Sue Lawty in Wichita
The last post of my Convergence 2024 experiences is centered around the American Tapestry Alliance Speaker’s Session and 4-day workshop which followed with Sue Lawty.
Barbara Heller introducing Sue Lawty
First, the Speakers Session. This is the event that kicks off the workshop (usually) with the ATA President speaking, volunteer recognition, announcements, and a slide show of member’s work- followed by presentations from workshop leaders. This year, Barbara Heller, Education Director for ATA, stood in for the President, Shelley Socolofsky.
I don’t need to report on the actual meeting, but I will mention how spectacular Sue’s presentation was! Super inspiring seeing the breathe of work she has done, in spite of the striped wall we had to deal with. I especially enjoyed her hammered metal weavings!
And her Natural Stone installations, both of which you can see and read more about in her book, Earth Materials. Sue’s Instagram account will give you even more eye candy!
For the workshop that followed, the focus was on discovering and getting to know different bast fibers and textural techniques.
I wasn’t sure exactly what was included in the bast fiber category, so in case you aren’t either, here’s the definition from google:
“Bast fibres may be defined as those obtained from the outer cell layers of the stems of various plants. Among the main plants used for the supply of bast fibres are flax, jute, hemp, ramie and kenaf.”
I have to admit, this distinction was lost on me when I prepared for the workshop. I had thought the focus was to be on trying different fibers, not narrowing it down specifically to “bast” fibers. Had my energy not been waning at that point, I might have pulled it together and tried some of the materials Sue had brought for us to try.
But instead, my prep continued to be lacking: I had brought a frame loom wide enough to try out different warp setts and fibers, but left it in the airbnb the first day, so I was stuck with my Saffron (which I had really only brought along to use as a stand for another weaving) It tires me just to think of how many days my sloppiness carried on!
I had also brought a wool warp I’d had for some time and never used - and some different weight linens to try out. Since I was afraid the linen would break on the teeth of the Saffron I went with wool (definitely not Bast!). Oh well. I did have fun working with that in natural-on-natural monochromatic fibers, so I carried on… hoping to catch up the next day and join the others in their explorations.
That night, I got my loom warped with two different weights of linen. Proud of myself, I put it right beside the door along with the projector, lunch, backpack and everything else that was needed for the day. But when I started carrying the load in, I was embarrassed (no- irritated with myself, actually) to discover I’d left the loom behind.
Soooo… I continued on with my little sample and made the best of it by seeing and talking with others more productive than me.
The third day I was ready, prepared, and everything I needed was packed and in my car. But I was out of steam. I made the decision to pack it in and drive home - missing the last two days of the workshop. I heard from others that it was a lot of fun. I did get to see a few people’s accomplishments through other connections. Below are a couple samples from the workshop by Michelle Gannes and Gail Thompson. (Gail was not in this workshop but took the same workshop with her guild later).
oh, and this is my little relic from the class.