Get Creative!

towels from show and tell session

Spring is advancing at a slow creeping pace this year giving us a chance to get creative in the studio before we feel the urge to get out doors.
Our studio at the old Train Station in Qualicum Beach is buzzing with creative efforts.  The studio looms are warped for tea towels and  in one area our ANWG booth is taking shape.  The theme is west coast wild.  We are lucky to have space where we can bring people together to share experiences and work on group projects.  The Town of Qualicum Beach has been very supportive of the creative arts and of our group in particular.  This area is noted for its rich cultural climate.

At our last meeting we learned about shuttles.  Who knew there were so many to choose from?  Lynnette took us through, stick shuttles, boat shuttles, rag shuttles, ski shuttles, end feed shuttles and many many more.  We learned that picking the right shuttle for the job can make a tremendous difference to the quality of the work while reducing the effort.  That seems to be in keeping the the concept that it takes more effort to do something badly.

     

nuno felted jacket

This year our guild decided to set a challenge for guild members as a way of stimulating creativity and exploration.  The challenge is based on the work of Ann Sutton and is often referred to as "weaver's card game", "weaver's poker" or "weaver's challenge".  The purpose of the game is to stimulate new ways of looking at weaving designs.  Participants are challenged to design a piece that has a random mix of unrelated features.  There are many versions of this game.

In our version, participants were given 5 categories of cards, colour, weaving technique, materials, design and embellishment.  Within each category cards have different instructions.  Participants randomly pick one card from each category and they are asked to take some time to consider how to design a piece that incorporated all 5 instructions.  For example, design a weaving in shades of grey only, using a supplementary warp, boucle yarn, incorporating texture and finally using Danish Medallions as an embellishment.  We decided that some combinations might be next to impossible to deal with so participants are given the option of dropping one of the five cards.

graded stripes and twill

This will be a year long project with designs or better yet a finished product due in December.  We will report the results at the end of the year.




Our next meeting takes place Monday April 24.  Guests are always welcome.