Vision Weave Project

The Vision Weave Project

Moon Rain Centre continues to interweave art and community with the Vision Weave Project

Contact Moon Rain Centre to plan a hands-on interactive community arts project.

Bring The Vision Weave Project to your local school, community centre, library, care or recreation centre.





Click on image to enlarge

 info@moonrain.ca        http://www.moonrain.ca/

Tapestry Workshops at Moon Rain Centre 2011

“During the process of designing and weaving each tapestry, I attune to ancient mysteries of the weaver’s path. The repetition of over and under, followed by under and over, meditatively connects me to Navajo, Mayan and Buddhist beliefs where weaving, or the union of warp, or tantra, with weft, or sutra, creates harmony.” Thoma Ewen, artistic director

Photography by Ken Ewen

Inspired by the natural environment, workshop participants explore and develop their own creativity, immersed in techniques and practices developed at Moon Rain Centre that demystify tapestry weaving, making it accessible to everyone.

Level One: workshops for beginners

July 23 & 24

August 6 & 7

This weekend workshop is an introduction to the art and craft of tapestry weaving. Basic techniques are explored and practiced on small frame looms. While learning to blend colours and build woven shapes and lines, participants create a small tapestry to take home.

$225 includes materials

Level Two: weaving tapestry

July 25 to 29

August 8 to 12

During this week workshop, the patterns of nature inspire woven tapestries, as each participant explores in depth the tapestry weaving process, developing and weaving a visual idea into a finished tapestry.

$475 includes materials prerequisite: Level One

Level Three: mentoring

Mentoring responds to the unique questions and concerns of individual advanced students. Emerging tapestry weavers are shown how to recognize and develop their own unique creative gifts, while learning to become active creative members of their own communities.

prerequisite: Level Two and portfolio

Level Four: weaving and culture

A workshop for teachers, arts educators and cultural facilitators

Weaving transmits the energy of Peace. It has a calming, harmonizing effect on people, especially on children, so is an excellent tool for today’s classrooms and community centers. This workshop teaches simple creative weaving skills and projects that are suitable for all ages, abilities, and cultural programming budgets. In this workshop participants learn how to turn the family ragbin into woven fabric art projects, how to make simple frame looms and weave on them, how to make cloth looms and more.

prerequisite: Level Two

workshop fees include all materials

camping and accommodation available on-site

For more information please contact Moon Rain Centre at

info@moonrain.ca

http://www.moonrain.ca/

819 457 9711



The Living Tapestry Workbook reviewed in Britain’s The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers

The Living Tapestry Workbook received a glowing review from Jean Woods of the New Forest Guild in issue number 236 Winter 2010 of Great Britain’s The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.

Among the reviewer’s comments were, “a joy to view” , “encouragement to get started” and “inspire the belief you can do this too”.

The Workbook can be ordered online through the Moon Rain Centre website at

 http://www.moonrain.ca/TapestryWorkBook.html

     Also please check the December 11, 2009 posting on this blog for more information

The Living Tapestry / La Toile Vivante

.

When Thirteen Moons Entwine

International textile envent in the Outaouais

Aug 15 to Oct 10, 2010

.

The Living Tapestry/ La Toile Vivante, a solo exhibition of large format tapestries by Thoma Ewen, artistic director of Moon Rain Centre was presented at The City of Ottawa’s Trinity Art Gallery in the Shenkman Arts Centre from August 26 to September 28, 2010.

>

>

.
Photos by Ken Ewen

Fils Lumineux / Threads of Light

.

When Thirteen Moons Entwine

International textile event in the Outaouais

Aug 15 to Oct 10, 2010

.

.

Fils Lumineux/ Threads of Light, a group exhibition of tapestries by five internationally known tapestry artists who participated in When Thirteen Moons Entwine, was presented in the Salle du Conseil, in the Hotel de Ville de Val-Des-Monts, Quebec, from August 28 to October 10, 2010.From left to right, are tapestries by Peter Harris, Canada; Ewa Bartosz-Mazus, Poland; Ixchel Suarez, Mexico/Canada; Krystyna Sadej, Poland/Canada; Thoma Ewen, Canada.

.

.

Photos by Ken Ewen

Vision Weave Public Art Installed

.
Vision Weave Community Arts project has been permanently installed at the Albion- Heatherington Recreation Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

photo by Caleb Abbott

.

artculture

City of Ottawa Public and Community Arts Newsletter

October 2010 Newsletter no. 4

Brought to you by the Cultural Services Branch

.

COMMUNITY WEAVING PROJECT UNVEILED AT ALBION- HEATHERINGTON

.

A new public art commission entitled Vision Weave created for the Albion-Heatherington Recreation Centre, was unveiled by Councillor Diane Deans and community members on Thursday, September 9th.

.

Vision Weave, by artists Thoma Ewen and Gabby Ewen, is a visual expression of inter-cultural and inter-generational creative collaboration. Hidden within the woven wool banners suspended from the foyer ceiling are over 100 ‘visionmessages’ for the present and future written by members of the Albion-Heatherington and Fairlea communities.The artist team set up their portable loom outdoors at the Better Beginnings Better Futures’ June Celebration, andin the Centre throughout July 2010 to teach, animate, communicate and direct the weaving of the Vision Weave project with community members of allages.

.

.

articulture

Bulletin sur l’art public et les arts communautairesOctobre 2010 Bulletin no 4

Présenté par la Direction des services culturels de la Ville d’Ottawa

.

DÉVOILEMENT D’UN PROJET COMMUNAUTAIRE DE TISSAGE AU CENTRE ALBION-HEATHERINGTON

.

Un nouveau projet d’art public intitulé Toile de vision, commandé pourle Centre récréatif Albion-Heatherington, a été dévoilé en présence de la conseillère Diane Deans et demembres de la collectivité, le jeudi 9 septembre dernier.

.

Créée par les artistes Thoma Ewen et Gabby Ewen, l’oeuvre Toile de vision est une expression visuelle d’une collaboration créative interculturelle et intergénérationnelle. Au sein des bannières faites de laine tissée suspendues au plafond du foyer se trouvent plus de 100 messages exprimant la vision pour le présent et l’avenir de membres des collectivités Albion-Heatherington et Fairlea. L’équipe d’artistes a installé son métier portable à l’extérieur lors de la Célébration de juin du programme Partir d’un bon pas pour un avenir meilleur, puis dans le Centre pendant tout le mois de juillet 2010 pour enseigner le tissage et animer, communiquer et diriger le projet Toile de vision en collaboration avec des membres de tous âges de la collectivité.

Woven Works

.

When Thirteen Moons Entwine International textile arts event in the outaouais Aug 15 to Oct 10

.

In collaboration with Moon Rain Centre, and the international textile arts event, "When Thirteen Moons Entwine", you are invited to the opening of The Living Tapestry, woven works by Thoma Ewen, at The Trinity Gallery, Shenkman Arts Centre, Sunday August 29th, 2 to 4pm.
Exhibition on display from August 26 to September 28th, 2010.
For further information contact Moon Rain Centre
info@moonrain.ca
819 457 9711
www.moonrain.ca.

Update on The Living Tapestry Workbook

Wow, we would like to thank all for their interest in The Living Tapestry Workbook. The reaction to the book has been great and we will soon have to go ahead with a second printing . We have sold copies in Australia, New Zealand, The United Kingdom, The United States and Canada. The book has been praised by both teachers and students.


For more information

www.moonrain.ca/TapestryWorkBook.hmtl

Albion-Heatherington Recreation Centre

NEWS RELEASE

Ottawa

For immediate release:
March 12, 2010

.

Unique weaving project wins public art competition

.

Ottawa — The main lobby of the Albion-Heatherington Recreation Centre will soon be home to a collaborative art project that promises to have the entire community weaving. Vision Weave, by local artists Thoma Ewen and Gabriel Ewen Phillips, was the winning entry in a City competition that called for public art to enhance Ottawa’s newest recreation centre and foster community engagement.

The mother-and-daughter team are thrilled their project was selected. “We wanted to create a visual expression of inter-cultural and inter-generational creative collaboration,” said Thoma Ewen. “My daughter and I will set up a portable loom in the recreation centre to teach, animate, communicate and direct the weaving of the Vision Weave project with community members of all ages.”

Councillor Diane Deans, chair of the Community and Protective Services Committee, said that the winning art was a perfect project for the new recreation centre. “What better way to weave a community together than with a tapestry that everyone can take part in? It’s one more way that public art can inspire and connect people of all ages, cultures and interests.”

An evolving piece, Vision Weave will incorporate the woven stories from the community. The result will be radiantly colourful banner-like woven hangings.

Thoma Ewen is artistic director of the Moon Rain Centre for Tapestry Arts; Gabriel Ewen Phillips is project co-ordinator. An award-winning tapestry artist, and former instructor at the Ottawa School of Art, Thoma directs community projects in Canada and Europe. An assistant at the Moon Rain Centre for over 12 years, Gabriel has studied at Richard Robinson Fashion Design Academy, Arts Canterbury and Ottawa School of Art.

For more information about the new public art visit ottawa.ca/arts or call 3-1-1.

For more information:
Media contact
613-580-2450

Public inquiries
3-1-1

Article in the Low Down Newspaper

.

This article appear in the Low Down newspaper on November 4 2009. The author is Phil Jenkins.
.

Aurora Borealis Behind The Trees

.

Henley Festival

On July 10 and 11, The Big Weave was at the Heneley Festival. As can been seen from the following photographs, the tapestry is now at about 6 inches and has had many hands, eyes and minds involved. It is a wonderful community project.
For more on the Henley Festival visit the website

http://www.henley-festival.co.uk/

Photographs by

Joanne de Nobriga

Day Three Ends

Using the skills and techniques they learned on the small frame looms, the weavers work on the main tapestry

Placing the weft

Note the bubble technique of placing the weft

----------------------------------------

Close Up

Putting the new skills to use

----------------------------------------

Many hands

This is a community tapestry project

Photos by

Joanne de Nobriga

The Big Weave Day Three

On day three Thoma Ewen gave a workshop for teachers, weavers and craftspeople at Maiden Erlegh school. The small frame looms were produced at the school and are an invaluable tool in learning how to weave a tapestry.

Frame looms

Putting a warp on the frame looms

----------------------------------------

Separating warp threads

Using fingers to manipulate the warp

----------------------------------------

Tapestry is started

The first couple of inches of weaving

----------------------------------------

Nearing the end of this weaving

Only a few more picks to go

----------------------------------------

Cutting the warp

The warp threads are cut and tied

----------------------------------------

A small finished tapestry

Holding up a wonderful piece

----------------------------------------

Two more tapestries

More example of the tapestries produced during the workshop

Photos by

Joanne de Nobriga

Day Two Ends

Placing the cartoon The cartoon is set in place behind the warp

----------------------------------------

Marking the warp

A black marker is used to draw the design on the warp
----------------------------------------

Caroline & Thoma weave the heron's wingtip
The weaving is on!!


Photos by
Joanne de Nobriga

The Big Weave Cartoon

The Big Weave Project is now into day 2 and the preparation of the cartoon of the design is the main focus.

Working with the design

Careful planning is needed

----------------------------------------

Placing a grid

Using a grid to map the design

----------------------------------------

Transfering the design to full size cartoon

By way of the grid the cartoon is drawn to full size

----------------------------------------

A cornucopia of colour

A selection of the wool for the Big Weave Project


Photos

Joanne de Nobriga

The Big Weave Day 1

Moon Rain and it's artistic director Thoma Ewen are so pleased and excited to be participating in The Big Weave, a coming together of artists and community to create a public art project which gives adults and children the opportunity to learn new skills and to participate in the creation of a unique community artwork.
This international project is located in Reading England and will take place during three weeks in July. Part of the beauty of the project will be derived from taking the project out into the community, teaching basic weaving techniques and providing the opportunity for all to weave.
Reading photographer Joanne de Nobriga joined us and took some amazing photos of the activity. Joanne will join us regularly during the three weeks of this project and has generously offered to document the event. Thank you Joanne.
Below are some of her photographs from day 1

Warping up

Diane and Caroline warping up The Big Weave Loom

------------------------------------------

Checking the tension

Thoma checks the tension of the warp on The Big Weave Loom

-----------------------------------------

The first shed

Thoma prepares the first shed on the loom

------------------------------------------

Down to work

Three weavers settle down at the loom

------------------------------------------

The first pick

The first pick of the project is laid in place

--------------------------------------------
The design

Going over the design

------------------------------------------

Check back to follow the progress of The Big Weave. Also please go to the Big Weave website at

http://www.thebigweave.org

Moon Rain Featured on TFO

Broadcast on TFO's Panorama May 11 2006

Moon Rain's Artistic Director Wins Award

.

COMMUNIQUÉ

LAURÉATS DES PRIX D’EXCELLENCE DES 9e CULTURIADES DE LA

FONDATION POUR LES ARTS, LES LETTRES ET LA CULTURE EN OUTAOUAIS

Le 6 novembre 2008 - La Fondation pour les arts, les lettres et la culture en Outaouais a rendu hommage aux artistes de la région hier soir, lors de son événement annuel, qui s’est déroulé au foyer de la Maison de la culture de Gatineau. Douze prix furent remis lors de cette neuvième édition de la Soirée des Culturiades, dont l’animation fut assumée par le Théâtre Dérives Urbaines et la trompettiste Isabelle Arseneau-Bruneau.

Le Grand Prix d’excellence - IVes Jeux de la francophonie attribué à un artiste pour l’ensemble de ses réalisations, assorti d’une bourse de 2 500 $ :

- Thoma Ewen (Métier d’art)

Moon Rain Tapestry Exhibition In Lyon, France

Tapestry Exhibition

bibliothèque municipale de Lyon