So... a few weeks back I did a thing.
A pretty brave thing. I submitted five pieces of crocheted wall art for a juried art show. My tapestries.
You remember this one?
The Freyja Tapestry was featured in Spin Off Magazine in the summer of 2021. They called it "A New Twist on Tapestry." You can read the article I wrote for them online or you can buy the magazine to get full written instructions for making your own handspun tapestry.
She was such a beauty!
I loved everything about making this piece. From the spinning (the colors were SO rich and dynamic) to the crocheting, to the finishing for display.
Absolutely adored it.
She now lives with a friend of mine in Arkansas. (One of my first collectors!)
The next tapestry I finished was a much smaller one.
This is my DREAM tapestry:
The gold threading reads "DREAM" and "BIG" using the A1Z26 cipher. My son has, of course, claimed it for his own.
Turned out, though, I really didn't love doing the work for the threading. Sewing is, after all, kind of my nemesis!
So even though I had big plans for getting nerdy with "hidden" messages worked into some more of these pieces, I decided that it was actually not my jam and mostly abandoned that idea.
I did get some silver threading worked into one other tapestry, though, before I gave up on the idea altogether, and this one reads CREATE:
The yarn was spun using some Corriedale that I bought at a fiber festival during my earliest days of learning to spin, when I was afraid to splurge too much, but it was kind of in my favorite color.
I think it turned out rather lovely, don't you?
The thing is, I didn't actually finish this piece until I decided just last month that I was going to submit it for the art show!
Same goes for three of the other ones. Here's a picture of me dropping all five of them off for jurying!
Gosh, I was so nervous. But excited!
See, I've had a dream of being in an art show ever since I learned that juried art shows were a thing, way back in the early years of my marriage, maybe 2010ish? (Speaking of which, our 15 year anniversary is coming up later this month!)
And this year?
That dream came true.
I'm in an ART SHOW, y'all!!
Fiber Hawai'i 2024 will be open to the public from May 3rd through June 1st at the Downtown Art Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Be sure to stop by to check it out if you're in town!
Now, I know, I know. Hawaii isn't the easiest place to get to, even for something as exciting as an art show all about fiber.
So I filmed a video walking through the gallery.
It was my intention to only use this video as super sped up footage for a reel on Instagram (which you can see here), but I had a few requests to see the full length normal speed version, so I did my best with it despite the fact that it was filmed vertically. I also put some music to it!
Come take a walk with me?
Music is by Scott Buckley, including 'The Vision', 'The Call', and 'The Spaces Between' from the Monomyth album, which he so generously shares under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
You can listen to the entire Monomyth album on YouTube or visit Scott's website at www.scottbuckley.com.au—he has a wonderful music library!!
(Photograph of Honolulu by me.)
About the Art Show
Fiber Hawai'i 2024 is a juried art show featuring works that are “In, Of, or About Fiber” and yes, that means that some pieces aren't made out of fiber at all! It's a fascinating collection of art and a delight to experience.
You can read more about the show at https://www.hawaiicraftsmen.org/Fiber-Hawaii-2024
It was juried by fiber artist and educator Cameron Taylor-Brown. She also offered a presentation after the artwork intake called Fiber Trails, where she shared pictures from some of her travels that inspired some of her recent collections of art.
My son's favorite was LAVAfolds, which was inspired by a visit to the Galapagos with her family—her son took the picture that became a part of the artwork!
Learn more about Cameron's work on her website at https://www.camerontaylor-brown.com/about
There was also a feature on the exhibition on local news station Hawaii News Now, if you'd like to hear her speak a little bit about the jurying process.
And yes, I have not one but two pieces included in the show!
What a surreal moment this was!
And in some ways they look so SMALL up there on that wall!
But during the juror walkthrough, Cameron said she particularly enjoyed the color play between these two pieces.
And so. With that. I am now officially an Artist with a capital A.
How about that!?
Let's have a look at some of the other artwork in the show, though, shall we? These are ... first impression pictures. Pictures of the pieces that caught my attention on my first walk through the (increasingly crowded) gallery on opening night.
I'm pretty sure I could spend hours there! And I definitely missed some things.
Which piece(s) spoke to you? Where could you spend endless time lost in the intricacies of color and textures??
Comment below and share your first impressions!
Oh and since I already showed you a closeup image of CREATE, perhaps I should close with one of the other tapestry included in the show?
This is Be Merry and Bright, a field of red with flecks of gold, a gradient of different shades, like the crescendo of laughter on Christmas morning, the delight of a child, the wonder of unrestrained joy:
Cheers!