Inganess ebb studies

I don't always feel the need to create studies, for painting or tapestry, but occasionally I feel they're needed if there are techniques I want to explore or any uncertainties I want to address before beginning the final artwork. There were many things I felt unsure about with "Inganess ebb" (as mentioned in my previous post I avoided starting this piece for a good two years) so my best way to push through the uncertainty was to make full use of studies.

As a happy surprise, not only have my studies been useful, they've also ended up as interesting, exploratory artworks in their own right. Now that I no longer need them for reference I'm happy to set them free into the world, rather just shoving them away in a sketchbook.

 "sky ripples, II" Inganess study

handwoven tapestry

size: 18cm square (inc. limewaxed box frame)

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

 (detail)

"Sky ripples, II" is (unsurprisingly) my second sky study for "Inganess ebb." The rippled effect is much more subtle than in the first study, which I shared back in April (see here) and I also slightly changed how I wove it. This one is closer to what I ended up doing in my final tapestry. 

"Inganess hues", study *SOLD*

handwoven tapestry

size: 17.5 x 22.5cm (inc. limewaxed box frame)

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

 

(detail)

"Inganess hues" is an overall colour study for "Inganess ebb." It helped to figure out the overall "feel" for the final tapestry, how I wanted to use textures and also confirmed that I needed to purchase a few new shades of green to achieve the effect I wanted for the seaweed ebb area. 

Even though the purpose of "Inganess hues" (and studies in general) was to give me a feel for my colour palette, my choices generally do change slightly as I work on the final artwork. For this reason I often warp up a separate narrow strip on the loom next to the large tapestry, usually 2 inches (5cm) wide, which allows me space to test colour gradations or blends to see how they look before committing to it on the final artwork.

The following two studies are a result of this paint palette strip and I absolutely love how they have turned out now that they're framed, especially photographed against the larger "Inganess ebb" tapestry. 

"sea", colour study *SOLD*

handwoven tapestry

size: approx. 21 x 7cm (inc. limewaxed box frame)

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

"sky", colour study

handwoven tapestry

size: approx. 22 x 7cm (inc. limewaxed box frame)

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

Now it's back to the drawing board. I've come to the end of my last body of research so I desperately need time outdoors to walk, think and draw and then time in my studio to think, draw, paint and develop! I've also coincidentally come to the end of my last sketchbook. A new sketchbook always feels fresh with possibilities so let's hope I put my new one to good use over the coming months.

Inganess ebb

Myself with my artwork, "Inganess ebb"

Size: approx. 3ft square

Handwoven tapestry

Materials: cotton, linen, rayon, wool; woven on 8 warps per inch, cotton warp.

(currently nfs)

  

It's finished. Finally. This piece has been quite a battle, for various reasons, but I'm glad I pushed through to resolve it. 

This artwork is inspired by an oil pastel drawing from my sketchbook of Inganess beach, just outside Kirkwall on mainland Orkney. It was a Spring day of intense colours and I loved the vibrancy of the sea blues and turquoises against the almost luminous greens of the stones and seaweed in the ebb.

 

As always I keep my sketch close to hand when I'm weaving, both  for colour reference and capturing subtle nuances which can't easily be noted on the linear compositional sketch I have tied behind the loom whilst I'm working.

The main reason I delayed starting this tapestry for at least two years is because I couldn't decide how I wanted to translate and weave the sky. I really liked the vdirectional mark making I had created with the pastels but was aware it would read differently when scaled up. I felt it needed to be present in the final tapestry as the sky would look too blank without it but I didn't want it to read as zebra stripes either. After a few experimentations on smaller studies at the beginning of the year I eventually got there. It's a subtle, rippled cloud effect, gently grading in colour.

 

The other reason for the delay was knowing that it would be similarly complicated to weave as "Eynhallow, disappearing island" (the sketches for both pieces were created at roughly the same time.) It has taken a while to recover from that one! By the end of last year it was niggling me that this drawing was still languishing in my sketchbook, waiting to be developed further. I'm glad it's finally out my system!

As noted above in the artwork description, this piece is currently not for sale. Last year I decided to mark my last two big tapestries, "Eynhallow, disappearing island" and "Echoes of the shore", as not for sale in order to start building up a body of tapestry artwork to represent myself here at the gallery. Mum is no longer here and going forward I don't want to run a gallery where there's a lot of her work and very little of my own.

Mum opened the gallery in 1996 with 10 -15 years worth of tapestry artworks. She sold at least three big pieces in that first summer and quickly realised she wouldn't be able to create quick enough to replace what was sold whilst also running a gallery. In order to not have a partially empty gallery she decided to hold onto the remaining pieces, some of which belonged to the family in the first place so were never intended to sell. This left her with a strong, cohesive body of work on permanent display for people to see when visiting the gallery. Anything else she produced from then on was sold.

My artistic practice has been different in that I've always sold my work as I produced it, even when I was still studying at art school. This has been good financially, however I've often felt my work and display space lacks impact and cohesion, largely to due it being made up from bits and pieces left over from larger bodies of work which have sold and disappeared. Quite often by mid to late summer I don't have many original artworks left for sale and I don't have the time to produce many new things whilst running the gallery. The vast majority of my work is produced over the winter months when the gallery is closed.

My solution and aim going forward is to produce one bigger piece a year, which I will hold onto either indefinitely or for a few years until I have enough work to start letting some go again, alongside smaller pieces which I can sell throughout the year. I'm hoping this will create a better balance between mine and my Mum's work within the gallery and also having a solid body of work to show people as well as work to sell.

Speaking of smaller pieces to sell, I have a few more studies relating to "Inganess ebb" which will be for sale soon now that they are no longer needed for reference. They will pop up on our social media or the gallery's website in the next week or so (and eventually here!)