I’ve decided that my next piece will be a tribute to my friend Joy, to be shown at her memorial service. It’s a fairly ambitious design, featuring several photos of Joy , plus some of the things that were most important to her. I’m currently in the layout stage, making sure that all the images are correctly placed. I’m not entirely sure whether I can get good enough resolution on some of the more detailed images, so there will probably be other tweaks during the conversion process.
The difficult part is that the memorial service is next Sunday, so I have only nine days to finish the design, convert it to something weave-able, do the weaving, and finish it. I think I can do it, but it will be tight.
Here’s a rough draft of the piece:
It will be woven 29″ wide (finished width probably more like 27″). The blue background will feature the blue painted warp, the orange lines will be the orange warp. The yellow sections will be woven with threads made with real gold – though I have to check whether I’ll have enough to weave the entire piece.
Given that I have a piece with a tight timeline, it’s a good thing that I’m almost done with the loom prep! Here are some photos from the various stages.
First, a moment of panic halfway through tying the new warp to the old. Could this rat’s nest possibly be salvaged?
Well, sometimes a hopeless tangle turns out to be easier than you’d think to straighten out. This photo was taken about fifteen minutes later, after gently teasing the knots forward through the heddles and reed:
Still messy but no longer hopeless!
The second batch of knots went even more smoothly:
Since it was my first attempt at tying on, a few missed threads and un-done knots were only to be expected. Those took about three hours to fix, but here I am now, neatly arranged in front and back:
The next step will be debugging, so I’ll weave a short header and then some twills whose sole purpose is to reveal any errant threads. And after that, I’ll be ready to weave samples for the memorial piece!
Tien, What a lovely tribute to your friend. I’m sure her family and friends will love it.
So, about your warp…..I never would have made it the 15 minutes! You must have amazing patience.
This will be amazing and I can’t wait to see your work. She was such an amazing person and I miss her so much!
Please explain the symbols used in your JOY weaving.
Thanks
As her daughter I’d be happy too.
The 4 central animals are her spirit/affinity animals. The other images I willdo clockwise.
Rainbow heart: Gay pride
Celtic Knot: Spirituality and trifecta of my mothersc magic.
Spinning wheel: Mom loved loved her spinning and knitting. It was her passion.
High Priestess: She was one of the most talented and gifted tarot readers and always was associated by others with the HighPriestess card.
Scorpion: She was a Scorpio and had a passion for astrology.
Dr. Who gallifreyan: I’m guessing that is mom’s name in Gallifreyan 🙂 she adored Doctor Who and it represented her geeky spirit.
I appreciate your loving memorial to Joy.
Awesome undertaking and very special!
What an amazing process Tien. Great photos!
Thank you Tien. Thank you for sharing your gorgeous gift to Joy. It’s such a kind, thoughtful and beautifully creative piece which speaks to Joy’s own creativity and special magic too. Joy would love this piece and be so deeply touched by your caring and love.
I learned of Joy many, many years ago when you mentioned her in your early blogging. I have followed Joy since and had many communications with her. She was a joy; so intuitive, talented, and funny. What a wonderful tribute. Thank you Tien.
This is a beautiful tribute to Joy.