Moving On Up: Progress on "Chakra Roots"

The tapestry weaving progresses. I've made it to the half way mark and, while there are still problems with tension, I'm able to control most of them. This piece is teaching me many things. I will not use this warp again on anything larger than 10 cm x 10 cm. I'm curious as to the sheep breed content in it because this yarn stretches every time I touch it, not a good thing in a warp. Despite the frustration of knowing that I could have managed problems more effectively if I'd taken care at the beginning of the process, I've grown fonder of this small work. I love working with hand spun singles weft yarns. They have a vibrant tactile quality that adds to the pleasure of weaving. Hand spun yarns provide texture and a fabric surface that no commercial yarns can duplicate. 

The composition in "Chakra Roots" is translating well from painting to weaving, as are the colours. I don't "paint with yarn," a description used by some tapestry weavers. Yarn is yarn; paint is paint. When we paint, we apply pigment to an existing surface, our ground. Tapestry builds images where there is no ground or existing structure; the warp is a skeleton, the bones of a piece. The weft provides both flesh and adornment to that skeleton. I usually weave from a loose painting or drawing specifically intended for tapestry. Sometimes, I will begin with a photo, but this is my first attempt at copying a painting to fibre and, while I'm happy with the results so far, I'm not convinced that this is the process for me.

My values are balanced. I'm all about colour, so it's easy for me to forget that if values are skewed, there will be something "off" with the work, even if the viewer can't quite tell what it is. Technology is a help here - taking black and white photos of the tapestry as it progresses allows me to catch problems with value before I've woven too far:

Next up, more circles. Ah, circles. I have a bit of a love/hate thing going with woven circles, but that is a much larger discussion for another day!

Namaste.