High School Studio Lesson
Below: Jennifer Chin, grade eleven, color pencil on tracing
paper overlay sketch (atop a no. 2 graphite pencil on paper
self-portrait drawing). Right: tapestry weaving.
Self-Portrait
TAPESTRIES
Amy Sue McPartlan
Inspired by an extraordinary
“Textiles in the Museum”
workshop at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, I was motivated
to plan an engaging fiber lesson for
my Studio in Creative Crafts course.
Intrigued by woven Coptic portraits,
I began art history research in the
museum’s Antonio Ratti Textile Center library to find both textual and
visual references.
Beginning a Portrait Drawing
I started by reading aloud a handout
from the exhibit (replete with images,
captions, and an introduction to the
Copts and their era’s culture). After
this introduction, students drew 12
x 12" ( 30 x 30 cm) self-portraits with
pencil. I wanted them to represent
themselves while paying attention to
the stylistic facial features, coifs, garments and jewelry that were woven
in the Coptic textile pictures we
viewed. Color pencils were then used
(to represent which color yarn would
be woven as weft) on tracing paper
hinged to the top of the linear graphite self-portrait.
Weaving and Dyeing
After playing the Brooklyn Botanic
Garden’s video, The Craft of Dyeing
with Plants, I did a brief demonstration of hand spinning with carded
fiber using a drop spindle. Afterwards, I shared a sample dye chart of
a spectrum of wool, linen, and cotton
dyed safely with regional vegetation,
such as onion skins.
Weaving with Yarn
After being assigned hardwood tapestry lap looms, students warped a
12" wide vertical panel with neutral
colored yarn. Then, the colored pencil
self-portrait drawings were taped to
the sides of the warp by their corners
to align and affix the picture in the
central area of the loom. Working
from the bottom up, students began
weaving with a plastic needle, using
their drawings as guides. When weaving was completed, the warp was cut
from the loom, the fringe was tied
into square knots (flush with the
selvage), and the loose strings were
trimmed and stitched to the back of
the tapestry.
