Jon's Digital Sketchbook: 2019

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Final Tapestry: Wool 41" x 30" (Colors are more like the "in progress" photo below.)

Sketch (iPad "Art Set" app, Artist's Oil Pastel tool) and final weaving:

UPDATE: 10/21/2019

Monday, May 20, 2019

My third tapestry:

"Friendship" 12" x 14"

It is handspun linen (and a few handspun wool horizontal stripes in white, black and yellow). The vertical lines are slits. The slits are not sewn and I realize this makes it a weak fabric, however, the pass immediately before and after each wool sequence has a single linen thread (with a kind of figure 8 woven across the slit) to strengthen it. Those linen threads are really strong!

I love spinning flax, because the fibers are so long, it makes it easy to do worsted spinning. I basically made thread, though, and this was woven two ply. As it was my first time spinning flax, the thread varied in thickness from fine sewing thread to something almost as thick as the cotton warp. The variability in the threads made it less uniform (which I kind of like). It took a lonnng time to weave with thread.

This isn't really my style of design (I love color!), but it is a gift for a friend. She has been very encouraging of my weaving. She loves the American minimalist painter Agnes Martin, so this was a tribute to my friend and her favorite artist. The title is the same as one of Agnes Martin's paintings, so I think my friend will make the connection.