I've started to introduce hair-fine copper wire into this now, and you see that it's going to be a part of the shape, not traveling all around. More interesting composition that way. I'll get into it with a big needle to fluff up the fibers. Then there will be more yarns of varying kinds.
If you're wondering about all the ends sticking out: this is the back! after it's done and I remove it from the blade/loom, I'll see how it looks. There will be weaving in, probably.
What's hard to detect in the picture is that there are a couple of different shades of yellow going on here, and some handspun and dyed yarn in there, too, and some sparkly yarn.
And I think the extreme outer edge I'll weave with copper wire, 26 gauge, to keep its shape after it's off the loom, since it will be mounted on a bigger weaving.
Once I decide definitely to take time off from art for a few days, that seems to trigger an equal and opposite reaction in the brain somewhere which insists that this idea just has to happen NOW. Which it did, and I remembered the saw blade that contractor/artist/friend Mike E. gave me some time ago figuring I would use it somehow.
I warped it up this morning, using perle cotton. I originally got the cotton to do card weaving, but my wonky arm has put a hold on that after all my plans, so I figured it would work just as well as a warping yarn, not too stretchy, strong enough not to snap under tension.
This is a part of a bigger piece, which will be created on one of my big artist-stretcher looms. The warp sits over the teeth, and will be slipped off when the weaving is completed. Nice regular pattern.
The work you see is as much as my arm allowed before it started to protest, but oh well. The initial part is where you have to pull the most firmly, to establish the shape, so it was more demanding than the rest of it will be. At least that's the hope.
The materials involve some beautiful hair-fine copper wire salvaged from a washing machine by the husband of a stitcher friend, who figured, correctly, that I would find a use for it. Also roving possibly, some handspun (by me) lumpy yarn, and some more civilized yarns. Some of that llama yarn might get into the picture at some point, too.
And this morning I confirmed that I will be doing another Artist in Residence stint at the local public library, probably starting late Feb, early March, working on pieces that will be in my June exhibit. I'll do as I did for the tapestry: show up at scheduled times, and people can come in, sit, ask questions, get demos, tell me their family's stitching history, all that.
A lot of this work will be stitching and beading, and maybe some weaving and knitting and crocheting...whatever's up for doing at the time. People do like to see work in progress, and now that I do the sort of work you can actually work on in public without a massive arrangements of materials and so on, it's fun to do it.
So stay tuned for more info and pix on this as it transpires. And if you're local, it will be Plainsboro Public Library, location TBA, times and dates TBA.
So much for taking time off art, I guess.
