Making is My Must!

Even after teaching for 15 years, I am always looking for new ways to make Art with unexpected materials, usually for an art lesson for my middle school students. This passion was set in motion in the mid 2000's when I was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Kent State University. A graduate level 3 Dimensional weaving course perpetually pushed us to consider making woven textiles out of wire, natural fibers, paper and "Plarn". Plarn, Plastic yarn, is created by cutting a continuous spiral into an ordinary grocery bag.

Making Piles of Plarn takes a super sharp pair of scissors and awesome friends who collect and mail uniquely colored bags to me in Ohio from Maryland to Arizona. My middle school students also know they can use any of the tools in my room safely but the ones with the Glitter handles are Miss B's and the rotary cutter is known as "the No-No" tool because the one at school has the word "no" sharpied all over it for safety purposes lol

The Pulled Warp Weaving created for the class was created from my Kent State Library bags from my graduate research, my mother's cancer surgery bag & a local art store bag. It was also a symbol of "all the things we carry on our shoulders" as we go through life. This piece was chosen for an off-campus art show in 2006 in downtown Kent, Ohio.

I wasn't able to weave again in this manner for over a decade until my high school art teacher decided to sell her loom. I cherished the idea of having a such a tool knowing the hours of energy she invested into it also. I couldn't wait to warp it up and being weaving again. Warp are the structure strings in which you weave over and under with your Weft to create fabric.

My next attempt at doing a pulled warp out of college definitely had lots of relearning but it was so very worth it! I may have had to call the previous owner to ask questions ;) 180 individually threaded warps, each 25 ft long

Front and Back once off the Loom.

All those plarn tails will be cut off in finishing step. I like knowing that they are my local family owned grocery store bags from different seasons.

Followed by Tiny Knot Tying Torture ;)

Both pieces were accepted into an Ohio art show for piece where everything was upcycled/recycled creations. This was at the West Woods Nature Center as part of the Geauga County Park District in February of 2019.

Once Quarantine hit, I found every healthy way possible to distract myself from missing my students which included even lugging my loom outside.

This Photo was part of a school video where teachers share what positive things they were doing during the shutdown. Most posted family time, gardening, exercising, but my kiddos know that I must make things to be a happy human

These piece are now off the loom and ready to be constructed into new functional fashionable art pieces that also keep plastic bags from ending up in landfills or waterways.

As an Art teacher, I know that using a quality tool makes a HUGE the difference in the outcome of the process and product!

These are the only two constructed so far, but plan to spent a good portion of my summer break back outside with my scissors and pliers in hand to pull all the black warp strings and construct the 3 Dimensional bag from the flat weaving process. I have also used my Plarn to Knit, and to create a coil basket with clothing line as the core. I dream to inspire my students the being an artist is not just about pencil and paper but how you see and can transform the world with beauty, functionality and meaning.