Studio Life

My studio life tends to ebb and flow between a focus on teaching and a focus on weaving; one dominates my time and attention for a time while the other takes a back seat.  While my teaching will be revving up again later this month, lately I've been enjoying the chance to focus on weaving.  I've been developing some of the ideas I came up with while designing the big SkyGrass piece I finished a bit ago.  It seems I might have a whole SkyGrass series in the works. 

Here's what's on the floor loom at the moment.  It will be three panels hung side-by-side when it's done.  Two panels are underway right now; the third will be woven last, at the top. 

Untitled, work in progress
Molly Elkind

Maquette/collage of two panels of three-panel piece in progress
Molly Elkind

Here's the original SkyGrass piece:

SkyGrass, 26" x 45".  Linen warp, wool, linen and metallic weft.  8 epi.
(c) Molly Elkind 2021.  Photo by James Hart.

This is a small piece based on a collage of two painted and printed papers.  

SkyGrass Textures collage

SkyGrass Textures tapestry in progress

SkyGrass Textures, 10" x 4.5"  Cotton warp, wool weft.
(c) Molly Elkind 2021

 

I wove two parts separately, one from the bottom up and one from the side, and then collaged them together.  I like the dimensionality and the object-ness of the final tapestry.  

I'm also getting ready for the Eldorado Studio Tour next month, so I got out and hung all the work I might offer.  There's still some editing and re-arranging to be done, and I hope to add a few more small pieces.  

Here's one of those small pieces underway.  I hope to weave at least three of these and plan to mount them in white frames with mats.  

Monsoon collage, 5" x 5"

Monsoon tapestry in progress.  Not quite 5" x 5"!

This one may end up rather wonky in shape; weaving over two-under two has caused some serious draw-in.  Stay tuned!  

This all has me musing about whether I prefer weaving small or weaving large.  They both have their advantages.  Small pieces can be finished more quickly.  But the weaving and the finishing work can be fiddly.  Presentation is really important--usually you can't just hang them from a velcro strip on the wall.  Large pieces, on the other hand, do have an undeniable visual impact--size does matter.  And there's room to stretch out and really settle into weaving a large tapestry, a chance to live and grow with it that I find appealing.  I enjoy weaving at the floor loom and at a sett of 8 epi the weaving feels less fiddly than at the finer sett of smaller pieces.  

Do you prefer weaving small or weaving large--or, as with me, does it depend?