Design Quest Design Gallery - STEPPING OUT AND STAYING HOME

Living
Dining
Bedroom
Office
Lighting
Home Decor
Kitchen
Tabletop
Entertaining
Housewares & Tools
Desk & Stationery
Bath
Personal Accessories
Toys & Puzzles
Kids & Teens
Gift Ideas
What's New
American Leather

DESIGN GALLERY AT DESIGN QUEST

- Back to Design Gallery Main Page -

STEPPING OUT AND STAYING HOME: WEAVING FOR YOU AND YOUR HOME — Sept 16 - Nov 13, 2011

The Design Gallery showcases the work of West Michigan weavers, Lestra Hazel and Cory Zann. Handwoven garments, accessories, wall hangings inspired by nature, texture, color and pointillism are on display.

Cory Zann:
I fell in love with fiber at the old Kresge’s store. I was five years old and had never seen anything as beautiful as their pink variegated yarn. Although I had no skills with which to make anything, I longed to have a skein of my own. My grandmother, an accomplished knitter, bought one for me – and then she taught me to knit. Her patient teaching led to my life-long passion for knitting. Years later in graduate school, my fiber interest expanded to include weaving. A friend bought a loom and encouraged me to weave a few inches. I didn’t dare – far too much school work remained between me and that diploma to risk such a distraction. Eventually I graduated, found job, bought a loom, and joined the Kalamazoo Weavers Guild. Thirty four years later, I own three looms and a prodigious amount of both knitting and weaving yarn.

The colors and textures of nature have always inspired my weaving, especially those of autumn. Expressing these ideas in yarn is a challenge that requires thoughtful consideration of practical issues such as the intended function of the piece and what fibers are appropriate for its use. Many aesthetic considerations also exist, including, proportion and placement of color and texture, as well as selection of an appropriate weaving pattern from the myriad of possibilities.

Sometimes I am able to create the piece I originally had in mind. Other times, the warp I wound takes on a life of its own and becomes the starting point for a different fabric. Knowing when to let go of my original concept and follow the emerging one is a constant challenge. After years of weaving, I’ve come to accept that what seemed like a fantastic design in planning, may in weavers’ lingo, be a “dog on the loom”. Of course this also works in reverse. Once I begin weaving, a totally unexpected, vibrant concept may reveal itself, taking the piece in a new, more dramatic direction.

Lestra Hazel:
The first time I saw a loom, I knew I wanted to weave. I soon realized that weaving is a process which combines mathematics, texture, color, pattern and dimension. Over the years the mathematics of a piece became integrated into my thought process, allowing me to concentrate on the other facets.

Initially I studied only pattern and weave structure, but as I became more familiar with the variety of weave structures, color began to intrigue me - and continues to do so.

I particularly enjoy the process of optical mixing – the spots of color which arise when a pattern is woven (similar to pointillism). Using very fine threads, one has to look closely to see the individual threads, but from a distance the colors blend and may appear different from the original colors.

Each work typically begins with a color inspiration - from a picture, an outdoor scene, a painting, a ceramic piece, or just from playing with the color wheel. When the colors are in place, the next step is to plan the purpose of the piece and the weave structure that will best enhance the color arrangement. I typically have many more projects in mind than looms with which to create them!