A Merry Mix of Fibre

Taylor-Jensen Fine Arts proudly hosts the annual exhibition of the Manawatu Spinners & Weavers Guild, A Merry Mix of Fibre which will feature tapestry by members of the Guild’s Tapestry Weaving Group, a special display of work by Guild member Catherine Jackson of Palmerston North and a selection of fine hand-crafted work by Guild members. The exhibition will include jerseys, scarves, gloves, hats, cushion covers, felted pieces and many similar items for home or personal comfort and adornment. A further special feature of the exhibition will be a display of jackets produced according to the ‘Magic Jacket’ construction technique. A Merry Mixture of Fibre will formally open with a reception to honour the artisans from 1-3PM on Saturday, July 4th.

Catherine Jackson is the Guild’s ‘Guest Exhibitor’ this year; her special interest is in weaving textured fabric with linen and cotton. Among the work on display will be examples of ‘Pick-up’ lace which involves manipulating the pattern with a pick-up stick as the weaving progresses to form new designs within the fabric. Catherine also weaves ‘Huck” and ‘Bronson’ patterns which are based on old European multi-shaft threading. Jackson began weaving only three years ago when she was living on weaver Jenny Houlbrooke’s farm where she quickly became fascinated with the interlacement of threads.

Within the Guild is a small group of keen tapestry weavers who meet twice a month to weave, share ideas, discuss techniques and projects and learn from each other. Within A Merry Mix of Fibre is a display of tapestry made during the past year. Occasionally they work on a group challenge such as the current ‘Hundertwasser’ and ‘Land’ pieces. They have also had exchange challenges with weavers in Australia in which they each submitted a design for someone there to weave while members of the Tapestry Group wove from the Australian designs.

The design of the piece determines whether the work is woven sideways or vertically. In either case there is still the alternate interweaving of warp and weft threads. If there are many vertical lines in the design it will probably be easier to weave the piece with the warps horizontal and vice versa. The Tapestry Group chose a picture from a book of his paintings and divided it into eight parts. They then proceeded to try to produce separate pieces in the hope that all eight would ultimately match. As will be evident in the exhibition it is not easy for everyone’s work to match exactly to every other piece which is why they have not joined them all together.

The ‘Land’ tapestries were woven for an International Symposium in Canberra last year. Group members were to weave a tapestry inspired by the land that could be any width as long as the height was no more than 10 centimetres. The hundreds that were entered were displayed around the walls at eye height. It was a wonderful opportunity for amateurs to display their work alongside that of professional weavers from around the world.

The Manawatu Spinners and Weavers Guild have been in existence in Palmerston North for forty-two years. Although membership numbers have fluctuated, the continued enthusiasm of members means that many miles of yarn are spun, many yards of fabric are woven, many thousands of stitches are knitted and crocheted and knotted, and much felt has been laid out, soaped and pounded. The Annual Exhibition is a celebration of the Guild’s on-going activities.

Guild members will demonstrate their particular craft specialty at the exhibition during most lunch hours. The Manawatu Spinners and Weavers Guild looks forward to seeing many visitors to A Merry Mix of Fibre at Taylor-Jensen Fine Arts from Saturday 4th through Wednesday 22nd July. The public is cordially invited to view this exhibition and to meet and converse with the demonstrating artisans.

Event listed by Stuart Schwartz

View their other events or contact promoter