A New Textile: "Triangles and Bars"

Triangles and Bars, hand dyed wool on linen, 10 x 10 inches.

Repetitive patterns have been used in the decorative arts for centuries, for pottery, textiles, and floor and wall decorations. While I was working on my last piece, Weave, I thought I'd do another design that paid homage to that tradition, which here, in Triangles and Bars, is based on a photo I saw online of medieval Italian church floor tiles. At first I thought I'd emphasize the repeat by making the shapes smaller and having more of them in the composition, but then felt, after staring at sketches for a while, that large and simple would be more effective. The colors that I dyed are nothing like ancient tiles, but quite intense and jazzy. The first time I dyed the yellow, I realized it was too light a color to stand up to the brilliant blue, so I put it back in the pot and deepened the color; now I think its light warmth balances the cool dark blue fairly well.

The hooking direction follows the outlines of the shapes, running along the bars and around the triangles, with the yellow hooking running perpendicular to the bars. I like the way my eye bounces around the shapes. I've enjoyed exploring how pattern creates a different kind of space, lively and rhythmic.