Tapestry  weavers… Do you leave a mark?

Painters do it, sculptors do it, even little kids do it, why don’t we do it?

Let’s do it! Let’s leave our mark!

The British Tapestry Group is developing a database for signatures used by tapestry artists. You can access it here. I first heard about this several months ago in a weaversweaversbazaarbazaar newsletter.

It was a lightbulb moment when I read the article. Really. Why haven’t I thought to do this? And why are there so few listed in the database?  I counted 17 entries from 13 tapestry artists. Thirteen! In hoping to broaden the conversation, I did a recent post on the American Tapestry Alliance’s members Facebook page, Let’s Talk Tapestry, asking for everyone to share their marks and there were quite a few responses not included in the database.

I hope in writing this that I can encourage tapestry artists to do just that. Add your mark to the database.

And tapestry artists that don’t have a mark yet, like me, let’s create one!

Apparently, I’m not in the minority here, either.

weaversbazaar October 2020 newsletter published a poll asking weavers whether they use a mark or not showed an overwhelming majority of “no, but I think I should”.

Of those featured on the database, some tapestry artists have more than one signature. Others have stuck with one form with slight variations over time. Still others have come up with more abstract signatures.

Nearly all the artists in the database use their initials in one form or another. Some as a jumping off point to abstraction- and others sticking with the actual letters.

Donna Millen, Michael Crompton, Ros Wilson, Eve Pearce, Paulette Furnival, and Lin Squires are just some of the weavers I show here that use their initials. Both Michael Crompton and Eve Pearce have variations over time or piece.

Donna Millen

Donna uses her initials with a smaller case d and upper case M elegantly blended together. She says “It is not easy to weave and I am attempting now to make it a more subtle part of the background…”

I love the way the colors are incorporated into the above piece.

Lin Squires

Lin juxtaposes her initials here in a geometric and what she feels is an “easy to weave” way. She adds that sometimes the space under the top of the S is left open and sometimes completed with a contrasting color.

Ros Wilson

Ros Wilson uses a special technique to make her mark. 

She says “I weave my mark (my initials) in a raised surface texture outline technique. I use a color the same or close to the background colour as I like the subtlety of an unobtrusive mark.” 

(This mark, naturally, peaked my interest, as I use this Soumak technique often in my own work.) Beautifully done!

You can see more of her work, such as the image below (and notice her mark), on her website.

Michael Crompton and Eve Pearce both have marks that have evolved over time.

Michael Crompton

Michael uses his initials in a way that changes year by year.  From 1970-2000, the number of warp threads to MC indicate the year (for example, 85 threads indicate the year 1985) as shown in the photo of the composite image.

In 2000, he changed his mark to extending the bottom of the C by one warp each year. Then, from 2013 on, the initials “begin from the edge allowing one warp thread for each subsequent year.”

Visit Michael’s website to see more of his images.

Eve Pearce

Eve Pearce began with a lower case script of her initials: “esp” which later evolved into just the first initial - e- (as shown in the composite image above) “especially when there was a good way to incorporate it into the border of the design.” She adds

“Currently I use a round, black circle which represents “Black Moon,” the Buddhist name given to me by my Zen teacher when I became his student. I enjoy incorporating this circle into the tapestry’s imagery so, unlike the initials which always appeared in a lower corner, the black moon may appear anywhere - in a cloud, in a dragon’s claw, …”

You can see a few other images of Eve’s work on her ATA Artist page here.

Paulette Furnival

Turning to a more abstracted version, Paulette Furnival’s signatures are depicted with her initials using a wrapping technique. She adds that it is most often woven in, but on smaller tapestries she sometimes adds her mark later.

Michael Rohde

Michael Rohde has a very unique approach, which blends perfectly with his conceptual approach to tapestry. It doesn’t appear to be based on his initials, although I did not verify that!

He writes…

“My mark is a short row of contrasting color at the lower right edge of the turned hem of a tapestry. The lower (and upper) edges of the tapestries have a row of knots around the warp ends and the color change is in them.”

If you look through Michael’s website, you will readily be able to spot his signature! Love it!

Many thanks to BTG and weaversbazaar in getting this project together. You can read more articles, including an introduction to weavers’ marks along with the rich history of marks here.

Ok, tapestry artists, advanced to beginners alike, we have a tall order to fill!

Let’s flood that database with entries and get our mark out there!