Rita Returns to Long Beach

The Long Beach Library - Main Library is a wonderful spot to exhibit Rita's Excellent Adventure.   The opportunity to exhibit came up quickly.  We checked out the venue on one day and the very next we were installing it!

The exhibit is right at the entrance to the children's section so there will be lots of traffic. The blue panels brighten the entrance and make the children's section an even happier place.  The librarians will be selecting a variety of books to place on the benches below to entice viewers to explore the topics illustrated in the story illustrated with out tapestries. 

If you recall, Rita's Excellent Adventure is a whimsical tale of a sand crab named RIta that loves purple plankton.  Her adventures in search of the best plankton in Santa Monica Bay are told in verse and illustrated with 20 tapestries.  It was completed in June 2012 and its initial showing was at the Society Gallery on Pine Ave during Convergence 2012 - Long Beach.  It has just returned from Eureka, CA where it was exhibited at the Morris Graves Museum of Art and will now be exhibited at the Long Beach Museum through the end of 2013. 


·       Whether the story is read out loud or silently, one can only smile while learning of the habits, predators, habitats and adventures of this small sand crab named Rita.

·     For the art lover, there is the discovery of how six artists with different styles can come together and create 20 tapestries, which coalesce into one look for the story.   It is also fun for the viewer to guess which artists wove which pieces.   

·       And for the child within each of us, there is the occasional discovery of two eyes peeking back at us from a tapestry here and there.  


Once upon a time, I dreamed up RIta - a nickel sized sand crab who had great adventures in searching for the  best purple plankton in Santa Monica Bay.  With the help of Merna Strauch, Karen Leckart, Judi Freed, Margie Fine and Carollee Howes, we illustrated the story with tapestries.  Each of us incorporated our own unique style while using a common palette of yarns and some basic parameters.  One of my favorite things to study are all the different frames we created...it is amazing how 20 frames can be woven so differently. 

It's fun being part of the Seaside tapestry group.  We have a long rich history in tapestry starting in the early 80’s. Our members include both award winning artists who exhibit nationwide and some who only exhibit as part of a collaborative Seaside project. The group has a reputation for creating challenging, often whimsical collaborative projects. Rita’s Excellent Adventure is such a project.  

The Rita's Excellent Adventure, the book,  is available for borrowing from the Long Beach library and can be purchased through Amazon or at www.nickibair.com.  

Finally - on the wall resting

 It took quite awhile to get the installation device for my tapestry up on the wall in my studio. My studio is pie shaped. It located in our living room with sloping walls which grade up from east to west and from north to south.  This makes it difficult to hang things and have them look straight. There is no line of reference.  Straight relative to what?  I always go for the floor since then I can use a level and everything will be consistent.

I tried several levels since I just couldn't believe the two nails were in a line parallel to the floor.  The floor doesn't' show up much since its a light maple while the ceiling is dark wood.  I went with what the level was saying and my hanging device is now up and so is Pelican Sunset. 

I do like this wedge weave tapestry.  It looks far better in person than on the wall in my somewhat dark studio.  I need to have the tapestry rest for several weeks to see if I need to re-sew the backing in any places.  The yarn I used turned out to be quite stiff woven in wedge weave.  It needs to be pulled at the bulging edges to have it lie straight after packing.  I am using small weights to get three troublesome areas to hang better.   Then to be completely done, l just need label in the back and perhaps on small autograph on the front.

Any again I am reminded, one is never finished with a tapestry when it comes of the loom.  Although there is a great sense of accomplishment when cutting the tapestry off the loom there is still so much to do to get it hanging at its best on the wall. 

Hanging a Tapestry

Pelican Sunset waiting
 to be hung

Almost ready for hanging... I finally finished my sewing of the back of my latest tapestry; Pelican Sunset.

I covered the entire back in blue material which matches the sky.  That required a lot of hand sewing since the blue was in strips to match the strips in the wedge weave tapestry.  I didn't want viewers peering between the slits in the tapestry and seeing loose ends.   Now they are all covered with blue.

I also had to decide what color I wanted to show between the slits.  I knew I did not want to leave it up to the color of the wall it might hang on.  I had originally thought of opposites; having the colors in the sunset show up in the water slits like reflections and the water colors showing up in the sky slits.  I also tried an orange red silk through out.   But in the end I went with what my sister liked the best - the shimmering grey of moon light.  Simple and striking.  I sewed in a huge piece of shimmering grey material which hangs loose in the back.

Hanging device drying

I decided to hang the tapestry in a similar fashion as my other large piece Folding Space.  It will hang about 2 and half inches from the wall with the tapestry attached with Velcro to the hanging device shown in the photo.  I just did a touch up job on the paint so I have another few hours to wait before my Pelican Sunset can hang on my wall.

Hopefully tomorrow you can see it hanging in my studio.

Dyeing Silk in Dark and Light Values

I got bored sewing the backing to my latest tapestry so I decided to do a bit of dyeing.  I need some tapestry yarn for a group tapestry project that is coming up.  The yarn must be very dark values or very light values so I pulled out my procion "black" and yellow dyes and went to work.  At the far right there is a skein of the undyed silk.  It doesn't show up much next to the unsaturated lemon yellow.

 It is always interesting to see what colors come out when dyeing silk since silk talks with dye in quite a different way than cotton or wool.  I used all four black procion dyes from Dharma; each yielding a slightly different result.   I always enjoy how the blacks come out pushing violet, green or blue. For the yellows I used a lemon yellow and a golden yellow plus two golds I am thinking of using for a different project.  I also did four saturation levels for the lemon yellow since it's one of my favorite colors.

These are the darkest and the lightest that I could get with the natural colored silk I started out with.  I am a bit surprised at how similar in value the various yellows and golds are.