Star dust

A nebula is an enormous cloud of dust and gas occupying the space between stars and acting as a nursery for new stars. The roots of the word come from Latin nebula, which means a “mist, vapor, fog, smoke, exhalation.” Nebulae are made up of dust, basic elements such as hydrogen and other ionized gases.

My Nebula series is composed of small squares of handspun handwoven linen that I manipulate with cyanotype, embroidery and sometimes indigo dips. My work is often driven by metaphors, dreams and persistent images. Here the circle, spiral, and line return again – referencing a nebula, gaseous cloud that lives between stars – an amorphous space where new stars begin.

What if our bodies know they are made of elements begun as stars?

More images of Nebulas in my gallery.

My 30 seconds of fame

Back in early March, I was contacted by a creative content director from New Balance shoe company. They were looking for a weaver to help them roll out a new sponsorship of an Italian soccer team - Atalanta. This team hails from Bergamo, Lombardo, Italy - a region with a deep history in textiles and weaving.

Designing the warp faced pennant

The creative team wanted to promote this partnership with a short video of a weaver creating a soccer pennant with the New Balance and Atalanta logos. They wanted a weaver who might be Italian of a “certain age” and employing traditional techniques. I fit the requirements — and spent about 3 weeks working on this project.

The completed pennants!

It was a super fun challenge, culminating in this short video. I ended up weaving a total of 8 pennants which now hang in both corporate offices at New Balances as well as Atalanta club locations.