Finished Tapestry 2

I have finished tapestry 2 of the 4 larger ones I am doing; here are some pics.

I must have taken the last picture on a sunny day in the studio; the real colour is more the first picture.  I have taken it off the loom and am in the process of finishing it off.  I quite like this tapestry.  There are not as many columns (for want of a better word) as the first one.  I have started tapestry 3 and about half way there but I will blog about it when I finish, hopefully, at the end of this week. 

It is ages since I posted a blog; life sometimes intrudes.  The course I was  been doing at Warnambool have cut out years 5 and 6 about which I was very disappointed. I thought they were the "cream on the cake" years where you got to develop a series of tapestries and when I expressed my thoughts, I was offerered some of the subjects - Yr. 5 and 6 tapestry and design which I was very happy about.  I decided to develop the Christmas Table Cloth idea to do a series of 4, 20 cm X 20 cm tapestries based on smaller 10 cm X 10 cm tapestries using the same technique and idea I used for the one posted earlier this year; and in 2nd semester do 2 larger ones. I  have woven 3 small tapestries and have started to weave the second of the larger tapestries.  Here is the process I have gone through.

The small 10 X 10 cm tapestry

The final design.

The colour is different because it has been printed.

Work in progress.

Dyeing Paper

Several weeks ago (where have the weeks gone)  I did a natural dyeing of paper, bookmaking and Shifu workshop with Velma Bolyard at Beautiful Silks.  There were 7 of us in the class.
First we wrote/drew on Lokta paper for the Shifu.

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Then we drew maps on the Lokta.

Next we used the  Arches text wove paper  and stitched silk or organza on it and scribbled with a graphite pencil.  It was then folded with various leaves, flowers etc and secured with string and large paper clips before putting them into the dye pot.  Here they are being fished out.

Next we unfolded them carefully as paper is liable to tear.

Next the various papers, silk and dyed fabric were made into registers - 

to be sewn together to make a book.

Cloth

Last year I did the workshop at the ATW associated with the Kate Derum exhibition. The workshop was run by Kay Lawrence.  For the workshop we had to bring a piece of cloth which had some meaning and I brought our Christmas table cloth.  Many  years ago I made the cloth and when the plum pudding had been consumed, I gave everyone a fabric pen or glitter pen and told them to write or draw something on the fabric.  You should have seen their faces!  The cloth is about 17 years old now and although it is not used every year, it has a wealth of memories.

A section of the cloth

At the workshop we had to use the piece of cloth to design a small tapestry and much of the time was spent in sampling and producing a small tapestry.

This is my first attempt featuring part of an angel and some lettering.  From there I scanned this image and distorted it to get this.

Then finally this.

The colour is not right here because that's how it came off the printer.

So after many months of sloth and disinterest, I have decided to weave this for an online exhibition later this year.  I have a colour pallette and have wound bobbins and started -  full of high hopes.

Hope it doesn't get too hot again.

Printmaking

The subject I have really struggled with this semester is Printmaking - I couldn't wrap my head around it at all and resorted to joining a print class in Castlemaine.  I tried youtube videos which helped a bit and by the last assignment I have made a slight improvement and I enjoyed the tasks.  We had to do an urban design on cardboard and cut it out.

Not a brilliant photo, but you can get the idea. Next we had to print it.

The cardboard inked.

This is one of the ones I didn't submit.  Next we had to do a textured print which for me required 2   plates.

This is covered with wire, the idea being to give a grid like  background.

The objects stuck on the plate were tiles, garlic top, squashed sardine tin and rope.

The end result is not brilliant but I enjoyed it.  The print teacher in Castlemaine was taught by Tim Jones who is a very highly regarded print maker and sculptor near here.  We went to his studio during the DMROS Open Studio weekend.His work is beautiful. DMROP stands for Daylesford and Macedon Ranges Open Studio group and there are some amazing artists involved. I have finally finished year 4 of course I am doing and I am looking forward to getting back to my tapestry as I have done nothing since finishing the large tapestry.

Body of Work

I had to produce a Body of Work for my course and as I have not done any tapestry since the  large tapestry for last year, I decided to play around with Shifu books as I already had one book completed which, I am pleased to say, was accepted in the Books...beyond words exhibition at Bairnsdale earlier this year.

So, here it is.

Shifu Books

Artist Statement
This body of work brings together two of my passions - books and all they entail, words, stories and paper; and weaving in the form of Shifu. I am influenced by the Roman rhetorician Quintillian, who taught that after we have chosen our words, we must weave them into a fabric until we have a fine and delicate texture.
Shifu is a traditional Japanese technique of turning paper into cloth which originated in the 16th c.  Legend has it that a spy had to cross enemy lines to deliver an important message and to avoid being caught he cut the message into strips, twisted it into fibres and wove it into cloth and clothing so he passed through unnoticed.  On arriving at his destination, the fabric was unravelled and the message delivered.  Realistically, rural peasants and farmers were the first to make cloth from paper and they often used old account books because the paper was strong and the characters on the page made interesting speckled patterns.
To make the Shifu, I use Nepalese paper called Lokta and the process is described on my previous blog and an earlier on called Shifu, Weaving Paper.   I like the idea that the text is present in the page but no longer decipherable.  Hopefully, it allows the reader to imagine their own story, cued by  the title.

I have made 4 books - In Conversation, Shifu, a short history, Sonnets, lines by E B Browning and Between the Lines. Three of the books measure 8 x 10 cm and one, the history is 10 cm square.

 In Conversation  was the one I submitted to the Books...beyond words; Revolution.  My revolution was that the words were in the page not on it

I used red and purple inks to denote the different speakers.

Shifu, a short history.  The cover of this is made from shifu and the small piece added with the eucalyptus flower was an experiment.

The writing is like weaving.

Sonnets; Lines from E B Browning.  I love her book called Sonnets from the Portuguese.

The binding is plaited Shifu.

The text makes interest patterns.

 And the last is  Between the lines because I wove plain pages and stitched them for you to write your own story.

Some of the stitching

I have amused myself imensely playing with these trifles.

Small things amuse ... me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shifu - New Technique

I recently bought a book called Paper Textiles by Christina Leitner which is mainly concerned with making Shifu and I decided to try her technique of turning Lokta into Shifu.  The difference to my previous method is that the paper is wet, rolled in a towel and left to dry and rest for a while.  I leave it overnight before spinning.   This seems to make the final product stronger and because it has been rolled before separating the strands, it is easier to spin.

I cut the strips about 1 cm wide.

The paper is then unfolded on to a towel and sprayed with water.

This  is what it looks like before being  sprayed and wrapped in a towel.

Next I gather the paper and roll it to separate the strands before spinning.

Next I tear it into one long piece (hopefully) then spin it.

Then I spin.

Then I weave.

 This is to be a cover for a book 10 cms square.

This is for a subject for my Tapestry Weaving course called "Produce a Body of Work".  I know it isn't tapestry weaving but it is weaving and it takes as long. I am producing a series of miniature books using Shifu similar, but not the same as, the one I did earlier this year.