Designing Color Palettes for Tapestry Weaving

Dates: June 5-10, 2024
Location: Plymouth Vermont, Good Commons
Registration opens February 19, 2024 at 9am MT from the links on this page

2/20/24: This retreat is now full. If you’d like to be on the waiting list, please fill out the registration form!

The retreat

In tapestry weaving, thinner yarns are often mixed in a bundle to create various color combinations. The different effects you can get from mixing thinner yarns this way is astounding and it takes practice to figure out where to even start in terms of choosing colors to blend. Guided by some basic color theory, we’ll experiment with bundling many hues and values to create a wide variety of effects from fewer colors than you’d think. We’ll discuss ways to keep notes and this retreat will include sampling.

How do we go from mixes we like to picking palettes for a tapestry? We’ll expand our color-picking skills through palette creation using color aid paper or any art medium you want to use along with sampling in weaving. We’ll look at how tapestry artists are designing their palettes and then you’ll make some of your own. We’ll also talk about tapestry techniques that can be used to further blend colors as well as when you might want wefts to blend optically and when you might not and how to achieve that. It will help if you bring some design ideas to the retreat so you can go away with working palettes.

Some of you may choose to use this retreat to figure out colors for a tapestry you want to weave. Some of you may want to complete a small tapestry during our days together. And many of you will embrace the sample weaving and experiment as much as possible with effects in tapestry in an experimental way.

THE SETTING

Vermont 2024 will be held at Good Commons, a retreat house in Plymouth, Vermont. Good Commons is committed to providing creative space in a relaxing environment for their guests.

Enjoy your days working in the beautiful downstairs studio with other tapestry weavers. We will share meals together in the Good Commons dining room prepared by one of its fantastic chefs. Afternoons provide time for further work on weaving with my help, or may be spent at your discretion exploring the local state parks, the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, a hike on the Long Trail, or a brew at the Long Trail Brewery. In the evenings, join your fellow students for a beverage on the deck or in the hot tub, relax with a good book, watch a movie with new friends in the upstairs living room, continue to weave, or play a game. The house has a couple communal living spaces. There is a balcony on the second floor and a hot tub and fire pit in the back garden.

This retreat, due to space limitations, is only open to weaving participants. Companions are welcome only if they are participants in the workshop.

WHAT IS PROVIDED

  • Workshop instruction with the full group each morning plus open studio with my assistance each afternoon. The studio is open any time you want to use it during the retreat.

  • Reference handouts for work during the retreat and when you go home.

  • Private consultation sessions with Rebecca are available if you’d like to talk through your current questions or have her look at some design ideas privately.

  • All meals starting with Thursday dinner and finishing with brunch on Monday are provided. Good Commons can accommodate most special diets but please indicate any dietary restrictions on your registration form. Good Commons is committed to providing healthy meals with local ingredients. Their food is excellent.

WHAT TO BRING

For the workshop (detailed materials list will be sent after registration):

  • Looms: You must bring your own loom. It can be any loom you can get to the retreat and that works for tapestry.

  • Tools: Please bring all your own weaving tools.

  • Yarn: Please bring the warp and weft yarn you need. For the best experience, please bring a thin tapestry yarn that can be bundled so we can work on color interactions. Suggested weft yarns are: Gist Array, weaversbazaar fine or medium, Appletons crewel (NOT tapestry!), Colonial Persian, EPiC, Australian Tapestry Workshop yarn. I will have a selection of weaversbazaar or Array weft that you can use if you don’t have a color you’re looking for, but I won’t have enough for everyone to use for the whole workshop.

  • Notebook for notes and potentially for color theory studies. We will be doing some experiments with Color Aid paper (provided) and you may want to glue these into a notebook as you do them. We’ll be focusing on what happens in the weaving and the paper exercises are a way of quickly seeing what happens. They won’t be the main focus of this retreat, but they can be a quick way to see how colors interact. Alternatively you can use another art medium like colored pencil or paint (please bring them yourself).

  • Headphones for your music. Not once in ten years of doing these retreats has a whole group been able to agree on music. Please provide your own tunes.

  • Task light: There is good overhead light and some big windows, but you’ll find it probably isn’t enough. Please bring an extension cord and power strip if possible.

For the house:

  • All linens, central A/C, Wi-fi, hot tub, hair dryers, washer/dryer are provided

  • You can find more information about lodging on the Good Commons website: http://goodcommons.com/amenities/

  • clothing appropriate for June in Vermont, casual dress is fine

  • bathing suit if you’d like to enjoy the hot tub

  • walking shoes if you’re interested in exploring the nearby state parks or the mountains near Plymouth

  • bathrooms are shared by a 2-3 people, so you may want a bag or basket to transport your toiletries and towel

  • people often bring a bottle of wine or beer to share. Please bring whatever beverages you like. Good Commons often makes a tasty lemonade or other non-alcoholic beverage, but if you like any special beverages, bring your own. There is always coffee and tea available. There is some refrigerator space for beverages or special food you might need.

  • extra covid tests. Please test if you are having any symptoms at all so you don’t make all of us sick!

ACCOMMODATIONS

Good Commons as you see it from the road.

Good Commons is owned by the remarkable Tesha Buss. She bought this old general store and turned it into a gorgeous and comfortable retreat center. There are six bedrooms on the second floor of the house and a large sleeping loft on the third floor. There are six bathrooms in the house: one half-bath on the first floor, three full baths on the second, and two full baths in the sleeping loft. You can make your housing choices in the registration form. This retreat will be limited to 8-10 participants. There are 6 private rooms and 2-3 people will share the loft space. Notably, the loft has two full bathrooms and is very large. It is accessed by some rather steep stairs. If you want to come with a friend and can share a small bedroom with two twin beds, that is a possibility and will incur a lower fee than the “private room, twin bed” option below. Please contact Rebecca for pricing if that is something you want to do and your friend agrees!

PRICING

Retreat pricing includes workshop fee, three chef-created meals a day, and lodging at Good Commons.

Private room at Good Commons, full bed: $2700
Private room, twin bed (there are two twin beds in the room): $2500
Sleeping loft (women only), twin bed (three max in loft): $2200

Deposit: Your initial non-refundable deposit is $300 due upon registration. The remainder of the fee is due April 29th via PayPal or check.


tentative RETREAT SCHEDULE

Wednesday, June 5

4-6 pm. Arrive and settle into your room and the studio
6:30 pm. Dinner
7:30-8:30 pm. Meet in the second floor living room to do introductions and answer questions

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday general schedule

Breakfast
9-12 am Workshop (all participants)
12-1 pm Lunch
1-5 pm Open Studio with Rebecca or exploration of the surrounding countryside
1-5 pm Friday (and Saturday if enough interest), Eliza Meeker will be available in the massage room for various types of massage body-work or Chinese Energy sessions.
1-3 pm Private meetings with Rebecca as needed, 30 minutes each, upstairs living room
6:30 pm Dinner
Optional evening activities: A firepit in the backyard Good Commons, A Weaverly Path video viewing about Silvia Heyden in the 2nd floor living room, other movies, games, or private time.
Studio open for further weaving exploration.

Monday, June 10

Brunch sometime in the morning.
9-11 am. Workshop wrap-up and show and tell plus group photo. This is an important part of the retreat. Please consider staying for it and making your travel arrangements on the next day if necessary so that you aren’t rushing away early in the morning.
11 am. Finish packing.
12 pm. Grab a snack for the road and head on our way. Check-out by noon.

What to do next

Please fill out the registration form linked below on or after February 19th. I will send you a PayPal invoice for your $300 deposit within 12-24 hours which holds your spot. You can always email me if you haven’t heard at hello@rebeccamezoff.com.

IMPORTANT DATES

February 19, 2024: Registration for retreat opens. $300 deposit due upon registration (Rebecca will send you an invoice within 24 hours of your registration).

April 29, 2024: Payment in full due via credit card, PayPal, or check. Also the last day for a refund minus your $300 deposit.

May 1, 2024: If I don’t hear from you and don’t get full payment by this date I’ll release your spot to the first person on the waiting list and your deposit is non-refundable in full.

June 5, 2024: Check-in after 4 pm, dinner provided at 6:30 pm

CANCELLATION TERMS

Your $300 deposit is non-refundable. You can get a refund for the rest of your fees paid until May 5, 2024. After that nothing is refundable unless I can fill your spot. If I am able to fill your spot, you will get a refund minus your deposit.

COVID policy

Everyone attending my retreats needs to be vaccinated and boosted for Covid-19. I have an autoimmune disease and can’t risk getting this virus and many other people are in similar situations. If you are not someone who has been vaccinated, please do choose one of my wonderful online classes! Please be VERY careful in the weeks leading up to the retreat. No one wants their vacation ruined by covid or any other virus! Testing is required a day or two before you arrive using a home test or PCR if you have access to one. It is recommended that you test again two days later so please bring some covid tests with you.

Registration Form

Please click the button below to fill out the registration form. I’ll get back to you within 24 hours with a PayPal invoice for the $300 deposit. If you’re worried that something didn’t work right, you can email me at hello@rebeccamezoff.com to check. After filling out the form, the website page will change to a thank you message and if you see that, I got your registration!

The button below will be active on February 19th for you to register.

The gallery below has some images of Good Commons and past retreats there. Click on photos to enlarge, use arrows to advance, hover for captions.