The American Tapestry Alliance presented Tommye McClure Scanlin with the ATA Award of Excellence in Tapestry for her tapestry, “Life Force.”

The award was presented at the Blue Ridge Fiber Show at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, N.C. The exhibition runs through Jan. 2.

The tapestry measures 24 feet by 60 feet and is made of wool and cotton.

Scanlin, a professor emerita at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, has been weaving for more than 30 years and has explored many different techniques of creating images with fiber. In 1988, she was inspired by the ATA exhibit, World Tapestry Today, and plunged into the challenging world of tapestry. Since then her tapestries have been widely exhibited.

She teaches short workshops and classes at John C. Campbell Folk School, Arrowmont School of Crafts and Penland.

In 2009 Scanlin earned a lifetime achievement award for “dedication to craft education” by the Georgia Art Education Association. She is a Fellow of the Hambidge Center and has also been selected for several artist residencies at the Lillian E. Smith Center for Creative Arts.

“I enjoy the hours, days, weeks, and months spent in the slow medium of tapestry weaving because I love the surface of flat woven tapestry, the intensity of color as interpreted in yarn, and the importance of each movement of the weaver’s hands to the finished work,” she said.

“My tapestries are based upon ideas and images that are meaningful to me, and I find much of my motivation for tapestry design in the land forms and plant life of the southern Appalachians.”

“Life Force” is based upon one of her many drawings of kudzu.

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The Gainesville Newcomers Club held its annual Fall Fashion Show on Oct. 24. Jessica Gramling, event coordinator for Belk, and the GNC models gave the attendees a glimpse of a fashion tour around the world.

Proceeds from raffle ticket sales and the fashion show were donated to My Sister’s Place and additional monies were collected for Meals on Wheels.