Moorman technique.

I have woven a lot in Moorman technique. Autumn leaves (above right) and butterfly, at the background pictures looms are woven this way. You have to be sure how you mix colours because of the colour(s) of your basic weave. My butterfly weave was very intensive, it is a 4 point mirrored design.
I wove it with 26 colours at the same time, which were woven together in opposite directions. It took me about 6 months to finish it.

My tropical fish is designed differently. The basic weave consists of 4 varieties of blue mint clasped weft. Therefore I had to consider changing colours in the back ground matching together with the colours of the fishes. There are 2 directions in which the fishes swim. Depth I tried to achieve by weaving the upper fish in darker colours, with extra shimmers on their backs, followed by fish without shimmering, woven with a bit vague colours. They swim below the others or further away.

I wanted the light of the sun to shine on the water, therefore the upper fish have a sparkling back, they shine in the light. There are fish with yellow colours, they swim in water where sun is shining. Darker fish are out of the sun. Some lurex threads are woven, they are reflecting sun shine.

When you try to find the rights colours, mixing and measuring which one to weave where, so that you still can see all the fishes swimming in and out of sun light, knowing you also have to see them in a colour changing background… it takes time.

I laid my design on the floor of my supplies room and it took me months of staring, re arranging, thinking.
I had to answer a lot of questions of my family – why are you sitting there, staring at the floor?

Can I ask you something?

Am I disturbing you!

There you are!

Not finished yet?

In the end after I wove a sampler, I wove my tropical fish, I now have a beautiful(ly) woven peace, hanging at a wall.

Exposition Deventer 2009.