A LOOM WITH A VIEW

Site for Sore Eyes

New Horizons

Welcome to the latest incarnation of the Sheila O'Hara web site. The Flockettes, Egyptian dogs, stunning landscapes, and all of Sheila's other fiber fantasies have returned to the web.

On the top of the page you will see a navigation bar with links to the various sections of the web site.

Start with the Gallery page to see a thumbnail view of some of Sheila's images, both old and new. Just click on a thumbnail to see a larger image and background information. There are even a few installation shots which can give you an idea of scale. Click on the Articles link to get a sampling of some of press coverage and Sheila's articles on her adventures to Egypt and Italy. The Resume link takes you to Sheila's current resume, teaching experience, and artist's statement. The links page has some great links to fiber art sites or other fun destinations. (Please submit links to your own fiber related pages and and we may include them.)

And if you happen to be interested in current works for sale click on the Market button located on the navigation bar. Be sure to ask about the weaver's discount.

Country Comfort

Sunlight on the Valley

After renting for 28 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, the O'Hara studio moved to the Northern California countryside in 2000. Her new home is about 2 hours north of San Francisco and about 1 hour north of the heart of the Napa wine country. Sheila's new home/studio graces a ranch in Lake County, home to crystal blue skies and fresh air. A once a year traffic jam is often due to an obstinate cow, and jabbering jays let you know it's time for lunch.
The summers are hot, but Sheila enjoys driving past posing sheep on her way to Hidden Valley lake to cool off. There is even a light dusting of snow on some of the colder winter days. There is a growing artist community in Lake County, many expatriates from the Bay Area sprawl and skyrocketing real estate market.

Konocti Calligraphy © 2008

Sheila has a new series of hand jacquard weavings with natural themes. There are seven striking images to date in this series. The first one, California Dreamin', depicts the silhouette of a large valley oak at sunset. The second in the series, The Grape Escape, shows a verdant scene in California's Napa valley near Calistoga. The third, Blossom Creek, is a lovely springtime scene of blossoming trees in the foreground and rolling vineyards in the background. The fourth is an autumn-hued, tree-lined lane from the heart of the Napa wine country entitled Autumn in St. Helena. Sheila wove a variation of this piece titled St. Helena Reflection by mirroring the image three times horizontally resulting in a larger format piece. The sixth in this series is Ceago del Lago, an architectural study of a magnificent new biodynamic winery built by Jim Fetzer on the northeast shore of Clearlake. The seventh and latest in this exciting series is a view of Mt. Konocti through a natural fiber veil of shoreline reeds, titled Konocti Calligraphy. All these pieces are part of Sheila's experimentations with the TC-1 and AVL-TIS jacquard looms, which allow jacquard weaving in a small format. This represents an exciting new direction for Sheila's designs, far more detailed and photo realistic. This is a limited series. Please go to the Market page for details.

The latest addition to Sheila's studio is a second hand AVL jacquard loom with 672 hooks. This loom came to Sheila through the amazing generosity of Mim Wynne in Arkansas. Lake Biwa the first tapestry Sheila wove on her new loom is featured in the November/December 2008 issue of Handwoven, pages 60-61. There is also a full six page article on the web at Interweave.com where you can find the complete drafts and more pictures. Find Handwoven Magazine and look for the link to the New Web articles. Lake Biwa can also be seen on Sheila's Marketplace page.

Flockettes For All Seasons

Spring Flockette Summer Flockette Fall Flockette Winter Flockette Circus Flockette

Don't miss the return of the Flockettes in some of their wackiest adventures ever, as handwoven Seasonal celebrations, created on the latest TC-1 computerized Jacquard. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter as only the Flockettes can enjoy. Black faced fluff balls tiptoe through the tulips, hang ten off Diamond Head, dance among the falling leaves, or shush down the slopes at Gistadt. (That pack of puffy pranksters sure can get around.) Who cares about a dog's life...a sheep's life seems like the cat's meow.

E-Mail Sheila for comments, suggestions, or ordering information.

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