I love pencil drawings as a starting point for my ideas. Then I just go from there. My sketchbook is getting full, time to take some of these drawings and work on them in photoshop. Then what happens? Fabric will be woven, inlay incorporated, images printed on fabric, then to my print table, then to the sewing machine. It's time to get back to my machine because I could never in one life time weave all of my images into tapestries, it's just too slow.
Setting up looms and doing some major rework on my weaving studio. My little tapestry nook.
My big Varpapuu Loom ,Varpa for short.
My new to me Macomber Looms, Maggie on the left and Mo on the right. Still waiting for some parts to finish my restoration on those. Maggie was built in 1971 and Mo was made in 1956. Both have a weaving width of 40 inches. I'm excited to get them up and running.
This is Smokey my Fireside Loom. Almost ready to go. Just got to beam on and thread heddles and reed etc. Since this loom is on wheels which I love I can move it into the tapestry nook and move the Ashford out when I'm done with that tapestry. Sort of rotating looms. I'll see how I like that. It should work. I also can slide the Mirrix in there too when I want since I've mounted it to an easel. You can see it just a bit in the corner of this shot. I've found that easels work great for tapestry weaving. I love being able to alter my weaving angle.
A view into my office area where I'm still organizing.
Yarn storage which I just arranged by color. I wonder how long I can keep that in order. :)
My little Archie Brennan Copper Loom and I've made a smaller one too. I'll post pics of it when I get it warped. I've really got to get busy with this small piece soon. I've got a deadline to meet for a show/competition. Better get cracking.
Well this was a big job. The goal was to get all the looms in from other locations in the house so I can have a more organized work space and stop having to go up and down the stairs to 2 different rooms. I think this is going to work much better.
Pass by pass it grows.
The colors are showing much more true and vibrant in my Flickr upload. I might have to start linking to my Flickr for the best picture quality. I'm really enjoying the color mixing and how the tapestry is glowing in real life. Pics just don't seem to be doing it for me right now. I hope I can get some great pics when it is complete. There is no more cartoon to extend as you can see. I'm over the half way mark now. Little bits of weaving time here and there and it all starts to add up and you get more done that you thought you could in those stolen moments.
Getting ready for 2013. Warping the Fireside Tapestry Loom which has been nicknamed Smokey. A few pics of the process so far. I'll have enough warp for 3 tapestries which will keep me busy for a very long time. 36" weaving width at 10 epi. I'm also building another Archie Brennan style loom but not in Copper this time. Going for something bigger using his plans for the 48" Black Pipe Loom. All the parts have been purchased so now I just have to built her. I'll post pics when I tackle that project. It's going to be a very busy year.
I've gotten a couple of good quality chunks of time to work on my tapestry over the Holiday. I hope to get even more done this weekend if all goes well. Here are a few new shots.
I want to do a tapestry of water. I've been photographing water for months. Today I got the shot I've been waiting for at the Park. It's when the sun hits just right and you get Liquid Gold. I've seen this happen a few times at the park but I never had my camera with me and I was always so dissappointed that I went for a walk without it. Today I was ready. There was a fisherman there so I talked with him and waited and waited and then I started to see the light I was looking for. These have not been altered with Photoshop. The water really looked like this and I could not stop clicking away. Finally I was there at the right time of day with my camera in hand. Here are a few. I'll have a difficult time trying to figure out which one I want to try to turn into a tapestry cartoon.
Other shots I got today.....
Winter Reds
Driftwood
Winter Bud
Winter Seed
Old Bark
Meghan Sayres: Weaving Tapestry in Rural Ireland: Taipeis Gael, Donegal
Gwen Hedley: Drawn to Stitch: Line, Drawing, and Mark-Making in Textile Art
Lark Books: Masters: Collage: Major Works by Leading Artists
Lisa Cyr: Art Revolution: Alternative Approaches for Fine Artists and Illustrators
Kathy Todd-Hooker: So Warped Warping a Loom for Weaving Tapestry
Carol K. Russell: Tapestry Handbook: The Next Generation (Schiffer Books)
