Donna Loraine Contractor

Professional Studio Tapestry Artist
Donna Loraine Contractor Fine Art Tapestries
Albuquerque New Mexico

Color is a source of constant joy for me and I delight in the full range of its use - bold and surprising color combinations and the subtle gradations of a single color. The colors and the unique quality of light in the Southwest, and the diverse forms of its land and sky scapes, make up a rich and diverse palette.I love the materials used in the weavings,from the strong smooth cotton warp to the luster of hand-dyed wools and the sparkle of silks, I continue to be enraptured with the feel and look of textiles.The very act of weaving has become metaphor – the web of life, weaving a tale - and is entwined with my choice of imagery and the use of the window set within a frame, a view to another place, another reality as a motif in my work. I try to achieve a blend of the representational and the abstract and to keep a geometrical contemporary feel in the frames.

"Koch Snowflake Fractal"
"Koch Snowflake Fractal"
68"x40"
Hand dyed Handwoven Wool on Cotton Tapestry
2012

The graphic appeal of the Koch snowflake was irresistible. Such a simple function made more so by creating it in a linear way.The bending each straight line successively : this is the reiterated function , which is constrained by the limits of the grid supplied by the loom.While the Koch Snowflake Fractal is usually represented in a circular format I have chosen to represent it linearly .

"Pythagorean Proof" Universal Language Series
"Pythagorean Proof" Universal Language Series
20"x20"
Hand dyed wool weft, cotton warp
2012

This is one of the many Pythagorean proofs out there. The Landscape triangle is the ABC triangle. It's graphic appeal is hard to resist.
The application of this proof to a unit square and the derivation of irrational numbers and the root rectangles that are so much a part of design in art and nature continue to fascinate me and inspire my designs.

"Special Case Pythagorean Proof" Universal Language Series
"Special Case Pythagorean Proof" Universal Language Series
20"x20"
Hand dyed wool weft, cotton warp, Handwoven Tapestry
2012

Another Pythagorean proof, ( a2+b2=c2) where the landscape triangle is a special case triangle, not 90 degrees by itself but made up of two right angled triangles. The basic triangle pattern changes remarkably through different colorways. In this piece I experimented with creating the illusion of transparency.I am hoping to depict more of the many Pythagorean Proofs in my work in the future.