beyond the horizon

"beyond the horizon"

size: approx. 71 x 23cm (28 x 9 inches)

materials: mostly a combination of cotton, rayon and wool, and a small amount of linen.

woven on cotton warp, 8 warps per inch.

*SOLD*

 freshly cut off the loom and lying on the floor

Finishing the back: the top and bottom are turned under, like a hem, and webbing tape is sewn along the edges to prevent the ends from poking out.

A small baton sewn on with d-rings attached, ready for hanging.

detail shots: 

weaving horizons

I appear to be on a weaving kick at the moment. For whatever reason it's working with my current sketches and ideas. The day after I cut down "bright and blustery" I warped up my next piece which is based on an oil pastel sketch of a horizon. It'll be approximately 70cm  x 23cm (27.5" x 9") when completed. I have a much bigger piece planned after this one which I'm even more excited about.

Although it feels incredibly strange to be closed and so quiet at this time of year I am making the most of the COVID-19 lockdown peace and cracking on with work in my studio. I'll be updating the gallery's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts at least once a week with my work as it progresses as well as more frequent posts here (hopefully!)

Hope everybody is staying as safe as possible during these strange, worrying times.

The oil pastel drawing the tapestry is based on. Although I have an enlarged linear sketch of it tied behind my warps to work directly from (seen in the photo below) I like to keep the original drawing nearby for colour reference and to ensure I don't lose any subtle nuances in my translation.

Half way mess, time for a tidy up.

Over the horizon.

bright and blustery

"Bright and blustery"

handwoven tapestry, woven at 8 warps per inch

size: 41.5cm x 10.5cm (not including wooden frame)

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool

 

*SOLD*

View from the front of our gallery, looking across Scapa Flow to Flotta and Hoy.

detail

As this was a small piece I decided to weave it on a small wooden frame attached to an easel.

 Orkney landscape colours on a row of bobbins.

elemental synergy

Shoreline edge at the Sand O' Wright beach in Hoxa with the sunset reflecting in the water and wet sand. Air, earth and water meeting in harmony.

original drawing/painting on left and tapestry on right.

"Elemental synergy" *SOLD*

 handwoven tapestry, woven 8 warps per inch.

size: approx. 74cm square

materials: cotton, linen, rayon and wool.

"Elemental synergy" *SOLD*
original drawing/painting which inspired the tapestry.
size: approx. 13cm square.
materials: pencil, oil pastel and watercolour on paper.

Two detail shots of the tapestry. For more detail and in progress photographs of the tapestry, see previous posts here, here and here.

cutting off the loom

After almost a month's break I finished my tapestry this week. Hurray! It feels good to be done. I begrudgingly allowed Mum to take photographs of me cutting it off the loom (I dislike having my photograph taken) as I'm aware it's an interesting process to watch. Freeing a tapestry from the loom is always exciting as its textural surface changes when it's no longer under tension. It takes on a new life and catches light differently.

Cutting the tapestry free.

It was inevitable I'd end up in a silly pose. Also, I believe every artist should own a pair of work slippers to keep their toes cosy through winter.

The back of the tapestry. There are a lot of ends!

A tangled pile of yarn after emptying the last of my bobbins. Also in the photo are the thin sampler which I used to test colours for my tapestry, the original watercolour painting the tapestry is based on (next to my scissors) and the enlarged linear sketch which I had tied behind the warp on the loom so I could work directly from it.

Mum felt the slippers deserved their own photo!

The tapestry on the floor next to the original painting it came from.

Now it's just a case of giving the tapestry a title and finishing it off for display. I intend to hang it from a wooden baton, attached using velcro. (The velcro is sewn to the back of the tapestry along the top hem and the other velcro side gets stapled to the baton.)

Then it's back to the drawing board for new work!

finishing fever

The finishing line is tantalisingly close. Perhaps I will get this tapestry done before Christmas after all...

new work in progress

It has been a long time since I last posted, oops! I have been working though, honestly. I just need to get back into the habit of documenting things.

Towards the end of September I started a new tapestry based on a small watercolour, oil pastel and pencil sketch I made capturing reflected light on a shoreline edge. The original sketch is roughly 14cm/ 5 1/2 inches square and the finished tapestry will be roughly 74cm/ 29 inches square.

There are lots of subtle colour and tonal blends and painterly marks to translate which is making it complicated to weave, especially since I haven't done any weaving since my last tapestry "tracing waves" in 2016. What can I say, I was clearly feeling artistically ambitious this year.

I haven't taken many progress shots but here are a few of my set up and some weaving details.

I've finally hit the half way mark which is very exciting. The other half, in theory, should be easier to weave so who knows, I might be finished by Christmas!