| The Oregon Weaver Unique Designs from the Pacific Northwest |
| All rights reserved. |
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| Karen Gelbard, "The Oregon Weaver", specializes in designing and producing handwoven jackets and scarves. In her studio on the Oregon Coast, Karen creates classically styled garments. Her scarves, with themes such as "Driftwood" or "Grasses of Summer", are well known as color landscapes drawn from the Pacific Northwest. After Karen graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Design in 1974, she focused her creative energies on color and texture using fiber. She has gone on to demonstrate her weaving and clothing design skills in schools, classes and museums across the country. Karen is one of the artists who help with the on-going restoration of historic Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon. Since 1979, she has woven over 290 yards of upholstery fabric for the lodge in the style of the original artisans. In 1984, Karen was commissioned by Larry Kirkland to assist in the design and fabrication of 44 rugs in the main lodge at Sunriver Lodge in Bend, Oregon. Karen's fabrics were used in the original costumes designed by Susan Lily for a production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," performed in Portland, Oregon in 2001. Karen's work can be seen at juried art fairs and galleries in Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, Missouri and Illinois. |
| Artist's Statement |
| I use hand looms to create woven pieces of wearable art inspired by the Oregon Coast. The work begins with telling a woven story. I watch the wind on the river, then capture the pattern in my cloth. The changing hues of the ocean depths teach me to use subtle undertones. The warp resonates with color. The weft interacts finding the color harmonies. Like a sculptor, I then assess the variations of the human form to design, cut, and sew hand woven jackets and scarves. Using as many as twenty different colored yarns, I stand at the warping board and intuitively develop the color gradations from one edge of the piece to the other. As I weave, the loom beats in time with the rhythm of the waves and the human heart. |
Once the fabric is off of the loom, it is and dried.
The fulling process allows the fabric to bloom. I
roll the fabric out on my 8 ft. cutting table and
determine where to layout the pattern pieces.
Sometimes stripes are at one end of the yardage
for the yoke of a jacket, but the sleeves must be
cut at the other end of the yardage. The pattern
pieces are of my own design. I assess the many
variables in my customer’s figures and adjust
the patterns for a custom fit. I design for real
women of all shapes and sizes.
Chenille fabric is a challenge to weave and sew.
My goal is to make a garment that will last, so I
cut, serge, stabilize, under stitch and hem. All of
this is in the foundation of the garment but
appears as a soft, comfortable garment.
Recently, I have acquired a new tool in my
sewing studio. It was made to do one thing, but
I saw the potential to use it in another way. I
now use my weaving yarns through this
commercial grade machine to bind the edges of
my most recent “Ruffled Edge” series. It is a
successful technique that co-ordinates with the
hand woven fabric to create a unique look.
The scarves and shawls I weave are warped
intuitively. Without counting threads, I stand at
the warping board and let the color thoughts
stream from my mind/eye/brain to the color
winding off before me. I use small threads in
groups that allow me to sift the color transitions
smoothly. It takes longer to wind a warp this
way, but it allows me to build a painterly color
story in the warp.
In my studio there are 12 pairs of scissors, 3
Sergers, two sewing machines and 3 looms.
With these tools, I weave, cut and sew.
| PROCESS |
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| Awards 1997 Salem Art Fair, Best of Show 2000 Portland Arts Festival Fiber ,First Place 2006 Anacortes Art Festival, Board Choice 2010 St Louis Art Fair, Second place in Fiber 2012 Autumn and Art, Wichita, KS 2013 "Rags" Gallery, Tacoma, WA |