The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry |
Joyce and Jim Lavene
write award-winning, best-selling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook and
Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin,
Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles
for national and regional publications. Learn more about them and their books at their website. Today Joyce stops by to tell us all about tapestry weaving, the craft featured in their latest Renaissance Faire Mystery series.
Tapestry Weaving
We have incorporated a craft in each of our
Renaissance Faire Mysteries because our protagonist, Jessie Morton, was working
on her dissertation: Renaissance Crafts
in Modern Day. Each of the themes have been a craft that was used during
the Renaissance: basket weaving, glass making, swords and daggers, hats, and
toys.
In the sixth Ren Faire Mystery, Murderous Matrimony, Jessie is the new director of the Renaissance
Village Arts and Crafts Museum. She is two weeks away from marrying her
longtime beau, Bailiff Chase Manhattan.
Murder upsets her plans, and the ghost of her
nemesis, Wanda Le Fey haunts her, but she still opens the museum on time. Her
first exhibit features a tapestry weaver.
Traditional tapestry, from the old French, tapisserie, is rectangular and
flat-woven. Tapestry weaving is
woven by shapes or colors as the design progresses. It is a form of textile
art, woven on a vertical or floor loom.
Most weavers use a warp thread such as linen or cotton. The weft threads
may be the same, but may also include silk, or metallic threads.
The accessibility and portability of a tapestry is
what made it so successful as an early art form. The rich could transport
tapestries, and use them as needed to show their birthright, wealth, and power.
Churches displayed them on special occasions. Tapestries were also used as
decorative insulation on castle walls.
Though tapestries have been used since the early
Greeks hung them in the Third Century BC,
they didn’t become popular until the 14th century in
Europe. And while the craft has
expanded worldwide, the basic tools remain the same.
Today, tapestry weavers and their art can be found
everywhere. Tapestries, depicting every form of life in their multi-colored
threads, hang in cathedrals, mansions, and every day homes.
Murderous
Matrimony
In
less than two short weeks, Jessie Morton will marry Chase Manhattan at the
Renaissance Faire Village and Marketplace. But so much can go wrong in that
short time. A man is murdered in Jessie's new Arts and Crafts Museum, and her
assistant is being scrutinized for the deed. Chase's brother and parents have
arrived and are still against their marriage. Wanda's ghost is busy making
Jessie's life miserable. The Ren Faire wedding of her dreams may never take
place. Can she talk Chase into eloping before it's too late?
2 comments:
What a delightful series of books! So glad to find out about them. It looks like you do quite a bit of research as well, which makes for a fantastic read. Best of luck with your new book!
Thank you, Gemma.
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