A Selfie in Tapestry?

Line #1
By Nicki Bair 2014

This is my entry to ATA's Unjuried Small Format Tapestry Exhibit for 2014 which will hang from July 8th to August 8th at the University of Rhode Island Feinstein Providence Campus Gallery. There is an opening reception July 17, 2014 5:00 – 9:00pm. If you are in Providence Rhode Island during the time of the exhibit do check it out. It has always been a wonderful exhibit in the past with a plethora of small tapestries. It is rare to see so many tapestries all in one place.

With what I can only assume is a tongue in cheek title of "Untitled/Unjuried" for the overall exhibit, our group submission was titled "What's My Line?" Our tapestry group created ten four by ten inch tapestries with the exciting titles of Line #1, Line #2 etc. up to Line #10.  The titles were assigned alphabetically hence my title Line #1. Our challenge for this exhibit was to design a piece with two sections; one very light and one very dark. The general concept was to take a 4 by 10 piece of dark paper and with one cut with a pair of scissors; one line, divide the paper into two pieces. Place one of the pieces of the dark paper on light paper and that was it - - the design for the tapestry.

I attended a tapestry workshop where we focused on how to weave lines in tapestries.  At that workshop I decided to practice on the design I had created with that quick swipe of my scissors.  One of the weavers, who was also a surgeon, corrected  'errors' in my design as to nipple placement and slope.  She also suggested making it larger.   It made for quite a humorous workshop and I learned a lot about anatomy. So with that feedback in mind, I adjusted my line and wove the final piece in silk dyed with just a hint of pink and a fuzzy novelty black appropriate for a sweater. 

The result makes me smile.