Fiber Art, Jan Friedman

Jan is an artist who resides in my home town, so I have the opportunity to see her work with some frequency.  In addition, I have one of her pieces, and so do a couple of my friends, so I can see her fiber collages hung in familiar surroundings on a regular basis.  
She has been weaving for more than 40 years.  I got a loom soon after the birth of my third child, and managed to get it warped once, and completed a really beautiful, if inexpertly woven, summer and shade pattern that I really loved and found soothing.  But it gave me a window into just how hard this work is to produce.
Her tapestries use hand-dyed wool, cotton, rayon and silk as well as a variety of other natural materials. Her work frequently has a nature theme because the inherent beauty of a leaf or a tree, for instance, inspires her. According to on-line sources, Friedman received her M.A. in Textile Design at the University of Iowa in 1980. She is self-employed, works out of her home, which has a well designed studio area, and marches to her own drummer. When she began weaving, she mainly was creating tapestries. Eventually she shifted to framed fiber collages because she could vary the materials and protect her work under glass.  She incorporates real elements of nature, like actual leaves, as well as images taken from nature, in her work.  It is gorgeous, so check it out when she is at an art festival near you!