My Love Affair with Architecture — Rita's Dream Weaving Studio

It started back in 1984 on my trip to Greece. Mykonos impressed me with its Mediterranean blue light, simple hospitality, and casual and whimsical architecture. I could not take it home, but I could recreate some of it in a tapestry. You see, tapestry weaving technique is similar to that of constructing a structure — it starts from the foundation and is slowly created by building one shape on top of another. So, I could not build a building but I could weave it, without the worries of building inspections or certificates of occupancy!

The first step was to do a drawing for a tapestry, playing with shapes, colors and shading. Colored pencil drawings most closely resemble tapestry texture, and horizontal shadings would flow naturally into weaving.

I realized that to achieve the color effects I was after, I would have to dye my own yarn with variation in color for blending. That's a process in itself, but in short, dyeing scenes of wool is very much like cooking multicolored spaghetti in a large pot of steaming water with vinegar. It filled my Chelsea apartment with the smell of a wet dog. Not appetizing to eat, but sure fun to look at!

I constructed a loom on one of my bedroom walls, warped it up and started weaving by sitting on the floor. I finished by standing on a step ladder. The finished piece, “In Light of Blue,” measures 60”x30”.

This was over 30 years ago and what I did not know then is that this piece would set me on a lifelong journey of constructing buildings through tapestry weaving.

I would love to share more chapters of my adventures in woven architecture. If you like this, please let me know.

Thank you for reading!