Woven Together: Experience and Expression

A Loom & Shuttle Guild Exhibitionat

the Sanchez Art Center (East Gallery)

January 13, 2017 opened with lively reception

Continues until February 12, 2017 with

demonstrations for four Friday/Saturday/Sundays 1-5pm

Creating is so satisfying, and we gain experience as we do more weaving, and with experience we start to express
our individual concerns. CNCH members may take this for granted, but as the crowd of non- weavers viewed the fiber art pieces on opening night, there was a sizzling atmosphere of delight and amazement as eyes landed on our handmade fiber creations.

The Sanchez Art Center features three shows at the same time, Woven Together: Experience and Expression stood distinctively – in the East Gallery. Along with It Can Happen Here, the bold award winning sculpture of James Shefik – in the Main Gallery – and Bewilder, Be Wilder by the Art Guild of Pacifica in the West Gallery, it was an art filled night.

One aspect that made this guild show different from juried shows was that every one of our 70+ members was invited to enter a piece.There was no theme and no date of completion cut off. Twenty-six members displayed at least one piece,(although there were more possibilities) but space was limited by the gallery size. Guild exhibit coordinator Deborah Corsini had to limit the number of pieces by each person. Deborah’s previous professional experience as a curator of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles as well as an exhibiting weaver, made her the ideal person to present the idea of a fiber exhibit to the Sanchez Art Center, and to curate an interesting selection of work for the exhibit. The 40 pieces from long time weavers, professional weavers, and new weavers demonstrated that hand weaving is alive and well in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sam Yearout of the Sanchez Art Center designed the exhibition layout leaving ample room between pieces so that each work would stand out.

Being able to exhibit was a rewarding guild experience, taking the “show-and-tell” guild activity one step further. Weavers mounted their work carefully for display, gave their work titles, and wrote artist statements. As one member wrote after the opening “I was initially reluctant to participate but I am so glad I did. There was something very nice about seeing everyone’s work hung and displayed. I really enjoyed seeing what other guild members have been creating. I’m inspired to get busy on my loom.” And from another, “What a diverse collection of weavers we have and what beautiful things we weave. I feel really fortunate to be part of it all. The jackets, scarves, hangings, rugs, tapestries, bags – were each a star under the bright lights. Thanks to Deborah (and the Sanchez Art Center) for giving us the opportunity to see our pieces hung in a gallery and to be “exhibiting artists” for a few weeks! “

The gallery lights highlighted the colors, patterns, and details, such as Kumihimo trim in a woven jacket by Eve Conner. “The variety and the quality” was the most heard comment by viewers during the first two days. I would say that variety is not just the kinds of items displayed but the individuality of each artist united to reflect the personality of our urban guild. And we weavers also appreciate that range of unique expression by our own members that is possible with fiber. Kevin Jannsen, who threw his first shuttle two years ago exhibited two shawls he made for his wife. He is enamored with very fine yarns and wove his shawls at 60 ends per inch while the set for my carpets is 5 ends to the inch. There is such a range of techniques and styles on display from the humor of the leno pile weave boas by Susie Hodges, to the finely crafted fashion, the elegant scarves, the sculptural baskets, and even a touching memorial hanging of a fiery phoenix, each hand crafted with pride.

A table loom is set up for visitors to try, and eight demonstrations of tapestry, spinning, kumihimo, knitting and rigid heddle weaving by members are scheduled throughout the four weekends, during regular gallery hours.

I have lifted a couple of sentences from a dozen or so artist statements to accompany photos of their work to give you the flavor of Woven Together: Experience & Expression by your sister guild, Loom and Shuttle of San Francisco.