Hi, Fiber Enthusiasts,
How is it that we come to love fiber and color? Some of us have very early memories of playing with fabric, sewing and experiencing that comforting feeling of spending time with a beloved family member. It is at a very young age, when our imaginations are at their most fluid, we become intrigued by making things.
And so it goes with this week’s featured artist Patty Lovegreen. From very early memories of playing with cut out fabric; color and texture are at the heart of Patty’s felt making and weaving these days. She loves working with fiber because it’s so pliant and easy to create anything. As you can see by the red fox and bird, roving is a base layer that she felts into realistic animals. Yarn, in its infinite variety of color offer exhilarating statements in contemporary tapestry weaving. Scroll down for one such example in blue!
Patty loves the simplicity of a lap loom because it travels so well. It’s sort of like a spinner taking along a drop spindle or a knitter bringing a sock project along. She says, “no matter where I land I do a tapestry suggesting the area around me.” This type of loom is very versatile if you are interested in weft-faced weavings such as tapestry. If you’re thinking about purchasing a table or lap loom, click here for a link to an article from Handweavers Guild of America.
Patty is very involved with the fiber arts community in Northern Minnesota. She teaches and demos at local fiber festivals and gatherings and hangs her work at Gallery North in downtown Bemidji. Gallery North is a co-op fine art gallery. Patty is a member of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and also a member of the Pine to Prairie Fiber Arts Trail.
During the Pine to Prairie Fiber Arts Weekend coming up in early April, Patty will demo needle felting and lap loom weaving. She plans to share Kristin Majkrazak’s studio at 505 Bemidji Ave. Bemidji with Kristin and Keila McCracken.
I hope you can visit the Pine to Prairie Fiber Arts Trail, if not on our kick-off weekend, then sometime when your heart says, “go north!”
Jenny
p.s. Felted air pots–when watering the plant, soak the wool!
