Almost done!!

 I have 'sort of' finished my tapestry!! It is sitting on the loom, the tension released, I will cut it off tomorrow. Then the finishing off to do - cutting off the loose ends, etc. I might actually block it - not something that I usually do - as it might not be quite straight down the sides. I'll look at it more carefully tomorrow. 

It is done for the theme Fire and Ice - not an easy topic!! I was influenced by the volcanic explosion in Iceland. I didn't find any images that I could copy so I have 'interpreted' my ideas. 

I have found recently that I have an idea, draw up a cartoon and then tend to use it in a rather loose way - making it up as I go - but not quite that loose, I do use the images I have made and then interpret them - just don't follow my cartoon closely. It is part of the contemplative, meditative thing that I am finding tapestry weaving is offering me. 

I am hoping to enter it into the Bendigo Wool Show later in the year, It has been hugely important to me lately just as something creative to be doing - almost meditative. Life has been 'interesting' lately and my weaving gives me a time away from all the stressors. 

It's interesting to see the difference daylight and artificial light make to the piece, 

Now to find a new project!! I really need the creative challenges to take me into that meditative state, deciding whether the colours are right, the proportions, the texture, etc. No other thoughts intrude - usually. So the creative process is really important - not for the product, more for the process and the way it takes me into a different state. 

I am hoping to get my sewing machine back soon, then I will be able to try some ideas from the workshop I did with Dionne Swift. Hopefully!! 

Hot weather and trying to develop ideas

 We haven't had a very hot summer, unlike most of Australia. But last weekend was very hot - and spoilt many festivals. 

I went away for the weekend, probably shouldn't have, given the extreme fire danger rating - but the rating was for the whole state, so why not??

I took my current tapestry with me. It is a work in progress. As I didn't want to venture out into the heat, I had the chance to actually get in a few hours of weaving. There was nothing else to do, even the television was not working. 

The theme is Fire and Ice - I had a lot of thought go into this theme and have ended up being inspired by the volcano eruption in Iceland. Not that you will know that from the finished piece (not that it is finished yet). 

I found some interesting images but most of them had only land and volcanic eruption. I had been thinking of a volcano over an ice field but there weren't any great images that I loved.

So ... I got out my Inktense pencils and drew up a rough image. Initially, I had thought to do it 30cm x 35 but that didn't really sit well with the loom I have. So I have resorted to an A4 size, sort of. It is going to be A4 wide (about 29 cm) but I have no idea how high it is going to be. 

I have drawn a rough image using the watercolour pencils but then, as I mentioned, changed my mind about the dimensions. So ... (again) I am making it up as I go. I have used the initial drawing as my inspiration but it isn't in the correct dimension. I am also making up the colours as I go!

I was gifted some money for a significant birthday a year ago (more, actually) and finally got to the ATW to buy some wools. I don't usually use cool colours so had fun buying some.  Now I am trying to use them as the cool ice colours (and water). I also found some white silk that I have no idea where I got it from! It is now being used in the piece. It was extremely difficult to unwind and so I have ended up cutting it into smaller pieces - they determine the length of the colours I am using. The thread is controlling me, rather than the other way around.

As you can guess, my tapestry has an overall idea but I am not being too bothered by the cartoon (not sure I actually have one, having changed the dimensions that I feel that I can actually weave). It is a work in progress. But I am enjoying the process! Process is as important, if not more so, than the actual product for me. But I will enter it into the exhibition that had the theme, if I get it done in time. (Australian Sheep and Wool Show, in Bendigo.)

12/2/24 interesting date.

 Just noticed the date today, I had to record it for something or other and thought I 'should'  post. 

It is hot today, we are having a short run of hot days and nights - not unusual for summer but we have been lucky this year (in Melbourne, unlike most of the rest of the country) and have not had many hot days, so it feels like a bit of a shock. 

It is hard to get going in this weather, especially when I am between projects. I have an idea for a tapestry - the theme is Fire and Ice. I'm not sure what I will end up doing but I am playing around with some ideas from the erupting volcano in Iceland.

I am intending to do an abstract one, I think. I even got out the watercolour pencils and tried to draw my own image, not something I normally do. I am missing having Photoshop on my computer and I use it so rarely that I am not prepared to pay the monthly fee to download it. One of the reasons I use it much more rarely is, of course, that I don't have it. But that doesn't convince me to pay a monthly fee, 

I am also trying to do the daily collage challenge for February (@februllage). It is becoming quite a big challenge, to do one each day, according to a different theme each day. 

A recent one was Tangled and I had the perfect thing - some leftover threads from my sewing. I actually have a lot of them as I have this vague idea that I may one day do another thread bowl. 

Now to attempt the next one: Remember.