There is nothing more impressive than a huge woven tapestry. The Australian Tapestry workshop has produced the second largest tapestry outside the one in Parliament House, Canberra for Parramatta in NSW. It is very moving for a me as a weaver to experience this type of woven work and my reaction confirmed that I am still a weaver after all, even though that vocation has been challenged recently! So I am grateful to the work for filling me up again. Thank you to all the Parramatta tapestry weavers who have done much more than ‘only’ weaving the piece. You’ve helped me re-confirm by devotion to weaving!

The work is 11 metres wide by 7 metres and hangs in a new building at Parramatta Square. Parramatta is under construction everywhere and some of it seems to be ok in shaping a city like landscape. I hope it will retain its history too, as it has fantastic street facades and some old Sydney sandstone, but probably not!

I still think that it is a wonder that the tapestry workshop still exists in Australia although it tends to be dependent on donations at times. It is wonderful to have it although it is out of reach for most of us as it resides in Melbourne. It is also a great loss to have lost the Warnambool, South West TAFE course which was for tapestry weavers all over Australia taking six years to complete by distance. I completed half of it hoping to get back and do the rest…but ‘poof’ …all gone.

The art work for this tapestry is by Chris Kenyon. Many weavers worked over 18 months to complete it. As I know one of the weavers I was encouraged to give her a photo of the work in situ. A sense of its place in the environment and positioning. The installation was a big deal too.

It has an area in the building for very good viewing as it is meant to be seen at least four metres away. But it strikes me that everyone else is ignoring it walking to and fro with busyness. How could that be when such a human created masterpiece is beckoning them to experience it? How can they not know that it is woven in Australia! A miracle of sorts. Makes me wonder about all the extraordinary things I ignore and walk past because of ignorance. I am certain that if I worked in that building I would have a physical reaction everytime I went near it. Perhaps that’s why people like me aren’t employed there.

You can see with the detail, as with all tapestry, that the woven artistry is quite different to paint. It is interpretive of another painterly medium and down to all the individual weavers as they make technical decisions in its growth. It throws a warmth and strength into the hanging area that no other medium does. I could go on and on… I just love it and am so happy that the Parramatta was commissioned. I wonder how we get extraordinary tapestries out to other places in Australia. I am a total dreamer.