Emerald City Weave. Fail or nail?
If you follow me on Pinterest (HERE) you'll notice my 'Weaving Inspiration' board has become a hotbed of runway looks and models wearing fashionable textiles... oh and my other latest pinning craze has been African collar necklaces. Does this translate into my little wall hangings? I'm not sure. But they do help me get inspired when I'm in a creative rut... and lately I've felt like I needed that!
The amazing sleeves above were my inspiration for my latest weave. Draping has always been a favorite technique of mine and the thick, organic flow... along with the small contrasting stitches gave me visions of a weave to end all weaves. However, the design stretched my editing capabilities to the extreme. You will see in the final photo that my idea went in an entirely different direction.
I began with an organic, color-blocked foundation. The aqua and forest green reminded me of the emerald city... but I still think it worked. Some initial draping reinforced my idea and I became excited, but once the rest of the colors were added the draping faded into one word: mess. It looked sloppy and immature compared to the bold sophisticated foundation I had laid our, so after 4 different tries of draping/cutting it off I decided to let the weave be what it was.
It is a bright, clean, artisan piece of work that I love to look at. Perhaps the inspiration image will aid me in a different weave, but for now I've got some more inspiration fuel and I'll be glad to have the giant lady hanging on my own wall until it finds the right home...