South Downs:The Trundle, is an abstract landscape based upon the many walks I took up to The Trundle on the Goodwood Estate while studying at West Dean College. Pictured in my studio at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Each season brought new sights and sounds - the astonishing golden light of winter giving way to spring’s green foliage and playful lambs, summer’s exuberant blackberries and kites wheeling overhead, and the antics of the pheasants and partridges in the fall. Each walk up the curving path from the town of Singleton, across cultivated fields and over the steep downs, guided along the way by “finger posts” to the Iron Age circular hillfort served as a reflection upon how the landscape has both changed and remained the same since those Iron Age people first constructed the fort.
In-progress photo of an abstract landscape based upon walks taken to the Iron Age hillfort “The Trundle” located in the South Downs National Park, UK
Abstract landscape in progress on the tapestry loom. Based upon walks to The Trundle, close to where I completed the Foundation Tapestry diploma course at the West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.
Abstract tapestry completed in December 2022. 24”w x 23”h
This tapestry started as a blind charcoal sketch that I made while visualizing the path of local walk. It is also grounded in a historic landscape - this time across land that was once owned by Shakers from approximately 1780 until the early 20th century, close to where I live in Harvard, Massachusetts. The Shakers are no longer here - there is only one small Shaker settlement left in Maine - but their imprint remains on the landscape in the shape of their beautiful architecture, stone walls that delineate the fields they cleared, a rumored-to-be-haunted burial ground, the majestic trees along Maple Lane and especially on the summit of Holy Hill, which they flattened so they could dance, sing and worship. This land is now conserved and is well-loved by the current town residents; it is a popular place for walking dogs and spotting wildlife.
Meandering Path abstract tapestry in progress on the loom.
An abstract landscape completed in 2023. A combination of a photograph taken on Coumeenoole Beach along the Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Penninsula in Ireland and watercolor spirals that I painted and digitally layered together. The tapestry is a depiction of the materiality of the location - sand, stone, water - as well as the deep sense of time invoked by so many Irish landscapes.
A peek at my studio space at WAS in Lowell, Massachusetts.
A personal piece, in progress on the loom. This piece was a reflection of my struggle to accept my strained relationship with an emotionally abusive parent, as they were in the process of declining and passing.
Samples made during a class with Master Weaver Sue Lawty, exploring materiality and mark-making in tapestry.
A snapshot of my design process for a piece tentatively titled Liminal Space, depicting, in an abstract way, the salt marshes on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Created as an exercise while studying at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.
My first full-size tapestry. Completed in January 2022, it depicts rocks washed down from Mt. Mansfield in Vermont to the river bed in the valley below.
A depiction of my work space while I was working on River Rocks in Winter.
River Rocks in Winter on display at the Mary Cosgrove Gallery in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Samples created during a workshop with master weaver Fiona Hutchinson during the summer of 2022.
Further development of the River Rocks in Winter tapestry, into a more abstracted image.
An early, small tapestry, completed in 2021.
Early, small tapestries, completed in the summer of 2021 while vacationing on Cape Cod.
