Thursday, July 23, 2015

Weaving the New Mexico Landscape- Taos Mountain and the Rio Grande Gorge

In tapestry weaving, one can paint pictures and weave landscapes.
In inkle weaving, well...... can you?
When my customer asked me to weave  him a guitar strap inspired by the below photo, I told him that I could evoke a mood, but not paint a picture. As it turns out, I was able to create something that made both of us happy.

Thanks to Geraint Smith for his stunning photo as inspiration and for allowing me to use it here. Please visit his website to see more of his work. You'll be glad you did!  www.GeraintSmith.com  


This photo's view of  Taos Mountain is from the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge. I especially like how Mr. Smith captured the light on the brush in the foreground and along the top edge of the gorge.
I wanted to select colors that accented those features as well as the layers of blue in the sky and the deep shadowy browns. After a while, I narrowed it down to 7 colors.




I got a happy message from my customer today when it arrived along with the photo below showing how it looks with his guitar.   "Annie, your wonderful strap arrived today; it is delightful.  Thank you for your precise hand work and exquisite design eye..... 
Here it is against the back of my Michael Bashkin ziricote guitar..... most lovely...the colors of the mountains and plain are perfectly echoed in the wood grain :)))"


To see a previous New Mexico landscape strap which I made for a mandolin, click here
Maybe this could be a series. There are a lot of inspirational landscapes here in my home state.

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