You'd be forgiven for thinking I had dropped off the face of the planet
judging by my lack of activity on the gallery's social media over the
last couple of months, but I've been quietly working away gathering new
ideas.
By the end of the Summer I had come to the end of my last body of
research and desperately needed to spend time outdoors gathering new
inspiration - thinking, walking, sketching and taking photographs.
October in Orkney was dominated by wet, windy weather which I didn't
find particularly inspiring however there were many calm, beautiful days
in November which more than made up for the dull ones and the
increasing shorter hours of daylight.
Ripples, reflections and low, golden light from these still days
feature heavily in my research at the moment and have resulted in two
smaller handwoven tapestries in the past month. Both are for sale and can be found on the gallery's website.
"winter twilight, Skaill"
Handwoven tapestry by Jo Thomson
Size: 25.5cm square (including painted wooden box frame.)
Materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool; woven on 10 warps per inch.
This tapestry was inspired by late
afternoons up at the Bay of Skaill (at Skara Brae) watching the sun cast
a shimmering, warm glow across the shore before the sun set.
I often find there's an assumption that Orkney must have cool toned
light in winter due to its northern location but this is not the case at
all. There is so much warmth in our winter light: dusky, warm toned
oranges which move into softer, duskier pinks further into winter.
(detail)
"wave memory, Skaill"
Handwoven tapestry by Jo Thomson
Size: 25.5cm square (including painted wooden box frame)
Materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool; woven on 10 warps per inch
Tidal cycles are a constant source of inspiration for me and "Wave memory" is a study of sea froth
left behind on the shore at Skaill, below Skara Brae. Traced wave edges are like fingerprints: each ripple, froth
or outline is similar yet unique each day. They reveal evidence of waves which have dispersed on the shore and the
quality of the weather and tide that particular day.
As "wave memory" was a simpler piece to create it's priced lower
accordingly. Both tapestries were woven on 10 warps per inch - slightly
finer than my usual 8 warps per inch for a bit more detail and fluidity
in line.
The shiny blue thread used in both tapestries (a viscose rayon) really
shimmers and catches the light. It is difficult to convey in a photograph
though! I also used a mixture of single and doubled weft in both
artworks (and also knots in "winter twilight") which subtly play with depth
in different light.
I had a surprising amount of bother deciding how I wanted to treat the
wooden frames for these tapestries as I generally like to treat them as
an extension to the artwork, pulling out a colour or tone in the artwork
so the frame feels connected to it. After much deliberation I settled
on painting the frames a dark, sandy toned grey with a bright blue wash
rubbed into the wood grain which echoes the texture of the tapestries
and highlights the shiny blue thread running through both artworks. From
a distance the blue isn't obvious but I feel it's a lovely detail on
closer inspection.
"winter twilight" at Skaill beach
"wave memory" at Skaill beach
If possible I enjoy photographing my artwork within the landscape which
inspired it, so last Tuesday I took the tapestries out on an
adventure to Skaill beach to photograph in the twilight. Sadly it was fairly overcast
so I didn't quite get the golden orange/pink light I had hoped for, but
it was still beautiful and always satisfying to see my artworks connect
with their inspiration source.
Skaill beach, 12th November 2023.
