I’ve been following Trudy Thomson’s work for a few years now. Her patterns evoke landscapes, water, sky — well, Nature — in my mind. And her use of color variations is glorious.
I asked Trudy to tell us a bit about her process. Enjoy!
My latest explorations in tapestry usually begin with a pattern I have drawn on grid paper. Then I figure out how the design can be applied to the particular width and length of the finished piece, which I create on a 40 inch wide floor loom. Because I am working with variegated fibers that shift color as one moves through the skein I am not controlling the color transformations. I try to adjust my wefts over the warp so they reflect the shapes and angles of my original design. For instance, I might wrap three wefts around on warp and then, as I move over, position the weft to three warps. Or two and two or one and one. Different variations of the packing weft into warp space. As a result each piece has a very seriously considered plan but contains random colorations.
This first piece I have titled “Passions Converge” has very steep angles. It measures 30 by 41.5 inches.
This second piece titled “Dream Stream” has shallow angles that criss cross each other. This was a very complex pattern. It measures 33 by 32 inches.
This third piece titled “Wings Spread” is a combination of angled blocks that actually met and interlocked vertically as I wove upwards through the piece. The customer who purchased this asked to hang the finished piece sideways so that the shapes looked like wings. It measures about 40 by 42 inches.
View the range of Thomson’s work at her website:
Also, Trudy creates websites for artists:
I met Barbara Hengstenberg only very recently on Instagram. She found me somehow and seemed interested in my project at the time, #100DaysOfWelding2. As it works sometimes in social media, we started to form a relationship and discovered we live very close to each other, so, we met for coffee.
I learned to mig, tig and stick weld, plasma and oxy cut among many other things. I completed this goal and got my certificate in May of 2016. I could have easily been satisfied with my accomplishment and welded just for me and just for fun, but that’s not what I did. I set a few more goals to keep me moving forward. I opened an Etsy shop, got my work into a local shop (Chatham Home in downtown Pittsboro) and got into my first juried show at The Arts Center in Carrboro. I felt that proud sense of accomplishment after meeting each one of these.
With steel finger picks on each finger of Sommer’s “strumming” hand (I use that term lightly, as his playing is better described in terms of slaps, slides, and stabs), one foot on a volume pedal and the other foot tapping out the beat on a kick box, Sommer drove us through a catalog of songs. These are tunes that tell a story…some are epic poetry laced with a guitar riffs and chorus. Others are fusion instrumentals or inspired by old-time Americana and bluegrass tunes. These songs will never fit into a one-hit-wonder mold. For instance, the song, Do Re Mi, played on the Jay Tercer, is not your kid’s note-scale music lesson. This song touches upon the psychedelic, using frequency waves a la Jimmy Page, and glides to superior riffs reminiscent of Steve Howe. Then, turning his instrument face-up flat, Sommer punctuates with a jolt of guitar bongos.
After eight hours of filling the old brick and wood warehouse with instruments and video equipment, the air still vibrating with music, it was a wrap. Eric will soon be setting off on national and European tours, and Bill will be working his wizardry on editing and packaging this collection of music videos. And I will be anxiously awaiting the release of each of these creations. Stay tuned…you won’t be disappointed.