Monday, September 19, 2011

Tapestry in the Making


These are the first couple of pics of the tapestry I will be documenting as I weave it. Full detail of the colour is going to be dictated by just how fussy I decide to be as time goes on. However it looks as though this left-hand panel will be following reasonably closely to the script. 

The warp-up was a total pain as I haven't used this loom before. Although I won't go into detail here, the warp could prove to be a problem at a later date. I hope not!

Set at 12 e.p.i. on a coloured cotton warp. There is a small degree of fluting/corrugation in the warp, but I believe this is due to the warp-up rather than the weft materials being used as there is no actual splay in the warp spacing as I continue to weave at this stage. It will iron out fine once the spacing has been removed at cut-off time, which is hours and hours and weeks away. By that time I will have sorted it I hope!



Photo 1 The very beginning.





These three sections (the woman, the door and the teacup )will be woven as one complete panel.
 I will keep a visual record of the left hand panel to share with you on the blog.




Photo 2 Introducing the splashes of colour that dominate this design.





Franklin Annual Art Awards








My last post shows the sewing machine ready for action and the hand-made paper sheets drying on the cloths line outside, so best I up-date what they morphed into.

"A Day Well Spent"


This is the re-cycled tapa piece, that much to my surprise won a second placing in the Non-Functional Fibre  category of the Franklin Arts Festival last month. A most unexpected surprise on the night. So a big thank you to all the sponsors and volunteers involved with this long-running event. It was most satisfying for me to feel that the judge recognised my attempt to push traditional boundaries of what Fibre Art can mean. 

Recently I have been lamenting the fact that so few young/marginalised N.Z. women in particular are not well represented in the creative fibres. Why?

My latest series of work have been pondering this. As soon as I finish weaving the tapestries that go with these pieces I will hope to have purged this obsessive, youth oriented and simplistic design phase that has gripped me for the last few months.

As a child, comic books were very much frowned upon, so these pieces are part of a catch-up time for me as well as a salute to the often regarded "low-art" genre of the visual novel.

As an adult, street art is very much frowned upon, so I see this medium as a magnet for future comment......



Close-up showing detail.


Tapestry Weavings By Stephenie Collin









WELCOME TO MY BLOG....






I hope you find Warped Art & Design both interesting and inspiring, and that it will encourage anyone working with fibre to investigate and experiment further within their chosen field.






The basic loom, which is my tool of trade, has remained technologically unchanged. This aspect appeals to me as I weave contemporary images on a machine of such simple and ancient construction.

And if the loom be silenced,
then needles, threads and fingers
have plenty more to say.











About Me

My photo
Waiuku, Auckland, New Zealand
I am an artist, weaver, gardener, mother and grandmother, home food gatherer, political sceptic, modest future eater, and much much more.