Anni Albers

As you will know, there is an exhibition of Anni Albers' textiles, drawings and concepts at Tate Modern.

The show has created quite a stir amongst not only weavers but artists, craftspeople and people who do not know anything about weaving. It has been very exciting to see the fabrics and the drawings and I have been very lucky to see the show with both Shona from The Shetland Gallery and with Ann Sutton, doyen of weave. It has been fascinating to see the pieces with an artist and a weaver, and I am very grateful to both for coming along and seeing the show with me. 

Anni Albers - With Verticals - 1946

What has been very useful is seeing the fabrics as the Tate opened and not very many people in the building. This enabled me to get close-up and spend time looking at some of my favourite pieces, such as the one on the right which uses, I think, a technique of discontinuous warp to make the black stripes in the fabric. There are many great ideas in the exhibition; enough to make the fingers itch and the brain go into overdrive!