September 2024: Phoebe McAfee - Tapestry
I have been weaving since 1967, when I was an apprentice for two years with Rachel Brown in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico. I was 23 years old. Early on I fell in love with tapestry.
Now I am 80 and have never stopped weaving tapestry. For 40 years, I focused on large tapestries, mostly on commission. I lived in San Francisco from 1970 till 2010. I earned my MA in textiles from S.F. State in 1979. In 2010 I settled in Portland. In 2004 I began to draw on the computer, in a program called Paint, and later in Procreate on the iPad. Recent tapestries woven in Portland and at Damascus Fiber Arts School come from computer drawings. Translating the vivid colors into yarns is new and delightful. I have begun to weave words into my images. I am seeing where that takes me. Still evolving, still finding new things to say in warp and weft.
Now I am 80 and have never stopped weaving tapestry. For 40 years, I focused on large tapestries, mostly on commission. I lived in San Francisco from 1970 till 2010. I earned my MA in textiles from S.F. State in 1979. In 2010 I settled in Portland. In 2004 I began to draw on the computer, in a program called Paint, and later in Procreate on the iPad. Recent tapestries woven in Portland and at Damascus Fiber Arts School come from computer drawings. Translating the vivid colors into yarns is new and delightful. I have begun to weave words into my images. I am seeing where that takes me. Still evolving, still finding new things to say in warp and weft.