Susie Taylor has been weaving for 30 years, primarily on shaft looms and has 12 years experience designing high-end, jacquard upholstery fabrics. She spent many years exploring hand manipulation techniques to produce multi-layered structures and in 2012 she received the HGA Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving, Level 1. That experience really broadened her skills and understanding of loom controlled structures. Now she finds great potential in combining loom controlled structures with hand manipulation. Today, she is an award-winning artist creating dimensional textiles that incorporate origami and weaving together. She also works as a freelance designer for the commercial upholstery market.
.
.
.
Weaving Origami
Susie pushes weaving into new artistic space by marrying the two ancient art forms of weaving and origami together. She discusses and provides visual aids that illustrate the process of weaving discontinuous pleats by making simple modifications to the loom and incorporating hand manipulation techniques. Without any cutting or sewing, the pleats are folded into perplexing, dimensional compositions. Samples will be passed around for review. In addition, she will highlight innovative techniques used by other artists. This class inspires weavers to explore the dimensional possibilities of their own work.
Dare to Compare (and Contrast) Industrial Weaving vs. Handweaving
Both industrial weaving and handweaving share a certain vocabulary, however each has developed terminology distinct from the other. Suzie will compare and contrast the design processes of jacquard and dobby mills and highlight some different approaches between designing for industry and designing for handweaving. From warping to throwing the shuttle, there are obvious pros and cons to industrial jacquard & dobby weaving in contrast to handweaving. She will draw upon her experience in the jacquard industry and research industrial dobby mills to make comparisons to the needs and challenges of handweavers. The seminar will be accompanied by many visuals and samples are passed around to encourage a lively discussion.