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Back in rural North Georgia, where I established my studio, I developed a business as a necessary sideline. I found that the materials I needed to pursue my art were not available, so I began "Robin's Bobbins and Other Things" to fill the need for supplies. My personal involvement with the art and my ability to understand the problems of various laceworkers were the basis for my success.
As soon as I felt that I was ready, I began to propose the use of bobbin lace in contemporary design. Finally the opportunity presented itself in the form of an architectural commission from the Tennessee Valley Authority for three lace panels, eight by thirty-two feet each, for a six-story atrium in their Chattanooga offices. The TVA wanted to use a traditional craft that was adapted to a contemporary form, but they left the design to me.
I had my work cut out for me. There were enormous difficulties in adapting the technique to a work of this size. How would the weaving hang without an armature? Would the sheer weight of the thing bring down the ceiling? How could I actually work on that large a scale?
I wanted the work to stand as a valid statement of contemporary design while remaining faithful to the technique and look of the traditional craft. I toyed with the idea of three-dimensional weaving, but rejected it as impractical at this time and instead, designed three panels with my own "traditional" pattern. I developed a design that was symmetrical for even weight distribution. I also designed the pieces so that the background threads traveled to the outside edge and back through three vertical pairs in a traditional sewing edge, strengthening the pieces and creating a reinforced framework within the design itself. I wanted the lace to support itself without an armature, so I began to concentrate on finding a fiber that was pliable, extremely lightweight and with the strength of steel cable so it wouldn't stretch.
