Undone

When I looked closely at the tapestry I am currently weaving, I realised that the rectangle on the right was being pulled in. And I was having trouble doing the sewing of the slit as I went. 

I pulled out quite a bit, in the hopes that I can now do it straighter.

As I have not really been using a cartoon, I have used a photo that I took as my guide. It is not turning out quite the same but I am ok with that - so far.

I am now debating whether to go back to my original plan of having yellow at the top or to stick with my new idea of it being an abstract scene reminiscent of a valley at sunset. That would not have yellow at the top of the sky, so I will have to decide soon as I am getting back towards where I was up to. 

I am glad that it is not actually for any particular exhibition, that it is just an idea. That takes the pressure off enormously. I can change the proportions, the image, the whole idea. 

Rethink

I could have called this post several things but the idea is the same. I looked at my tapestry today and thought that I could see a scene that was of a valley, possibly with a river, at sunset. That is not what I had been working towards!! But I like it.

So ... what to do? Leave it overnight, see what ideas I have come up with overnight (if any) and go from there. 

If I decide to go with the scene I am seeing, I will have to decide what to do about the rectangle that is already there, how to finish off the sky, what colours to use. But that 'shouldn't' be too hard. I have many photos of sunsets!

At the moment, I see that scene. But I have the blue frame within the image. What to do??? 

Will I continue with the frame? Will it make the piece a differnt size? (Yes.) 

Will it change the idea for the, possible, entry form? (Yes again.) 

I like the emerging image - and I don't have any real obligation to do the original idea. 

The blue frame is sewn to the inside part of the tapestry. If I decide to cut it out, it would be a simple thing to do. But I like the outside parts too.

Also, I am only thinking about the theme and entering the exhibition, it was just an idea to get me going. I have the spot on the wall where it will go, so I can do whatever I like. 

Decisions, decisions. Not my best thing. 

Another title could have been What a Difference the Light Makes. I have taken photos during the day and the sunshine has changed the image a lot.

The photo also changes the colours. I have yet to get a photo that looks like what I am actually weaving. This is adding to the confusion. 

I really do like the idea of how background colours change the perception of a consistent colour but that could be done again. I'll go and watch some tv, go to bed and then see what I think tomorrow. 

A Leaf Within a Leaf.

I was in the garden yesterday and noticed these leaves. At first I thought it was two leaves but when I looked more closely I realised it was the autumn leaf losing some of its colour - in the shape of a different leaf.

Then I found another. They are under the pear tree, so I assume they are pear leaves.

Tapestry making slow progress

 I have been trying to work on the tapestry but the change to daylight saving and the onset of winter has made a difference, seeing I tend to work on it in the afternoon, often the late afternoon. I have tried to only work in daylight and mix my wools to make colours in daylight. This has hindered my progress a little. 

I also made mistakes early on with the sewing of the slits - I can see some of the stitches. Not good. I may take them out when I finish and then redo them or I may not. They are in a very dark part of the weaving, the piece is not for sale, it will be in a not very well lit place and I'll see how I feel at the time. 

Probably not the best attitude but it is the attitude I have at the moment. 

Photo taken in the dusk, will try to take another in better light soon.

I am moving from the blues and purples into the reds. I don't have a lot of the more orangey reds, so it will be interesting to see what comes next. It is getting to be more and more of a piece that is going with what I have, probably a Covid thing really, despite the fact that our restrictions are almost non-existent and the virus doesn't seem to be around at the moment. I am still feeling a little cautious. My life has changed somewhat also, I don't have as many regular events in my life and am finding it rather freeing. 

I will see what develops over the coming months. Life is resuming in some ways. I actually went to the football two weeks in a row! There were just over 40,000 people at the first match and more at the second. (We lost but it was still great to be out and about.) 

The first bounce of a match I have been able to attend in well over a year!

April already!

 It's been about a month since I last posted. It's not that I haven't been doing anything but, I must admit, I haven't been doing very much!

I have started a small tapestry. It is based on my ongoing interest in how background colours change our perception of a colour. I have done some small banner quilts on this previously and used them as the basis for my piece. I haven't actually drawn up a cartoon, am just using an image of one of my banners that I then manipulated in Photoshop. It sits near me while I weave and I am doing something that is vaguely inspired by it. But the way weaving goes, and the orientation I have used, means that it is not really very like the inspiration. Also, the long rectangle is a pain to weave, I am sewing up the slits as I go. 

I had thought to do a rolling warp so that I could do a long piece, longer than my loom usually allows. I totally botched the warping up! I took the loom away with me for a few days and didn't take any extra warp cotton. I cut the warp when I was trying to fix it up - now it is going to be as high as I can go on the loom and is much thinner than planned. Not to worry, I now know where it is going, there is a space on the wall that it will fit. This is unusual for me, to be doing a site specific piece. 

Progress so far. The lighting could have been better. 

Yesterday's adventure. We were driving along when my passenger wanted to look in the mirror on the sunshield. I heard Eeek, but not a scream, fortunately. This is what was there: 

I drove very calmly (well, I didn't scream or have an accident) through the traffic, dropped off my passenger, came home and then got the spider out and put it in the garden - hopefully far enough away that it isn't back in the car.