards to wind. Normally I would have cut off and rewound but silk is expensive and the budget just would not allow for that. It taught me to be very patient and to heed that small voice that constantly speaks to me when I try something new.
I would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario