There is something so gratifying about finishing something after months of toiling away at a project that seemed to never ever end. It’s always good to take on something that can be done quickly so one can her restore self-confidence and be reassured that everything that is started can indeed be finished.
As I’ve mentioned before, this hooked mat is more a sample than anything else. It’s a test to see if the imagery I’m interested in will work in the hooked mat format. I think with a bit more tooling around in the initial drawing the mat can have a great deal of success. Here are the things I’m probably going to change the next time I tackle this project:
- Complete a detailed drawing, roughly to scale. This will give me a better idea of how all the pieces should go together. Plus, it will give me a chance to play with colour in Photoshop instead of making all the decisions while I’m hooking which often results in pulling out hours worth of work because I’m frustrated with the outcome.
- Exaggerate the scale. With this type of textile work it’s a little difficult to get the amount of detail I really want when it’s at a small scale. The entire mat will have to be larger in order to get more detailed.
- Consider hanging solutions. I’ve loosely decided already that in the bigger mats to come I will probably mount them on brackets a few inches from the wall, not unlike curtain rod holsters. I’ll probably do some testing on the sample piece (pictured above) before settling completely on an idea.
- Play with the front and back, reversing textures. The back of a hooked mat is so beautiful and it’s a bit of a shame to cover it up even if it’s all for the protection of the mat. I’ve been wanting to alternate between hooking the front and the back to play with texture but I’m still trying to figure out the best way to go about doing it. On my new gripper frame, flipping the mat over onto the gripper strips will probably be quite disastrous. It’s a good thing I haven’t disposed of my large embroidery hoops.
Anyway, I think as a sample this mat is pretty great. I’m pretty stoked to start working on some new designs but unfortunately I’m going to have to wait a little bit since some hardcore research is standing in my way. However, I’ll talk more about that tomorrow 
3 Responses to “‘House on a Berg’ sample complete!”
I love it!
I want to try badly how to make such a surface, my time totally occupied to make fine silk embroidery, but one day..
I love your work
I love it! The blues in the iceberg are so great.