description

Join strips of old photographs and documents into a unique format that literally weaves strands of a story together. Written text and and images will be woven together to tell a visual story about your life or the life of your family. A transparency will be added to the top of the paper weaving and joined to it with rough stitching.

The Woven Narrative

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bio

class photo 1

class photo 2

class photo 3

class photo 4

kit fee: $0        supply list

• 1. 9X12 piece of heavy cardboard. Corrugated is fine.
• 2. Scissors suitable for cutting into cardboard, paper and fiber.
• 3. String. Kite, tatting,or crocheting.  About 1/16" wide or less, as long as it isn't easily broken, 100 yds.
• 4. 2 photo documents on a horizontal axis. These must be copies of originals because we will cut them into strips.
• 5. Color strings that repeat some of the color in the photo copies.You'll need about 200 yds. or so and this can be less strong.
• 6. 1 transparency of a text document, a letter, a birth certificate, a passport. These should be black and white, 8&1/2x11 inches and on a vertical axis. Trust me on this axis stuff but don't panic if you don't get it "right", we can make it work. Go to a copy place for this one. You can even write directly on a blank transparency.
• 7. 2 clips: bulldog, snack, any small clips to hold transparency to the weaving.
• 8. Needles: an assortment for sewing (possibly beading) and a large one for weaving.
• 9. Glue. Any regular white glue is fine.
• 10. Color sewing threads.
• 11. Beads, collage elements, acrylic paints and brushes. These items are for elaborating on the surface and you do not need all of them. You can even use your hair.
• 12. 1 sheet of computer paper.
  
  
• This is a long list but compact, most of it will fit into a large envelope and you DO need all of these unless indicated otherwise.

printable version

Shirley Ende-Saxe has taught art to 5-75 year olds in public school, university, summer camp and ArtFest settings. She has exhibited locally and nationally, began participating in mail-art projects in the 1980s and is a fequent contributor to Art and Life. She believes strongly in encouraging students to just DO their art and ask the critical questions later (or not at all) and that "talent" is helpful but not essential. It is her privilege to coax out the artist that waits within everyone.