Just going along

Well, I missed posting on 22/6/22 but the next day is close! And the winter solstice is past too. Now we can look forward to longer days - by about a minute a day, at best. 

It has been interesting to try to do the weaving at this time of the year. I have a spot that I usually sit in but that was right outside the bedroom of a covid patient, so I  moved to a different part of the house. It needed a daylight lamp, which was actually ok as it meant that I can weave at night. 

I am trying to do a couple of hours every day. I take photos to show me that I have actually done something! An hour doesn't produce much progress.

The design is slow at the moment because there are lots of vertical bits that require slow movement. Each time I get on a roll I realise that I have to slow down and attach it to the sections beside it. I am looking forward to the more horizontal parts of the weaving where the progress is less dependant on the accompanying areas. 

And the section with all the horizontal lines has more than 12 bobbins attached!! I'm running out. But they do make a lovely sound when they bobble around. 

                                                      

Ambitious

 I am currently working on a tapestry. I have entered it for the Bendigo Wool Show (aka Australian Sheep and Wool Show). When I entered it, I had a vague idea for a tapestry. I have been lacking in enthusiasm for any art work, thought that entering might inspire me. 

So, now I am busily trying to find the time to get the actual weaving done!! I have decided to do a labyrinth. I think that I am influenced by the need to find some mental space. The world seems rather overwhelming at the moment - bad news wherever you look. 

The weaving is actually working like a labyrinth for me - all those little decisions about colours, texture, making the various sections synch with each other. Slow and steady (I wish!). But the focus is on it, not what else might be happening. 

Having done the texture workshop with Ema Shin recently, I am trying to incorporate some into the piece. It is going ok. I am using the texture to show that the path of the labyrinth can be encroached upon, that the going may not always be smooth - but the path is there. You just have to follow it carefully. 

Also, the texture is allowing me to have not perfect edges and corners. Makes life much easier. 

Image from a couple of days ago. 

The section on the left was yesterday's achievement. 

I did an hour of weaving today - only an hour!! I had to take a photo to prove to myself that I had actually done something, that it is progressing. That's it, the section on the right.

That one small section on the right has all these bobbins involved. No wonder I am going slowly. 

Fortunately, our dog has not worked out what to do with the hanging bobbins, they totally mystify her. 

Collage art

 We had a set of books that we thought we should get rid of. They were too gorgeous to just throw away and one family member had asked a second-hand bookshop if they wanted them - no. Then I thought of Anne Warren, a collage artist who lives in my local area. 

I had heard of her several years ago when she was involved in an Open Studios thing and which I attended. I had her email address. I asked her if she would like them and she said yes. Not sure she was expecting 24 books!

From that, I was invited to attend some casual sessions at a local cafe, where a group of people meet to do paper collage. (Station 9, Fairfield - so generous of them to allow this! And they have really NICE hot chocolate.)

I have been twice and have two small collages to show for it. They are not in my usual style - at all! But it has been a great learning experience so far (and social) and I am hoping to attend more in the near future. 

Thanks Anne. 

This was done on a small paint sample. 

This is bigger (believe it or not) and is about A5 size, using images from a diary from the 1980s and an NGV magazine.