Sarah Swett

There are no tapestry police: Sarah Swett and Rebecca talk tapestry

There are no tapestry police: Sarah Swett and Rebecca talk tapestry

Sarah Swett and I had a fun time talking to all of you on YouTube as we discussed tapestry weaving, Fringeless four-selvedge warping, and not nearly enough about our dogs, though we were reminded to bring them into the mix! The recording of the chat is below and I’ve included some “show notes” below that.

Spending time with people who are deeply passionate about making, materials, and playing with ideas is invigorating to me and that is why people like Sarah are part of my world. We talked about many things mostly in the realm of tapestry weaving. We talked about the value of limitations and how important playing is to learning and growing.

Part of my mission in teaching tapestry weaving is to remind people that though this is an art tradition with a lot of history behind it, there are no tapestry police. You can make whatever artwork you want and utilize any fiber techniques you want to get there. Sarah is a fantastic idea of someone who uses the techniques of tapestry to experiment with all sorts of fiber ideas. Enjoy the chat and if you want to join the class which is full of more Sarah wisdom with some nuggets from me as well, there is a discount code in the video that is good a bit longer for 20% off.

Talking with Sarah: a live online event with Sarah Swett and Rebecca Mezoff

Talking with Sarah: a live online event with Sarah Swett and Rebecca Mezoff

Sarah Swett is the creator of delightful fiber worlds. If you’ve followed her blog, read her books, or taken any classes from her, you know she can make you laugh and inspire you to expand your creativity. Sarah is a tapestry artist with decades of experience. Her work is varied and it always expresses her wonder at the world around her. Her Rough Copy series for example contain a narrative taken from a novel she wrote. The sheer bloody clarity of her woven text is astounding in itself, but the form each of the panels takes enhances the story. She has worked with four selvedge tapestry weaving both in large format as in the Rough Copy pieces and in her wonderful tiny houses series this year. More recently, she has been experimenting with various materials for tapestry weaving.

We’re hosting a free (and very fun) webinar on Thursday, November 15th. If you can’t make it, the replay will go into the Fringeless online class so you can watch it or watch it again.

Preparations! (for Fringeless)

Preparations! (for Fringeless)

So I made a mistake. Maybe.

The jury is still out.

There is a whole industry around teaching online classes and I have taken many classes in how to build successful online classes.  And I have built some great ones, so clearly the information I've learned is useful. 

But all of those experts advise opening registration in your online class before the class content opens. Build excitement they say. Get them invested with a little bit of content they say. Get them all pumped up they say.

So for Fringeless, I decided to do that.

And I found out that tapestry weavers are an amazingly enthusiastic bunch!