Weaving and International learning
The main focus this week has been my weaving.
During the previous week I had prepared a warp in the colours of the Icelandic landscapes which I had witnessed. The main colours were a natural black (which I have never used before in my handweaving), and grey, to depict the cliffs; a gorgeous russet colour, which carried the colours of grasses and bilberry bushes; various shades of green, to depict the mosses and grasses and my hand dyed yellow, which I had obtained from lupin plants and silver birch leaves; these reminded me of the yellow mosses found in the huge scree slopes all over the country. I also used some green blue which was reminiscent of the glacial rivers which flow along the valleys and across the black sands.
I was set up to start weaving a warp that measured 26 inches wide (624 threads sett at 24 epi) and 111 inches long. This would give me two “medium” sized wall hangings.
Dressing the loom was a challenge because of its sheer size, but this time I felt more competent at threading the heddles. I did not change the pattern from my sample pieces (1/3 twill and 3/1twill block weave) as I was happy to create one wall hanging in this pattern. I finished the set up and was very pleased to find only one error, which I corrected easily.
Piece 1
I began sending the weft through the warp and was immediately excited by the mix of colours and patterns that I was creating. Particularly exciting was the mix of the yellows and blacks. As these were colours that I hadn’t worked with before I was unsure how they would mix together. They were amazing and I was instantly transported into the landscapes of Iceland! I used plain weave to depict the grasses at the beginning of my first wall hanging, then I launched into the block weave/ twills, which looked beautiful in the fine threads and varying colours. The golds, greens, greys and blacks were doing their thing! I left small threads visible and tied small knots to give texture to the piece
Piece 2
For this piece I changed the pattern to four-end satin and sateen block weave. I felt it would give a more textured piece. The pattern worked really well, giving a number of beautiful textures and patterns.
In this piece I used golden threads in the weft which were thicker. I also used bundled layers of natural black to increase the texture. I allowed some weft ends to emerge from the selvedge, with the possible idea of these threads hanging down from the sides, or maybe used for hanging the piece at 90 degrees.
The piece was not the size I had hoped for. I had miscalculated the wastage on the loom, having not accounted for the distance from the back beam to the heddles. I therefore allowed the fringe to be long (as I couldn’t weave this!). I took advantage of the long fringe and tied in small black volcanic rocks from the beach here in Blondous. It was a nod to the warp weighted loom, which is a traditional loom here in Iceland. I was happy with effect.
Overall, I was very pleased with the two hangings I had produced. There were some learning points that I needed to take onto my next pieces. But that’s what I’m here for!
I then made a new warp for my next pieces. I aimed for wider pieces with more accent of black and grey, hopefully creating two pieces that were more dramatic than the previous pieces. I wanted to emulate the dynamic and dramatic Icelandic landscape within my textiles.
Discussion and learnings from other international artists
Sharing living and working space, with 8 artists from around the world, has been a truly enlightening experience. Much of my learning has been done through discussion, often over the dinner table, and observation. Below I highlight some of my main learning points:
· Observation and thinking – most of the artists have take their time to observe and deeply think about their work before, during and after making. Most have shown considerable attention to detail and obviously feel a real connection to their emerging work. The finished product is only part of the story, and even when finished, many of the artists are still thinking of ways of improvement, change, diversion etc.
· Connection to materials. I have observed the use of a wide variety of materials including recycled plastic, handmade paper, intestinal gut, rocks, sea shells, seaweed, bio materials, electronics and many other materials. One artist is particularly interested in whales and their connection to the locality.
· Processes have included sewing, bonding, printing, weaving, digital weaving, felting, lazer cuting.
· Art form – below are a number of art forms I have observed:
· Reflection – most artists are reflective of their practise, and in my experience at The Icelandic Textile Centre, the resident artists were humble about their completed work. There was a great deal of support for all artists from each other.
· Financial pressures – during our evenings together, talk often turned towards finance and how difficult it is to be an artist and have a reasonable income. This was true across the board and included artists from Sweden, Mexico, Canada, USA, France and Iceland. Many artists on the residency had been funded in some way and were also looking for funding for future projects.
Supported by The Arts Council of Wales
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