Slow progress - but it does't matter.

 It has been a while since I have posted - quite a while!!

I have been going along, slowly, with my tapestry. It is turning out to be much harder than I had anticipated - to say the least. 

It is only going to be about 20cm square but I have 14 bobbins on it at times. The design looks flowing but turns out to be very fiddly. Each bit of the lines of the labyrinth need to be done separately, sometimes only for short distances. Curved lines that look like they could be done with one bobbin can't! The curves depend on the nearby areas being done at the same time, it not being possible to weave over thin air. 

However, it is going along. I went away for a couple of nights and took the loom with me. I forgot to take the yarns!! But there was enough on the bobbins for me to put in several hours' worth of work, due to the fiddly nature of the weaving. Luckily, I have until February for it to be finished. 

The theme is Between the Lines - my idea is that you walk between the lines to meditate on the labyrinth. And don't take any notice of the bumps, irregularities and textures around you, just go with the flow. 

Another labyrinth

 I am playing around with another small tapestry. I am using a different style of labyrinth, more fluid and it is turning out to be more of a challenge than I had thought - if I had actually thought about it properly.

I had a couple of ideas of how to colour the piece. (I originally thought I would use my yellow warp - that didn't happen, I used some green warp that I bought at the same time and it has greatly influenced my colour choices.)

Then I started weaving and it is not at all like the original plan!! So now my cartoon is simply black and white. 

The main colours are grass and weeds and dried up plants - very Australian. I see some labyrinths in reality and they are not lush and well looked after, not the ones I have visited. So I am claiming to be inspired by local labyrinths. 

I am going for rough ground around the labyrinth and a smoother path inside. 

As I drew up the design, I wasn't all that careful - I am still in that mode of having to be doing something rather than wanting to be producing a perfect piece. The making is more important than the product. 

So the lines outlining the path are a bit wonky but I think that is ok, just part of the journey. The design is curved, not something I am all that good with in tapestry weaving. 

It is turning out to be a challenge to have enough bobbins for all the different sections. I hadn't realised that that nice continuous line of the pathway isn't actually going to be doable when you are working in horizontal lines - I need several bobbins to do each iteration of the walls. 

I am also using up some old bits and pieces of yarn that I have had for years, trying to use them up. 

It is a small warp, only three bits of ATW yarns as my main measure. Seine twine 12/6. Some of the novelty yarns are a bit thicker but I just go with the flow. 

September 23

 I have just been told that I should have blogged today, it being 23/09/23! So here here it is.

I went to the opening of the Annual Members' Exhibition at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria (Australia) last night. It was a very  interesting evening. 

I am on the exhibition committee, so will have have a vested interest in it, of course. 

But it was a lovely evening with interesting speeches. And an amazing array of works. In fact, I have commented that the exhibition is becoming a bit too good for its own good, in my not so humble opinion  - not an opinion shared by all. I feel that the quality of work is so high that some people might be put off joining the guild as they might not feel as if they could keep up to the standard. 

However, there were a few works that might encourage people to take on membership because they could live up to the standard - mainly my two works. Not being modest here, I wanted to participate and did a couple of pieces that pleased me (one here) - no thought about how they would stand up to comparison with other members. 

I did my blackwork labyrinth piece - I feel as if I should have put in a statement about ignoring the lumps and bumps, the imperfections, just walk the Labyrinth (finger walk). I didn't - but it is how I feel about my imperfect work. I don't care that it has imperfections, it was an enjoyable and meditative time making it. No precise plan, as seems to be my thing at the moment. I just did pieces at different times, as they spoke to me. (The theme is Reflection - I think that walking a labyrinth is a time for that.)

I am currently working on a small tapestry (20cm square) and it is another piece that had a plan that I am not really following all that closely. (It is also based on a labyrinth theme. The outside of is going to be textured, the inside (hopefully) will be smoother.)

  I have found a whole lot of yarns that I bought to play around with, in my more experimental days, and I am trying to incorporate them (it is quite possible that I am returning to those experimental, not very precise, days). My weaving is not getting much attention at the moment as I have been involved in setting up the exhibition at the EGV but it is slowly growing. 

Not sure what I am doing!

 I have an idea for a small tapestry. 

There has been a call for entries for a theme: Between the Lines. 

I thought about it for a while, even started a mind map. Then I returned to my ideas of a labyrinth - walking between the lines. 

The size called for is quite small, 20cm square, at most. So I knew that my previous labryinth pieces (here) were too complicated for that design. I am now going to go for one base on a tree shape. I have drawn up a couple of cartoons (the term used for tapestry plans). I coloured them, thinking that I might go through the colour wheel, as I really love playing with colour blending. They are not as complicated as one I tried earlier!

Then I got out one of my tubs of yarns - the yellows and browns. So the colour plan is totally changed!! I am also influenced by the idea of the outside of the path being a bit rough/textured. 

This is what I have found. It has totally changed my plan. I think I will do what I have been finding helpful recently - go with the flow: have a basic idea and let it grow. So I am going to warp up the loom and start, then see what develops. Use the basic idea but don't worry about the colour plan. What could go wrong?

Oh, I have also decided to continue using the yellow warp - that really influences my designs as the moment. 

Using old ideas and adding to them.

 I have a LOT of old doodle/Zentangle pieces. I have been doing it for years. 

Recently, I went away for a few days and took an old, A5 (rather small) pad of old doodles with me. I also took some coloured pencils and Landscape colour brush pen things. 

I knew I was not going to be doing much, was just taking the chance to be away. Usually, I have something on the go that is portable, not this time. 

So, here are some images of my reinterpretation (or reuse) of some small doodles. 

Something sort-of new for me. It was rather peaceful as the design was already there, I just had to choose some colours. It continued the theme of the doodling for reflection/peace rather well. But I didn't do them in bed, as I do with my doodles. 

I think I prefer the ones done with pencil. there is a greater colour range. But, as they are for just contemplating, it really doesn't matter what I used. 

The value of keeping records.

 I was looking for some information about doing an animal image today and remembered that I had done a few experiments on it in the past. I couldn't find any links that I had saved in my folders, then remembered this blog and how I think of it as a visual diary. 

Lo and behold: I found the relevant pages: here and here (I note that it was in the pre-Covid, more creative times).

So now I am going to try to be a bit more updated and post what I am doing. 

It has been bit of a struggle to be creative these last few months but I have persevered and managed some things. 

My most recent thing is to have done a wall hanging quilt for an upcoming exhibition. I just have to decide which exhibition to put it in. 

It was designed for the AQIPP exhibition that is coming up, the theme being Unfolding. I have made my image based on flowers unfolding from the buds. 

I also came across an old piece I did a few years ago, a folded book, done in fabric. I rather like it and may try to make a slightly bigger one (to fit the size requirements) but there isn't a lot of time left, so I will see what eventuates, try not to stress myself. 

It is actually good that I have kept the blog - I couldn't remember how I had done it - now I can see what I did!

Mixing techniques

 As I posted recently, I am trying some new ideas using Zentangle, doodling and quilting patterns with Notan ideas. 

I cut out some pieces of black paper, flipped the pieces and glued them down. 

These ones are on A4 paper and it takes a little longer to do the doodling, so it is still ok to be doing in bed, helping me to sleep. But ... doing it in bed means that the control of the pen is not as good as it could be at a desk. Luckily, I am not trying to do fabulous art, I am trying to relax and play with ideas - get my mind off the worries of the day, just relax. 

Now I am doing a bit of doodling to fill in the spaces. 

Another idea that I haven't tried is to use a white pen to doodle on the black paper or, perhaps, some coloured gel pens. (I saw this on Pinterest.) Something more to try soon. Maybe.