Elevation: A Commission that Challenged My Perspective

A Tapestry Commission that Inspired and Challenged Me

Working on a custom piece is great fun but this design really put me to the test! This 40″ x 52″ wall tapestry was inspired by a very small tapestry I had in the studio. Sunshine, a 10″ x 12″ wedge weave that had since found a home with another collector. Joanna Burke of Joanna Burke Art Consultants, Inc., was choosing artworks for a new medical facility and asked if I could use a similar design and colors to weave a new, large wall tapestry to be installed. Timing was tight but I was up for the challenge.

Joanna and I talked about the design, to represent mountains, and size, and I pulled colors from my yarn stash with a similar palette and then some. I needed a lot of yarn to weave a large tapestry.

A wedge weave is woven in a specific way and takes more time to produce. Since this tapestry was large and on a deadline I modified the design to be woven on my largest floor loom. (If you’ve been to my studio, you know the one I mean. It’s big! The loom itself is over 12’ wide which allows me to weave rugs and tapestries up to 11’ wide.) Elevation was woven left to right instead of top to bottom so I could create the ridges that define the design to represent mountains. Looking at the design and colors as wove I had to think sideways vs. my usual horizontal.

The biggest challenge with any of my weavings is I can only see the most recent portion of the piece I’m working on. As I weave, I advance the woven area to the front beam so I can continue to weave and add to the rug or tapestry I am making. Working over weeks on a project makes it difficult to keep in mind where I started and where I want to end up. To keep track photos help, but still the design is in my mind and directs me on what color to choose next and how to adjust the design as I’m weaving.

Elevation came out just the way I hoped and Joanna was very happy as well!