I
offer courses on weaving a scene.
Participants
weave a landscape or seascape using tapestry techniques. (We usually describe
pictures worked on canvas as tapestries. However true tapestries are woven)
They
use either a rigid heddle or a roller loom. Both of these looms lift alternate
threads to make weaving quicker
I
provide woollen yarns in a range of thicknesses and colour.
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Weaving
a picture on a rigid heddle loom |
Weaving
a picture on a roller loom |
The
looms are warped with white cotton. For tapestry, the warp threads are set at
about 4 per inch. The weft is pushed down and completely covers the warp.
I also show various ideas for simple weaving looms
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This
loom is made from corrugated plastic and plant sticks. It
is easy to warp up. The weft is woven using a needle |
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Rosamund’s picture woven
using two or more colours in the weft |
Maddy’s picture woven using
meet and separate and two or more colours in the weft |
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My
woven pictures
When
I started weaving in the late seventies I wove some pictures on a wooden frame
using thick rug wools
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My
first picture. Meet and separate technique. The trees are embroidered |
Seascape
woven by building up areas |
I
stopped weaving pictures on a frame once I started weaving on a loom because
I found the technique rather slow.
In
2001 I visited the Studio of Riitta Sinkkonen Davies in Pembrokeshire. Riitta
specialises in weaving linen. I was particularly impressed by her scenes of the
Pembrokeshire coast using Handspun
Linen in-laid on linen.. See www.rasdavies.co.uk
for pictures of her work. Later in the year I did a week’s course on small
scale linen weaving with Riitta. Following this I started using the inlay
technique using handspun wool and silk with a linen warp. The warp is set at 12
threads per inch and can be seen. A
row of plain weave in linen is woven in between each coloured row.
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Tean – Isles of Scilly Approx
30cm by 25cm £65 |
Derwent
Water Approx
30cm by 19 cm £60 |
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| Great Bay St Martins and White Island Isles of Scilly. On sale at North Farm Gallery at £65 | Lawrence's Bay St Martins Isles of Scilly On sale at North Farm Gallery at £70 |
These
pictures are mounted on a stick but I also frame some of them.
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| This one is mounted on card which is quick to do. Picture size approx 18cm by 13 cm. £25 unframed £40 framed | This takes longer to finish but I think it is more effective Picture size approx 33cm by 22cm.Nfs but similar ones would be £65 plus the cost of the frame | Another method. On sale at North Farm Gallery at £90 |
It
is easier to transport and store the pictures on a stick but I can alter the
finishing so they can be framed
I
buy some of the silk and wool fibres that I spin randomly dyed and some I dye
myself. The variations in colour add interest to the picture. I do not spin wool
from the fleece because I find carding difficult owing to arthritis
I
would also not have started weaving scenes if it was not for Sue Lewington’s
wonderful watercolours of the Isles of Scilly. I normally base the scenes on my
photographs but the way Sue interprets colours gives me ideas for using my
yarns. She sells some of my scenes. Equally important has been her encouragement
and her willingness to sell some of my scenes in her gallery on St Martins. The
gallery is now owned by Nick and Sue Murray who are continuing to sell my
pictures.
The
inlaid structure is quite thin and does not lend itself to bigger pictures so in
2008, I started weaving weft faced pictures again on my four shaft loom. My
prices reflect the time I take to weave and I wanted to avoid too much of the
“meet and separate” technique so I use randomly
dyed yarns to provide some of the
colour variation. I also used two or three strands of yarn in slightly different
shades to vary the colour
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Great
Bay St Martins looking toward White Island Approx
48 cm by 71 cm £150 |
Yorkshire
Landscape Approx
48cm by 65cm £150 |
I
sold one in similar colours to the Great Bay picture within a fortnight of
hanging it in North Farm Gallery in July 2008. I had been worried that I had
made the colours of the sea too bright but the weather for my weeks stay was
wonderful and the colours were just as bright
The
main disadvantage of weaving bigger pictures on a four shaft loom is that I
cannot see all of the picture. I am
looking for a large second hand tapestry loom
Recently
A kind neighbour gave my some tapestry equipment and yarns including some metal
rings, I enjoyed relaxing in the evening using them to weave some pictures using
a needle using the same techniques used for the seascape picture nearly 30 years
ago
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I
still have to finish the border At
a diameter of 15 cm it was quite quick to weave |
