Alumna Weaves Tapestries for College
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Joanne O'Sullivan poses with one of her tapestries with Plant Science Professor Valerie Mellano
From owning her own soap-making business to hunting for the Asian Citrus Psyllid, Joanne O’Sullivan’s career has reflected her curiosity and diverse interests.
But it’s her latest passion that has graced the Huntley College of Agriculture with five tapestries - one for each of the academic departments – that now hang at AGRIscapes. O’Sullivan (’13, plant science) wove the tapestries on her own loom.
“I weave because I love to weave. Every aspect excites me,” O’Sullivan said. “I find it the perfect balance of left and right brain.”
Weaving requires both creativity and math skills. Although she sometimes struggles with the number crunching, O’Sullivan said she gets a visual and tactile rush working with the colorful fibers involved in weaving.
“I am able to sit at my dressed loom and begin the soul-satisfyingly repetitive task of lifting a harness, throwing the shuttle, pulling the beam toward me, beat, repeat,” she added.
Early Beginnings
O’Sullivan took a long and winding road to weave the tapestries for the college.
Growing up in Long Beach during the mid-1960s, she always preferred to spend time alone working on crafts rather then shopping or playing sports.
Her maternal grandmother was a huge influence, teaching her skills like cooking, baking, knitting, sewing, quilting and gardening.
“Since my mother preferred the mall to the kitchen, my granny shared many skills with me that later became a large part of my identity – crafting things to show the ones I love how very much I care,” O’Sullivan said.
Enterprising Craftswoman
Her love of crafts came in handy when she was widowed when her first child was young. O’Sullivan needed a way to support herself while remaining at home in Salt Lake City for her child.
“I had some limited experience making cold-processed soap and thought the time was ripe to make and sell handcrafted natural body care products,” she said.
O’Sullivan especially enjoyed the chemistry and olfactory elements involved in soapmaking. She successfully operated the Heaven Naturals business for nearly 18 years before shutting it down after remarrying and returning to California.
Back to School
She then decided to return to college and finish her education.
“I had studied fine art in my 20s, then graphics, but a passion for organic gardening developed in me,” O’Sullivan said. “So, I thought, why not study plants and see where it takes me? So, I did.”
She enrolled at Cal Poly Pomona to pursue a degree in plant science. She immersed herself in the experience, working on organic production at the Spadra Farm.
Chasing Psyllids
After graduating, she earned her pest control advisors license and began working full-time collecting data on Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) populations – first with the Farm Bureau of Ventura and then with UC Riverside.
She travels to various citrus farms collecting data on the presence of ACP eggs, instars, and feeding adults. She collects data on the insects’ patterns and emerging technologies to monitor and control its movement.
“I feel rewarded in this work as I know I am contributing to important research,” O’Sullivan said. “I spend the majority of my workday traveling our beautiful county and not sitting in front of a computer, which, for me, is a blessing.”
Weaving into a Hobby
When not hunting for the pest, O’Sullivan enjoys weaving and spinning.
Although it’s mainly a hobby, O’Sullivan does have several patrons who commission her to make items for them, and she sometimes offers items for sale on her Etsy store: towels, napkins, runners, rugs, blankets – usually made with plant-based fibers like cotton, linen, or bamboo.
“I receive tremendous pleasure spending hours weaving kitchen towels or other linens that I hope will ultimately be used over and over again by the recipient,” O’Sullivan said.
Works for the College
The college commissioned O’Sullivan to weave the tapestries for the AGRIscapes Visitor Center.
For the design, O’Sullivan employed an old Scandinavian-style weave structure called Krokbragd – or “bound weave” – that allowed her to create customized woven images to represent each department’s educational focus:
- Agribusiness and Food Industry Management/Agriculture Science: patterns, pencils, addition signs, strawberry jam jars, strawberries, bees, wine bottles, grapes, business students.
- Animal and Veterinary Science: sky, trees, black sheep, student workers, seedlings, white sheep, fence, pigs, flowers, horses, pattern, clouds and sky, outbuildings, cow heads, chickens.
- Apparel Merchandising and Management: patterns, tank tops, shorts, dresses, tape measures, cones of thread, pants, t-shirts, mannequins.
- Nutrition and Food Science: ice cream cones, carrots, avocado oil bottles, avocados, milk glasses, milk cartons, eggplants, eggs, patterns, green leaves, cups of green tea, test tubes, Bunsen burners, red peppers, green peppers, wheat stalks, bread slices, food pyramids.
- Plant Science: flowers, fences, barns, ants, lady bird beetles, wine glasses, grape clusters, grapes on the vine, wheat stalks, lemons, red peppers, carrots, berries, leaves, tractors, oranges, orange trees, butterflies, bees, student farm workers, soil profile.
Where she could, she also chose materials associated with the departments.
For example, she hand-dyed and spun wool from Cal Poly Pomona sheep for the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences’ tapestry. The plant science department’s tapestry incorporated plant fibers, including cotton and linen.
It took O’Sullivan nearly nine weeks working full time to create the tapestries. But the results were well worth it for the college, Interim Dean Lisa Kessler said.
“The tapestries look amazing, and we’re pleased to have them for our college,” Kessler said. “We’re especially gratified and proud that it’s the handiwork of one of our alumnae.”
O’Sullivan is not stopping with the tapestries. Her goal is to make it her “real job” in three years when she retires from her research work.
“I fantasize being in my PJs all day while I spend endless house at my loom,” she said. “I can’t wait.”