Artwork copyright Judith Poxson Fawkes. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Judith Poxson Fawkes. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

December Precipitation II, 1981

Judith Poxson Fawkes
American (born 1941, died 2019)

Location: Amboy Middle School, Amboy

About the Artwork

December Precipitation II is an elaborate hand-woven tapestry by late textile artist Judith Poxson Fawkes. This piece is part of a series of double woven linen tapestries that depict the climate of Portland, Oregon using geometric forms. This tapestry explores the atmosphere particular to December, the month in which this piece was woven. Poxson Fawkes noted that this artwork conveys the interaction of colors that are "the same as light filters through the fast-changing skies above Portland."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Battle Ground Public Schools.

About the Artist

Portland, Oregon-based textile artist Judith Poxson Fawkes (1941-2019) created elaborate, hand-woven tapestries that explore architectural and geometric forms, as well as the interplay of light and color.
Poxson Fawkes' tapestry artworks highlight the figurative possibilities of loom weaving. She designed her compositions using gridded drawings on graph paper. She often used a bird's eye viewpoint and played with the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface by showing multiple sides and shadows of objects.
Poxson Fawkes earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University in 1963 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1965. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1972, with her husband, artist Tom Fawkes. She taught weaving at four colleges in the Portland area, including Lewis & Clark College. In 1984, she became a full-time studio artist. Her tapestry artworks have been exhibited all across the United States and are in many collections, including the American Crafts Museum in New York City.