This has been a hard post to write. I'll have to begin with a few words from her obituary written by her beloved granddaughter: Joann Cox Wilson passed away peacefully in her home in late February 2024. A dedicated educator and lover of art, Joann’s passion for teaching and creativity touched the lives of many. Joann found simple joy in the elegant movement of dragonfly wings and the delicate melodies of dulcimer music. She cherished the many friendships that she gained through the various arts. During her lifetime she explored and seemed to master almost every art form you can imagine, paint ..read more

  This post is about my ongoing tapestry diary process, something I've done each year since 2009. The idea for an ongoing daily tapestry started with one month in 2008. I've written about that in earlier blogs and most (maybe all) of the other tapestry diaries since then. And so it seems the thing to make note of here as my last post of 2023/first post of 2024. So you won't have to read earlier posts about this curious process here's the gist of it. Each day I make a selection of color to weave for a few inches, usually spending from a couple of minutes to 10-15 minutes with that. Well ..read more

  Last week I was at Arrowmont for a workshop, the first in-person one I've taught since the mentorship program at John C. Campbell Folk School in the fall of 2020. I've had several online classes through Lessonface and the Folk School since then but nothing matches the experience of face-to-face teaching. It's physically (especially after the hip replacement surgery in June) and mentally exhausting but I love it!  Nine people came from far distances to be together in this most wonderful class. It was nice to finally meet some folks who I'd known for years virtually (social media and ..read more

  I was happy to spend several days recently at the Lillian E. Smith Center where I've had many residencies in the past fourteen years. I've gone to the center at least once each year and in a few occasions, a couple of times. The residencies give me a focused time to work on projects. I've begun several design ideas for tapestries there as well as worked on writing and also sampling for upcoming classes.   On this stay I tried a new-to-me medium, gel plate printing. I've been seeing lots of demos of gel plate printing on Instagram. The plates can be made at home but I deci ..read more

  My exhibit at Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art at Piedmont University, Demorest, Georgia opened on August 31 with a reception.   Lots of people turned out from the Piedmont community as well as a number of family and friends. It was a beautiful way to culminate a year and half of planning for the exhibit.  I chose the title Because of Memory since most of the works being shown were either created while I've been in residencies at the Lillian E. Smith Center or afterwards, based on images done there. Quite a few of the sketches and paintings from my residency times w ..read more

  I'll see how long I can keep the resolution. Once upon a time I posted to this blog frequently. During the past three years or so I've written here less while involved with more writing elsewhere. I've written several articles for Handwoven and for Little Looms magazines, and a couple for Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot. Plus two books and now, the third. I'm not working on any other writing (yet) and I know doing blog entries are good ways to record some of my activities. One of the things I'd like to mention is that last year Pat Williams and I had a conversation about my tapestries tha ..read more

Well, months have passes since my last blog post at the end of 2022. Lots of things have gone on in our lives—as in yours, I'm sure. To recap, in February my husband sold his business and the store it's been in for the past 40 years. Now he's helping the new owners get it back underway as an ongoing operation. His "next retirement date" (as he keeps calling it) is today, August 1. Remains to be seen how long this one will last. Since my last post I've taught an online tapestry class through Lessonface for John C. Campbell Folk School. That was back in January. Then I taught another one for des ..read more

  I haven't been a frequent blogger this year. In fact, my last several years have been posting-light. I've been writing other things and not taken time to come here to my blog to keep up with what's going on in my life. Maybe 2023 will be different. It can be if I want it to be. Just have to make the time. Time. That's one of the things that's taking my time! I'm working on a new book in which I'm writing about how some fiber and fabric artists are using time as a motivator. Maybe a diary is being woven, like what I've been doing for the past fifteen years. Others use a journal approach ..read more

  Or, lots of things have happened since I last posted. In the last blog entry I was finishing up a tapestry of sweetshrub. I did that, took it to the frame shop and it's now ready for an exhibit I'll be in with two other tapestry artists soon. That's to be at Danso Gallery, Clayton Arts Center,  Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee. The show, "Three Voices," opens at the end of June and runs through July--it will be up during the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence and is on one of the tours offered as an option for conference attendees. The opening is on July 16.  So ..read more

    A short post today with a couple of photos of the current tapestry I'm working on. This is the sweetshrub that I wrote about in the last post. I've been able to spend a few hours almost every day with it since beginning the weaving in early March. Possibly, if I really push, I can finish it by the end of the month! At least that's the plan right now. I have an online class for John C. Campbell Folk School coming up this weekend and I'll be working on prep for that in the next days. But a little bit of weaving time each day will go into this sweetshrub. Maybe.   ..read more