I heart Lucy Peacock

Keeping with a lovely geometric theme, I am totally digging Lucy Peacock's jewelry. I love how they are constructed, almost in a collage fashion with little gold plates holding it together.  Lucy Peacock is based in the U.K.  I'm not sure if it is available in Australia but there are some great online stores that you can check it out.  What is it about geometric shapes in solid colours that I find so appealing?!  Weird...

You can see Lucy's work on her blog here.
You can also buy her beautiful stuff here.

Roman Polanski films...

The Astor Theatre in Melbourne has been having a mini Roman Polanski film festival on Sunday evenings.  Last Sunday they had Knife in the Water and The Tenant.  Knife in the Water was a very early Polish language film of Polanski's that I had never seen before.  The Tenant is one of my favourite Polanski films, I love the story line and also the beautiful French urban scenery.

I've added some screen shots of both films below, they are absolutely beautiful!

One of the final scenes from Knife in the Water.

Some interesting things about Knife in the Water:  apparently Polanski wanted to play the role of the young hitchhiker but was refused by the Polish Film authority (if that is what they are called?!) as they wanted someone better looking!

I loved the above shots in Knife in the Water.

The guy who ended up playing the character had a very deep voice and in the end it was dubbed over by Polanski anyway.

Knife in the Water.

Knife in the Water was also the first Polish film to be nominate for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

I believe that they were playing strip pick up sticks? Or was that lost in Polish translation?

Made in 1962, it is said that Knife in the Water forms part of a loose trilogy of films based around a psychological ménage-à-trois with Cul-de-sac (1966) and Death and the Maiden (1994). All three films feature a couple whose lives are turned upside down by an outside character.

The beautiful Isabelle Adanji in The Tenant.

I love the movie The Tenant, especially with Isabelle Adanji who is gorgeous in this film!  It also had Roman Polanski as the main character too (he acts quite well!)  It was made in 1976.

Isabelle and Roman Polanski in the Tenant.

It is said that The Tenant along with Rosemary's Baby and Repulsion (all Polanski films) form another trilogy of works that explore the horrors of apartment and city living.  It's obviously a theme that Polanski digs and one that many viewers can relate to.

Polanski in The Tenant.

If you have the chance to check out these films, do so!!!  There is still another 2 weeks of Polanski goodness at the Astor too!

I heart Sandra Fettingis

Work by Sandra Fettingis from her Flickr site.

I stumbled across Sandra's work and I love her use of geometric shampes in this series and also the amazing vibrant colours!  I was looking at her blog which has a line of I heart acrylic, which most of this is made from.  Sandra, I heart acrylic too!

You should check out Sandra's website here.
Flickr photos here.
She also has an awesome Etsy store which I think I will need to buy stuff from!

Sandra's use of flat colour and bold shape is something that I am very attracted to within creating tapestry, so I am finding this series super inspiring!  Check out Sandra Fettingis!

It's off the loom!

It was a long weekend here in Melbourne and I was determined to get my tapestry finished and off the loom!  On both Saturday and Sunday, I got up early and still in my pj's, I set to work at my scaffold loom.  I was even up so early that I spied these hot air balloons drifting across the sky.  (I think it was about 7am!)

I had managed to get a reasonable amount done on the Saturday and started with what I like to call 'simple weaving' which was mostly background/plain weaving on Sunday morning.  You think that would be easy but there is something so daunting about that last little part at the end.

And yes, finally it is done!!  It is so exciting to have it completed and off the loom.  It feels lovely and stiff (just the way I like my tapestry) and I did enjoy doing another large tapestry which the face was a very big part of it.  When I am weaving the face, close up it really is a blur, very abstracted shapes and shades that amazingly all seem to come together.  This one was a bit of a challenge as the original photograph was so blasted with harsh light that it was difficult to see any real definition and detail in the facial features, yes, I did take some artistic license on this one!

So now, on to the next tapestry!

Will this Weaving ever end?

So, I have been a wee bit slack in getting this tapestry off the loom.  Well, I went travelling, starting helping out for a fashion label, working and getting married.  You know how it goes.  However I have put a deadline on this tapestry and am madly trying to get it finished and out of the house!

I always take photos of my work in progress mostly due to the fact that I weave many things on the side so in a digital age, it allows me to see the work the correct way up! (not that I have done that for these photos!)

It also allows me to realistically see how much work I am getting done and also how far I have to go.  I have also found that many people like to see the work in progress as it allows them to see how a tapestry is made - it is demystified!

Even though I'm still working like a crazy person on this work, I can see the end in the near future.  Especially now that I have managed to get some of the face in there, it's starting to look like something!

I can't wait to start something new and see this baby completed!  I am very happy with how it is looking, I love the stop sign and the strong contrast between the coloured section and the torn billboard effect of the black and white.  Completed photos soon - hopefully!