Thursday, July 27, 2017

Life .....



We have had a few nice cool days, amidst our hot summer days. On one of those cooler mornings, I set myself up on the picnic table to stitch the "Country" tapestry onto it's mounting frame. Sometimes it would be nice to move the whole studio outside, but that 6' Shannock won't budge!


The 'Graffiti' tapestry on the Shannock is progressing at a slow pace. Our summer has been mostly concerned with my father-in-law's needs, as he broke his hip, had it replaced, and did his rehab and recovery here. But I have persisted with the weaving, though slower than even the usual slow tapestry rate.


I finally reached a 'wind it forward' length, so you can see I have much more to do than has yet been done!


We did get one quick night up at the cabin, where the birds and beasts entertained us, the sunset was stunning (as always) and I got a quick sketch in. We are always rejuvenated by our time there, and need more of it!

My almost-daily sketch time has become my 'meditation' time - as my mind is really much too noisy to truly meditate well. Sketching shuts it up for a few minutes, at least. This week, I completed another sketchbook, and added it to the shelf, which means I also am starting a new one! I know many artists and sketchbook keepers hate that first clean, empty page, but I love it! It is mine to mess up!


Here is one of the photos of the lake sunset from our day up there. We cherish our evening drives around the lake, spotting wildlife, and taking photos. I think, between my husband and myself, we must have shot 30-40 sunset pictures that evening, as every turn we took revealed it to be even more stunning. This photo has NOT been altered in any way! (And my husband took a few that are even more amazing - but don't tell him I admitted that.)

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Blocking Day!



I am FINALLY getting around to blocking this tapestry, and getting it ready to hang! I still have to add some 'guitar strings,' which may be actual guitar strings or, more likely, gold thread (as it will be more flexible, and less likely to damage the fiber over time.) I still haven't decided whether I'll mount this to a frame, as I usually do with a tapestry this size (18"x18") or line it and let it hang loosely from a hanging board. It is so much more economical to ship a rolled tapestry! And I am finding myself needing to be more aware of economics these days.

If you'd like to see my entire blocking method, go here

The working title for this tapestry is "She's A Little Bit Country."

I am making very   s  l  o  w  progress on the tapestry on the loom, but, Hey!, tapestry is all about slow, isn't it?!

String Theory

  Ok, I don’t know anything about string theory, except maybe what I see on The Big Bang. But there is an excellent fiber exhibit right now ...