Monday, May 25, 2009

Up on the Housetop, Click, Click, Click

It has rained most of the weekend here, but according to the radar we have about 5 hours of sunshine this afternoon. James had started a project on Friday of taking out our chimney. It's all part of the kitchen renovation. The house was built in 1945 with a chimney for the furnace and one for a coal burning fireplace. In the 1960s, an addition enclosed the coal burning fireplace chimney within the house. We placed a set of gas logs in there and every time we used them more heat escape than was put in the house. So it's going for more room and a set of ventless logs. Here's the before pictures - in the house, in the attic and the protected hearth!
He was able to get it to a stopping point on Friday, but waited and waited for the rain to subside. So with the great forecast, he's up there making all sorts of noise! I'm countering him by continuing tuning the piano!

While I was out checking on him, I notice our amaryllis are in bloom. That is actually a rare thing. My in-laws are in Charleston and their bloom regularly. We took some and most have not lived since it's that much cooler here away from the coast. In any case, it was a welcome surprise!
The blue yarn came in for the wedge weave and that is continuing nicely. I completed the green and blue green blocks and likely will complete the blue block today.
Lastly, I could use some help. Tapestry Weavers South is having an exhibition on August and I've been working towards entering it. The wedge weave in fact is heading that way. A second piece I framed this weekend. It's really a sampler that I created last year to try some transparency work for a larger piece. It's a geometric, as you see, with a number of different lines. I liked it enough I've combined it with a metal mat and continued the lines on the metal. The whole then is in a simple black frame. It was quite difficult to photograph since everything reflected in the mat - including me and the camera! I want to name it and I'm at a loss. Got any suggestions?
Time to go check on the clicking from the roof and make sure he's not coming down the chimney like old Saint Nick!

9 comments:

Tommye McClure Scanlin said...

Nice framing of the piece! I really like the metal mat and the line extensions. No suggestions for title ... just wanted to say hello and that this looks great.
Tommye

kaiteM said...

that's too difficult Jenn. Really only you can name it as only you know what was in your mind when you set it all up. My names are all too mysterious. How about something simple like 'directions' or 'reflections'?
I was thinking tho - where the chimney and fireplace is/was could be your new cupboard for yarns.

Life Looms Large said...

Chimney project.....impressive. We don't mess with our chimney....up too high for us!

The wedge weave looks great!!! I really like how the colors and shapes are playing together!

As far as naming your sampler, I'm just going to throw out some words and you can decide if any of them apply, or take you in the direction of a name: emerging, bullet, rocket, collision, beacon, sinking. (I rotated the screen in every direction....so some of the words are for sideways or upside down versions.) That's cool that you'll be entering it in an exhibition!! I really like how you framed it!!!

Weave on!!

Sue

Jan said...

OOH, I get to leave the first comment! I try to use names that just describe what the tapestry IS. You could use something like "Transparency Study." I know, it sounds kind of academic, so if you want get more creative, use the thesaurus in Word to look for words with a similar meaning.

Another approach is to think about what was going through your head when you came up with the actual design. Good Luck!

Theresa said...

Oh my! What a whole heap of work removing that chimney. Any plans to repurpose the bricks? The fireplace is lovely though. How did the piano tuning go?
No clue what to call your piece but it is quite nice. I like the colors and your present tapestry is looking marvelous!

Jennifer said...

Update on the chimney - James did get it down to the ceiling and it started thundering. Safety presents at work say lightning can strike up to a mile, so he quickly put down some plywood and pulled up weather.com. He was able to get some more work done, but alas no shingles - just a blue tarp. It'll be next weekend before it will stop raining.

Thanks for the encouragement on the weaving. I'm excited about it. It would be difficult for others to name it, but I like hearing what your impressions are when you see it. Then I've got some idea what the weaving conveys on it's own. It's interesting - so thanks for your comments!

Jennifer said...

Theresa,

Still working on the piano tuning. I'm finding I can only stand 1 octave at a time - not only my patience, but my shoulder!

The bricks from the chimney will likely be used in the yard somewhere. We've brick in the backyard to set up beds for a garden years ago, but we'd like to convert some of it to a patio - and I wouldn't mind breating the steps to the door in brick. We'll see that's a while down the road!

lyn said...

Hi Jennifer!

Have you come up with a name for your tapestry yet? I love coming up with names, I probably should have worked in a paint factory in the naming dept! What about something along the lines of what Jan suggested, but with a twist to give it a little more mystery, like "T1" (for Transparency 1) or a play on words, like "I See" or "IC"?

Jennifer said...

Lyn,

I like the mystery ideas. I've set it out where I have to pass the piece several times a day and just see what comes. Thanks for the suggestions!

Jennifer