LaDonna Mayer Tapestry
The original idea was to weave one black and white tapestry of New York City for my husband, a writer/photographer from New York. I would use one of his black and white photos of the city as inspiration for the cartoon. At the Española Valley Fiber Art Center, in Española, New Mexico, I filled my arms with a beautiful Clasgens 4-ply wool yarn in black, natural off-white and three shades of gray. I drew my cartoon of the skyline and set to work weaving “New York”. I loved weaving the city. In fact, I loved it so much that I wove “Chicago” next. And after that, “Los Angeles”. Then “Austin” TX. And I realized that I was hooked on the geometry of cities. I also realized that the 4-ply was a little too thick to get the fineness I wanted in the tapestries.
At that time I was an apprentice with the late master weaver, James Koehler. I took “Austin” to James’ studio to discuss the problems I was having with the yarn. He looked at the tapestry and said, “Astonishing.” I had told him months earlier I wanted to weave cities. His advice was, “Don’t weave cities. They don’t sell.” I didn’t listen. I think he didn’t expect me to. James suggested that I use the Harrisville Highland 2-ply that we dyed in the studio for his “student yarn”. I was his dye apprentice and was very familiar with the yarn. I used the Harrisville for “Denver Neighbors” and “Sears (Willis) Tower.” Perfect!
I took the six “Cities” to Weaving Southwest, a tapestry gallery and weaving supply shop in Taos, New Mexico. “Stunning”, they said. “They” were Rachel Brown and her granddaughter, Teresa Loveless. “Absolutely stunning. We love your work. Is the yarn hand-dyed?” The first four cities were rejected because the Clasgens yarn was not hand-dyed. I hit the looms. And the dye pots. One of the other apprentices at the Koehler studio had lived and worked in Boston for many years. So “Boston” was next. Then “Philadelphia” for a friend who grew up there. After that, “New Orleans”, because I had a great photo I took of one of the cemeteries, “Cities of the Dead”. And the project became, “51 American Cities,” one city from each of the 50 United States, plus Washington, DC. At that time the series evolved into a singular work comprised of 51pieces. The pieces are not for sale individually. The entire collection is to be displayed and sold all together.
A one-woman show was scheduled for September 1, 2012 at Weaving Southwest. My weaving schedule became very intense. Three pieces per month. I stayed on schedule. Then Weaving Southwest closed its doors in February of 2012.
The first nine cities (including the original four) were all the same size, about 20”x28”, with 2.5” borders. Because all of the cities are in black and white and gray tones (grisaille) I decided to vary the shapes and sizes for visual interest. Some are small (8.5”x11.5”), some are square (25”x25”), some are tall and narrow (28.5”x13”). The variation in sizes kept the weaving fresh for me, and exciting for the viewer. I never felt that I was weaving the same city over and over. All of the cities have woven borders except Washington DC. All of our states have borders. My “Washington DC” doesn’t have borders, as it belongs to all of us. At the same time that I varied sizes and shapes, I started dyeing my yarn at my studio, instead of the Koehler studio. I have developed eight shades of gray, two whites and one very, very black. The cities have been woven on three horizontal floor looms, two LeClercs and one Harrisville. I have each loom set up with a different warp width. Sometimes I worked on two smaller pieces side-by-side. Several pieces were woven side-to-side. The warp is 12/6 Swedish cotton with a sett of 8 epi. Every piece was finished as it came off the loom. It was steamed, hemmed, mounted and hung on the wall before I started the next one.
Often I was asked, “Are you sick of it? Are you burned out? Are you bored?” My answer, always, was, “No. I’m still loving it. I’m loving the weaving of the cities.” My one regret is that James Koehler never got to see them. I wanted to have at least ten, maybe twelve cities done before I showed James what I had in mind. He was from Detroit, so that had to be one of the cities. James died March 4th of 2011. “Detroit”, #10 was on the loom.
(written for American Tapestry Alliance, Tapestry Topics, 2013)
At that time I was an apprentice with the late master weaver, James Koehler. I took “Austin” to James’ studio to discuss the problems I was having with the yarn. He looked at the tapestry and said, “Astonishing.” I had told him months earlier I wanted to weave cities. His advice was, “Don’t weave cities. They don’t sell.” I didn’t listen. I think he didn’t expect me to. James suggested that I use the Harrisville Highland 2-ply that we dyed in the studio for his “student yarn”. I was his dye apprentice and was very familiar with the yarn. I used the Harrisville for “Denver Neighbors” and “Sears (Willis) Tower.” Perfect!
I took the six “Cities” to Weaving Southwest, a tapestry gallery and weaving supply shop in Taos, New Mexico. “Stunning”, they said. “They” were Rachel Brown and her granddaughter, Teresa Loveless. “Absolutely stunning. We love your work. Is the yarn hand-dyed?” The first four cities were rejected because the Clasgens yarn was not hand-dyed. I hit the looms. And the dye pots. One of the other apprentices at the Koehler studio had lived and worked in Boston for many years. So “Boston” was next. Then “Philadelphia” for a friend who grew up there. After that, “New Orleans”, because I had a great photo I took of one of the cemeteries, “Cities of the Dead”. And the project became, “51 American Cities,” one city from each of the 50 United States, plus Washington, DC. At that time the series evolved into a singular work comprised of 51pieces. The pieces are not for sale individually. The entire collection is to be displayed and sold all together.
A one-woman show was scheduled for September 1, 2012 at Weaving Southwest. My weaving schedule became very intense. Three pieces per month. I stayed on schedule. Then Weaving Southwest closed its doors in February of 2012.
The first nine cities (including the original four) were all the same size, about 20”x28”, with 2.5” borders. Because all of the cities are in black and white and gray tones (grisaille) I decided to vary the shapes and sizes for visual interest. Some are small (8.5”x11.5”), some are square (25”x25”), some are tall and narrow (28.5”x13”). The variation in sizes kept the weaving fresh for me, and exciting for the viewer. I never felt that I was weaving the same city over and over. All of the cities have woven borders except Washington DC. All of our states have borders. My “Washington DC” doesn’t have borders, as it belongs to all of us. At the same time that I varied sizes and shapes, I started dyeing my yarn at my studio, instead of the Koehler studio. I have developed eight shades of gray, two whites and one very, very black. The cities have been woven on three horizontal floor looms, two LeClercs and one Harrisville. I have each loom set up with a different warp width. Sometimes I worked on two smaller pieces side-by-side. Several pieces were woven side-to-side. The warp is 12/6 Swedish cotton with a sett of 8 epi. Every piece was finished as it came off the loom. It was steamed, hemmed, mounted and hung on the wall before I started the next one.
Often I was asked, “Are you sick of it? Are you burned out? Are you bored?” My answer, always, was, “No. I’m still loving it. I’m loving the weaving of the cities.” My one regret is that James Koehler never got to see them. I wanted to have at least ten, maybe twelve cities done before I showed James what I had in mind. He was from Detroit, so that had to be one of the cities. James died March 4th of 2011. “Detroit”, #10 was on the loom.
(written for American Tapestry Alliance, Tapestry Topics, 2013)
I began my series of "51 American Cities" in August of 2009. Three and a half years later it was finally completed. It has been an amazing journey. The first cartoon was drawn on August 12, 2009. The last one was drawn on June 26, 2012. The last tapestry was finished on March 30, 2013. (more after photos...)
Chicago IL - 2009
Denver CO - 2009
Boston MA - 2010
Philadelphia PA - 2010
New Orleans LA - 2010
Washington DC - 2011
Toledo OH - 2011
Asheville NC - 2011
Bradenton FL - 2011
Detroit MI - 2011
Omaha NE - 2011
Santa Fe NM - 2011
Seattle WA - 2011
Salt Lake City UT-
2011
2011
Little Rock AR- 2011
Baltimore MD - 2011
Atlanta GA - 2011
Tucson AZ-
2011
2011
Burlington VT - 2011
Anchorage AK - 2011
Montgomery AL -
2011
2011
Charleston WV - 2011
Boise ID - 2011
Jersey City NJ - 2011
New York City NY - 2011
Las Vegas NV - 2012
Indianapolis IN - 2012
Aberdeen SD - 2012
Bismarck ND - 2012
Cheyenne WY - 2012
Des Moines IA - 2012
Milwaukee WI - 2012
Portland ME - 2012
Manchester NH-
2012
2012
Richmond VA-
2012
2012
Providence RI - 2012
Louisville KY - 2012
Dallas TX - 2012
Billings MT - 2012
St. Paul MN - 2012
St. Louis MO - 2012
San Francisco CA - 2012
Wichita KS - 2012
Memphis TN - 2012
Portland OR - 2012
Columbia SC - 2013
Wilmington DE - 2013
Jackson MS -
2013
2013
Hartford CT-
2013
2013
Honolulu HI - 2013
Oklahoma City OK - 2013
MORE....
The original idea was to weave one black and white tapestry of New York City for my husband, a writer/photographer from New York. I would use one of his black and white photos of the city as inspiration for the cartoon. At the Espanola Valley Fiber Art Center in Espanola, New Mexico, I filled my arms with a beautiful Clasgens 4-ply wool yarn in black, natural off-white and three shades of gray. I drew my cartoon of the skyline and set to work weaving "New York". I loved weaving the city. In fact, I loved it so much that I wove "Los Angeles" next. And after that, "Chicago". Then "Austin" TX. And I realized that the 4-ply was a little too thick to get the fineness I wanted in the tapestries.
At that time I was an apprentice with the late master weaver, James Koehler. I took "Austin" to James' studio to discuss the problems I was having with the yarn. He looked at the tapestry and said, "Astonishing." I had told him months earlier I wanted to weave cities. His advice was, "Don't weave cities. They don't sell." I didn't listen. I think he didn't expect me to. James suggested that I use the Harrisville Highland 2-ply that we dyed in the studio for his "student yarn". I was his dye apprentice and was very familiar with the yarn. I used the Harrisville for "Denver" and "Chicago (Sears Tower)". Perfect!
I took the six "Cities" to Weaving Southwest, a tapestry gallery in Taos, New Mexico. "Stunning" they said. "They" were Rachel Brown and her granddaughter, Teresa Loveless. "Absolutely stunning. We love your work. Is the yarn hand-dyed?" The first four cities were rejected because the Clasgens yarn was not hand-dyed. I hit the looms. And the dye pots. One of the other apprentices at the Koehler studio had lived and worked in Boston for many years. So, "Boston" was next. Then "Philadelphia" for a friend who grew up there. After that, "New Orleans", because I had a great photo I took of one of the cemeteries, "Cities of the Dead". And the project became "51 American Cities", one city from each of the 50 states, plus Washington, DC. At that time the series evolved into a singular work comprised of 51 pieces. The pieces are not for sale individually. The entire collection is to be displayed and sold all together. (POR)
A one-woman show was scheduled for September 1, 2012 at Weaving Southwest. My weaving schedule became very intense. Three pieces per month. I stayed on schedule. Then Weaving Southwest closed its doors in February of 2012.
The first nine cities (including the original four) were all the same size, about 20" x 28" with 2.5" borders. Because all of the cities are in black and white and gray tones (grisaille) I decided to vary the shapes and sizes for visual interest....... The variation in sizes kept the weaving fresh for me, and exciting for the viewer. I never felt that I was weaving the same city over and over. (All of the cities have woven borders except Washington DC. All of our states have borders, but DC belongs to all of us.) At the same time that I varied sizes and shapes, I started dyeing my yarn at my studio, instead of the Koehler studio. I have developed eight shades of gray, two whites and one very, very black. The cities have been woven on three horizontal floor looms. Each loom is set up with a different warp width. Sometimes I worked on two smaller pieces side-by-side. Several of the larger pieces were woven side-to-side. As each piece came off the loom it was steamed, hemmed, mounted and hung before the next one was started.
My one regret is that James Koehler never got to see any of the "51". I wanted to have at least ten cities done before I showed him what I had in mind. He was from Detroit, so that had to be one of the cities. James died March 4th of 2011. "Detroit", #10, was on the loom.
(Written for American Tapestry Alliance, Tapestry Topics, 2013)
Fine Art Tapestries
Any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to the United States Federal Government also using or monitoring/using this website or any of its associated websites, you DO NOT have my permission to utilize any of my profile information nor any of the content contained herein including, but not limited to my photos, and.../or the comments made about my photos or any other "picture" art posted on my profile. You are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile and the contents herein. The foregoing prohibitions also apply to your employee, agent, student or any personnel under your direction or control the contents of this profile are private and legally privileged and confidential information, and the violation of my personal privacy is punishable by law. UCC 1-103 1-308 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
