Commissioning Tapestries

with essays by

| Joan Baxter | Cecilia Blomberg |

Introduction by Mary Lane

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Joan Baxter was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, studying tapestry to postgraduate level at Edinburgh College of Art. After graduation she spent two years studying at Warsaw Academy of Fine Art, Poland.

Baxter worked for eight years as a studio weaver at West Dean Tapestry Studio in England and the Victorian Tapestry Workshop in Australia. In 1987 she set up her studio in England, designing and weaving tapestries for exhibition and to commission for both private and corporate clients. In 2000 she moved to the north of Scotland to live amongst the landscapes that have inspired so much of her work.

She exhibits and sells her tapestries worldwide and is represented in public and private collections. She also lectures and teaches in the UK and abroad. Baxter initiated the British Tapestry Triennale exhibitions in 1995 and 1998. She co-founded and chaired Visual Arts Sutherland and is active in artist-led exhibiting and networking projects.

Cecilia Blomberg was born in Kimstad, Sweden. She received her MFA in 1976 from the National University College of Art, Craft and Design (Konstfack). Though she specializes in tapestry, she has also worked as a muralist and a graphics illustrator.

Since 1977 she has lived and worked in the United States, producing tapestries for public and private collections. From 2005 to 2007 she wove at Stirling Castle recreating The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries.

Ms. Blomberg's tapestries have appeared in numerous national and international exhibitions and her work is represented in many books and magazines. She lives in Gig Harbor, Washington.