7 Nancy Garretson

I often wonder what it was about weaving that so immediately attracted me to the medium. This attraction, or perhaps obsession, has dominated my artistic life for nearly thirty years, and I still find challenges and rewards that sustain my continued interest. Perhaps it was the sensual tactile pleasure of the yarns and the repetitive meditative process of laying down one thread upon another to create areas of color and texture. Perhaps, even more, it was the sculptural possibilities of the medium. Tapestry weaving is not the adding on of color to a surface as painting is; it is the creation of the whole cloth using threads of color. Both the illusion of depth and actual depth can be created. Tapestry cloth can be folded, draped, stuffed, or sewn to become three dimensional, and textures that rise up off the surface can be woven in. Not only can colored shapes be woven into the tapestry, but also the tapestry itself can be woven into a shape. All of this versatility and potential in a medium allows for expressive possiblities that I have only begun to explore. Most of my work is autobiographical. It all flows out of the places, people, and ideas that make up my life experience and who I am. The medium, in this case woven tapestry, is also a large part of my message. I find great satisfaction not only in learning and mastering traditional tapestry techniques but in improvising and even inventing techniques. I want to push the medium beyond its traditional form.