Weave Block
The first sample I made in weave was based on the Jamaican $20 note from my box clever collection. I brought in a variety of non-conventional weaving materials to make the most of being able to be experiment on the looms - as long as it fits between the warp yarns and won't get crushed as it's rolled up, anything can be used. I took a similar approach to making this sample as I did when I was making the wrappings and windings - focusing on the texture and feel of the objects as well as the colour. To this end, I included a lot of dry and papery materials, including papyrus, some of my handmade abaca paper and silk scraps.I took the same approach when making the sample seen in the second photo - the one inspired by the packet of old flash bulbs. I chose to make this sample on the loom warped up with shiny white viscose thread as it reminded me of the shininess of the metallic red packet and of the bulbs themselves. I first set out to try and replicate the shiny quality of the packet. I started weaving using a satin weave as I thought this would result in a shiny finish. It didn’t work out that way, however, but much to my surprise, after the sample was cut off the loom, I saw that the underside of the sample had exactly the shiny red metallic effect that I was aiming for. I had too much weft thread visible on the ‘right side’ and what was needed was more visible warp thread.
To aid my production of a colour palette, I took a series of deliberately extremely out of focus photographs of some of the objects from my box. I find this technique useful in isolating areas of colours to reproduce. One of these photos - the one taken of a Jamaican $20 note - ended up inspiring the above weave sample. I originally intended to felt this sample, which is why I chose a loom with silk warp threads (I wanted the silk to be suspended over the felted wool). But once it was completed, I preferred to keep it the way it was. I wove this sample so that the warp threads were more visible than the coloured warp yarn sitting underneath. I did this to reflect the kind of dreamy, muted mood from the photograph. When the sample was taken off the loom, the loss of tension caused the coloured weft yarn to be even less visible. If I were to weave this sample again, I would bear this in mind and make the weft slightly more visible while on the loom.
While looking through my swatchbook to identify drawings that I thought would be suitable for translating into weave, I decided to tackle the drawing on the left, which was inspired by the spiky outer covering of a horse chestnut seed. I immediately thought of embedding something hard and sharp into the weave, and the idea of cocktail sticks came to mind. I painted them in several different colours taken from my colour palette. I chose to weave this sample on the loom warped up with paper yarn as this would accentuate the unforgiving texture created by the wooden cocktail sticks. Wanting to increase the irregularity found in the drawing, I spun some white wool by hand using a drop spindle. As I'm not an expert spinner, my spun yarn is quite lumpy and irregular but that is exactly the effect I wanted in this sample.
This sample was created with my swatchbook drawing of a Chinese lantern plant in mind. I wanted a sense of translucency to come across, so I chose the loom with the monofilament warp threads. I also made use of some leftover stitched dissolvable fabric from the stitch block. I only incorporated one strip of it as I wasn't sure whether the sample would be stable enough after dissolving it. Luckily, it was, and I would like to experiment with the idea of using dissolvable fabric again in my woven designs.
I left several pieces of partially woven yarn hanging throughout the sample to replicate the hanging lines in my drawing. As a 'nod' to the original Chinese lanterns, I pulled up a section of threads through the weft, and shaped them into lantern shapes as seen in the centre photograph. I also temporarily hung a few of the flower heads onto the sample while it was still on the loom.
The sample on the top row was based on one of the objects from my box - a dried purple flower (seen on the left in the top left photo). I wanted to express the texture of the dried petal, which is quite thick, strong and tough. I therefore used some scraps of a tough leather, which I painted dark purple before cutting into strips and inserting into my weaving. The other striking part of the dried flower is the inner section, made up of a group of interestingly twisted blobs. This inspired my use of unspun wool, which I then buttonhole stitched, as seen in the photo on the top right. Other materials used includes dried plant stems and some hand-spun yarn which had twisted back on itself in a wild and organic way,
The sample in the bottom row was inspired by the same dried flower, but this time directly inspired by my drawings of the flower as opposed to the actual object. As I wasn't dealing with something 3D that I could feel, I only used yarn in this sample so I could focus on the quality of the line and mark-making of my sketches. I built up a few patterns that were reminiscent of the round shapes in the interior of the flower, and I also included some floating threads that I manipulated by hand to create the kind of loose linear quality of the drawings.
If I had more time, I would very much have like to experimented with felting, especially with a loom with silk threads, so I could experiment further with floating threads.