Monday 20 August 2012

Visiting Tim

Well I have finally made a little progress with my tapestry and I am  calling it Visiting Tim as it is a visual representation of our trip earlier this year to see Tim who lives in the Kimberelys.

The beginning was easy; soon however I ran into difficulties with the boabs and  colour.  I tried several times to get a representation with which I was happy.
Too stiff
I tried white as their trunks are a light colour then I added yellow.

This is starting to look better.    








I consulted my tutor and a neighbour who  mentors me when I ask and both said the same that I needed to include some of the  surrounding colour so the trees blend in. I did this and am moderately pleased with the result.





If only it was easy.  The process so far has highlighted 2 things. The first is the benefits of leashes and the second is my lack of experience with mixing colours.  My mentor asked me if I had my colour palette chosen and although I had chosen many colours I might use, I had not chosen a specific range.  That took time and has made things easier. The other work  tool I have decided to adopt is to have bobbins wound ready to use like they do at ATW.  I have also decided not to waste time pulling weaving out which has been a feature of my weaving in the past; sometimes I have pulled out as much as I have woven. 

The sky 's looking good.


8 comments:

Mary said...

It sounds like you are making progress. I have just been to central Australia and the colours don't blend that well, the sky was so blue, the soil so red. I see some of that in your work so far.

Glennis said...

Hi Mary
The colours of the north of Australia are very vivid and so far I have tried to give a sense of the mangrove/grassland area where the boabs grow. The thing that suprised me about the part we travelled through and to, was how green it was.

Michelle said...

I think you're really good with colour blending! Looking good so far!

My issue with this assignment has been the *size* of the tapestry. I've never woven anything this large before, so it's a little overwhelming. So I'm just taking it one warp at a time ;)

Misha said...

very ambitious , and seems to be working out, Glennis. Good.

Do you mean to say that you are not going to pull out pieces that you feel are not doing what you want? I know that some never undo, and some regularly undo up to a third of their work. I do it sometimes - it's really a bit like editing a piece of written work, don't you think?

Glennis said...

Hi Michelle
I am happy with most of the colour blending; however I have taken a lot of time and experimentation over it.For once in my life I am not rushing yet; I decided to take my time and get it as near to right as possible. I have not woven a tapestry this big; the biggest I have done is nearly A2 size. Hang inthere.

Glennis said...

Thank you for your comment Misha. I am trying not to pull weaving out and instead trialing colour blends,etc on a trial strip; pulling out swathes is such a waste of time. It is like editing; but if you experiment on the trial strip it avoids pulling out. A bitlike a stitch in time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone said to me I am the only who is aware of errors in colour etc; no one else.

Mary said...

That was probably me - we are always our own worst critics. And no-one knows how you might have changed the cartoon as you go. Hope it is going well.

Glennis said...

Thanks for the comment, however it wasn't you. It was a person who worked on the Federation Tapestry and is far more experienced than either of us put together. Their comment to me was that no one, apart from you, sees the cartoon.