When I wrote the second post on selections from the Tiny But Mighty exhibit, my last entry was this piece by Nancy Glass. I published the post before I’d had a chance to learn more. Nancy sent me some work in progress photos with a little more explanation you might find interesting. I certainly did!

Does that image come as a surprise? It’s amazing the amount of thought and discipline that went into this “seemingly simple” work. Here’s what Nancy wrote to me…

“Premise -- ...from the tiniest drop of water to the mighty ocean. The piece was designed to show a series of confluences, from water droplets whether in the earth or from dark clouds that moved to form small streams and creeks to a larger river and on to ocean waves.

Materials -- the yarn for the tapestry sections I handspun from black wool which had mohair color highlights, including turquoise to represent water droplets. The lace used Idrija cotton thread #30.

Back story -- this show was perfect for me as it provided me the opportunity to do a several things for the first time! Firsts included responding to a call for entry, designing a piece for a show, designing lace, implementing a lace design I created, merging two different textile crafts into one piece (actually attached the tapestry to the lace bolster and integrated the two as I wove the lace...probably won't do it that way in the future), hemming the tapestry, stiffening the lace, labeling the piece, and sending it off!

It was a great experience and had a huge learning curve. I actually first explored tapestry in 1994 when I took a class from Shelly Socolofsky, but my professional career (social work) was taking off and overtook my other passions. I rediscovered tapestry about a year ago and have been exploring through classes with Rebecca Mezhoff. I have been intrigued with Idrija lace for its simplicity. Last fall on a trip to Slovenia I arranged a 3 hour lesson (never tried lace before the lesson) with the director of the Idrija School of Lace and came home with a few how-to books and supplies. I thoroughly enjoy both media as they both use bobbins and are very tactile…

… Footnote -- why doesn't the tapestry have the "streams" running to the ocean as designed? I really wanted the verticality of the warps and tried to weave gently curving streams...and was stymied by the stairstep nature of tapestry...so given time constraints including the fact I was in the process of retiring and had yet to design the lace...I simplified the tapestry. Of course, shortly after submitting the piece I realized some fairly easy ways I could have made the tapestry more interesting! C'est la vie!…”

Isn’t that inspiring?

Similar to the way Annie Landry described herself, Nancy referred to herself as a “newby” to the tapestry world. Our world applauds you both!