Karen Ponzio Photos
Jennifer Rodgers and Julia Ludlow-Ortner
When you walk into the River Street Gallery at Fairhaven Furniture on Blatchley Avenue, the art is not only hanging on the walls, it is also draped over couches and tables and being worn by mannequins. “Interlacements: Artistic Expressions in Weaving” — the biennial exhibit of the Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut — held its opening reception this past Saturday. This is the show’s fifth time at the space, the last time being in 2017.
According to Julia Ludlow-Ortner, show coordinator for the first time this year, this is the 21st show for the guild, which is made up of weavers and spinners from all over the state, with the guild divides into four areas: North Central CT (Area One), South Central CT (Area Two), Western CT (Area Three), and Eastern CT (Area Four). Ludlow-Ortner is from Area Three, and this year was involved in choosing the site of the show, naming and hanging it. She was thrilled to be back at this particular venue. “It allows for the arrangement of the furniture available for whatever we need,” she said. “They’ve been fabulous.”
During the five weeks that the exhibit is open, two special events occur. First was the awards ceremony, during the opening reception this past Saturday. Next Saturday, April 6, will be Demonstration Day, when weavers will return to Fairhaven Furniture to offer people a chance to see how weaving is done and how they might get involved (see below).
Brenda Osborn’s “Blown Off Course and BB Smith’s “Sandy Shores.”
For the awards, two judges — Sarah Fortin and Denise Kovat — chose the winners before the event. Awards were handed out at the reception by Ludlow-Ortner and Jennifer Rodgers, who also assisted Ludlow-Ortner in coordinating this year’s event.
The afternoon opened with people filing into the room steadily, taking pictures with their phones and greeting one another with smiles and hugs, many of them wearing pieces they had made and sharing stories of recent projects.
Speaking of stories, many of the pieces begged to tell their own as you walked through the room and viewed them. The care and detail put into their display only added to the intricate beauty of the patterns and colors. Brenda Osborn’s “Blown Off Course,” which depicted a jellyfish in murky seafoam green waters, hung over “Sandy Shores” by B.B. Smith, which was draped over a maple console table that also held two lamps made with wood that looked as if it could have been found by the shore as well. Taken together, it seemed to be the start of a short piece of prose or a poem.
Elisa Kessler Caporale’s “There’s Too Much Going On in My Head.”
Some of the pieces had names that lent another dimension to them, such as Elisa Kessler Capporale’s “There’s Too Much Going On in My Head.” Some were a spin on classics, such as Ellen Goldman’s “Raspberry Fields Forever” and Anne M. Ryan’s “The First Cut is the Hardest…”
Handmade ribbons by Anne Graham
Even the ribbons handed out at the awards ceremony were works of art in and of themselves, made by guild member Anne Graham. The ceremony took place early on in the reception after Ludlow-Ortner and Rodgers welcomed the attendees. Ludlow-Ortner told the crowd how proud she was to be a part of “their village.”
“We frequently knock the socks off the judges, and we did this year as well,” Ludlow-Ortner added. She announced that the winners would receive envelopes with their scores in them, but the ribbons would be hung on the wall next to the pieces for the remainder of the exhibition.
“And let’s not do that ‘hold your applause’ thing,” Rodgers added. “Clap all you want!”
Weaver of Merit Jenney Simpson’s piece “Cross the Line.”
And clap people did as award after award was handed out in categories such as clothing, shawls, table accessories, and rugs, to name a few. Special awards were also handed out for exemplary hand dyeing and for complex weaving projects. A group recognized as weavers of merit — those weavers who according to the program have “demonstrated outstanding craftsmanship in weaving as characterized by technical excellence, design, innovation, and imagination” — were exempt from the competition, but were recognized with small black ribbons near their pieces and were also eligible for those special awards.
Ludlow-Ortner awarding Marjorie Wheeler her Weaver of Merit pin.
Marjorie Wheeler was awarded as a new weaver of merit at this year’s ceremony, receiving a pin from Ludlow-Ortner.
“I feel like I’m going to the prom,” Wheeler said. Wheeler also won first place for blankets/bedcovers and the Wilda Hulse Baby Blanket Award for her piece “Isla Del Encanto for Waylon,” a blue blanket that also had a bear made of the same materials to match it.
Wheeler showing the details of her piece
Wheeler said she has been weaving since 1982, but was enjoying it more regularly since her retirement from teaching in 2006.
“It keeps me sane,” she said with a laugh. This particular piece was made for her grandson, and she proudly showed me his initials woven into the fabric as part of its pattern.
“He already has one blanket,” she said. ‘I always give two as gifts so the parents can wash one.” The yarn was also hand dyed by Wheeler at a guild yarn-dyeing workshop.
“We have what we call dye days,” she said, “so we can make a big mess together.”
Brenda Osborn, who like Wheeler is from Area Four, was also a multiple award winner, taking first place for wall hangings and the HGA Award for Outstanding Fiber Art for the aforementioned piece, “Blown off Course.” That particular piece was created based on a photo taken while in Lake Boca, Fla. and actually did have its own back story.
Betsy Greene’s “Summer Breeze,” winner of first place for clothing.
“The jellyfish had been blown into shore and was going to die, but it was beautiful at the time,” Osborn said. “It was sad, but it left an impression.”
Osborn said she has been weaving since 1976 and started tapestry in 1999. (More of the story about her winning piece as well as her other work can be found on her website.)
Donna Batsford, who organized the event two years ago, encouraged all to return to the gallery for Demonstration Day on April 6, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where both adults and children are invited to “watch what is being done” to get an idea of how such textiles are made and perhaps plant the seed to begin to learn how to get started with weaving their own stories.
I told her that even though there were many signs up reminding everyone to not touch the handwoven items, the desire to reach out and experience the textures of the various pieces was eminently present. She agreed.
“If you liked this today, you will love Demo Day,” she said. I have no doubt she is correct.
The Handweavers’ Guild of Connecticut’s 2019 Biennial Exhibit runs through May 5 at the River Street Gallery at Fairhaven Furniture, 72 Blatchley Ave. Demonstration Day is scheduled for this Saturday, April 6, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
