Paloma Chaffinch

Tapestry Landscape

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:04:17 PST

I've finally started weaving my first tapestry. I had a problem right at the bottom (or the start of the weaving) with the weft not covering the warp properly but I think this was because I had the weft pulled too tight as it seems to be better as it grows and as I get used to it. I'm not sure at this stage whether I'm pleased with it or not and until I get more weaving done I won't know. I marked the design on the warp to make it easier for me to follow and then put a sheet of black paper behind the warps so I can see what I'm doing. The bobbin on the table at the left is my prized possession - it has a brass tip and it feels so much nicer to weave with than the all-wood ones. It was hugely expensive though so I'll have to collect a few at a time and put them on my birthday and Christmas lists for years to come!

A close up of progress so far.

Tomorrow I have a day off work and I'm going to the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy. I can't wait; I'm so excited - all that wonderful colour!

water anyone?

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:57:16 PST

snow

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:57:13 PST

Snow came overnight.

bicycle

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:49:05 PST

Really must learn how to ride this damn bike!!

sunlit grass

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:40:29 PST

Taken on a sunny day a couple of weeks ago, the sunlight was lighting up the grass from behind making it an intense green. But I still love the black and white treatment.

umbilifer

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:18:40 PST

I think this is called an umbilifer but not sure. Do know it's a 'dead thing' though!

berries

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:21:49 PST

laurel bud

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:45:14 PST

I love this little cluster of laurel leaves just starting their new life.

bark

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:44:54 PST

I saw this incredible example of bark whilst out walking the dogs today. I had intended to convert the picture to black and white but it just didn't work, so here it is in colour.

grass and seeds

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:55:13 PST

Dead grasses and seeds taken at the end of last Autumn.

black and white

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:34:11 PST

How I love black & white photos!

happy new year!

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:16:35 PST

I love this rose hip with its long tendrils and sharp spikes. Oh, how I wish I'd removed the dead piece of stem before I photographed it though.

NEW YEAR'S JITTERS

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:06:45 PST

After seeing pictures of several of my blog friends' studios I decided the time had come to 'fess up to the mess I work in and post some photos. Here is my desk/work table:

It shows my tapestry sampler in progress which restricts the amount of space I have left to work on as it attaches to the table on clamps for comfortable working. The monitor belongs to my old PC which I rarely use now as I have a Mac notebook which I love. But I still need it for a few things so I keep it.

This view is the wall behind my worktable:

I've been careful not to include the floor area in the photograph because there's a lot of stuff down there that REALLY needs to be tidied up! The two collages are by a favourite artist of mine, Nagib.

This wall has my project/inspiration board and containers below for art materials and yarns. My studio also houses our wine rack which can be seen bottom right! How's that for good planning :-)

This was a great opportunity to use my 20mm wide angle lens which I don't use that often. It also reminded me that I need to tidy my camera equipment away somewhere in this room.

I found taking these photos and writing about them quite emotional. It confirmed my worries about the fact that I'm such a butterfly, moving so rapidly from painting to embroidering to drawing to photography to weaving and on and on without really settling on one thing, making it my own and developing it properly. This actually worries me a lot - it seems to me that it's a big flaw in my character and something that I need to do something about. With another New Year nearly upon us I find myself thinking a lot about these things and wondering what I can do to change. I'm not a fan of new year's resolutions, but I do certainly get that feeling at this time of year that if I need to make changes now's the time.

But how to make them is the problem...

SPLIT TONE EXPERIMENT

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:02:58 PST

I found how to do split tone in Lightroom. Thanks Kat!

TAPESTRY WEAVING SAMPLER

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:09:37 PST

Tapestry weaving is a new thing for me. I'm learning from a book and this is a sampler I've started. It's very therapeutic and I can't wait to have a go at designing something of my own and mixing colours on the bobbins. But I need to learn the basics first!

OLD DOOR

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:35:04 PST

Wonderful textures surround this old door. I put the red effect on for fun.

JAPONICA FLOWER

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:25:55 PST

This is the flower of a large plant I have in my garden which I believe is some sort of a Japonica. The flower is huge and in all the years I've had it I've only seen it flower a couple of times. This time I had my camera ready!

CHRISTMAS GIFT TAGS

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:59:37 PST

I made some Christmas gift tags from strips of fabric, beads, machine and hand stitching. I only made five for my favourite people! They make me think of stained glass windows.

ROSE HIP

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:11:25 PST

Such a lovely, healthy looking rose hip. Won't be long though before it becomes one of my beautiful dead things!

QUILTING EXPERIMENT

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:44:32 PST

Playing around at quilting. I printed my finger painting exercise onto silk fabric, backed it with batting and got stitching. And a little beading. I didn't plan on it being a 'proper piece' so hadn't figured how to finish it off. So I just stitched all around the edge with blanket stitch in different coloured threads.

MUSHROOMS

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 09:24:01 PST

Mushrooms marching across my front lawn. So cute all cuddled together :-)

DILL

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:11:11 PDT

This is a dill plant which has grown and grown and at the moment I can't bear to cut it down or whatever you're meant to do with them. It looked so beautiful the other day against the sunlit beech hedge that I rushed out with my camera and took some shots. Wonderfully ethereal isn't it?

PLAYING WITH FELT

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:29:38 PDT

Just playing around with needle felting! A lesson in how not to approach a piece - no plan, no design, just wanted to play with a felting needle. Put a bit of everything in and then free machined over the top. Learnt a little more about how my sewing machine behaves with different types of fabric though. I think it might be a whale :-)

HARBOUR AT COVE

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:38:10 PDT

Two tiny cottages overlooking the small harbour at Cove.

LOST AT SEA

Paloma Chaffinch (Paloma Chaffinch) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:50:57 PDT

This monument, depicting women and children watching and waiting for their fishermen husbands, brothers and sons to return to harbour, commemorates the loss of 189 lives to a huge and violent storm off the eastern Scottish coast in 1881. There are three identical statues located in the three villages which lost sailors. This one stands above Cove harbour, a tiny harbour tucked beneath the cliffs. It's a very moving statue. The storm claimed four of Cove's five boats and 11 of its 21 fisherman.