echoes of the shore

This is my latest completed tapestry, "echoes of the shore." I started working on it in December last year, following on from "shoreline circles" last October. 

 echoes of the shore

size: approx. 5ft square

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool, woven on 8 warps per inch on cotton warp.

"Echoes of the shore" is a collection of memories from walks along local beaches, mostly the Sand O' Wright beach in Hoxa, exploring repeated shapes and patterns which echo one another: limpet shells, pebbles, circular marks found on pebbles, sand blisters and scattered edges of waves before they disperse over wet sand. The tapestry is based on and developed from a small watercolour painting in my sketchbook. In the photograph below you can see the sketchbook painting along with the pebble which inspired the main concentric circles in the painting and tapestry. It's tiny but packs a visual punch.

 

On first impression the colours in this tapestry look predominantly grey but there are actually lots of shimmering blues and warm sandy colours running all the way through it. The tonal background allows for subtle shifts in colour and surface texture. 

 

As a naturally very colour-driven person, creating something so "grey" at such a large scale felt potentially boring(!) but that's what the piece needed to be to feel right and to create the effects I wanted. Also wet sand is, after all, wet sand! I found myself longing to reach the blue, tufted circles for a burst of something different. 

 

I think there's an expectation to feel elated after finishing something large which has taken months to complete (in this case 3-4 months weaving, not including research and development) but I just feel zapped, both physically and mentally. I am pleased to be done as the idea is out my system and into the physical world, but as usual I need some distance before I can look at the work again with more objective eyes. On the whole it was a fun piece to work on; I enjoyed experimenting with varying tufting depths and weft thickness and it was a good exercise in weaving circles.

As I completely neglected to post any work in progress photographs here earlier in the year I'll add them now at the end.

January 2022

 

February 2022

March 2022

 

April 2022

 

 

After catching up with general business admin I'm back to the beginning of the creative cycle again:  walking, thinking, sketching and painting. I can never decide whether it's daunting or exciting to start afresh. Hopefully exciting!