Get Blogging!

Well, it has been a while since I have blogged my movements and plans! I am determined to be more pro active in keeping people up to date on what I am up to! I have been working in my studio for the past 2 months, my loom is now up and running and I have completed my first commission.

This Alpaca Baby's Blanket is the first thing I have woven on my loom and I am very pleased with the outcome. I have edged the blanket in silk to make it a lovely present for a baby. My loom works beautifully and I love the way the mechanism works, it is a very easy loom with work on. I have put on a 9m warp so I will be able to get several pieces out of it, the next is to be a beautiful wrap.

I am off to Florida for 5 weeks now, giving myself a break from my studio and time to concentrate on other things that need doing! My website for example... It is under construction and will be live in a couple of weeks. I will post updates on here and twitter! I have also been in touch with a weaving guild in Florida and I am going to meet with them and I am going to be able to rent a loom! I have been busy doing another load of natural dying and I have prepared a couple of warps to take out with me. I am going to take the time to really experiment with different weave structures and hopefully I will come out with some cushions and scarves at the end of it!!

Creating my Studio

I have been very lucky to have been given the use of this fantastic room as a studio. It used to be a school and there is access to a kitchen which is fantastic for my dying. In these photos you can see the beginning of the transformation from a very cold classroom to what will be a fantastic working space.

All images © Araminta Campbell 2011

For my final collection I have tried to balance the combination of weave with stitch along with some more creative samples for display and others that will be more tactile and be able to use day to day.

Final Designs!

All images © Araminta Campbell 2011

Building my collection

All images © Araminta Campbell 2011

By placing my preliminary collection together I could see how some of the samples could be combined. I am going to start to plan my samples in order to create a broad range of final designs that will sit together as a collection

Final Weaves

All images © Araminta Campbell 2011

Needing to develop my small samples into larger resolved samples for my final show, I decided to make a new warp using the same colours. The weave samples will be incorporated with some of my other stitch techniques to create larger samples.

All images © Araminta Campbell 2011

Using my weave designs I have experimented with photoshop. I am going to digitally print some of my designs and work back into them to create new surfaces.