Sunday, November 19, 2017

Tapestry



Apologies for the lengthy absence.  We were away for a few weeks and despite my best intentions, what was needed in the end was an almost total silence.  For the first time since I began blogging I didn't keep it up as we travelled; I apologise too for not commenting much on others blogs.

But here we are back home, safe and well and a little bit more relaxed.

One of our first stops was Edinburgh - a city that constantly delights and where we love to wander and explore and re-visit fabulous places.  One of these is the Dovecot Tapestry Workshop. It produces beautiful work, puts on stunning exhibitions and for the first time we got to see behind the scenes from the viewing balcony.

It was so impressive.

The scale is astonishing. You can see the humans in amongst the frames and the number of large scale projects underway...at least five I think.



So much work goes into one of these - the design, the matching of colours, the hundreds of threads for weft and warps, then the weaving of the threads.


The front of one underway


 

The back...


 Details of another including the words to be woven.


Hard at work.


We were both in awe of the amount of work and time these massive projects take - the patience required!  Apologies too because none of the projects were named so can't be attributed - works in progress still.

Fragments from the exhibition that was on at the time.

Detail - Caroline Dear Moss circle/square


Detail - Joanne Soroka For Irene Sendler


Detail - Aino Kajaniemi Shadow Series 1-18


Life is definitely a tapestry, a gathering of threads, designs emerging...woven into layers and creating order and beauty out of simple things.

8 comments:

  1. Wow! what an amazing space, am trying to imagine how long many hours goes into one tapestry & the work of Caroline Dear working quietly on the Isle of Skye is inspiring!

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    1. It was truly awe-inspiring Mo - and my brain almost burst trying to imagine and work out how long it took and all the processes needed...Caroline Dear's work is so breathtakingly calm and eloquent...go well.

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  2. Impressive on so many levels! The detailed works, scale of the works in progress and that space - omgee drool ...

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  3. you visited dovecot!!! thank you for showing me. us.

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    1. We did! We have been twice now, and this time got toes the works underway - just fabulous. Will always go back...and it's a pleasure to share!

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  4. Oh wow! those tapestries must take atleast a year to weave. Spectacular scale. Would be amazing to actually see. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Maya they were astonishing and mind-boggling and just gorgeous!

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