Thursday, January 4, 2018

Information Gathering

As I contemplate and work towards publishing a book I am reminded of two books for weavers that came out in 2017.  Bobbie worked for a number of years to get her book published and it became available last summer.  Tom Beaudet's book is a culmination of a lifetime of working with textiles, both as a textile engineer and a hand weaver and also became available from him/his company last summer.




Bobbie's book can be purchased from her, directly or from Amazon.  Bobbie has worked for many years with colour interactions and figuring out how to produce iridescence.  If this topic is of interest, then you need this book.

Tom and his grand daughter have put together his notes from many years of learning the art of textiles.  They are an historical record of the process he went through to learn about weaving and the construction of textiles.  I put this publication on my shelves along with other technical manuals such as Watson's and Goerner's books.  These books are not for the beginner as such, but for people interested in the subtleties and nuances of how textiles go together.  Or want a glimpse into the history of textiles and how people learned in terms of industry.

Gathering technical information and putting it into a format for others to learn from is not an easy task.  (Ask me how I know!!!!)  When I was floundering with Magic in the Water, Tom was very supportive and encouraging of my getting on with it, for which I will always be grateful.

The weaving community is, by and large, very helpful and supportive of each other.  Weavers have become my 'best' friends, whether I have actually met them in real life, or just been able to communicate with them, first by mail, now via the internet.

I am proud of the members of this community, who come together to share their textiles, their information, their experiences.  I am proud to call myself a weaver.



3 comments:

Katie said...

Not having much luck finding Tom’s book on his website or anywhere. Suggestions?

Laura Fry said...

Scroll down the page and use the 'contact us' button.

Anonymous said...

Both books are excellent. Tom's book is valuable as it gives me another way of looking at weave structures - how industry sees it. So it gives me a deeper understanding of the subject. Bobbie's book is goes scientifically and thoroughly into the subject, well beyond what I'll learned through observation.
I am looking forward to your book!