Terry Martin is an Alabama Maker weaving wonderful works of art
Terry Martin creates wearable works of art using a range of fibers. (Mark Sandlin / Alabama NewsCenter)
Terry Martin, Fiber Artist (Birmingham)
The Maker: Terry Martin
Terry Martin starts with 12 yards of white yarn, a loom and an idea.
“I find inspiration in different forms of art, including painting, jewelry, metal work and pottery,” the Alabama fiber artist explained. “I try to incorporate all of that into my pieces.”
The Birmingham native grew up in Huntsville, where both her parents worked as NASA engineers. After graduating from the University of Alabama, she returned to Birmingham to take a job as a computer consultant.
“One day I decided I didn’t want to do that anymore,” she said. “Then I saw a flyer for a class on how to spin yard at Oak Mountain State Park.”
During the class Martin met “a whole group of people who were fiber-obsessed.” A friend suggested she try weaving, so Martin borrowed a loom, taught herself how to use it “and wove yards and yards of cloth.”
Fiber artist Terry Martin is an Alabama Maker that looms large from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
“It was all over after that,” she said with a smile. “I got hooked and now I own a bunch of looms.”
The loom is just a part of Martin’s creative process. After winding and measuring yards of yarn, the artist lays it out on a long table, paints it with dyes she hand-mixes in her studio sink, and creates a pattern on the loom from the painted yarn. Hours, or days, later the finished piece takes shape as a handwoven, uniquely patterned wall hanging, scarf or shawl made from cashmere, wool, silk, linen, bamboo or cotton.
“I like to think of it as an art experience that encompasses not only sight and touch, but most of the other senses as well,” Martin said. “Weaving can be as simple or complicated as you make it. The results are as endless as what you can do. I like seeing the pattern as it develops. I experiment with different colors – my latest is bright red.”
More than two decades after taking that first spinning lesson, Martin has sold her fiber art in Birmingham galleries and shops, and gives weaving demonstrations at area craft fairs, such as the Leeds Art Show, Bluff Park Art Show, Magic City Art Connection and the Alabama Designer Craftsmen’s annual show.
“And I’m still learning,” she said. “I recently hosted Laverne Waddington, a backstrap weaver who came up from South America to give classes for the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild. Backstrap weaving is a technique that uses your body as part of the loom. It’s been done for centuries using only sticks and string, and produces beautiful pieces.”
As she looks to the past for inspiration, Martin is encouraged by the work being done by future fiber artists. “There are quite a few young weavers in the Birmingham area who are doing beautiful work,” she said. “One young lady will weave a picture – then unweave it and do it again, creating a uniquely impressionistic image. It always amazes me what someone can do with some yarn and an idea.”
The Product: Handwoven and painted wall hangings, towels, scarfs and shawls.
Take Home: A one-of-a-kind handwoven scarf ($100).
For more information, visit www.alabamadesignercraftsmen.com/terry-martin
or email Martin at takmart@gmail.com.
