The Art Is the Cloth

A colorful guided tour from an expert, enabling weavers, textile lovers, and art lovers to notice and appreciate what tapestries can do and how they do it. This guide from expert tapestry weaver and historian Sidore gives how-to strategies enabling weavers and nonweavers to notice and appreciate the meaning of these artworks. You'll discover much to enjoy in photos of more than 300 tapestries from the 12th to the 21st centuries. Sidore enables you to think about the weavings in ways you have never before considered as she groups pieces that talk with each other--and that also converse with the viewer. Enjoy learning basic elements of weaving to help you become increasingly sophisticated in understanding what you're seeing. Then, learn seven ways in which tapestries can call attention to themselves as cloth. This eye-opening guide to seeing explains the great range of materials and visual themes, the use of trompe l'oeil, the importance of the direction in which the weaver weaves, and more. After this learning experience, you'll bring smarter eyes to your museum wandering, deeper enjoyment to your collection and purchases, and surprising new skills and creativity to your weaving of fibers . . . and of life.
Micala Sidore (Northampton, Massachusetts) studied at the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins in Paris and has woven and exhibited tapestries for 40 years. She lectures and teaches throughout the world.

"Gloriously produced . . . the photography and reproduction is of the highest standard. . . . Contemplation, immersion, and sheer enjoyment prevail. . . . Represents a genuine celebration of this art form. . . . Sidore has made a real contribution to all who are creative, who weave and who enjoy viewing the visual arts."

--Michael Crompton, Tapestry Weaver