Finding inspiration in unexpected places

As I mentioned earlier, I have been working on a small woven tapestry for the upcoming AusNZ online tapestry group's 2021 challenge.

The theme this year is Weaving Water. I have a LOT of pictures with water in them! Because of lockdown and only being able to walk for an hour a day (for a couple of months) I have been along various paths along the Yarra River. It is always brown water. Apparently it is due to the clay soil. 

I just noticed that I started it about a month ago, not a bad timeline for me. Maybe because of the lockdown I have given it more time than I would have normally. 

It is quite abstract, based on a piece of paper with paint smeared on it, ready to be cut up for collage. It is also in a landscape format and the tapestry is square. I also managed to turn the image upside down at one stage and it took me a while to work out why my, not very carefully done, cartoon didn't seem to be working. So then I ditched the cartoon and just looked at the image and tried to put in what I thought it was looking like, not what it actually looked like. 

It was a very relaxing way to be weaving - no good image to follow, no right or wrong bits (apart from some bits that just didn't feel right and got pulled out). 

I went for a walk along Darebin Creek this week - without a mask!! Hooray! The water was running fast because of recent rain and was also brown. It reminded me greatly of the tapestry which is almost finished.

                                         

Mountains to Sea tapestries on display

Today a few of us put up the tapestries from the AuNZ online tapestry group at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild.  The tapestries drew many admiring comments from the many guild members present.  I must admit, I was overjoyed to be able to see them in actuality when they arrived last week.

There were more this year, so we had to arrange them differently.  As usual, it was great to see the different interpretations people had on the theme. The colours are wonderful too.

We laid them out how we thought they would look best together, pinned the names on them and then pinned them on the boards, making many decisions about how to put them up as we went.

Despite them being on display already, the official 'opening' is at midday next Saturday.  I look forward to catching up with some of the weavers.

Our small group that meets at the guild rooms on a monthly basis has its own challenge - Buildings.  The last board in the gallery has our responses to that as well as a 'work in progress' - partly to show how tapestry weaving is done, partly because I didn't get it done in time.

Circles and Squares Travelling Tapestry Exhibition

Well, the day finally arrived.  We put up the travelling exhibition  of the AuNZ tapestry group, at the Handspinners and Weavers Guild rooms today.
I was so excited when the box came and I opened it to see the wonderful works.

What a treasure trove.

I can't really express how different they look in real life, compared to photos.  The colours are so clear, the textures enticing and the whole 'reality' of the works is special.
We are really lucky to have the opportunity to see them and have them for a couple of weeks.

It took quite a few hours to spread them out, decide how to group them (they had come in fairly well-organised groups) and then to hang them.  But it was fun.

Decisions, decisions

They look really great with the spotlights on them.
We have already had lots of complimentary comments from passersby as well as ladies from the guild.
So come along to our 'opening' on Saturday morning, or call in to the guild rooms anytime (check opening times here), and see them for yourselves, if you are in the vicinity.

Circles and Squares miniature tapestry challenge exhibition.

I am part of an online group that has a yearly challenge to make a small (up to 20cm x 20cm) woven tapestry.  Some friends and I participated this year and have organised to have the travelling exhibition come to Melbourne.
The Handspinners and Weavers Guild of Victoria has kindly allowed us to put the nearly 50 tapestries up on display.

Tapestry Group meeting January 2012

Another good date to be blogging - 1/2/12
This one is a bit late, we had our monthly meeting of our Tapestry Group last Saturday but I am only just getting around to reporting.
Only four of us could make it this time.  It was the Australia Day 'long weekend' and it was hot, so we decided we would let the non-attendees off the hook.  Hopefully we will see more at the next meeting, on the last Saturday in February, at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild in Carlton.
Two of the ladies were working on the Square and Circles pieces for the AuNZ Tapestry Group Project for 2012.  Actually, it looks like they are nearly finished.

I have finished mine - how amazing that I am ahead of schedule.  It is not perfect but that wasn't the point for me, it was a learning experience.  It was quite a challenge as I decided to try to do the geometric shapes, something I am not good at.  And I had trouble with sewing up the slits, not sure why, I just did.
I decided that I was not quite happy with the overlapping shapes and started another one.  Here is a pic of my first one, the overlapping shapes. (I did mention it previously, here.)

All the pieces were relatively small as the challenge requires the pieces to be 20cm square or less.

We will need to find a new theme to work on now.  One member recommended that we bring along any cones of tapestry wool, or parts thereof, to swap at the next meeting.

The Owl and the Pussycat Returns

There was a pleasant surprise in the mail today, my small tapestry for the Owl and Pussycat project run by the AuNZ Tapestry Group.
I had worked on it from November 2010 but had not posted much about it because of the dilemma about whether to post pictures of works that are going to be in exhibitions.  Debbie Herd has been thinking about this too.
But now I have it back and I assume it is ok to put a picture up on my blog.

The image is developed from a conglomeration of pictures of the moon on the sea, owls and some of my own drawings.  I played with them in Photoshop until I got an image I liked.  This didn't translate exactly as I had hoped into tapestry, I probably should have used a smaller seine twine but I was happy with it anyway.