My First Tapestry Exhibition

How exciting to be involved in my first tapestry exhibition! After the workshop with Jean Pierre Larochette & Yael Lurie last week (more about that later) we hung our own exhibition at the McMillan Arts Centre in Parksville, BC. It was a pleasure to create the front cover for the gallery catalogue - it shows segments from nine of the tapestries being shown.

The second photo is my entry into the exhibition. This is my second tapestry, that I started at Elaine Duncan's workshop in July 2010. I have titled it 'Lichen on rock, cascading water. Captured in time, woven together'. It is 12 x 12 inches with the frame and the fibre content is wool, silk & cotton on a seine twine warp. It was inspired by a photograph that my husband took at Englishman River Falls.

The third photo was taken on my new camera that is able to take panoramic pictures and stitch them together in the camera - I am very pleased with the results and can't wait to try it out on some landscapes. Here, it has taken an interesting photo of the gallery which is in fact a square room. It shows all of the tapestries in the exhibition.

Cutting off Ceremony

After a month of enjoying looking at my tapestry surrounded by the loom as it's frame, I finally felt ready to cut it off! I shall miss it when it is gone.................. an empty space in my living room. But, I have ideas swirling around in my head about the next one and I will want to get started soon.

So last thursday, at our monthly tapestry meeting, I cut it off. All of the ladies in the group took a turn with the scissors, cutting a few of the warp threads. It was a wonderful experience to share the moment with my like-minded tapestry weaving friends. As you can probably tell, I was more than a little excited.

Now to finish tidying up the back and decide how and where I would like to hang it..................

May I present...............

Homage to the Loom.

My first tapestry woven on my floor loom is finally complete after eighteen months and I am very, very pleased with the end result. Although, it seems that the hardest part is yet to come ................ cutting it off! Perhaps, when I eventually decide on what I want to weave next, the time will have come. For now it has pride of place in my living room, framed by the loom itself.

You will remember that my loom is made of both the wood of the oak and the fir tree. Hence the inclusion of the acorn and the fir cone in the design. The acorn is on the left, representing my English roots, while the fir cone is on the right for my Canadian future. They are both embraced by the branches of the Tree of Life......... which, in my mind, also represents the arms of my Mum & Dad. The frame at the start of the tapestry is based on a William Morris design, also part of my English heritage. It depicts the early part of my life, framed by boundaries, the security of knowing my place in the world - child, daughter, student. Happy to move away from my comfort zone, the frame becomes broken and Life's big experiment begins, although the fir cone is still cosseted, knows she is loved. It was a later decision to add the sunset and archway, but they have come to represent my desire to always look forward to the next sunset, never looking back, no room for regrets. The archway is more spiritual than religious, a frame that allows for endless possibilities.

Solace

When life and the world around you is going through turmoil, you can take solace from the fact that 'it could always be worse'. I often use this phrase to make myself feel better, but it can also have the opposite effect........... I don't like to put my life above others.

I prefer to take solace from the fact that some things never change and my tapestry links me very strongly to the comfort of the past. Elaine Duncan says that if we listen very carefully, we can hear the tap, tap, tap of tapestry weavers throughout time and across the world.............

..................... now that is comforting!

I am very pleased with how my tapestry is developing. Since taking this photo I have completed the acorn and nearly finished the pine cone. In the sunlight their yarns shine with the silk threads that I have mixed with the wool. The tree is proving to be a steep learning curve, but I like the effect. The surface is not as smooth as I would have liked, but then again it kind of feels like bark! At the moment I am trying to weave a little each day, as a deadline is looming. I am conscious though that I don't want to feel pressured and lose the enjoyment & relaxation that I get from weaving.

Until next time............................

The Missing Part of the Journey!

Last October I wrote about my tapestry journey and mentioned that part of it was missing ................... well, at long last here it is!

Last summer I took a second intermediate tapestry course with Elaine Duncan. She titled the course Art in Nature and we all met for a very memorable evening just before the course started at Englishman River Falls for a BBQ and photo session to gain inspiration for the week ahead.

However.............. me being me................. I had already taken LOADS of photos a couple of weeks beforehand and worked on my computer at editing them. Most of the photographs were predominantly grey and green in colour (not two of my favourite colours!) and they were quite dull to my eyes.

The first photo above is a close-up of water rushing over a rock at the falls. I liked the image, but not the colours or composition. I therefore cropped it and played with the tones to create the second and third images.

I then simplified the colours and created a cartoon by asking the software to 'find the edges'. I printed the cartoon out on photo paper and stitched it to my loom and I mostly use the third photo to direct my weaving.

The final image shows the tapestry as it is at the moment - almost half completed. It is 8 x 8 inches in size. At the moment I only weave some of this tapestry once a month at my study group, as I am working on my floor loom at home.

And yes............... the tapestry is the mirror image of the photos - I weave from the back and I forgot to 'flip' the images! Live and learn....................