Monday, 2 May 2011

Two Haloes and a Eureka Moment

The first halo is for getting up at 6am on Sunday and clearing the logjam of letters, bills and papers which have been piling up since before I went to Dundee. By 9 o'clock, everything was filed, letters had been written, cheques had been signed and I have a list of people to be phoned first thing on Tuesday after  Bank Holiday Monday. 

I then went to Stroud, to the Textile Festival and listened to Sue Hiley Harris giving a lecture. It is very interesting to hear about teh inspiration and methods of an artist but I wish she had not given up weaving in silk (see her silk jacket here). Now she is a sculptor working in paper yarn and hemp.

I went round all the exhibitions which were open. Notable items were enamelled and etched metal sheets from Jessica Turrell especially her Script Series  and from  Corinne Gradis who works in mixed media. Both very much worth a look.  The Subscriptions Rooms in the middle of town had an exhibition by the SouthWest Textile Group (sounds similar to the Midlands Textile Forum. This had two or three pieces by each of a number of artists. Very much a mixture. Some really nice shibori (arashi) and a wonderful piece in organdie by Carole Griffin - not a good photo but good enough to give an impression.



Irena Boobyer did this piece of shibori (arashi - pole wrapping.















On my way home, I was thinking about weft yarns for the latest lot of caladium leaves. I had tried a pastelly dyed cotton - just looked white, and pink lurex which was quite nice but not space dyed. I suddenly thought 'Well, I don't have to use cotton. Do I have any wool or silk space dyed in brighter colours?' and then the Eureka Moment. I space dyed some bright red for Multicoloured Warp 2 (the one in wool and silk) and I have a lot left. And it worked!!

The secret is that the yarn was dyed in small lengths, one to four inches, round the skein so there is a lot of variation.

And the other halo? Well I got home from Stroud at teatime and set to with the aim of finishing the warp before I went to bed - and I did. So today I cut off the piece I need for samples and finished all the ends neatly, then zigzag stitched everywhere and cut it. The write up is finished, printed and the samples are pasted in. Tomorrow they get couriered to the States.

So what have I left to do? Well plenty. There are a lot of lengths of fabric littered around the house. I must deal with the Tencel lengths next. To be honest, I could do with a rest from weaving and might just go and do something else this evening.

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I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.