Weaving Embellished

Now that I’m approaching the end of the weaving, I get to start embellishing! I say that as though I know what I’m doing, but as usual, I only have rough ideas. So what embellishment does this need? I suspect that if I start asking people for their opinions, I’ll get just as many different answers. So I’m going to go with my gut, which is not always a very pleasing result. And it’s usually fraught with hesitation and self-doubt. (It’s funny to me that I doubt myself about embellishing, but I was so sure that I could make the slinky work. Whhaaaa??)

Here’s my thinking: I’ll use some of that outstanding bamboo yarn to thread into the waterfall to make it super full, and the ends will be looped through at the top to “tie” the waterfall to the backwater. At the bottom, I intend thread it down through the riverbed. I may even let it drape and hang down below the actual weaving edge. (I can always cut that off if I don’t like it.) In a basic sense, it’s inlay, done after the weaving instead of during the weaving.

You know, looking back, I could have swapped out my 1 characteristic to make this an inlay project instead of a honeycomb structure. Black, inlay, split-complementary color scheme, and favorite place. Would’ve saved me a lot of thinking time, and possibly (probably) weaving time. It may have been an easier way to convey the elements of the project – the riverbed below, the waterfall over the dam, and the backwater. But I’m not sure if I would have been able to convey the waves and motion of water as well as the honeycomb does. The combination of the variegated grays in that sumptuous bamboo yarn and the curving outline wefts of the honeycomb create a subtle movement that feels like water to me.

Or maybe I’m all wet. (Ha – pun intended.) There’s that self-doubt sneaking in again. Maybe that’s part of what art is all about. There’s no right or wrong. Some people will like it, some people won’t. I’m putting myself out there where people can judge, and criticize, and critique. I’m letting others see a little bit of me in this project. I call it Blackwater. Let’s hope they call it art.