Illustration Friday: Wilderness

The IF topic today is 'wilderness.' So I decided to post this tapestry that I wove for the Wilderness Lodge in Disney World, Orlando. It was actually a fun piece to weave! I didn't mind at all weaving a piece to 'match the couches.' It hangs somewhere in this room:

I have never been to see it, but am told it hangs by the check-in desk. For such a huge place, the tapestry is not huge. It is 3x5 feet. The specifics for the piece were very specific: I was told to weave '2 trains, a bear, a family, a ranger, 2 pine cones, etc." with no latitude for experimentation. I would not like to weave like that always, or even often, but it was kind of nice for this project. They seemed to be very happy with the end product.

The most challenging part actually was 'matching the couches.' They had sent a piece of upholstery fabric for me to match for the background, and when I had purchased all the yarn, they sent another piece, as they had changed their minds. My yarn didn't match the new piece at all, and I couldn't find anything that matched it well. I finally blended the yarn I had bought (an orange red) with another one (a burgandy red), and that blend matched perfectly. Of course, I had to weave little samplers of all these experiments to send to the decorator. When the blend finally was approved, that meant I had to ply together the two yarns for the background for the entire piece. On the spinning wheel - and I am no spinner! But it ended up looking great.

When I had agreed to do the commission, the decorator, who had evidently not worked with a tapestry artist before, asked if they could have it in three weeks! I laughed, and said I would try to get it to them in three months. I actually did get it done in three months, but was working 10-12 hour days. I would not agree to do that now, having learned my body's limitations.