Come join us!
First Friday Community Craft Circle at Oil and Cotton
2313 Beatrice Street Dallas,Texas 75208
November 3rd, 6:00 – 8:30pm
Come any time, stay as long as you can. Last time we met, in September, the group was small but the conversation was fun!! We all made progress on our current projects.
It is free, open to the public, and no experience is required! Bring your own project or we can get you started on something fun.
Bring a snack to share!
Bring a friend!
RSVP is nice but not required. Hope to see you there!
The Last big Gig for October
I had a lovely time at the Nasher Sculpture Center on Sunday, October 22nd. I was honored to be one of 15 artists/ art organizations participating in the Great Create. It is a fund-raiser that focuses on families and kids with lots of fun, food, and opportunities to make art.
You might be surprised to learn that I am not a big fan of “teaching” weaving (or other textile arts) in a make-and-take setting. Over the years, I have bent over hundreds of small people, helping them work the yarn though the warp on cardboard looms, but now I avoid it.
Why, besides my creaky old back? I think it is because I have learned how important it is to embrace the slow, meditative process that weaving should be. Nevertheless, love to weave with kids! In fact, I will be soon be teaching a six week Teen Textile Arts Class.
Spend time with a small group of people (big or small) who are all intently making something new, is magical. Even the time span of an afternoon workshop it stressfully short. On the other hand, in a festival setting demonstrations and 30 second projects work best for me. And, I almost always find a way to use yarn.
For the Great Create at the Nasher, I named the project “Natural Architecture.” I wrote a serious artist statement about sustainability and responding the materials, community building through cooperation, etc. Then, I foraged for two months. On the auspicious day, I loaded grocery bags (filled with sticks, acorns, yarn, wood shavings, pecan bark, iris leaves, tiny ivy wreaths, dried berries, rose petals, mint leaves, and some dried florist flowers) into my car and carried them to the pristine gardens of the Nasher. A field trip to the museum! Only, I was bringing the field!
When a kid approached the tables, we would ask them (with a straight face) “Would you like to make a Fairy House.” Most needed no explanations, they looked at the loaded table and started putting materials together. I was so relieved after the first few families came through, they understood the assignment and really enjoyed it. It’s one thing to squat down with my own child or grandchild to make Fairy Houses in the woods, it is another thing entirely to ask strangers to join you. When one dad and son spent over 30 minutes, cutting sticks to precise lengths for a log cabin, my worries faded. This kind of making comes naturally to humans.
I was blessed with unflagging assistance from Shayla Greenwood, my daughter’s wonderful partner. She and I helped children with lashing and knot tying, but otherwise, let them solve the architectural problems on their own. Becky Daniels, a Nasher staff member, joined us for the last hour and really lifted our spirits!
I was inspired by Emily Riggert’s Color Theory Quilt Project from 2022 year. She invited the children to collaborate and leave their work for everyone to see. The “village” was created by the accumulation of everyone’s works. In our case, I am thankful that most of the kids did not try to take their fragile assemblages home.