Creativity…learning to take a piece of cloth and build on an idea. And once in a while the focus slips and the cloth takes over… all the while, the artist/maker waits, wonders a bit, or alternatively, knows exactly what the result could be. Then waits… I did.

A simple pieced cloth, my hand-dyed colours of madder and iron as the dye mordants was interesting, and I moved on, using deconstructed nine-patch and a few long lines and inserts.

My wish was to be ‘flexible’ enough to think long and hard about how I could bring weaving into my art. Not with just a piece of fabric but in connecting the comfortable alliance of hand-woven cloth as it came into the picture. The grey and barn tans, a bit of green growth, and rusty gold…

Weaving is a part of my ART. I waited, got busy delivering an Arts Camp at our Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, celebrating my 26 students for 7 straight days last week, and I am late. But, finally, I chose the option of bringing along the hours after Camp, choosing to use a ‘framing’ design just off the loom. I finished my warp, using a tea towel weave in my design. The woven border celebrates the soft, misty colour that was, for me, a reminder of early morning light.

Simply, different, calm and warms my heart.

I share the morning vista “Just Outside the Window” on a misty early morning, all the while looking into the forest fields on farmland acres, and seeing only the depths of the morning, a place of restful contemplation… the fences and fields call.

Just Outside the Window

Bethany Garner

28w x 40h

Technique: Machine pieced and quilted, handstitched elements

Material: Hand-dyed cotton, yarn, and woven cloth, 8/2 cotton warp and weft