Tapestry design

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Learning design skills and having fun in the process

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Learning design skills and having fun in the process

Have you reached that point in tapestry weaving where you feel you have a decent or even excellent grasp of technical issues but you are unsure how to design your own images? This happens to almost all of us, so you’re not alone. Designing is simply a skill and it can be learned.

There is a lot of pressure in the art world. How many messages do we get telling us that you have to be born with some sort of special talent or that you have to go to art school to make “good” art? Those messages are everywhere in our culture and it is easy to let those messages keep you from creating.

The truth is that designing for tapestry or any art medium is simply a skill and that skill can be learned.

Designing for tapestry

Designing for tapestry

A tapestry weaver’s task is to weave an image at the same time they’re creating a stable fabric. As a creator of images, many tapestry weavers are challenged by the process of designing. And part of that challenge has to do with that fact that we’re creating the fabric as the same time as the image so the work has to be structurally sound.

Some of us want to make fine art-level tapestries that hang in galleries and eventually someone’s home or office. And some of us want to enjoy the practice of the craft and don’t care one bit if anyone even sees their work. I think what matters most is whether or not the creator’s needs from the medium are met by their practice.

The thing that is true for of both of those kinds of creator is that design plays a part in engaging with this medium. Because we are creating something based in image, how we design that image is important.

Designing a tapestry

I have been working on a cartoon for awhile. I finally had it ready to go to the printer for enlargement today. Since I have moved since the last time I had an enlargement made, I had to find a new print shop. Technigraph in Santa Fe is a great place and I certainly missed them for awhile this morning. I got some quotes, one of which was way over $100 and would have taken the rest of the week. I have a 6 x 18 inch drawing that I need blown up to 24 x 72 inches which is 400%. Technigraph would have done this in 10 minutes for $12.

Turns out FedEx Office will do the job for $8.55 in 5 minutes. Here they are! To be honest, that 72 inches looks fairly daunting.
I design in a lot of different ways. Ideas accumulate over time and eventually some of them come together into some preliminary sketches. I also take a lot of photographs of patterns and colors I see and carry a little sketch book with me to jot down ideas when they hit. I know that I'll never remember them later. My design tools include a camera, tracing paper, pencils, colored pencils, collage, Photoshop Elements, collected images, and time.

Once I have a design I am happy with, I copy the whole thing onto one sheet of paper.
And then you go hunting for someone who has a large format printer.
I am going to weave this piece on my Macomber. I weave all my big pieces on my Harrisville Rug Loom, but for several reasons, this piece gets booted to the Mac. I know she can do it, but I also know I am going to miss that warp extender on the Harrisville.

With yarn still to be dyed and warping to do, it will be awhile before weaving commences.

If you'd like more information, here is an old post with photos of what I do from here. /rebeccamezoff/2010/12/tapestry-cartoons.html

And a video I made about attaching a cartoon when weaving on a floor loom:

Successful Design for Tapestry and Cornelia Theimer Gardella

I am so grateful to have a wonderful studio-mate, Cornelia Theimer Gardella. She is an outstanding artist and honestly, just a really great person. She is the kind of colleague who will not complain (out loud) about the boxes of yarn you have stacked in the corner of the studio for 4 months even though you KNOW it probably irks her just a little bit. She is also the kind of person who will talk through a concept for a piece with you or brainstorm some problem or other. She is quick to share a funny story and her enthusiasm for tapestry is infectious.

We were able to teach a class together this week and it was a great deal of fun (well, it would have been more fun for me if I hadn't been hacking up a lung the whole time--thanks to the kids at the hospital bringing me their special viral presents). We had four excellent students and I learned a great deal from the interaction of everyone. Ideas are certainly generated when you get six people together who are interested in tapestry and design. Conni is a master of color and design and I always learn something great from her. Thanks for a great class everyone!
Discussing various tapestries
Work in progress. Cornelia's tapestries on wall behind.
Work in progress. Rebecca's tapestries on wall behind.