This time at Lillian Smith Center is ending... back to the real world soon

I have just a few more hours to spend here at the Center.  I'm so grateful to have had the time and space to work in concentration for the past two weeks.

In some ways, I feel like I've gotten a lot done and yet there's still more to do.  I've woven many samples of basic color theory ideas in the past but I've wanted to do more--it's quite interesting and informative to interpret the color studies I've done with paper and with paint into the medium I use--yarn.  And not just yarn but yarn used in weft-faced ways.  Other weaving types give their own unique qualities to color interaction in yarn.  There there's knitting, crocheting, embroidery....

Here's the pile of samples completed since I've been here.  They'll be added to the previous samples I'm taking to the Peters Valley class in a few weeks.

The porch at the Peeler cottage here at the Center has served as my primary studio:

I like working in the natural light while on the porch.  The weather has been good for this... and by later in the afternoon when the typical thunderstorms arrive, I've gone inside to read.  Yesterday's storm was atypical, though!  THUNDER!  LIGHTENING!  HAIL!  I went into the closet for a few minutes until things calmed down!!

But before that storm, here's the loom as I'd gotten as many things completed on it as I reasonably could:

Now, I'll end with a few shots from the morning walks.  It constantly amazes me to look down at a certain time and see something remarkable.  Like just glancing down and finding this fellow one morning:

Then, the next morning... not even looking for him (I presume it's the same fellow), here he (maybe she) was on the moss near the leaf... and, quite luckily I looked down when I did or I would have stepped right on him!

Maybe if I could see the markings on the shell more closely I'd know for sure if he/she is the same one.

One more afternoon of reading, one more morning's walk.  Then back to the real world.

Heavenly Light

Heavenly light is what my friend, Diane, calls the beautiful effect of atmosphere combined with the sunlight.  This was at my back this morning... didn't realize it until I thought to turn around for some reason.  Maybe it was the music of the spheres I was hearing.  Whatever it was, I'm so glad I did look behind me.

So I guess that sometimes it's good to look at what's behind you, even as you move ahead.

And moving ahead... more reading, note-taking and weaving yesterday--

Maybe it's a sign of a disorganized mind to be reading several books at once.  But that's the way I approach gathering information.  I read some pages in one book, think about what the author is saying, then read a bit in another book... on and on it goes until I feel I have a bit of understanding.

Yesterday's weaving was an example of contrast of cool-warm and effect on background difference on the same color:

Isn't it amazing that the same red-violet appears different when woven in a background of red-orange or blue-violet?

Color, color, color!

I have to start with a shot of the red door.  If you've read my blog from the past when I've been at Lillian Smith Center you'll maybe recall that I've had a fascination with the red door at the basement of the cottage I've stayed in.  Here's the door in context.  The morning light is particularly beautiful as it falls across the door and the stones of the cottage.

Colors are all around here at the Center and not only on my looms.

My days are being spent with reading, note taking and weaving about color--here are a few of the things I've gotten done in the past week:

These two studies are in two different setts; on the left is 6 epi and on the right is 8 epi.  The wefts are also different weights--the left is four strands of Vevgarn, the right is four strands of 20/2 worsted wool.

Preparing to do a gray gradation for the 6 epi sett.

The gradation of the grays is at the right.  The other gradation is of the 12 colors from the color wheel, blending into each other in increments.

Yesterday I worked with studies of complements using Itten's ideas as starting points.  I began by weaving 1" squares of the intermediate complements, using five strands of weft.  One square at each side was the unmixed color, and the four squares between had the new color added a strand at a time while a strand of the other color was removed.

Here's the start, using red-violet moving to its complement, yellow-green.

The top weaving is of the complementary mixes of the intermediate hues.  The middle sample is of something else--using similar value of gray and a hue in several ways.  Middle value red and gray.  It's amazing how bluish the gray appears.  A bit of effect of simultaneous contrast at work.

So today will again be spent with weaving, reading, note taking.  I've discovered that there's an online version of Betty Edward's book about color and so I have both a print copy and an ebook version.  I'll be working more with the Albers Interaction of Color iPad app this week, too.  

Class prep heats up!

My upcoming workshop at Peters Valley is just around the corner.  Although the class size is still small it's confirmed and now the work begins.  The title of the class is "For the Love of Color" and I'm doing new examples to add to my samples of assorted color explorations.  I wrote a bit about that at my Tapestry Share blog a couple of weeks ago.

Today I started pulling out the yarns I'm going to work with in the new samples:

I'll be leaving for Lillian Smith Center on Saturday for a few days of residency and the color work will occupy my time while I'm there.

The other day I opened my mailbox and found the latest issue of VÄV, the Scandinavian weaving magazine.  I'd been asked to have my blog noted in an issue--and here it was!  I was thrilled to have it mentioned along with a few others from different countries.

The stones grow slowly but surely.  I've rolled the warp forward again and am above the 1/3 point now.  Even a little bit woven each day moves the piece along.  Maybe the weaving fairies will come in and help out while I'm gone...