Working title: Ghost
About a year ago, while thinking about what my next project should be, a set of three birch trees on my street offered themselves for consideration. I took several pictures, drew a close copy in Procreate, and finally wove this 9 foot by 3 foot piece.
Miami Beach Birch
Rayon of bamboo and cotton, hand dyed, double weave pick up
84” by 33”
Seen here at The Lowell Art Center, Lowell MI September to October 2021
I still really like the image of the three birch trees. I want to do another double weave pick up- yet I want to take this one to a new level. Ghost will be 30% smaller - so still pretty big - 30 by 65. I want to single out the tree that fell down in a big storm last August. I have dyed a portion of the bottom warp a much darker blue gray. The top layer is in large color blocks, navy blue on the left side, orange on the right. I want to indicate a time of day: dusk.
Bottom Layer of warp
Top layer of warp
As I weave the piece, I may use tapestry techniques or inlay to delineate the branches from the ghost tree. I want to emphasize its absence, and simultaneous presence through my memory. Indeed I think about that tree every time I walk past the little grouping. As I reflect on this work in progress, I find myself thinking about loss and memory.
A brief description of Double Weave Pick up
Generally speaking, in double weave pickup there are two layers of warp, in contrasting colors. Each warp layer interacts with its own set of weft threads. You can make two completely separate lengths of fabric. Or you can interchange them for a composition. With the use of pick up sticks, the image is picked up from the bottom layer warp threads and exchanged with the top layer warp threads. A very cool thing about this Is the reverse image on the other side. All is done in plain weave. I have made this warp a full yard longer than it needs to be so that I can practice including tapestry and/or inlay techniques, as well as test out some colors.
There are some really good books about this technique. My favorites are Double Weave by Palmy Weigle and Double Weave by Jennifer Moore.
Two remaining trees
It will take awhile to thread and begin the weaving, but I plan to post progress pictures and thoughts here. In the meantime, I also plan to post other projects as well. I have a new tapestry started, based on the same set of trees to share with you next week.