Pattern Board

Print Method: Silkscreen
Edition: 10
Released: December 2015
Paper Size: 22" x 30"

One of the most beautiful art forms on the entire Northwest Coast of North America is chilkat weaving. In the old days, this intricately complex weaving tradition was the exclusive domain of women who had been apprenticed in the form from an early age. Sitting in front of a large loom, vertical warps made of mountain goat wool and cedar bark would hang freely. The weaver would deftly intertwine the horizontal wefts to form the patterns. This was not usually the geometric forms found in earlier “raven’s tail” robes, mind you. These were complex reworkings of Northwest Coast formline design: split u’s and ovoids; salmon-trout heads and even perfect circles.

While women accomplished all of the weaving in a robe, she did not tackle the project entirely alone. Chilkat weaving is a perfect example of artistic collaboration as it was the men who created the pattern board from which the woman was to base her weaving on. Painted on large cedar planks, the male artist would render just over half of the image. The weaver would then reverse the other half of the image in her mind and weave it into being. The finished robe, a testament to artistic union.

My grandmother’s great grandmother, Anisalag̱a, was one such weaver. She brought the weaving tradition and rights to its use down to Kwakwaka’wakw territory where it is visible in many of our potlatch ceremonies today. This design was inspired by the pattern found in many of the robes she wove during her lifetime: a raven sits in profile on the right-hand side while it is viewed head-on on the left. I painted the full design on a blanket for one of my very young relatives so this print is, in fact, a full-size pattern board for a small child’s robe.

“Pattern Board” is a limited edition print using the silkscreen method of printmaking. This print was released in December of 2015 and printed by Andy MacDougall at Wachiay Studio in Courtenay, BC. The artist was involved throughout the process and has ensured that all stencils were destroyed following printing. A total of 13 prints bear the title “Pattern Board” and are signed by Andy Everson: 10 in the primary edition bearing the numbers 1/10 through 10/10; 1 Artist’s Proof; 1 Remarque and 1 Printer’s Proof. The acid-free 100% Stonehenge paper measures approximately 22 x 30 inches. Image size measures about 12.25 x 21.5 inches.