I love this image.
It was taken by Marie Matthews in Tunisia. She is my watercolor teacher and is really generous to share her photography as inspiration for her students.
A bunch of rowdy 5 year olds were singing their national anthem in a square. I’ve been working on this image as a weaving and finished V1 with a black and white cottolin warp and food-coloring-dyed silk weft in red, greenish blue and orange. Here is a detail – the full piece is being reviewed for an exhibit:
Yippee! This piece was accepted for 2026 Complexity in Denver held in conjunction with Complex Weavers Seminars.
The flags are woven as supplemental weft with the greenish blue and orange running selvedge to selvedge. This piece was designed, yarn dyed and executed in 6 days. Looking at it, I want to carry more color in the weft and change the composition to surround the kids with their flags. Next time I will weave the design using a pastel as the inspiration.
Here’s a look at the pastel in progress. I really like the process of working back and forth between painting and weaving – each discipline carries its own challenges and potential. I’ll share V2 soon.