sketches 11/08/2010
      lately I've been working with ideas around 'traces of places'. I began by filling several sketch books with rubbings like these. I can't stop. The master plan is to translate them onto cloth. I am particularly excited about using them as cartoons for tapestry weaving. 4 Comments Montreal rug 07/02/2010
 I've begun weaving my rug for our Montreal apartment. I thought this would be a great way to be calm about the move but it turns out I've haven't had much time to weave (surprise surprise). The good thing though is that I've got a deadline now since I've got a weaving job coming up for which I need my loom. Better get this rug done and off. I'm really loving it so far. My selvages are not perfect, but that's the kind of imperfection I love. I can't wait to through it on our Montreal hardwood floors and squish my feet into it. Grad show cont... 05/19/2010
 Today I visited the Grad Exhibition again and enjoyed the quietness of the empty gallery and just spending time with everyone's work again. This gave me the opportunity to take photos of two projects that I haven't yet shared in their finished state. Above is my Jacquard weaving called Radical Hospitality I and below are photos of all angles of Radical Hospitality II. They both speak to being in solidarity amidst disillusionment within a community (my church community) which is struggling with disagreement on the core issue of whether or not to welcome homosexuals into our community as equals. I truly struggled when I considered whether I would continue to attend my church if the decision was made to not fully welcome them. These pieces are about that process and struggle.     Kate Barber 05/07/2010
  Since graduating from the textiles program things haven't seemed to slow down what-so-ever. Among the many things I've been up to is my practicum, I've been priviledged to have the opportunity to spend time with Kate Barber for it, and man have I learned a lot. Kate has been weaving professionally for over 20 years, so she has a lot to offer. So far I've learned all the basics that I learned in school but backwards. Kate warps her loom from the back, were as we learned to warp from the front, so it's been super eye-opening to be doing things her way. She's very efficient and knows all the short-cuts. Well, I guess in weaving there is no such thing as a short cut, everything takes time, but since working with Kate I've learned how to avoid mistakes like tangling, threading mistakes and tension issues. I'm so thankful for her wisdom. In the first few days we wove two shawls in linen and wool yarns and then devored them using techniques that Kate is developing for her new line. It's pretty amazing stuff; after weaving each shawl with a mixture of wool and linen for both warp and weft we devored the scarves creating circles, sometimes in a counterchange, and then felted them which creates what Kate called a Wabi-sabi look (I think it's a term she picked up from a Japanese weaver friend which refers to its unevenness in the selvage). I think they are just beautiful! Yesterday I learned that all three of the pieces that I submitted to the grad show were chosen to be in it. We were all told we'd get one piece in it, so I'm super stoked that we all got three. Mine are the shag dress, my most recent Jacquard weaving (which I haven't shared with you yet) as well as the dress that I made with my chalice fabric. I'll be spending tomorrow stretching my Jacquard, and then off to the coast for moms day dinner.   Ana and I wove these at the Surrey Art Gallery where my professor Ruth Scheuing has an exhibition, Silk Roads, on until April 4th. other posts about this topic... Tapestry 01/11/2010
 My first tapestry. Re-invented 12/10/2009
 Reinventing one self is a life-long process, as is the evolution of our perception of the world around us, including the people around us. In this woven piece I explored reinventing one person though experimentation with silk screening on the woven piece in various ways. As I wove each new version I recorded the words and phrases that came to me. It was like building characters in a novel; each time I printed and wove a new version I learned more about who this person was (sometimes it was me, sometimes I was observing the same anonymous man) and what they were experiencing. Often the processes I used dictated those experiences. Some of the words were: partier acceptance regret savvy mysterious unkempt slut | 
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Janna Maria
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