A New Textile: "Objects #2"

Objects #2, hand dyed wool on linen, 9 x 15 inches.

When I dyed the wool for this second in my Objects series (to see #1 go to this post), I thought that the purplish color might not be strong enough. Now that the piece is finished, I find that I like the balance of colors, which are lighter and grayer than in #1. The shapes and hooking patterns are meant to give an illusion of overlap: yellow over violet over gray. The swoop of yellow is more wavy than I intended, but this isn't unusual for the inexact process of rug hooking and I don't mind it, or the dip and rise of the upper edge. I like the obviously hand-made, obviously not-perfect quality, so different from the precision of my paintings.

In the detail you can see how very variable the loops of wool are. I hook by eye and by feel; when looking at each loop individually, I know it squeezes this way and that, slightly higher or lower than its neighbor; but stepping back, it becomes a part of a textured whole.

Below are the first two of four pieces of my Objects series, based on screen shots from the film Objectified, hung on my studio wall.