Arts In Rhode Island

I don't know why, but every year as the summer weather begins to turn to the gorgeous autumn fare we are blessed to experience here in Rhode Island, I get a hankering for purple..... Not just purple though, I mean PURPLE!, in it brightest, boldest and most sincere forms. It can be a cool blue tone, a warm red one, or as royal a purple as in days of old. There's something about the color purple that tells me it's time to start meaning what I mean, saying what I want to say and looking out past my habitual horizons. It's a color of renewal and emergence. Therefore I start my annual production weaving with a warp of purple tones all laid out and ready to become the first scarves of the fall season.

Quite often I set myself up a small tableau for inspiration. Piling up fibers of all hues and textures can be a great way to get a feeling for what the combination promises as a finished piece. I'm up on ladders and benches in my over-full studio grabbing whatever strikes my fancy at the moment and tossing it to the floor for consideration. My husband has, on occasion, wondered if the roof timbers were falling. (let it be known that I am an admitted fiber junkie.....if I can't reach out and grab it when its what I have in mind, I will promptly find a way to procure it. As a result, I make many trips to my favorite fiber outlets to make sure that doesn't happen! My studio has a set of double tiered shelves at ceiling height and surrounding the perimeter of the room to hold all the cones of fiber I have amassed and they are always pretty near full. hence the climbing and heaving....!) I set up a bit of inspiration for myself and make sure to soak it up for awhile. A vase of asters, dahlias and artemesia from the garden got me going this fall.

Much ado later, I had a wrapped, wound, warped and sleyed "warp" ready to weave.
Fibers on the loom don't always appear as they do in my imagination or for that matter in the pile of fibers cast upon the floor of my studio in the midst of all my manic fervor! But luckily, this season's debut warp was right on target! I was pretty pleased with the results. And oh so PURPLE!

Alice Walker (of "The Color Purple") tells us "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it". I agree with her. (Read the book or watch the movie to truly understand the sentiment!) Notice purple every chance you get! It's some of life's best. May you find it in every garden, sunset and Easter Egg of your life.... Go, PURPLE!




Just as a side note, Cotton, my dear, sweet 18 year old doesn't care what color it is...

just make it soft....