As an example of how  serendipity strikes, just as I was mulling over what to do next, a fiber artist in my local weaving guild gave a presentation on her work at the guild meeting.  She works with painted warp and weft (distinct from ikat in that it is not resist-dyed, but painted onto the stretched-out warp and weft), and this piece particularly struck my eye:

It’s beautiful, despite not being representational art, and I love the way the colors blend into each other, yet stay distinct enough to make out the pattern, which is a fairly classic “Snail’s Trail” overshot pattern (I think I got the name right, not entirely sure as I don’t do much overshot).  I could easily see incorporating this into my work.  Ulla very kindly agreed to have a longer conversation later, so I’m going to call her today and see if I can set up a time for coffee, or to visit her studio.  I think this technique could be fantastically interesting if you combined it with something like network drafting or  (dare I say it?) doubleweave.  Complicated, of course, but then, I love complicated.  🙂

Mike and I have now more or less finalized the design of our wedding rings.  We’re going to have rings carved out of 14K gold bands (14K being harder and hence less likely to get damaged over time).  And we are definitely going with a Chinese dragon and phoenix facing each other along the ring, with a “flaming ball” of gold in the center.  Carved rings are unusual; normally  they are carved from wax and then cast using the lost-wax method, not carved out of a thick band of gold.  But we loved the look of the carved rings, so that’s what we’re going for.  The jeweler thinks the timeframe will be tight, due to her other commitments, but she says she should be able to get them done in time for the wedding.