Eynhallow, disappearing island

 

"Eynhallow, disappearing island"

Size: 170 x 76cm (67" x 30")

Materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool. Woven at 8 warps per inch on cotton warp. 

 

 

Handwoven tapestry based on an acrylic painting in my sketchbook (size 20.5 x 9.5cm) of the view looking across to the uninhabited island of Eynhallow from Aikerness beach in Evie, Orkney. 

Eynhallow, also known as Holy Island, is known within local folklore as a disappearing island due to the surrounding turbulent tides. It was also the summer home of the mythical "Finfolk": fearsome, amphibious, human-formed creatures with webbed fingers and toes and scaley skin. They were known to be great swimmers and equally at home on land or under the sea.

A selection of detail photographs below:

cutting down

I finished my tapestry and cut it off the loom last week. It was an exciting day.

I don't think I was prepared for just how tired I'd feel after finishing, I felt like I'd completed a marathon! Granted it is my biggest piece to date and I put in a huge effort over the last month as I was determined to be finished by the end of July. Post-completion mental and physical fatigue was therefore inevitable. I'll be back with "finished" photos and more coherent sentences soon.

Trimming all the long end on the back. There were a lot of colour blends, therefore a lot of ends!

Ta-da!