It’s been years since I’ve contributed to this blog. Archie continues to fill my time in wondrous ways, and I hope to begin sharing more things here. This post is not directly about Archie, but it is about the Dovecot Studios. The weavers have recently completely a 3-dimensional triptych tapestry celebrating the first seven women to attend university in Scotland to study medicine. It is an ephermal piece that depicts motion and fluidity with intensely saturated colors. I plan to see it in person in July. Meanwhile, how lucky some people will be to attend the opening later this month.

The Dovecot continues to honor the wisdom and creativity that Archie brought to tapestry, and his unique ability to keep a rather rare artform viable in modern times.

Every time I sit at the loom I think of Archie along with several of the Wednesday Group weavers who inspired me with the generosity we all shared with each other.

How did Archie see himself?  He drew so many people over the course of his long career, and occasionally he drew himself.

During Archie’s years in Hawaii, did you know that he had a regular column in the “South Mauii Times” newspaper? His column was called “Artstalk,” a clever play on words, don’t you think?  He would write an article each week about some facet of art, and he always included a hand drawn illustration.  A few years ago, I borrowed Archie’s file of past articles for this column to choose a few to include in the book.  Perhaps this one is my favorite.

It’s a fact that we all march on with our lives, lurching or gliding, and then something stops us in our tracks. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Oh boy. So true. (Actually, I just googled that phrase, and it seems that it is attributed to someone named Allen Saunders who wrote an article for Readers’ Digest in 1957, with that phrase in it. There you go….the marvels of the internet. Most of us know this phrase from a wonderful John Lennon song, “Beautiful Boy.” If you’re interested, see this.)

I did not mean to digress. Nothing can match that feeling of hurtling along through life and having all your plans stopped cold by an event, a moment after which nothing can ever be the same. During the morning of November 1, only 10 days ago, I learned that Archie Brennan had passed away during the afternoon of the previous day–Hallowe’en. At that moment all my whirling and spinning stopped. I know that thousands of others, across every continent, felt that same shock. Dear Archie…. he meant so much to everyone he encountered.

I imagine his many students and friends are in much the same position I’ve been in lately: struggling through current projects, delving into uncharted, creative ground, making progress and facing setbacks. The bounty of our work: I have too many projects going on at once, and I imagine you do too. Inspired chaos….well, hopefully inspired.

So what do we do with our grief? With our wonderful memories of classes and workshops with him? Meals shared–pizza and Chinese take out? With the memories of his humor, his gentle critiques of our tapestry work? Most of us who studied with him are not spring chickens ourselves at this point. What’s the best use of our own time left? There’s no one answer to any of these ponderings . But there are lots of possibilities for each of us to consider about our own creative output, whether in tapestry or some other art form, or in the way we interact with others. Everyone who encountered Archie certainly got a glimpse of how creatively Archie looked at the world. There was humor and a gentle social commentary in every piece that Archie chose to spend his time creating. He was endlessly fascinated with getting know the people who crossed his path, and he was generous, so generous with his knowledge. Those of us who weave are much indebted to what he taught us.

Someone once asked Archie what was the most difficult piece he had ever woven; he answered: the one on the loom right now. …and there it is, the very nature of everything we do. Each of our hurdles advances us some tiny bit forward for the next hurdle. Archie was part of our advancement, either in tapestry weaving or in looking at the world in a more creative and socially conscious way. The best we can do is take our hard-won knowledge and use it, over and over, and remember him often along our journey.

I am not a religious person, but it was poignant that Archie left this world during the hallowed evening, on the precipice of all saints. His patience and his humor always made me think he was a bit of a saint…. Farewell, dear teacher.

Three pieces in Archie Brennan’s Mohammud Ali series are on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.  

The exhibition is titled “20th Century: Masterpieces of Scottish and European Art,”  currently on view and lasting through September 27.

Here is an excerpt from the description online:

This display of works from the collection of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art offers an historical overview of some of the most remarkable art made during the last century. It concentrates on areas in which the Gallery’s collection is particularly strong. Since it has always been central to the Gallery’s mission to place modern Scottish art in an international context, we have tried to show the best of Scottish art alongside modern European masters.

Archie has three works of ink and pencil on paper from his Mohammud Ali series in this exhibition, which are in the museum’s collection.  His work is hanging near the collection of  MC Escher  works and is in good company with works by Picasso, Edouard Vuillard, and Scottish artists William Turnbull and Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh.

Are you tempted to drop everything and make a trip to Edinburgh?  Yeah, me too….

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
75 Belford Rd.
Edinburgh
Open daily from 10 am –  5 pm

Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei, along with members of the Wednesday Group, will have about 30 tapestries on view at the gallery exhibition at Garner Arts Festival during the newly re-established annual textile festival at Garner Arts Center in Garnerville, NY.  Also on display will be works by the Textile Study Group of New York and studio artists at the Arts Center.

This historic site was once a very profitable mill for dyeing and printing calico fabric along with other wool, cotton and linen fabrics.  At the height of its production it employed thousands of workers in 30 buildings on the site, and was traded on the NYSE.  It is now on the New York State Register of Historic Places under “Rockland Printworks.”

For more information about the history of the mill see the timeline  on their website.

Here are a few images from the exhibition.

The exhibit was only ‘up’ for a week, but it was a lovely show of works. I’ve chosen to focus on Archie’s works here since this is about him.

Yesterday I stumbled on Elizabeth Buckley’s blog through a post on Facebook.  She has written a thoughtful piece about the current tapestry exhibit at the Hunterdon Museum of Art, where she describes how much work has gone into this gathering of tapestries from so many respected artists.  You can read it here.   This photo is from the opening reception when Archie and Elizabeth were discussing her piece “Dialogues through the Veil.”   Photo credit: Lisa Heilman Lomauro

Carol Russell curated this show, inviting 40 tapestry artists from 9 countries to participate.  She worked with Schiffer Books to create a beautiful catalogue for the show, published as a hardback book. While I’ve been away this winter my mail has been forwarded to my son’s house, and that book is waiting for me there.  It’s a five-hour drive to his house, but it will be at the top of my to-do list when I return home.  I can’t wait to see this book!

And, of course, the show itself.  I’ll be headed there in early May, right before it closes on May 10th.  If you haven’t seen it, there is still time!  If you cannot get there at least you can order this beautiful catalog.

Over 300 people attended the opening reception of “Contemporary International Tapestry” at Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ.  This exhibition which is curated by Carol Russell, has works by 40 tapestry artists from numerous countries.  More events will take place during the span of this exhibition, including a presentation by Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei, called “A Day of Contemporary Tapestry” which will include a lecture and an interactive demonstration by Archie, on Sunday, March 22, from 9.30 am – 4.30 pm.

This exhibition will be on view until May 10.

Sunday, January 11, Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei will be at the opening reception of “Contemporary International Tapestry” at Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ.  This exhibition is curated by Carol Russell and has an impressive collection of works by prominent tapestry artists!

“Monsieur Bonnard’s Granddaughter,” Archie Brennan. 2001. 40″ x 30.5″

 Other artists that will be in this exhibition include: Jo Barker, Joan Baxter, Helga Berry, Rebecca Bluestone,  Elizabeth J. Buckley, Soyoo Hyunjoo Park Caltabiano, Włodzimierz Cygan,  Alla Davydova, Annelise De Coursin, Susan Edmunds, Alex Friedman, Ina Golub, Barbara Heller, Susan Hart Henegar, Silvia Heyden, Dirk Holger, Peter Horn, Constance Hunt, Susan Iverson, Ruth Jones, Aino Kajaniemi, Jane Kidd, Lialia Kuchma, Christine Laffer, Ewa Latkowska-Żychska, Bojana H. Leznicki, Lore Lindenfeld, Yael Lurie and Jean Pierre Larochette, Susan Martin Maffei, Julia Mitchell, Janet Moore, Jon Eric Riis, Ramona Sakiestewa, Micala Sidore, Elinor Steele, Sarah Swett and Linda Wallace.

To top off this spectacular collection of work will be a comprehensive hardbound catalog of this exhibition!

There are several exciting tapestry events going on right now on the East Coast, and Archie is involved in a number of them.

“The Art is the Cloth” exhibition is currently at its second venue in Pennsylvania and will move to Deerfield, Massachusetts after the new year.

Carol Russell is curating a an exhibition of contemporary tapestries from all over the world that will open at the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey, on January 11.  This exhibit will be on display until May 10, 2015.

Some of the special events that will take place during this exhibition are

Sunday, January 11, 2pm – 4pm:  Opening reception and artists’ talks

Sunday, February 22, 2pm:  Carol Russell will give a guided tour of the exhibition

Sunday, March 22, 9am – 4.30pm:  Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei will give lectures and demonstration with a reception to follow.

“Woad Deva,” by Ruth Jones

The big tapestry exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that features the works of Pietr Coecke van Aelst will be closing on January 11, 2015.  There will be a symposium on this exhibit on January 10 and 11.  What a terrific opportunity to view stunning historic tapestries from the Flemish tradition of the 16th century, followed by a superb line up of exciting contemporary tapestry in New Jersey!