My phone is full of photos from the wood at the back of our house. This week’s inspiration image was taken on a morning walk last year, five minutes from home.
I love the way this shot almost feels like it’s spinning around the morning light in the distance. Making a circular weave for this seemed like the logical way to go. I used a stash of old tapestry wools that had obviously come from a kit a very long time ago. The hoop was also from my stash, and the twigs were collected on a walk a few weeks ago. I have a twig stash too! The warp is cotton, left over from another project. This weaving technique is great fun, and will be the subject of a workshop next year! I wrapped the cotton warp around the hoop, a little like laying for a Dorset button, including gathering the spokes together in the centre in the same way. Mostly I wove from the centre out, using my inspiration image as a rough guide to colour placement. This is a weft facing weave, meaning I beat my weft densely so the warp doesn’t show. Once my piece was finished I stitched the twigs on top to represent trees.
I’ve got quite a bit more tapestry wool stash to get through, so I’m going to make more of these, and put them up for sale when I’m exhibiting at Hampshire Open Studios in August.
This week’s inspiration image is below.
