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Take a look at this incredible new version of Sacred Tree. Alibay first designed this motif in 1998, and I recently asked him to revisit it. And what a result! The piece is absolutely magnetic. The background is a fantastic mix of blues, purples, and greens, (when I asked him about this, he shrugged his shoulders and said he could not find any black… soooo Alibay!!!), and the crisp colors of the Tree and all its glorious details are nothing short of magnificent. As usual, the photo does not do it justice! This will be our anchor piece at the Architectural Digest Show is March in NYC!

Just a little background about the story of Sacred Tree: Many cultures have myths and legends about a Tree of Life in their folk lore, and the Kazakh nomads are no different. The tree carries and supports all life in its branches, and bears abundant fruit itself. This particular tree, however, also contains a hint to a different tale from Kazakh mythology: The bird of paradise perched on top of the tree is Samruk, in Kazakh mythology a symbol of regeneration and the circle of life. Samruk every spring lays a golden egg, symbolizing the sun, in the nest of the Tree of Life, Baiterek, and every winter when Samruk flies away, a snake eats the egg, completing the circle of life, which starts anew with Samruk returning again in the spring. Check out the nest and the snake!

Tree of Life 2012

Well, the bad news is: we were informed a couple of weeks ago by the organizer of the One of a Kind Show New York that the show has been cancelled.

The good news is, we applied to the Chicago One of a Kind Show and were accepted! Sorry New York – Hello Chicago! Visit us December 1 – 4! Will keep you posted about location etc. And about all the new pieces Alibay and Saule will bring along. They are excited to see a new city in the US of A! Not that one could ever get bored in New York, of course….

So, if anyone has any deep insights into the Chicago art market, let me know!

I’m asked a lot what the knot count is for Alibay and Saule’s tapestries. Well, first of all, the tapestries are woven, not knotted like an open pile carpet. So strictly speaking, there are no knots. Tapestries are a weft-faced weave, and wherever the weft passes in front of the warp, a ‘pixel’ in the tapestry forms. The weft is then battened tight to make sure that the warp will be completely invisible. So, I guess, people are interested how many pixels there might be per square centimeter, or per square inch. Well, there is a short answer, and a long answer. The short answer is: It all depends! (You probably knew that was coming…)

If you’re not afraid of math and technicalities, read on for the long answer.

I discussed this at length with Alibay. Here’s what he said. He usually strings a loom with 14 double warps per 10 centimeters. That means that there are 14 ‘front’ warps and 14 ‘back’ warps that are either pushed back or pulled forward during any given pass of a weft color. So that makes 28. Now, every one of those 28 warps actually consists of 2 strings. So essentially, there are 56 vertical strings on the loom per 10 centimeters that serve as the base. So the weaver can double his ‘pixel resolution’ at any given time, depending on the pattern or the required detailing, by not picking up the warps two-by-two, but one-by-one.  Now, if Alibay wants to get even more detailed for a pattern, he strings the loom with 18 warps per 10 centimeters, so that makes 72 strings in total. So much for the warp. Now for the weft: it depends how many strings are used to form a weft color, and how tightly the weft gets packed onto the warp. Typically, there are at least 4 – 5 different strings combined to form a weft. But we won’t count those separately, a weft is a weft. Dizzy yet? Also, Saule loves the relief type weavings, where she over-weaves different types of fiber over the simple weft, in order to create three-dimensional patterns. I guess that is just simply not countable, so we’ll disregard this here.

You are probably thinking: ok, lady, just give me a number. Average. Ballpark. Roughly speaking. Ok, so we just counted. We used an average 14 warp per 10 centimeter tapestry, and counted 45 – 50 ‘rows’ of weft. So the pixel count would be between 1,260 and 1,400 per 10 square centimeters. Yup, it’s a work of art, and a labor of love! And since you won’t be walking on it anyway, I guess it does not really matter what the number is…

Here’s how an exquisite 5″ x 8″ doodle result by one client’s daughter turned into a 39″ x 60″ masterpiece for the wall! You figure out who is more ingenious: the young painter or the ‘tapestry-translator’!

Here is the link to receive free tickets to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. Please make sure to use the code EXHIBITOR in the order form.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Booth M 107 next week!

https://www.microspec.com/tix123/etic.cfm?code=ARCH2010&disc=EXHIBITOR

Here’s where you will find news about exhibitions, events, new tapestries or wearable art, retail locations, photos of installed works, and so much more. Check back often!

Our mission at ART beyond borders is to provide our customers with unique and rare pieces of contemporary art from around the world that combine mastery in craftsmanship with outstanding beauty.

Our current virtual exhibitions focus on intricate hand-woven and felted tapestries by Saule and Alibay Bapanov, and inspirational handcrafted shawls by Saule Bapanova.

Check out the website for lots of info and photos of these stunning works of art, and our blog for news and events!