Designer Spotlight Blog Post – Jennifer Moore
Welcome back to our Designer Spotlight Series. What a delight it has been for us to share the personal stories of influential people in the weaving world. This week we are featuring Jennifer Moore. You may have taken a workshop from her at a Convergence or through your guild. Or perhaps with us online via Zoom! We consider her a “Doubleweave Queen”, although she has created many other memorable and different woven pieces! Here is our designer spotlight for Jennifer Moore.
Please note that all photos are used with Jennifer's permission, and all of the photos belong entirely to her.
Meet the designer, Jennifer Moore!
Tell Us About Yourself.
I have been a weaver for 47 years now and it has been the constant thread running through the many transitions in my life. I do weave functional pieces, but I most especially love to weave original art pieces. I weave in my home studio in Santa Fe, NM, where I have lived for the past 25 years. It has been the ideal environment for me to live and work in so many ways.
Twilight Toccata, 40" x 30"
How did you get started in weaving?
I was a senior in college in the late 1970's and was close to graduating with a major in biological illustration and a minor in pipe organ performance. I was rounding out my art studies by taking a class in each of the media that were offered, so I signed up for a weaving class just because it was there. As soon as I walked into the weaving studio and saw the shelves of yarn and rows of looms, I felt like I had found my true home!
My first teacher was Judith Poxson Fawkes, who wove beautiful inlaid linen wall pieces. It was a serious academic course, and it laid my weaving foundation. I took workshops and wove on my own for a number of years.
In the early 1990's I started three years of graduate school, studying under Barbara Setsu Pickett for an MFA in Textiles. It was an intense and wonderful experience and took me a quantum leap forward in my work.
What Looms Do You Use?
I work on a Louet Jane 8-shaft table loom, a Gilmore 8-shaft floor loom, and a Louet Megado 32-shaft compu-dobby loom. I love them all!
Special Tools for Weaving?
I have a whole collection of pickup sticks in a range of sizes, and they all get used in my pickup work. I also have a Leclerc cone holder that is indispensable for winding warps with multiple strands at a time.
Favorite Weave Structure?
Doubleweave, of course, which is actually a system that can incorporate various weave structures. In addition to layers of plain weave I also enjoy using basket weave, twill and lace weaves in doubleweave layers.
Favorite Lunatic Fringe Yarns Product?
I work with all of the Tubular Spectrum™ mercerized (Perle) cottons - especially the original 20 colors, but also the additional Tints & Tones colors and the Grey Matter kits. The mercerized cotton in all its sizes is perfect for doubleweave with its strength and smoothness. And the range of colors is inspiring and intoxicating!
We All Look Up, Side A , 68" x 32"
Awakening, 65" x 70"
What Inspires You and Your Work?
All the teachers I have had over the years. Anni Albers, Jim Bassler, and so many others whose work I admire. Color, beautiful yarn, music, travel, and reading.
Why Do You Weave?
Weaving nourishes me in so many ways. I love the rhythmic physicality of the processes in weaving. I love getting to look at all the beautiful colors and feel all the wonderful textures, imagining how they will work together. I am intrigued by patterns everywhere that I see them, whether they are visual, in words or in numbers. I like doing arithmetic and love to count. I especially love to teach weavers and spend time with weavers wherever I go.
What Are You Up To?
I am currently teaching about half a dozen live workshops a year and several Zoom workshops and guild programs. Lunatic Fringe Yarns sponsors my Double Rainbow workshop on Zoom, which we are offering a couple times a year. This has opened me up to students from every time zone in the country, as well as students from all over the world.
I am on the board of directors of Andean Textile Arts, a nonprofit organization working with indigenous weavers in Peru and Bolivia. We lead tours to South America, and I sometimes have the pleasure of being a board representative on these tours. I also enjoy going on textile tours to other parts of the world and have gone to Egypt, Bolivia and Uzbekistan in the past year, and am looking forward to going to India next spring.
Touche Truchet I, 27" x 27"
Introspection II, 40" x 30.5"
Anything Else?
I love dogs and have a wonderful rescue named Ella Bella who takes me on walks twice a day. I love doing jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, and any kind of word or number puzzles. I love to dance and am a lapsed keyboard player. I enjoy cooking and baking.
Last Question...Cake or Pie?
Pie! I am known for my homemade pies with handwoven crusts.
Thanks Jennifer!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! We love sharing your Double Rainbow class and are always excited to see what new Doubleweave adventures you are up to! If you would like to join in Jennifer's Double Rainbow class, click here for more information.
You can also follow Jennifer's creative journey and see her class schedule on her website:
www.doubleweaver.com