Utah Tapestry

“Deserts are like Dreams”

         Within the vastness of a desert, actions seem to be disconnected; distances deceiving and dimensions become distorted. It is a place of geological time, where the human life span is insignificant and where the daily cycle of dawn to dusk plays out its theatre of change. Where the erosion of the landscape, through heat and cold, wind and water, and through the movements of the earth have created a panorama which encompasses vast amounts of space, of sky and distances.

           During the midday period the intensity of the sun on the arid and parched desert evaporates and bleaches the entire colour palette. This intense light is such that at sunrise and sunset are the occasions of the day when features become visible in their true colours. For it is at these times that the long shadows appear and the wide range of colours, textures and forms make their entrance. They assist in emphasising the enormity of the geological time scale and its resulting effects on the continuing erosion of the land. The combination of senses, of the piercing sunlight and its attendant heat create visual anomalies in the form of mirages. They result in the confusion of the mind, which produces multiple horizons. It is important that we experience these wild and wilderness places through a heightened sense of understanding. Perhaps it requires that we visit as an individual, alone to fully appreciate these places.

           Deserts are places where the human scale is put into perspective. Where mountains materialize at dawn then melt into the sky at night. These are the places for solitude and contemplation, of reflection and thought, a timeless environment. Within this grand   spectacular amphitheatre we might be able to find and experience the human spirit. Truly this is a place where the physical world meets the spiritual world – a “tingle zone”.

         I am reminded of a passage from Laurens Van der Post’s book “The Heart of the Hunter” when he describes the emotions when approaching the end of a journey through a desert wilderness.   

        “The end of the journey was very near now. It is remarkable how a sense of valediction heightens one’s awareness of the beauty of the world. I think it is because beauty is a summons to journey, is both a hail and a farewell of the spirit, and since our deepest pattern is a round of departure and return, we never recognize it more clearly than at the beginning and end of our journeys. Indeed all the traffic and the travail in between may be directed just to that end. Besides, when one has lived as close to nature for as long as we had done, one is not tempted to commit the metropolitan error of assuming that the sun rises and sets, the day burns out and the night falls, in a world outside oneself. These are great and reciprocal events, which occur also in ourselves. In this moment of heightened sensibility, there on the lip of a pan like words never before spoken, I was convinced that, just as the evening was happening in us, so were we in it, and the music of our participation in a single over whelming event was flowing through us.”

           The process of researching took several months during which time I looked at literary, visual and audio sources on the concepts and ideas relating to the project. My client in whose home the finished work would hang had provided me with a set of house building plans, photographs and samples of both the internal and the external environment. The home set in a desert location over looking a National Park had been designed with something of the philosophy of Frank Lloyd Wright where the features of the natural landscape are brought inside to enhance the living areas.

           My first paintings explored the representational desert features and included pathways through and into the eroded rock formations along with multiple horizons. With the finished tapestry being vertical this led easily into the rounded forms and encompassing the sky lines and space. I wanted to leave plenty of space for the viewer to become absorbed and to feel the abundance of energy, heat and movement. All my work is concerned with the curved line, so expressive of movement and of the passing of time, which is so appropriate for this project. Having to work with secondary printed material, i.e. photographs, the colour range was considerable and as the paintings progressed the strength and intensity increased considerably. I concentrated on those periods of the day when the colours were at their strongest and a fortunate experience occurred which substantiated the boldness of tone and contrast. While flying from Los Angeles late in the afternoon we flew over Utah. On a bright and clear day, and with the setting sun behind us, the elongating shadows, the strong earth colours and textures amid the vastness of the landscape left an indelible impression.

           The next step was to send the client colour prints of a selection of the paintings, colours swatches of the yarns and descriptions of my concepts for the textile. It was some months after I started that a design was chosen and a decision was made to begin the weaving. From the paintings a strongly coloured version, which included a dominant focal point by the introduction of the Sun, was selected. With the dimensions and the design now agreed I began to assemble the loom. I was to use a vertical frame loom and a continuous warping technique. Because of the size, it was necessary to weave the tapestry on its side. This was essential, as the warp threads alone would not support the weight of the piece whereas the weft would be much stronger. I used an off-white three-ply woollen yarn with enhanced twist and set at six ends per inch. For weft I used two and three ply woollen yarns chemically dyed. It took me a few months to accumulate almost a hundred different shades of coloured woollen yarns. I finger shed using no leashes or mechanical devices, with two strands of yarn wound on traditional wooden tapestry bobbins. This gives me the option of using two similar colours or two different shades at a time.

         A spacing cord was twisted into the width of the warp and a 10 cms bottom border was woven incorporating my initials. With a single shed stick separating the alternate warp threads, I added the full size line drawings between the front and the back threads in readiness to mark on to the warp threads the main shapes. Using a permanent marker I first located the position of each shape on to the warp threads and then made a circular mark on all the threads. This is necessary as the tension will increase during weaving and a mark on only one side will twist out of sight. These marks were left to dry thoroughly overnight in readiness to start weaving the next day. I wound two strands of weft yarn of the appropriate colour on to the French style tapestry bobbins. Sometimes the two strands were the same but other times two different colours were used to create a more accurate shade or contrast. This produces much more interest and adds vibrancy to the weave. With such a large tapestry it was important that I should weave every day. This helps with the continuance of thoughts and ideas, tension control and colour combinations and such discipline ensures the tapestry grows steadily.

         I believe that both physical and mental preparations are essential elements prior to weaving. Tapestry weaving is an interrupted form of weaving and when “painting with yarn” it is difficult to create and maintain a rhythmic weaving motion. The weft threads occupy a limited space across the warp and rarely if ever cross from one side to the other. To achieve better control I find that weaving fabric on a four-shaft floor loom helps. In this form of weaving, where the feet control the treadles and the pattern and the hands and arms throw the shuttle and engage the beater, there is a great deal of rhythm generated. A further important aspect, which has to be taken into consideration, is the position of the weaver. Whether sitting on a very low bench, a chair or a higher stool and when standing, weaving can only take place comfortably from the hip to the shoulder and stretching low or high must be avoided. Sitting or standing for a length of time in one position is to be avoided. I work from the back of the warp and there is a need to view progress from the front.

         Perhaps of greater importance is the mental preparation. Concentration must be directed to the whole, rounded process and not merely to the end product. My design process, the design continuum, involves much research of the visual, literary and audio sources and where possible from primary experiences. This results in numerous drawings and watercolour paintings. The first images are representational and develop into more simplified shapes which are all abstractions from the earlier content of the paintings. Through sampling and wrapping the colour palette emerges. All this time I am developing and refining the concepts that I want to incorporate. This takes many weeks and months and ensures that, when I start weaving, I am totally aware of what I want to achieve. Weaving is slow and needs to undertaken in a calm controlled manner, relaxed yet receptive to the developing nuances of texture and tone. Movements must be positive and concentration devoted to the control of the weft tension. I find that after a period of time my desire to weave more quickly causes the tightening of the wefts. This is a time to stop weaving and time for reflection, to review and renew the stated aims and objectives and to move!

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© Michael Crompton 2000