Commission for Funky Chicken

Funky Chicken Commission Book Cover
www.funkybooks.com.au

Chook on the loom

It's been ages since I posted onto my blog so here is a bit of what I've been up to over the last few months. This is my brothers boutique kids book which he self-published last year, and a pic of me half way through weaving the illustration on the cover of the book.

Funky Books donates a percentage of it's profits towards the children's charity Just 4 Kids Inc. and Chris and his partner Nadia have been putting loads of energy into trying to make kids lives a bit more Funky for them. They tour schools and libraries promoting funky-ness for kids.

Funky Chicken, off the loom and steam pressed.

The design was way away from themes I have dealt with before, and the wild weft was radical to weave  at times. I believe they are going to use this weaving as a prize for a school library competition as part of the books promotion. It was a pretty funky piece to weave, and I was releived to get it done in time for my trip over to Australia in June/July.

Detail of the weft in the tail and wing

I took it over with me rolled up and bought some high-grade canvas to stretch over the frame my dad and I had built for it.. Once stretched, primed and painted, the weaving was ironed and steamed, and an  acid-free iron-on backing was attached to the work to stabilize it for sewing onto the frame. The exposed canvas area has cotton chook prints sewn around the border. as does the title and signature.

Funky Chicken sewn onto canvas

 All in all, a crazy little guy to weave. Had heaps of fun with this piece. Set at 10 epi it took longer than I thought so my next piece is set at 6epi to speed things up a bit.

Weaving Letters Of The Alphabet

Weaving letters is always a bit of a challenge and has been the subject of many tapestry weaving workshops. However it is more time consuming than it is difficult to do. As long as you follow the lines on the cartoon behind the work and ensure the warp count is high enough to avoid obvious jumps across the warp threads, it is no more difficult than blending or hatching techniques can be. The speech bubble shown below here is part of a portrait weaving I will be exhibiting in the Four Directions show.

T.S.E. "Within The Square" Travelling Suitcase Update....Dates & Locations

MADONNA

Work from previous T.S.E.

The 20x20cm tapestry weavings in this show are scheduled to be travelling through the following areas so make a note in your diary:

Christchurch 4 - 17 May 2010 #

Dunedin 10 - 20 June #

Gore 10 July - 8 August #

Wellington 15 - 29 August

Titirangi 9 September - 3 October #

Tauranga 12 - 26 October #

Keri Keri 7 - 21 November

Whangarei 28 November - 10 December

Palmerston North 17 - 31 December #

Eltham 7 January - 4 February 2011 #

(Hash denotes comfirmed gallery booking as at Dec. 2009)

I will post a list of the actual galleries and venues as they become available to me. This years show should have some interesting pieces in it as it is the first time the shape of the work has not been restricted to a squared piece of weaving. As long as the work is able to fit within the designated space of 20x20cm, it will conform with the breif.

I have two booklets written by N.Z. tapestry weaver Diane Ammar that describe how to weave non-traditional shapes. She has run many workshops on the subject, teaching her method, and this exhibition may prove to be an opportunity to view the results of her enthusiasm and encouragement for this weaving technique.

And that's the great thing about the Travelling Suitcase, it's a wonderful opportunity for quite unknown weavers or students who have attended specific workshops to have their work up on the wall beside some of the countries better known tapestry weavers.

This is my first ever entry into The Travelling Suitcase Exhibition from around 1997/98.

The idea for the design was taken from a wood print I had previously been working on a few years earlier.

Some time during the mid/late nineties a Keith Haring Exhibition was shown in Wellington if I remember rightly. His simplicity of line and movement was incredibly inspiring for me.

Social comment in an abstract or sparse art work, subtle or otherwise, has the ability to show time and place in a multi layered type of way. This weaving from Inquision/Supperstition is one of a pair.

I have been interested in working collaboratively with someone on a larger mural-type weaving for quite a while now. If there are any community mined artists out there with roots in the street art movement and who have a mature and focused desire to work on a joint project involving tapestry weaving, get in touch.

"Chester" What you see is what you get.

Another one from the archives... This weaving has been woven facing this way up, or across the weaving as you are veiwing it. The strength of the horizontal lines in the design dominate the weaving. There aren't that many verticals, and the few obvious ones are manageable enough to weave without having too much affect on the resulting image. Despite the clean lines of his shirt, he looks a little strung out and devious, and although this has absoblutely nothing to do with the weaving process it is never the less still worth noting. Compare the flow lines of the hair in this weaving with the one below, and you are now able to view tapestry weaving with a more technical eye for details.

Although this is an early work that is reasonably basic in its design and construction, I still find weavings like this unashamedly simple and compelling.