Upcoming Classes
More classes are currently being scheduled for 2013 and 2014. Please contact me for schedule and location or check back here soon! Here are the classes that are currently scheduled:
Color Gradation Techniques for Tapestry
Harrisville Designs, Harrisville, New Hampshire. August 5-9, 2013. I am very excited about this class. It will be my basic color gradation class with a couple days added for some in-depth exploration of structural techniques used in tapestry and their application to color use and gradation. I will bring a large palette of hand-dyed yarns for student use. All of my tapestry yarn is by Harrisville and dyed by me. We will be weaving on Harrisville floor looms. During the class we will learn how to grade color horizontally and vertically using a variety of techniques, talk about color theory, work on perfecting technical skills for beautiful craftsmanship, and talk about how to create forms with these techniques. Students will work on a sampler during the class and more advanced students will either weave a small tapestry or do a study for a tapestry.
There is more information on the Harrisville Designs website HERE about housing and the setting for their workshops. The classes are taught in an old spinning mill which has been beautifully renovated. Come and weave tapestry with me in beautiful New Hampshire! Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this class.
Online education
My online class on the structure of tapestry is coming in the summer of 2013. Stay tuned for more details here and in my newsletter. Click here to sign up for the newsletter!
**Please contact me about teaching workshops, studio classes, assistance with warping/dyeing problems, or mentoring opportunities.
Photo: Laura Barger 2011
Color Gradation Techniques for Tapestry
In this three-day class, students will weave a sampler exploring color gradation techniques in contemporary tapestry. We will learn different forms of hatching and hachure along with various methods of grading color in every direction. Color mixing techniques along with some color theory will be investigated. Hand-dyed wool yarn in a large range of hues suitable for gradation will be provided.
Symbols of the Southwest
The southwestern United States is a place rich in culture, landscape, and weaving traditions. Tapestry weaving here is practiced by Navajo, Hispanic, and Puebloan weavers with traditions that reach back hundreds or thousands of years. In this 3-day class we will explore questions about the influence of traditional southwestern weaving on contemporary tapestry practice and how symbols are important in Native and Hispanic weaving practice over the last centuries and today. Most importantly, we will consider how we can use symbols from our own experience to inform our design process and investigate the essential pieces of ourselves that lead us to art making. We will use symbol as a design tool, create several tapestry cartoons, and weave either a small tapestry or a study for a larger work.
Instructor Bio
Rebecca Mezoff grew up climbing the mesas and red rocks near Gallup, NM. She has won numerous awards for her tapestries which are in various public and private collections. She studied contemporary tapestry as a student and then apprentice of James Koehler for 6 years. You can see her work at www.rebeccamezoff.com. She teaches workshops throughout the United States and currently resides somewhere in the southwest where she doesn’t much mind having to dump the sand out of her shoes (you can find out where she is now on her blog at http://rebeccamezoff.blogspot.com).
Recommendations from students:
After the passing of James Koehler, I felt as if I had lost my tapestry compass. An enthusiastic newcomer to weaving, I had invested in a big loom and a lot of James-dyed tapestry yarn, his "student palette", and now the guide had gone. Into this void stepped Rebecca Mezoff with her ebullient personality, encouraging manner and abundant knowledge of tapestry and tapestry techniques. With her guidance, I am feeling more and more confident in my ability to proceed in this complex weaving form. My recent focus has been to learn color gradation and in this most recent workshop, to learn how to move colour around in specific shapes in this tapestry which was a study for a larger piece that I am working on at home. Rebecca assisted each of us on what we wanted to learn after first giving a presentation of various tapestry techniques and an inspiring overview of the work of many contemporary tapestry artists. This was my 3rd class with Rebecca and once again I find in her a kindred spirit in love with this art form. I would highly recommend anyone interested in learning more about tapestry to take her classes. --Marilyn
I thought the tapestry workshop with Rebecca was just great, in fact I hope she can do another one for us at some point. The organization and setup worked really well for the size of the workshop. I thought Rebecca did super at checking in with everyone on an individual basis to help them with their specific questions and levels of ability. The area where I felt that I really learned some things was in the topic of design. I'm a more realistic tapestry weaver in that I like to do landscapes and subjects in quite a bit of detail. She gave me a process to utilize the shapes/symbols within a project and rearrange them for balance, symmetry, perspective, etc. but still allowing me to stay true to the realistic aspects of the "scene." I wish I would have taken more time to work thru the exercises that she gave us in the workshop to get her comments but I did that at home later and it helped a lot. Another area was manipulating the yarn to make yarn bundles in order to vary the color and texture to create more interest in the piece. --Sherry
The workshop provided me with three amazing days among creative, knowledgeable and supportive people, full of inspiring colors and designs. All of this made me wish that we could continue together for many more days, allowing me to practice and learn many more of those skills that good tapestry weaving requires. Given that Rebecca's instruction was on an as needed, individualized basis, I learned a lot and never felt out of place as the beginner that I am. So, for me, the workshop could not have been better, leaving me determined to keep practicing the skills I learned, attempting to acquire new ones and hoping that more workshops like the one we had will become available in the future. --Ute