In January, after my first play with my new loom, I started my first tapestry! I could hardly wait to try 'making art' with fibre. I had so many ideas to try but I thought I would start off with a simple wall hanging tapestry.

As I had done with my first attempt at weaving I ran some waste yarn through the warp to give a firm straight base to weave the body of my tapestry up from. This project was a big exercise in learning and I did learn so much. Next time I will weave in a hem edge. Also I will set the warp threads better - I hope! Well I did say it was a big learning process.

In the image above you can see one of my stick shuttles loaded with blue wool. There is also a 'butterfly' of brown wool I introduced later. I used the rigid heddle to separate the shed into up and down positions of alternate warp threads. A lot of tapestry looms are simple frame looms without a heddle.

Also there is a hair comb that I used to pull down the weft tightly. Only the weft yarns are seen in tapestry weaving the warp are not.  The heddle would not have 'banged down' the weft tightly enough.

Apart from my brush with fibre, weaving my first tapestry, I have been taking a break from art. Sometimes life just overtakes the space carved out for creating and painting. I have also had a review and clear out of my older artwork. Actually slashed and binned about twenty paintings. Coinciding with the vernal equinox one could call it spring cleaning.

It isn't the first time I have 'cleared the decks' to move forward. Perhaps after I have painted (and possibly slashed) a few hundred paintings I will have something to say. Each canvas/surface is a learning process. I did save one or two canvasses suitable to be painted over and reused/recycled. 

I found this unfinished painting of an owl sitting on my easel. I am thinking of finishing this one. The eye already has character and I like the curve of the beak.