made by Carrie Beachey
Mandalas
I was looking around on Etsy the other day, when I discovered MandalaArtByCloe. I was immediately drawn in by the bright colors, and contrasting designs of these mandalas.
The artist, Cloe lives in Amsterdam. Her hand woven mandalas are inspired by the ancient mandalas of Tibet and Mexico where mandalas have been used for their calming effects on the mind.
The icing on the cake for me, is the knowledge that a portion of every sale is given for the support of a Tibetan family and their guesthouse in Nepal.
Go check out her website Art by Cloe!
Warp & Weft = Life
My dear friend and mentor, is currently working to complete her master’s degree in social work. It has been her joy to find ways to use the fiber arts in her work.
How setting up the loom parallels to life
By Kim Hanes
Good evening…I was thinking throughout the week, as I was in and out of families lives how our lives are like a weaving. The warp is the “strength” of each weaving. It is the foundation. Just like our families and our community is our foundation. If the foundation is strong, then the weaving is sturdy. It is the same for us. If we have a strong foundation, then we are able to be more resilient.
In contrast, if our ” warp” in weaving is not strong, our weaving will have holes, and is weakened. In life, if our foundation is weak, it easily breaks, and we have gap. Sometimes I experience individuals that break easy.
The weft is like the lives we live. The more colors and texture we have, the more variety we we have in life, the more beautiful the overall weaving becomes. However, if we do not have enough fiber, the weaving is never finish. In this circumstance, it is hard to even visualize a final project. I have found that within families it is quite similar. Without enough resources, such as friends, money, food, etc, it is hard to visualize a goal. Working as a social worker in people’s lives, I can walk with them to seek more resources, teach them how to develop positive friendships, and find mentors. I then see them start to set some goals. The weaving develops into a beautiful piece of fiber art. As we unravel life together, there are many lessons that lie in a ball of yarn.
April Dune
A weekend weaving inspired by our recent trip to the sand dunes of Lake Michigan.
Weaving Home
I have been enjoying reading Spirit Cloth, the blog of fiber artist Jude Hill for some time now. Last week she wrote a blog post that spoke to me.
She wrote:
I did this small weaving , maybe , well, too many years ago to remember. And it was a little cloth made to be what I imagined home to be like… some place out in the middle of no where. Some where, where living a simple life and breathing clean air and growing food would just be the way it is. I gave it to Mom and Dad long ago, because they imagined that too. Although they never really got there. They made the place they lived in as close to it as possible. Built a life on a dream. That worked for them.
I live in a nice place, but I know I will leave. Mostly about the cost of living but also other things too. I am thinking of doing a series of little tapestries depicting this place. Keepers of the sense of it. Before I go. I still have a lot of bits of hand dyed wool. Going grows closer. I figure, if I live long enough, maybe a few more of these with a sense of where I end up might be nice as well. Because weaving has a bit of home built into it for me. And weaving yourself into a place really says a lot about Home . Woven right in, Unraveling, Reweaving. Holding together in the most basic way. I hope that when I go, I will have sheep. Or find them nearby. That would work out real fine.
Happy Spring
This is a wip & a bit of a sneak peek at a project I am doing. It is a reflection of my thoughts on spring & my desire to see MORE green.
Winter Weaving
I did a little winter weaving on my portable loom. It felt good to sit down on a cold, snowy day & play with some of my stash yarns. This little weaving was inspired by the fresh fallen snow & the Magnolia tree in our backyard.
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This weaving loom can be found in my Etsy shop
artbycarriejoy.com 