Tapestry weaving WORK IN PROGRESS.

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The two tapestries were woven side by side.  Numbered 1-3 above and below, you can follow the works progression and clearly see the cartoon behind the weaving indicating the design lines which need to be followed. With these smaller pieces I usually avoid marking the actual warp threads as the cartoon is small enough to flip up and down into view to use as an adequate enough guide.

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DESIGN IDEAS FOR TAPESTRIES FROM THE IMAGINATION

I have spent the last few weeks looking at my old work/sketch books.
Several years ago I began weaving tapestries that were based on the unreal subject matter from my dreams or  imagination. 

Wyuna Bay    1999

I still have a tendency to create weavings  that have a certain surreal or abstract element to them. By moving away from a realistic representation of an image towards the unreal aspect was probably my way of getting around that dreaded and usually unjustified statement .... "I am not very good at drawing"....  I am actually quite good at drawing so don't tend to use this as an excuse anymore, however I do remember a time when I did, and it was really another way of saying I don't spend enough time drawing!!

Using a more abstract or surrealistic  approach to tapestry design for producing a weavable image is one I use to remind myself that it is not so much about being able to draw a perfect representation of an object, landscape, animal, etc but more about conveying a connection on an emotional level with the viewer. 

Although I rely heavily on the technical wonders of Photoshop to assist me with my portrait weavings, I prefer as much as possible to use only my own hand-drawn images to create most my other design work.

WEAVING AND WELL-BEING

"The Forgotten Fruit Years." My last Exhibition
held in Devonport at The Depot,  March 2008.

For the last 5 weeks I have been unable to weave at all due to some hideous un-diagnosed muscle pain problem. I will be seeing my doctor again this week to say that I am very grateful for the 800!!!! odd pain relief tablets prescribed, and will agree the advice that I was over-doing things was a good excuse to do NOTHING for a fortnight, but I really would like to get back onto the loom... THANKYOU.

I have so much to get up and going for various exhibitions, including my own. The last exhibition took a years weaving and planning and I am now down to 6 months weaving for the next one I am having in June next year in the Communnity Gallery of the Franklin Arts & Cultural Learning Trust .

Luckily the pieces are all very small and are being woven with the title of the exhibition..... Woven Tapestry Fragments... in mind.

So to all you weavers who have had a forced absence from the loom through lack of health at any time in your career, I now know the horror and frustration that our own frailties can have on our art practice. 
The wonderful flip side of this of course, is that the drawing and planning activities involved with creating our hand woven work gets extra special attention, forcing/allowing us much more time for planning and re-working our  ideas and designs. This in turn can only mean a much more resolved and therefore stronger end design. 

Portriat weaving "Evad" hangs between "Matariki Through Window Arches"
Invitation by Gallery to exhibit at Franklin Arts & Cultural LearningTrust 2010.

Close-up of weaving and hand-stitched detail in Window Arches shown above.

WEAVING AS ART... EXHIBITIONS, DESIGN AND RECOGNITION.

I have always loved exhibiting my work and have decided that I am now at the stage of my weaving career where I probably need to produce less but larger works. Once I get my next Solo Exhibition out of the way in June 2011 I will be making a concerted effort to do larger works for a while.

The next 18 months or so for me are mainly being committed to four major exhibiting opportunities producing large works. It has been nice to get back my focus on the planning and design of fewer, but more important works. These working drawings and concepts are what carry the final piece, giving the underlying strength to simple designs, the x-factor that makes a tapestry weaving gel with the viewer, drawing them back for a second look maybe. Where did the weaver get their idea to weave that particular image? These are the types of questions that once answered, help the viewer to better relate to each individual tapestry weavers work.

I am available for several types of tapestry workshops, particularly design focused sessions should a group of you wish to get together. If you have a particular area of interest I am able to customize a learning workshop to meet your needs. For details and costs e.mail:       warpedartanddesign@gmail.com

Living by Tapestry Weaving in NZ

I have been thinking about the time-wasting element of my day to day endeavors. Setting up my studio 18 months ago started with such enthusiasm and an absolute art focus. I believed as a professional weaver, an absolute income sourced from weaving related activities was not only desirable, but was expected from me. I have no spouse or possible family inheritance to help support me on my artistic quest, and apart from a sturdy Certificate in Adult Teaching, designed and tutored by the wonderful Penny Brownlee, my qualifications on paper are sparse, so it was always going to be a big ask. 

Bad Mood Arising




Overtaken by an obsession to be financially strong, a flurry of production weaving took over the sacred space, scarves, baby buggy blankets, travel and floor rugs were woven, in the process destroying the very thing I enjoyed most about my weaving..... THE ART.

Despite being on the Creative Fibre Tutors List, I have not had any viable interest. I was led me to believe that being on that list would field interest from them for workshops at this end of the country to help spread the technique of tapestry weaving. In particular I hoped it would give me the opportunity to share what I have learnt about tapestry design over the 20 odd years I have been weaving. Tapestries that I feel are unique to this small country of ours, Aotearoa - N.Z.

I do get people to teach and share with though, but it is such hard work having to chase this sometimes. It is always a joy to be asked.

CREATIVE FIBRE EXPERIENCE 2010

The Creative Fibre Experience 2010 exhibition runs in conjunction with The Craft & Quilt Fair at the Claudlands Event Centre in Hamilton from the 9th-12th September.

This is a highly competitive, selected show of quality weavings and other fibre art works from members of The N.Z. Spinners, Weavers & Woolcraft Society.

To Glass or Not To Glass- That is the question.

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker - The Crown Wants a Piece Of it All

Tapestry weaving is arguably the most obvious technique that readily lends itself to being shown as fine art. I recently discussed exhibiting practices and the presentation of  tapestry weavings with another tapestry weaver. We queried whether our work should always be shown in a way that allowed the tactile element of the work to over-ride all other considerations. Does unprotected framing remain the best way to present contemporary, smaller, non-functional works?

Should the most important element of the work even be the weaving?

From a traditional and purists point of view, tapestry weavings should not be shown behind glass. In many circles and obviously at the judged national exhibition level,  there is a continued expectation that tapestry weavings should be presented in a manner that best connects veiwers to the the fibre/craft element of the work. 

I have always struggled with this as a hard and fast rule especially if conveying the message of the piece is more important to me than the fact that I happened to chose tapestry weaving as the medium to convey that message.

As a hand-woven tapestry work that is made special by "Please  Do Not Touch" signs, does the weaver take the initiative to present the work from behind glass, in a manner that  acheives the same result.
Is it a matter of educating veiwers/judges to accept the work as it is intended to be viewed as a whole by its creator or should the creators still be striving to educate viewers of their fibre art through the traditional and accepted manner of presenting the work open to the elements and inquisitive fingers?

At the end of our discussion we rightly or wrongly concluded that the craft artist would probably argue in favour of the status quo, i.e that to present a tapestry weaving behind glass deminishes the work. Whereas  the artist/weaver would probably be more inclined to want the piece protected and presented to the viewer framed behind glass if that was how the piece worked best in relation to their intended artistic statement or concept.