My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view
A wondrous, woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold
Carol King’s song has been streaming through my head lately. I love this first verse, and think it is a marvellous way to see my life. However, I remember that there is a bit in it about someone turning into a toad ~ I hope doesn’t apply to my life!
It has been in my head because I have done more work on my tapestries. It was my tapestry work that was inspiring me through a grey period of creativity. This is how it looked when I last showed you; I had attached the woven boulder to the canvas and had begun free form sewing.
This is where I am now.
Still a work in progress, but nearing completion. I want to check the line of the mountain tops against the original photo. The tapestry is not a direct copy, but I need to get the perspective of the the ridges correct. The vegetation on the bottom left still needs work. If you look closely you will see how I mucked up the line on the bottom right. Annoying to have to sew one row. I may add some vegetation to the top left of the cliff. I also want to sew detail into the rock face, to build up its form.
Then there is the sky. I have light blue wool, but I think it will be too vivid. I may have to look around for a softer blue grey.
The focal point is the waterfall, and it is more obvious with the real thing. The photo has flattened out the colours. I like what I have created, and am certainly going to experiment more with the combination of weaving and sewing.
Anne Lawson Art 
19 replies on ““My life has been a tapestry….””
As a textile specialist I must note this is technically an embroidery 😀 And a very interesting one at that since you’re not sticking to a single type of stitch. In the case of a true tapestry you’d be knotting on a machine like this:
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Fantastic to know ~ I have never been sure what to call what I am doing.(Although “My life has been an embroidery” doesn’t have quite the same ring!) My work is certainly very freeform, and I am going to experiment with adding different stitches over the top, to build up even more texture.
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You have definitely found yourself a new medium. Painting with a needle creates a wonderfully rich and textural result, I think you should give this direction some serious time and development.
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Thank you Kate, that means so much to me. I am exploring and playing with ideas that may wander off in all sorts of directions, but I am quite keen to follow where they lead.
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And all achieved without water! I do think the extra textural dimension is a real plus.
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I think this is building up to a great piece – very interesting textures, I love that Boulder! I see no lack in creativity! I would call it an embroidered painting!
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I am glad that the boulder works for you. It was a fun experiment, and certainly was much quicker than sewing the whole. Still some things to think about with it though…..
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Great work, it looks fantastic
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Thanks LucyAnn. I am enjoying how it is just emerging as I go along. There is a vague overall plan, but nothing really definite. It is more about laying each colour and stitch next to the other.
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I love the way you are using a combination of weaving and sewing and, rather than the strict (and rather dull) use of half crosses, you are incorporating much more free-form embroidery. On my frame I have a Klimt-inspired embroidery/tapestry at the moment, but it’s all half cross stitch and I find it a bit boring to do, so progress is very slow. Maybe I should ignore the instructions in the kit and make it a bit more free-form.
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Go for it! You all inspire me with possibilities.
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I agree ~ ignore the instructions and go for it! There will be lots of good textures and colours to inspire you in a Klimt painting. You can always come back to the instructions if things go awry.
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Anne, this is lovely. Everything you touch is lovely. I love this piece. It makes me want to pick up embroidery again, but using your skill for texture. Brilliant!
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The good thing about embroidery, Alys, is that it is very portable. You don’t need the special sewing room, just somewhere comfy to sit. i do a lot of my work half watching TV, whereas the painting needs at least a table. As you said before ~ GO FOR IT! (But don’t forget to show me xx)
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you can do anything you want, and call it whatever you want – there will always be those who say “it’s not…” then you can decide if you want to use the experts terms or not. To me it’s a journey unfolding that in the end will pleasing to your eye and anyone else, who hasn’t the faintest idea how you created it…
we are so hung up on technicalities at times to a point where we may as well give up 🙂
I am in a bit of a grey-period as well, as I sift/sort and then pack/box up my art/craft supplies…although there seem to be many boxes, there are also empty shelves – and at some point the hardware will become laden with treasures again – in a new abode…
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This is so true, and something that is easy to forget. We shape our own lives. I like the idea of considering what others/experts say and deciding what to retain.
I hope that your grey period can change soon. I am sure there is a lot of creativity bubbling away under the surface, waiting to be revealed to you.
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Alys, from Born to Organize, send me over to see this work and I’m so glad she did! It’s lovely and also so interesting to watch the progress and have you explain what you’re thinking and trying to accomplish!
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I am so glad that you visited and enjoyed what you see. I love to write about what I am doing, so there will be many more posts about my work!!
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What a lovely work in progress.
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