ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609160010
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: WHAT IS ART?
SOURCE: KAREN ADAMS STAFF WRITER
To weaver Barbara Grenell, landscapes are tapestries.
She interprets what she sees in pieces woven from coarse fibers, with thick layers of color and texture that flow over and through each other like water. Unlike traditional tapestry, every strand shows and adds to the richness of the work.
``I call it `eccentric tapestry,''' she says, ``which means that the work is visible.'' Each work, which is one large piece woven on a loom, has the appearance of many pieces stitched together. It's a technique she designed herself and which has received widespread response. Her serene images of mountains and rivers have been commissioned by various clients in Roanoke and are sold at Gallery 3 downtown.
She uses linen, cotton and wool and dyes all the yarn herself, to control weight and sheen.
Grenell makes what she calls ``dimensional pieces,'' which hang on a wall but project like a relief map. ``It's a landscape in motion, a feeling of driving through a landscape.''
Living among the mountains in Burnsville, N.C., Grenell has infinite subject matter in the graceful rolling world around her. ``I want to give a feeling of space and quiet of the mountains, the harmony of colors.''
She knows she's been successful in her work when, besides being satisfied with the finished piece, she has also struggled to get there. ``If it comes too easily, it's not as good,'' she says.
But the struggles come with even larger rewards. ``I've been working for a long time in fiber and I never get tired of it,'' she says.
``I lose myself in it.''
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB