Vera Gierke Studio

This is my first attempt at tapestry weaving, I did this under the guidance of Elizabeth at .
It’s based on a seaside photo on Nantucket but it could be anywhere. The small handheld loom from is perfect for starting to explore this new-to-me form of art. I want to weave some more!

On Saturday the finished Rhode Island tapestry was on display in the Portsmouth Library, presented by Karen of who very unselfishly took on the project for the state of RI. It’s part of America’s Tapestry project in which the thirteen original colonies have stitched a tapestry reflecting their involvement in the fight for independence. Each finished tapestry will be framed and all will tour the country together for a few years. The second image shows the pole that I stitched, holding the Rhode Island banner.

Happy Easter! This is a watercolor on Yupo that I did a number of years ago when I was taking watercolor classes with Carole Berren. It’s a little tricky, but fun!

I had the wonderful opportunity to do the Japanese Shibori fabric resist dying with Ann Bianchi at and these are some of the results. The second two are the same tri-corner method but with different results. It’s somewhat unpredictable, especially for someone doing it for the first time. We tried seven different forms of Shibori, all of them producing different results. They were hung on the line outside to dry in the breeze and what a lovely sight that was.

Just saw some bulls that are raised to be in a bull fight. Since I did a collage a while back called Cow Behind Barbed Wire, I think I need to do a collage of a companion bull. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) for them, they will never meet, except on the wall of my studio.

Too funny! A friend who lives in Wisconsin saw this on FB and forwarded it to me. Maybe Phil will try to have a more spring-like forecast next time.

The Portuguese are very good at tile work. The first image is a public square in Lisbon on Av da Liberdade and I recognized it as the same pattern in a public plaza in Manaus, the second image. They are both very precise and impressive.

McDonald’s Imperial in Porto, Portugal. I had to go inside since it didn’t seem that special@from the outside. I didn’t prefer anything, the history is fascinating, the first McDonald’s to@offer espresso. I like to visit the American chain restaurants in other countries since they are often so much more interesting than what we have in the US.

It’s still Valentine’s Day in my time zone, but just for a few more minutes, so there’s still time to send a Happy Valentine’s Day greeting. I painted the hearts a number of years ago when I took a watercolor class from and tried working on Yupo. What fun!

I was stitching again today at to add more embroidery to the for Rhode Island, today I added to some green grassy areas.
Some of the photos show other areas and my stitching partner Pat. At the end of the stitching for the day the side bars are removed, as shown in the last photo. Each of the 13 original colonies is stitching a tapestry depicting its early history and all 13 will travel as a group around the country.