Weaving with mirrors – playful doubleweave

I have a doubleweave sampler on my table loom which I need to finish to free up the loom, and having gone through lots of exercises in the excellent book Doubleweave, by Jennifer Moore, I am playing now in a freestyle way with rags and scraps of yarn.

Doubleweave is woven in two layers, and it can be used to create a thick double cloth with both layers joined across the width, or it can be used to create a cloth that is wider than the width of the loom, by turning a corner at one edge so that the bottom layer is joined to the top layer all along that edge but nowhere else. Essentially you are weaving a piece of cloth that is folded in half and when it comes off the loom you can open it out to its full width.

Here I’ve decided to divide the warp into short sections, weaving each with a different weft, I have 7 sections across the top (green) layer and three across the bottom (rust) layer – I thought 3 was enough of a challenge on the bottom, which I can only see by bending double and craning my neck or using a mirror – and by feel – ‘seeing’ with my fingers. It’s slow but satisfying to watch this cloth taking shape, and I’m not sure what will happen next, just weaving in the moment is enough.

Doubleweave by Jennifer Moore – if you’re interested in the book I’ve been following, using this link helps to support my blog.

“Shouting quietly”

I know I’m not alone in finding self promotion difficult to practise, despite understanding how important it is. That’s why I’ve just crowdfunded Pete Mosley’s forthcoming book "The Art Of Shouting Quietly", subtitled "a guide to self-promotion for introverts and other quiet souls". If you’re one who feels reticent about mentioning your achievements and sharing your successes, this might be a good book to take a look at.

Promotion is rather easier when someone else does it for you, and I’ve been delighted and a bit overwhelmed this month to be featured in an art quilt magazine, Patchwork Professional. The magazine showcases a number of well-known textile artists producing beautiful work and I feel honoured to be included.

Patchwork Professional cover

The magazine is German and I only have a Google-translated idea of what the article says, but it looks lovely, with lots of images.

magazine pages

It’s a celebration of my work and the Isle of Tiree where I live, drawn from what I’ve posted here on the blog, and crafted into a coherent story by the editor of Patchwork Professional, Dorothee Crane. My thanks to Dorothee and her team for getting 2015 off to such an exciting start for me!

Tiree Handmade

The Tiree Christmas Craft Fayre was at the end of November but my mind’s been on other things till now! This was our stall – some of the work is mine and some is by Jane MacDonald, another artist-maker on the island. This is the second year that we’ve shared a table. It was a fun afternoon with lots of variety. And it’s very good to have sold some work.

These were our lovely neighbours, Jacqui (The Woolly Ferret) and Amanda (Grommity)

stall

playing with colour

One final post about the ‘Textile Structures’ module – though actually it’s the first exercise – working from a visual source and analysing colour, texture and proportion. Choosing an image and first painting blocks of colour, then wrapping card with yarn, is intended to make you look closely at the colours and their qualities and proportions. I lost some of the lightness of the image in my painting and in the yarn wrapping but regained it, I think, in the fabric wrapping, which is much more visually textured.

analysing colour texture and proportion

I liked the result of wrapping with fabric a lot so I made another, this time just working with the colours in the fabrics. When it was done I realised that the sketch book page on which I’d used up my left-over paint would make just the right background for it!

colour wrapping

Wrapping is often used solely as a design exercise but an artist here on Tiree has made it into her own very distinctive art form. Susan Woodcock creates evocative seascapes and landscapes, full of colour and movement, combining paint and textiles in a way that perfectly captures the island atmosphere. Her husband Colin Woodcock, is also an artist, a painter whose work explores ‘the interplay of land, sea and sky’, and is filled with the beautiful light that is so special to Tiree. Together they run the Blue Beyond Gallery, where Colin also creates his dramatic raku pottery. Every week in summer you can go to watch the pots being fired – a fascinating process – and very hot!