My path to becoming a weaver was happenstance. During college and graduate school, I often took summer art classes to reward myself for making progress in my studies. When I was unable to get into a papermaking class one summer, I chose a weaving class, and this decision had an enormous impact on my life.
Shortly after I completed my MA in Latin Language and Literature, I enrolled in Hill Institute’s six-year weaving program. In 1998, I earned the Master Weaver Certificate, and in 2004, I became Director of the program.
I produce textiles for the home, wall hangings, clothing and accessories from my studio in Florence, MA. My work has been published in Handwoven, Complex Weavers Journal, and Ply Magazine. I teach weaving at Hill Institute, at The New England Weavers Seminar, for New England guilds, and from my studio in Florence. I have taught classes at Webs in Northampton, MA, Fiber Arts Center in Amherst, MA, and Snow Farm in Williamsburg, MA.
Weaving is my primary focus, but I enjoy working with fiber in many ways: raising silkworms, cotton, and flax; spinning; Kumihimo braiding on the marudai and takadai; and knitting — I recently completed the Expert Knitting Program at Webs in Northampton, MA. I also enjoy papermaking and bookbinding.
Ekphrasis Defined Designs
I work under the name Ekphrasis Defined Designs. “Ekphrasis” is a term associated with classical poetry. It occurs when the poet breaks from the narrative to offer a long, rhetorical description of a work of art. Weaving is my ekphrasis, diverting me from the path of teaching Latin.
Simplicity and Flow
I am attracted to the quiet, understated beauty of simplicity in most, possibly all, aspects of my life. I often read books related to simplicity and art. I recently finished The Wabi-Sabi House by Robyn Griggs Lawrence and find three ideas especially resonant:
- “Art is the elimination of the unnecessary” (Lawrence quoting Pablo Picasso, p. 50).
- “[A] work of art is simply ‘a well-made thing’” (Lawrence quoting W. R. Lethaby, a successor to arts-and-crafts designer William Morris, p. 68).
- “[P]lain, bare walls are most conductive to meditation” (Lawrence quoting Ram Dass, a Western spiritual guru, p. 141)
I find satisfaction in producing a cloth that has a consistent beat, clean selvedges, and proper starts and endings ─ cloth that is simple, well-made, and easy to look at. I often limit my woven cloth to one or two colors, and I take great joy in the simple pattern of plain weave (although asymmetric designs in a variety of structures interest me as well).
I find joy in the creative process as well as the finished creation. I am really interested in the idea of “flow,” also called “the zone.” This is a cognitive state where one is completely immersed in an activity. It involves intense focus, creative engagement, and the loss of awareness of time and self. I find flow as I weave.
Beyond Weaving
I practice several crafts, and I keep returning to a specific yearning: to bring my different interests into a cohesive whole. I have been exploring ways to organically combine weaving, bookbinding, papermaking, Kumihimo, and origami/kirigami. The result (thus far) is a series of birds made from handwoven cloth, woven bands, and Kumihimo braids and a series of small journals and notebooks.
