Today, I Have No Time to Work on This

Weaving Against the Clock

But resigned to the probability that I won't finish this in time.

I Recommend This Video/DVD

I viewed for the first time "Color Interaction for Handweavers" DVD by Donna Sullivan from Yarn Barn. Sullivan goes through a lot of information with woven samples, and she is focused on weaving and information specifically for weavers. About the first 1/3 is spent on very general color theory, but the rest focuses on fibers and how they react; colors under different lights, same colored yarns in different sizes and textures, etc.

What more can a weaver ask for?

Well, the DVD copyright is 2005, but it is in fact a copy of a 1991 video, so the sound is sub-par; if you have hearing problems like I do, you might have to play some sections over to hear what she says, at a rather old-ladyish volume. And the woven examples are very 80's. (Watch out for Sullivan's Big Bird jacket!) The DVD jacket says running time is 60 minutes, the inserted handout says 40; I think it's closer to 40. Still, the material is intelligent and focused, the samples pertinent to the points being made, and overall, a joy for weavers.

I recommend it. Check out your local/public, academic, or guild library to see if there's a copy hidden way somewhere!

Oh, Heck...

I've been weaving a little on the widened warp, and I'm just weaving, because I have a hard time remembering what I wanted to do.

Analogous colors are easy. The minute I saw the picture, I wanted to weave in mostly oranges, plenty of yellows, murky dirty greens, perhaps a hint of brown or black, with a little bit of teals as highlights. I wasn't sure how else I was going to make it interesting.

While making the warp, I wanted to mix purples because I had only one brash orange and wanted to tone it down, make the warp more interesting, and make the overall value darker.

I like the warp well enough, but I wanted to tone down the orange.

Had I a couple of browns, things might have gone smoothly. But I didn't. So, without thinking, my body automatically added some darker analogous stuff, and dilute the orange. It's not ugly, but it looks like two bits of analogous gradation with a smidgen of contrast squeezed in, and visually so not what I had wanted to do for this project.

I know these things are natural progression of projects/processes, and as long as I'm playing everything by ear, it was bound to happen.

At one point in the afternoon my weaving became "automatic", selecting analogous wefts and creating a weft-wise gradation as well. My body was home, but my psyche was back in Paraparaumu, October 2006, in Randy Darwall's workshop, desperately trying to make "painterly" color transitions. Randy doesn't advocate just analogous, but that was the easiest painterly/watercolor/wash transition I could think of. And it's so not what I had in mind for this project. I took out some picks. Not a lot, but a few.

What I want for this project, at this point, are blotches of squares/pixels, in different sizes, in relative but not complete harmony. A tiny version of a vibrant, tantalizing modern geometric painting. Something like that...

PS: I've about 10cm woven - 140cm to go.

It's a Little Like 3D Chess

I threaded and sampled last night. Under artificial light, the sample was too, too cheerful, like a summer table cloth. I will use proportionately more of dark wefts in the pattern and especially in the tabby, if I have any, and I will widen the warp by two inches - a bit of toned-down reds on the orange side, and either more light blues and greens, or purples, on the other side, while trying not to make the bright yellow portion the dead center of the warp. I think I'll get more desirable results because a) whilst the colors are nice as they are, I had intended to create a much more subtle cloth, and b) for the complexity, for want of a better word, of the interaction of the blocks, I wanted a slightly bigger field to play with/in.

Today, we have sun and clear air, and I can see the interaction of the tabby colors, and I like the sample better than last night, and the late night decisions proved very valid.

The random threading, I like, but when I widen the warp, I would like some more in the block on Shaft 3 on the blue/green side; I hope you will be able to see what I mean when I'm finished with the piece.

I don't know which face is called summer and which is winter on this piece; it look more like Spring & Autumn, but I like better the side I don't see while I weave. The warps are more dominant, meaning not many shafts are lifted at any time, and I like the tiny squares making sparkle-like pixels. But I'll keep weaving the way I sampled, because as Uber Teacher Bonnie Inouye said, "Lift fewer shafts where you have the option."

Usually in Summer & Winter, one unit, or a pixel if you will, consists of four warps and four wefts, so initially I had planned to make a warp where colors changed every four ends. The narrowest bits in the above sample is one pixel wide. At 36EPI, a pixel would be 1/9 inch or 3mm wide, and I wanted smaller, so I disregarded the weave structure in this respect and mixed as I pleased. I started making the warp from the orange end, so you can see by the time I reached the purple part, I was all Right Brain.

The side I see as I weave. In real life, the colors are more vibrant and intricate,
particularly in the left half.

The side I don't see as I weave. I like the blocks of weft colors creating the sparkles;
these are one pixel wide by four tall, so I can make smaller bits of sparkle.
Again, the colors are more vibrant, but this is the best I could do.

A previous sample, in same size yarn combination and same EPI but
8-inches wide on the loom, showing different pixel widths.

And because of the randomness in warp colors, I wondered if Birdseye is the right treadling, and wove the sample in Alternating treadling; Alternating is also easier to remember.

Warp colors, weft colors, threading, and treadling - it's as mind-boggling as the concept of 3D chess. This is turning even more fun that I had anticipated, if that was ever possible.

The Warp is Wound

Nelson and most of New Zealand continues to have pretty dreary weather; our house has been dark most of the day but I had to get started, so I switched on all lights on around the hallway and stairs, and made a warp under six halogen bulbs.

The problem I have with selecting colors under artificial lights is the colors appear less saturated than they actually are, so I end up making noisy garish warps. In addition, the main orange I have is screamingly loud, not the soft, elegant orange found in the photo. I reduced the proportion of the orange, and increased the yellows and purples. I also decided not to include white nor black in the warp, as the sharp contrast added to the already saturated warp colors would render it ... unbearable. Still, I didn't want the pale blues and greens to predominate because I didn't want a cool, sad warp.

One of the very pale violets appear so susceptible to theory of simultaneous contrast: it appears almost brown at the right end of the warp, but quite purple at the left. If I believe the weather forecast, it's going to be a few more days before I can see the warp under natural light, and by then, I'll probably well on my way in weaving the piece.

My right brain continues to predominate the process. I looked for better light and height around the house, and the loom was precariously perched on a soft cloth couch as I wound the warp. Then, without thinking, I took out the cross sticks and tied one to the front of the loom! I don't have a threading plan, but I know the rules of Summer & Winter so I'm threading by ear.

This, That, and The Other Stuff

Thursday night's pattern making course was fantastic. There are 15 of us, including five young, beautiful, perky, confident high school students; I can't stop staring at them because they are so beautiful and fearless and I don't know if I ever felt that way; I certainly didn't look anything like them. The rest of us, middle-aged women bar one, have varying degrees of sewing experiences in different eras; I realized when we sewed have great bearing on our knowledge and vocabulary. We have one young chap interested in making theatrical costumes and it's nice to have someone trying to do something different.

Even though I struggle with some sewing/pattern vocabulary, (I remembered on Thursday that I learned to sew in Japan first, because I remember the Japanese words more quickly), Jill shows us everything, so I see what she means. It's a pity I can do only one thing at a time because Jill also has enormous knowledge about historical styles/eras and I would love to Google the images later. Alas, during the first session, I was too busy trying to keep up with the work, and even then, I cut parts I wasn't supposed to and had to borrow others' samples to tape the severed bodice ack together. Still, it brought back my happy days of high school geometry, because pattern making is 3D modeling.

* * * * *

I belatedly read Time Magazine's article on Facebook, tried to catch up with Slow Cloth discussions, and about curating: one about what motivates the curators to curate certain works, or works by certain artists, as opposed to others; the other about artists trying to subvert curators and putting their own work in the public eye, in real physical spaces. And my continuing discourse with Kath Bee about "making it" in our respective worlds. Out of all these, one thought kept coming back to me: the notion of self-made Internet celebrities.

Over the years, we've grown familiar with self-proclaimed performance artists/wannabes using YouTube to catch the eyes of those who could make them stars, some successful, many not, and a few being celebrated because they are so bad. But somewhere in my reading, I found writing on artists/makers promoting/touting themselves as something more than they are; that they equate the hits on their websites, blogs, or the number of folks who "like" their Facebook pages, with success or artistic merit; that some become self-appointed maestros just because they answer questions or become pseudo mentors to the less successful/public/whatever.

We place information online to suit our own needs/purposes; blathering/notes-to-self, friendship/discussion, collaboration, questions/tutorials, or promotion/advertising of our own and others' activities/works/businesses. But I think we're also smart enough to gravitate towards others who fulfill our needs/expectations. We try to be discernible consumers, don't 'we?

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, except I never associated any of us with such self-appointed celebrity, and was more than a little taken aback to read these. I'm not saying we are, but never associated blogs and such with celebrity, particularly in our art/craft/maker circle/s.

* * * * *

Friday drawing is getting worse for me. If contour/gesso/small weren't a killer combination already, Ronette has added layers yesterday; e.g. paper/gesso/chalk pastel/drawing, or paper/gesso/drawing/wash. I'm doing them, but they are getting too messy and "too much information" rather than subtle and suggestive. Though I add that some of my classmates are getting wonderful results. Just so not my thing. Enough said.

* * * * *

Having said that, Ronette making us try all kinds of things have begun to influence my weaving. I cannot stress enough how so-not-me it is to even think of designing on the loom just a short while ago. Most of my energy was and still is spent on numbers, drafts and sampling so I know as best as I can, (i.e. exactly) how a piece is going to look when it is finally washed, pressed and on a moving human body. I call it quality control. Now things are being left to chance. Ronette was pleased to hear that. But we'll see how the piece turns out.

* * * * *

Speaking of influences, I'd been closed to suggestions for so long, but now I'm more open, which cannot be a bad thing. But I wonder how I'm supposed to navigate through all the influences and still stick to my own aesthetics. I look at my tea cosy, and my next warp, and even though I like them both, I see clearly influences of where and when I live. Specifically they are from what I've seen in Nelson and around New Zealand in the last three or so years. Most art in vogue (in public and dealer galleries, magazines and newspapers, what people talk about), appears to me to be messy/irregular and multi-layered, (as opposed to simple, beautiful/pretty, orderly) and many are colorful, or in color combinations that clash in my mind.

It's one thing for me to view and appreciate them, even when I don't like them, but when it comes to making my own stuff, I often wonder if I am keeping tabs on how far I'm being influenced, and how far I wan to go.

I'm wondering what happened to my very simple, pared-down aesthetics; I still like those cloths, but I haven't made any in quite some time, nor do I have any of those in plan in the near future. I realize my taste or penchant can change, too, but I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing. And I guess I won't know until I see what I've made what I am going to make.

* * * * *

I can't remember what triggered me, but once again, I was thinking of all the different pronouns in Japanese. And there are many, depending on the speaker, the intended listener, the absolute and relative social status of both, and the social context. And the speaker's background or penchant for the degree of honorifics. And I remembered self-deprecation is part of the Japanese language; heck, it's considered good manners in some circles. So I may overdo it, in two languages, but it's also in my DNA. That was a tiny baggage off my shoulder.

* * * * *

Two P2P participants have completed their projects. I had better get out of this chair. Now.

Saturday Daydreaming: Day and Night

Lynne always says to try back-lighting; Jane says to try strobe-in-the-dark. I'm game for most anything once I understand what they're saying.

Meanwhile, I still can't believe I did this.

Warp Candidates

I don't have lovely soft oranges in this size, so I'll have to dilute it. It's been dark and rainy all day, not a good day to pick colors, but I've got to start some time!

15 candidates, but I think three or four will come out, perhaps more. Quite a difference from when I had to have a lie down after adding just a few colors in supplementary warp only 18 months ago. I think I can say I am making progress.

Luckily, I have far more choices of oranges in my 2/60, so planning the tabby colors has been the best part of this project so far.

Rightie Replies... Which is More Musing Out Loud...

Gray, wet, cold afternoon. The fire has been on for three hours, but I can hardly feel it. It's only when I move around that I know where my pants end and socks start; there is definitely the comfort-free zone below the knee. I was to make my warp this afternoon, but didn't feel like it in this dark, or under artificial light. Besides, it's a design challenge; what's the use of rushing to get things done. Heaven forbid if I make something ugly!

It's a design challenge. I can do things I've never tried, I've never thought of trying, things that may or may not work. The big 16-shafter is a nice loom, but I don't want to weave a fine-tuned contrived design. So, Lefty, thanks for the table loom. I'm thinking of doing that thing some people do: design on the loom! Keep the sample warp on Klik in case I want to test out something. Use the last remaining loom: the 8-shaft table loom.

Let's go "unplanned", swapping warps, not just colors but shafts. Swap weft colors, both the pattern and the tabby. But I still want to have fun, so let's eliminate potential grief; What can I get rid of? Oh, I know, I will stick with either the alternating or Bird's Eye form of Summer & Winter from start to finish. The latter would probably suit better, whereas the former is easier to memorize on a table loom.

It's a design challenge. I don't want to just recreate the colors of my favorite photo on cloth; that's not a challenge. Let's bring in, let me see... Some bubbles or lights into the mix.

The loom has eight shafts; I'm weaving Summer & Winter; that leaves six blocks. How about using three or four shafts for the main colors, and two or three shafts for the bubbles. That's like... two levels of pattern and background.

Something like this...

This is so much fun, now I really want to choose the colors!