At the end of January

Firstly meet Kaos: the fence builder, the landscaper, the loom buddy, the source of cheap entertainment (He’ll keep catching that ball just however long you want to throw it.)  He’s my son’s, dog. Kaos will be staying with me for a bit.

I have been very busy landscaping the back yard. Kaos had ploughed up the lawn for me.

This is progress so far. After Kaos had ploughed up/wrecked the back garden it was time to fix up the disaster. I have redesigned a new garden path that follows the existing garden. Then had a concrete edge laid before digging out and laying pavers with a gravel fill. I must admit it looks great so far. It’s also just the thing to do on hot summer days! I am looking forward to planting.

I have also been busy weaving both on the 24 shaft computer assist and drawloom.

There is a collection of scarves and fabrics that are pulled up ready to dye. The large piece is the damask that is shown above. I hope to get an indigo bath happening in the next few weeks.

On my 24 shaft loom, I woven a fabric length that explored a combination of techniques. The original source of inspiration was patterning on ethnic fabrics that often combine uneven woven bands and in addition some interesting dye patterns. I wanted to combine supplementary weft patterning with warp shibori.

I have just realised that I haven’t shown a picture of the catalogue of “Twelve Degrees of Latitude”. It is a touring exhibition by Museums and Galleries Services of Qld celebrating Q150 with works selcted from Regional Gallery and University Art Collections in Queensland. “Which Way” was selected from the Redland Regional Art Gallery Collection. I was thrilled to be notified that it was included. A touring schedule is listed on my web site www.kayfaulkner.com.au. I do suggest that if you wish to see the exhibition, that you check whether the work is hung as this exhibition is extensive and smaller galleries will select work to be hung to suit their space.

 

Last week I went to see the lighting installation by KT Doyle . Check out her blog at http:// ktdoyle.blogspot.com.  The installation is in Briggs lane in the Brisbane CBD. I have been following her progress with the project so it was great to see the final outcome.

First week of the New Year

So much for good intensions. I was intending to update the blog on the 1.1.10 but life got in the way: family, friends, garden, cat and dog (both being looked after and both demanding attention). It has been a very busy Festive Season.

The plan for this year is to highlight at least one piece of weaving a month (when I am home).

Noisy visitors come to my garden. Another plan for the year is to upgrade the garden, making it dog friendly and yet providing a haven for visitors of all persuasions and a palce for quiet reflection for myself. Hard work is about to begin as a major overhaul is required.

One of a series of scarves woven in alpaca/silk on 24 shafts.  This particular scarf could have been woven on 16 but extending this draft to 24 allowed me to play with other block arrangements on the remaining warp.

This series started as a quick way to colour a warp navy and white. The warp was wound in 3 sections, plaited tightly and dyed in a navy dye bath.

This process of resist dyeing on a warp and then weaving  is in essence a form of ikat. It was a very quick form though. The warp was prepared, dyed and dried in a morning.  By varying the treadling sequence on an 8 shaft threading, 3 different patterns are obtained. It was interesting to see the flow though in the dye pattern created by the plaiting.

Central Queensland and the Southern Highlands of New South Wales

It’s a good thing that the airport is relatively convenient. I have just spent a week in Mackay and then a day in Mittagong.

It was a wonderful week in Mackay. I went there to talk weaving, dyeing and to spent time walking on the beach and in the rainforest with my friend Helen. Helen has a 4 shaft loom and wanted to investigate “holes” and textural fabrics, so we worked with overtwist wools, wool/lycra and her stash on a lace weave structure. I got this very excited email this week. The scarf turned out just as you said it would and looks great. The overtwist worked better on lengthier parts than shorter parts. So the small piece I have decided to turn into a U shape, pick up the edge and knit into the middle calling it “Captured”. Then I started to experiment with knitting with the overtwist – wow – what an experience. The overtwist wool looks delicate but the wool lycra worked on very large needles just goes nuts and sends the yarn around it into contortions – why haven’t I discovered all this before, it is great. I am looking forward to seeing how Helen will incorporate this into both her weaving and knitting.

Helen enjoys doing wall pieces that combine weaving and knitting. We installed this piece in the Sarina Library.

Then when I got home from there, I also couldn’t resist going down to Mittagong and having a look at an exhibition, Threads of Influence. Yes, one does have to be a bit crazy to go all that distance in one day, but I did really want to go. A flight and a car hire is all it takes. Elisabeth Nagel has been weaving and teaching at Sturt for 50 years and this exhibition celebrates that achievement. Other weavers who had also taught at Sturt were invited. The exhibiting weavers were Elisabeth Nagel, Jeannine Binoth, Julie Monro-Allison, Melanie Olde, Monique Van Nieuwland, Liz Williamson and myself. It was a very diverse exhibition.

The invitation for the exhibition with a detail of my work on the loom on the cover.

This is one wall of the gallery showing work by Elisabeth Nagel, Liz Williamson and myself.

Melanie Olde in front of her work.

Monique in front of her work.

As well as seeing the exhibition it was great to catch up with the friend that I had made during the residency. It was also amazing to see what Sturt looks like in summer. It was very lush and green. We celebrated the end of the day with wine and cheese on the lawn.

It was delightful: late afternoon, a cooler end to the day, drinks and chesse on the lawn,  and relaxed conversation.

How different it looks now. For those who followed the blog from my resisdency at Sturt I often included pictures of the gardens including this pathway to the studio. The grounds were so lush and green.

When I was artist in residency, I use to always start my blog with a picture of the view from the front of the studio. It seemed appropriate to finish this update with the same view.

The next adventure

I have decided to continue this blog that I began at Sturt. I have had such fabulous feedback on it, so I’ve decided that I’d like to continue to share my adventures and musings.

Now here’s a challenge! How do I condense 7 weeks of an amazing trip into a few words and just 10 photos? I was home just one week before I set off on this next adventure to the USA/Canada. A basic overview includes some teaching, some visiting and participation in a class at Vavstuga. So here are just a few highlights:

 9.9.09 What magical numbers they are! I left home on that day and arrived in the USA on the same day flying onto Reno.

Early morning in Virginia City. The sun is just shining up the valley. The shadows are long. The heat of the day is yet to begin and the day is quiet. Look at how the town fits in amongst the tailing mountains. There may be wild horses.

First stop: Reno where I finally got to meet Suzanne. We had been in contact for a number of years so it was great to finally meet. After a day or so to recover and collecting provisions, we went to Virginia City for the first of the workshops. I was fascinated by the history of the area. Crossing this area in the early settlement days with wagons over this very harsh high mountain dessert was an amazing feat. Then came the miners creating a tent city with their search for silver. There’s no city here now though. Impressions include the amazing harsh landscape, buildings in amongst the tailings, the most amazing clear blue sky and early morning sun coming up the valley. It was an inspiring spot to hold a weaving workshop. Great results were achieved. Those ladies worked from early till late at night, achieving an impressive quantity of samples.

 

This is the moment when all is revealled. What fun!

Next stop: Atlanta. What a contrast: from hot and dry to wet, wet, wet! I arrived in the middle of flooding. Again I was there to teach. A visit to Swan House provided a day for recovery out of the rain before I started work. The curtains there have the most amazing variety of trims. Again both classes produced an impressive quantity of work. It is amazing how diverse a range of samples can be achieved because of the direction and interest of the individuals in each group. Between the workshops, my hostess and friend Judith and I had a day of play in the studio. We did some experimental dying, but more will appear of this at a much later date. Needless to say we had fun!

The first Atlanta class with their amazing collection of samples.

Work produced in just 3 days by the second class. What variety! Put the two group’s samples together and what a real mixture there is. And no, one group didn’t produce “more” or “better” than the other in spite of how many times I was quizzed on which group was better… They were just different and the work equally full of potential.

North to Waynesville and my stay with Catharine Ellis and husband Kent was next on the itinerary. It was great to be able to spend some time with them as our friendship has developed over many years through a mutual interest and the development of loom controlled shibori/woven shibori resist. Fall had started. I drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway in an open topped sports car watching the leaves starting to fall. I also got to see Biltmore House. This was an amazing visit. Both Catharine and I had been to France for the International Shibori Conference last year. On that trip we had visited Prelle, a weaving mill in Lyon. They had the most amazing resource of records from their past clients including what was woven, and all the dye recipes and weaving details for each client. I was excited at the time because they were weaving velvet, one of my areas of interest, while Catharine was excited because they were weaving a commission for Biltmore House, just down the road from her. Imagine our delight when we came into the room and saw that velvet which we had seen being woven in Prelle installed!

 

There were treasures inside: 3 rooms of the most exquisite velvet: drapes and bed coverings. WOW! What a shame we couldn’t take photos inside.

From the traditional to contemporary. Blankets were being woven on a small privately owned jacquard mill in Asheville.

Next stop: Philadelphia via Kati and John in Alpena, Northern Michigan. I was in a quandary: how to divide up time between Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York in a week? I think that I can safely say that I maximised my time: 3 days in Philadelphia with Bettes and Larry , 1 day in Washington DC ( Textile Museum and the Smithsonian complex), 3 days in New York. (Smithsonian National Museum of  American Indians with a costume exhibition,  Here are some visual highlights.

 

Four artists used a collection of old laces and interpreted them  in various ways for this exhibition at the Design Centre at the Philadelphia University: Lace in Translation. I particularly enjoyed this chain wire fence and a huge cut out metal cylinder.

C15 velvet under glass in the Metropilitan Museum of Art, New York. There was an amazing collection of very beautiful velvets that I just happened to find. I had asked at the front desk if there were any textiles on display with “no” being given as a reply. I decided to go in anyway and see a collection of old masters. This is what I found instead!

I had been hearing about this silk shawl ever since I had been in Atlanta. Reports on it were just surfacing and here I was in New York and able to see it. Woven from Golden Orb spiders silk in Madagascar it was surprisingly large and very yellow. The design was very complex with a mixture of supplementary warp and discontinuos weft pattern on tabby. The shawl had been woven in bands and joined. A surprising detail that seemed to be at odds with the detailed weaving and intricate fringe was that the fringe was very uneven. Possibly all the left over “silk” was used with not one iota wasted or trimmed off.

Four of us collected in Philadelphia and drove north into the New England to Shellbourne Falls and Vavstuga. 8 of us had the most wonderful week of exploring a variety of weave structures, with wonderful food such beautiful surroundings. I got to experience Fall and I even had a bit of snow one morning. My friends were not impressed by snow and I wanted more. They thought that it was way too soon to be starting winter. In 5 days we had put on 10 warps and woven on most and that was just till 9.00 at night. When we were evicted from the studio, we progressed upstairs where we were exploring Laos looms under the guidance of Deb McClintock, an expert on the technique. We were all excited by the similarities of what could be achieved by those “primitive” looms and double harnesses on Swedish looms.

What an amazing collection of work: 10 looms threaded and woven on in 5 days! Samples include Rep, Monks Belt, Swedish Crackle, checks in fine cotton, Satin blocks, Leno, Honeycomb, Treddled Opphamta (supplementary weft patterns in 3 different processes)

The fun never stopped. Late night activity: How to weave supplementary complex weft pattern on a “Laos” loom. There’s more than one way to achieve the same goal!

This is the view from the room where we had meals. It was surely an effort not to “hog” the view every meal time. I am entranced by the Fall colours!

For the last week, I went north to Ontario. On the way we were fortunate to have an appointment to see the collection in the American Handweaving Museum at Clayton. It has an amazing collection of the work by weaving pioneers including Bertha Frey, Lucille Landis, Mary Snyder and Theo Morman .

What I found delightful was the transparency of this work. I had been familiar with a denser background for this technique. It was a treat to see a real piece of Theo Morman’s work.

On the way north, we also stopped off to do a usual “must see” visit to the Textile Museum in Toronto on the way up to Barrie. How did I fill in that final week? I played in the studio of my friend Jette and visited the ROM. They have a very wonderful textile section where you can get to pull out drawers and admire old textiles, including velvet. The week flew and it was time to head back to Australia, arriving home on 28th October.

Did anyone count photos? Well I did it: 14 photos!

Week 16

 

This is the final week of the residency. You may have noticed that I haven’t put “at the end of week 16”. I finished up on Tuesday. That tree still has leaves hanging on. I did take a walk down and take a closer look. Yes, there are new shoots appearing, so obviously at no stage will it be completely bare.

There was the last bit of dyeing to do. What could be more appropriate to finish with the last of the bookmark blanks? I dunked them in the last of the indigo. Some were undyed previously, while others had come from the cineraria dye bath. It was a most appropriate way to finish off the residency as these bookmarks were the very first project woven at Sturt. And yes they will pass through the rite of passge with fire…. sometime.

It was a very busy few days with the final labelling of the art work which I’m leaving for the “50 years of weaving at Sturt” exhibition starting in October. There was also lots of packing and tidying up. I did somehow manage to fit everything in the car!

Monday night we had a celebration dinner in the cottage. Of course it was going to be a great night and it was! The celebrations continued onto the next day with the Tuesday group providing champagne and cake and they even lit the fire for one last time. Mind you the doors were also open as it was not a cold day by any stretch of the imagination! They launched me on my way in grand style.

It has been an amazing experience! Four months has certainly flown!

This week has also been a time for reflection. At the farewell dinner, I carefully selected some symbols of my time here and arranged them above the fireplace.

 

 I used these items (the log of wood, the sprig of Eucalyptus Cineraria and the glass with the wood shaving steeped vodka) to describe what the Sturt experience has meant for me.

It has provided a creative thinking place and space.

It has provided fireplaces and fire to think about, do stuff with and be warmed by.

It has provided woodpiles to experiment with.

It has provided trees with leaves and bark to experiment with and to be inspired by.

It has provided looms to be challenged by.

I have played, experimented and created. And as the result of all this, I have achieved some work that I am excited by and that will lead onto other new works.

And lastly it has been the means of discovering wonderful friends and working with great people in a truly unique and special place.

At the end of week 15

There are still some leaves hanging on! 

This tree is just outside the studio. It is magnificent.

I heard from Museum and Galleries services during the week that my work “Which way” which was acquired by the Redland City Council will be part of the Twelve Degrees of Latitude Exhibition, opening at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville and touring. I am absolutely delighted to be part of this exhibition!

On Tuesday night, 3 “Sturties” (Dale, Slavica and I) went on a wombat hunt. It was on dusk as that’s when you are likely to see them and we saw: 4 dead wombats, 3 feral cats, a hundred roos and…. 1 live wombat!  And we had a very nice country drive followed by a lovely dinner.

The week continued to be a very social one. On Wednesday night, H and David hosted a wonderful dinner in Ainsworth with Megan, John and Dale and me. Thursday night saw a gathering at a Thai restaurant in Bowral: great company fantastic food. Friday was a student exhibition opening with pre event drinks instead of our usual Friday night get together. Saturday I went wombat spotting at Carol’s farm. It was a dark, blowy, showery night and there trotting around the paddock with 3 humans in tow was a wombat. We followed it across the paddock, under the road (through a pipe), across to the dam and back again. It was a very obliging fellow and we got very close. Eventually we decided to leave him to it. I’m sorry that I wasn’t smart enough to take the camera as I could have got up close and got a beauty.

Work progressed steadily. The circles were discharged and redyed. The eucalyptus bath seems to make the discharge process slower. I also did a quick sample to check whether eucalyptus oil would achieve the same semi resist effect that can be got using the leaves to dye with. I immersed one edge of a previously dyed fabric in some oil then applied the fibre reactive dye. It was a very patterned piece, but I am reasonably sure that there was a slight difference in the take up of dyes even using this commercial preparation.

The following 2 images are details of “Meeting Place V” . The full view can be seen in the “Weaving at Sturt” page. I did have quite a bit of difficulty deciding which was the front as the back view had some very beautiful dye patterns.

The following 2 images are of the sister piece of the pervious one: “Meeting Place VI” There was no trouble with this piece deciding front or back as this was decided by the image.

Emily completed the weaving of her first 2 rag rugs. She had woven them side by side on the big loom. Now she is getting ready to weave full width.

Anne brought along her scarf that she’d finished. She is delighted with the result.

I completed the series of scarves that I’d been weaving the previous week. This series involved double weave with the layers attached at one edge in the same grid. After weaving I stitched circles and bound these before dying one in the Eucalyptus Cineraria (Argyle Apple) dyebath. This time as it was wool, I finally got the red brown that I knew was possible.

I also finally got to try the wood shavings which had been soaking in alcohol. Remember this was started in week 6. I used one of the wool scarves. It was a spectacular non event! No colour at all, but it certainly has been fun to do and a talking point of course. The scarf went into the Cineraria dyebath after it’s mate. It isn’t quite as dark as the previous one.

A second series of scarves was completed on the same theme.This one uses cotton and acrylic for both the warp and weft with a panel of double weave grid. I drew circles in a devore chemical and removed the cotton component.

The Saturday class proved a hive of activity. The morning was spent weaving and evaluating what had been covered. But the afternoon was strictly play. We experimented with a potato dextrin resist, playing with deb potato. We scrapped it out and then scratched back into it, even with fingers. It would be a great activity for kids: they could even lick their fingers! It took a long time to dry in front of the heater but finally we applied some procion dyes. The fabric was then wrapped up for batching. Some of the fibre reactive dyes were also used for shibori pieces, some on commercial fabric, others on hand woven.

In addition we had a special dye activity. I put on an indigo bath. It was a lot of fun! I got to work on a previously naturally dyed fabric and folded it before dunking. And because I had one bit of white fabric left, I quickly tied it up with rubber bands. I just couldn’t resist that indigo!  Others had stitched, and tied fabrics with one even having grains of rice tied in. It was a great way to finish of the Saturday classes.

This fabric had been previously dyed the week before in bark with alum mordant .

At the end of week 14

That tree still has red leaves! And all around Spring is happening. There are wondeful clumps of daffodils and all manner of spring bulbs.

This has been a busy and productive week, in spite of the fact that it was shortened by my arriving back from Darwin on Monday.

The studio has had some wonderful alterations. There are now wide benched to use the table looms on. One of these provides the most beautiful place to work in as it is positioned in front of a huge window which looks out on a magnificent flowering pink tree. New storage shelving has also been installed in the back room. Everyone is very excited with the improvements.

Some of the Saturday class weaving with tables looms on the new benches under the window.

From the point of view of “work”, the circles have had their initial dyeing in argyle apple and are currently pulled up awaiting the next stage.

I am also in the process of weaving on another warp which is following the same theme as the circles, but is much more loom controlled doubleweave. It is being woven at a much faster rate than the circles. Thank heavens for that!

I have had more fun “playing”. The bark from the eucalyptus tree which had been boiled and left to sit while I went to Darwin, has been used for the second layer of dyeing on commercial fabric. This fabric had been dyed using argyle apple with the extended mordant process. This time around, I remordanted using the overnight process. I’m sure that there is little difference in the amount of dye that is taken up. It now waits for another process; mmmm I wonder what that’ll be. All I do know is that I want to do another layer of dye to add to the complexity of the piece and as well as that, as much as the dye pattern is currently interesting, I’m not all that keen on brown.

While I was dyeing this I also put a couple of bookmarks in the dyebath. I pole wrapped them around a broomstick. I had carefully selected the end that was pink and used it for wrapping. I hoped that the dye would transfer from the broom so that the fabric against the wood would take up that colour while the natural dye would colour the outside. It happened as planned with quite an interesting pattern. It is a little difficult to see the pattern as the colours are very similar in tone.

Saturday saw an informal gathering of where both groups, the Saturday and Tuesday groups, were invited to afternoon tea followed by a showing of the Peter Collingwood DVD. It was a lovely afternoon. Some of the ladies had brought along the most scrumptious food which we had on the veranda before going inside to watch the DVD. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The gardens are so exceptionally beautiful. The magnolias are just starting to open. I am so fortunate that the weather is warmer than usual so I am getting the spring colour before I leave. I am still complaining though that I didn’t get snow!

And a postscript to the week: I was invited to the most scrumptious afternoon tea. The afternoon tea was an event, but what was really exciting was that I saw my first wombat in the wild as we were driving home at dusk!  

At the end of week 13

There’s no picture of the tree that’s being so slow to lose its leaves this week as I have spent the week away from Sturt in the “Top End” experiencing the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Arts Festival in Darwin. Helen Barnard, Phillipa Rooke and I had a most extraordinary time visiting Estelle and Warren Virgen. We saw, we ate and we experienced! What a fabulous time they gave us. We visited the Aboriginal Arts Markets, Frame (the most amazing gallery), the Tiwi, Larakia and Maningrida Galleries (3 cooperative galleries run for the specific family groups), the Mindil and Parap Markets. We saw the works that were juried for the Awards and were there when the very controversial winner was announced while the sun went down as a backdrop to the whole occasion. At night, we sat under the most amazingly clear sky and enjoyed the heavens. Then after spending three very full days “doing culture”, we played “tourist” visiting Litchfield National Park and then to top off that final day we went to a concert by Tom E Lewis (vocals and guitar). Many of the songs included aboriginal singing by Roy and Daniel contrasting with electric guitar, and double bass. It was a great concert. We went from there to the airport to make the journey back to Mittagong. I have come away with wonderful memories, a great collection of images and inspiration that can be used for future work. Here are a few of the things we saw:

Phillipa, Estelle and Helen in front of Parliament House after lunch. It was a fabulous lunch destination.

 

 

 

I heard the tail end of an interview on the radio this morning that really brought home some of the experience that was Darwin. The sky was so clear up there and there were an unbelievable number of stars. The interview was on the night sky with some discussion on renaming the constellations. The person being interviewed made a statement along these lines: The white man named the constellations by connecting dots, the aboriginal looked at the empty space and named those. He gave the example of the black spot that can be seen in the Southern Cross when viewed away from city lights as being the head of the emu. If the negative space is followed it becomes the neck and then the body. Darwin is such a contrast to other capital cities.

I heard the tail end of an interview on the radio this morning that really brought home some of the experience that was Darwin. The sky was so clear up there and there were an unbelievable number of stars. The interview was on the night sky with some discussion on renaming the constellations. The person being interviewed made a statement along these lines: The white man named the constellations by connecting dots, the aboriginal looked at the empty space and named those. He gave the example of the black spot that can be seen in the Southern Cross when viewed away from city lights as being the head of the emu. If the negative space is followed it becomes the neck and then the body. Darwin is such a contrast to other capital cities. It has so many facets and the experience gave much food for thought.

At the end of week 12

Visitors welcome…. The studio sign in with the daffodils.

What a week it’s been! I have had a very concentrated week in the studio, working hard at the “circles” and I was determined to get it off this week. As a result I have been working in the studio very early and very late. In amongst that I have had interesting work come out of the weekly classes, done some more dyeing  and have also been out and about.

Every so often, I come across yet another flower that I hadn’t seen. I am really enjoying the gardens.

By Wednesday, I had completed the 3 stages of the mordanting process that I began on Sunday. I then used one of my stashes of Argyle Apple leaves for the dye bath. At this stage I just stuffed the mordanted fabric into a stocking knowing that an actual pattern wasn’t important, and that any random pattern would suffice. All I was really interested in was whether the recipe would work and even whether the 3 stages would give a better result that the previous one stage that I’d already tried. Well I got colour, and I got a random pattern (not very exciting) and I have decided that the 4 days it took to complete the process was not worth the effort. The fabric can now wait till I decide what I want to experiment with next.

This week has also see the beginning of some research into different brands and recipes of acid dyes for dyeing wool. This will continue over the next few weeks.

I have instituted a “show and tell” wall. Libby, one of the Tuesday ladies, organised the return of a community project tapestry that had been completed a number of years ago and which she heard was rolled up on top of a cupboard at the preschool. It had been woven as a community project from one of the drawings by a grade 3? student. That girl graduated last year. Some “stripes” were also woven at the same time. We and our visitors have been enjoying having them. In addition, I have encouraged the students who complete work to display them. April has finished a series of scarves. Consensus was that the class liked the bendy rod instead of a straight one. This is a temporary measure till an improved system can be implemented. I am very pleased to have weaving on the walls especially as we are having a lot of visitors in the studio.

I have had these camelias as a table centre decoration for the week. They came from Judy, one of the Tuesday lady’s garden.

We had a visit from the year 6 on Thursday. I gave a talk on being a “real live artist” with the class sitting on the lawn in front of the studio. After which they all trouped inside to look at the looms. They enjoyed it as did the ladies who’d come along to weave. And they also enjoyed the tapestry as some of them had seen it in preschool.

I have had two excursions. One was with Megan who is in charge of Sturt, and the contingent from the wood school to a furniture exhibition in Sydney. It was a juried exhibition and very well presented. There was space around the individual pieces and they were of course of exquisite craftsmanship. The second excursion was to Canberra to talk to their students about my arts practice. It was well received. Most importantly I made it back for our Friday night wind down.

But the best part of the week is this afternoon. I have finished the circles. I timed myself today and no wonder it has taken so long. On a relatively “simple” section I could weave 3 cm in 1 hour. Now for the fun bit: all the dyeing.

Eventually these will be two separate works.

This next week is going to be interesting. I have a trip to Darwin for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Arts Festival. As I won’t be back till Tuesday week, the next blog will be a few days late.

At the end of week 11

Those red leaves are still hanging on! The gardens are lovely.

A view to the otherside of the front of the studio. It was early morning and the light was beautiful. There’s a wonderful clump of jonquils there.

Each morning I walk down this path at the back of the studio. There is a lovely combination of spring flowers here.

Most of my week has been spent doing doubleweave. I have finished the circles and am now onto the next image on this warp. It is just slow.

This is the last loom I intend to “fix”. I started with getting some woodworking done in repairs to the shafts and then replaced all the cords before balancing. It is functioning beautifully.

This is the studio with all looms functioning beautifully: All 14 of them in this photo.

 

There’s another mordant recipe been put on the recipe page. I am in the middle of the process. I hope that it’s worth the effort as it is a 3 day process. I’m looking for stunning results! (I hope)