Weaving a Nest

Willow nest in the Cherry tree

As I wrote about a little while ago I've got a slight sphere/nest obsession thing which has been going on for some time. I recently made a piece on the theme of 'home' for an on-line exhibition based on my nest ideas. This weekend Mr. Stitches decided he wanted to cut the hedges and trim the little Glasgow Willow in our front garden, I asked him to save the willow for me as I thought I might have a go at a bit of weaving.

The raw materials

Work station

I started off with no real plan, I just wanted to have a play about with the willow and see what would happen. I'm planning to do a traditional basketry evening course this term so I thought a bit of free form messing about might be good. Obviously the willow I was working with was very fresh (leaves and everything) and I had a somewhat random selection of lengths and widths. However, I chose to embrace this as part of the project and one of the things I'm really interested in is to see how the piece changes over the coming weeks, how it weathers and if it can retain it's structure.

Willow circles

Starting to take shape

I began by making a few different sized willow circles by gently flexing and bending the willow and wrapping it around itself. As I started playing around with the circles the idea of a nest popped back into my head so I set off (very vaguely) in that direction.

Nest entrance

The finished nest sculpture

I've done a fair bit of willow weaving (mostly giant puppets!) but this was quite different. As I was working with quite short lengths and unstripped stems it was harder to see the structure emerging and I've ended up with quite dense areas and very open areas rather than a more even spread. I also was not using tape, as I have done previously, but relying on the willow itself and a few bits of linen thread (I wanted the whole thing to be totally bio-degradable) which has led to a perhaps less strong structure than I would normally create.

Finished sculpture hanging up

Weave detail

Entrance detail

Despite these challenges (and a very limited supply of stems) I persevered and I'm quite pleased with the result, which I've hung in a tree in our back garden. I'm looking forward to seeing how the nest changes and alters over the coming weeks, how the weather and nature will affect it and how long and in what format it will survive. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow to a pile of twigs and a heap of thread or maybe it will survive the winter and the climber that grows up the tree will colonise it, or maybe something entirely alternative...

Home (and the benefits of talking it through)

Nests, 2014

As I keep saying, this year I am focusing on getting back to my own personal artistic practice and developing my work. To this end I have been making more time to spend in my studio and I have been entering competitions and answering calls for entries for quite a range of exhibitions and opportunities.

Nest/sphere drawings

One recent call for submissions that I made a piece of work for was from Gallery 202 for an on-line exhibition entitled 'Home.' (The resulting gallery is really interesting. There is a wide range of responses and media and some of the pieces are great, I'm enjoying working my way through and exploring other people's art works.)  The title seemed to fit well for an idea I've had buzzing round my head for some time based on nests. One of my favourite things to draw when I get stuck are these spiralling, sphere nest like shapes. I've been wanting to create them in various forms for a while and the recent felt making workshops I'd been running had also pushed them to the front of my mind.

The start of the larger nest

Finishing the smaller nest

I did not have much time as I saw the call quite late so I decided to crochet the nests from wool and then felt them. This was a process I wanted to experiment a bit more with anyway so it seemed like an ideal opportunity. The smaller nest is crocheted from a 100% wool yarn whereas the larger one is about 80% wool so it has not created quite such a dense fabric when felted. This allows a little more stitch definition, showing the original process.

Detail before felting

Detail after felting

Small felted nest

My original plan had been to crochet the nests, felt them and then either colour the insides or line them in some way. I would then arrange them, in a suitably artistic fashion of course, and that would form my piece of work. However, when I was speaking to my partner about it he suggested adding sticks. I must confess that my first instinct was to reject his idea out of hand, however, I listened and I began to warm to the idea (after a good argument about WHY I should add sticks.) I went away and experimented with driftwood, twigs and bamboo sticks until I found an arrangement that I thought worked. I liked the way the straight, regular lines of the sticks (which I painted black) contrasted and defined the nests. They made me think of architecture and how spaces define us, make us behave or feel in certain ways; how home suggests safety, softness and warmth (as textiles and particularly felt does) yet the materials that make the home (brick, concrete, tile, timber) are not often associated with these things.

Nests (detail)

Nests (detail)

I also like that it's not something I would ever have come up with myself. Sometimes it can be quite isolating working away on your art (tiny violin) and I think it's good to step outside of your bubble, get some input from others and try something different. It won't always work out but you never know where a conversation might lead.

In the cat house

Harry's House

Back in November we got a cat, a rescue kitten from Wetheral Animal Refuge. I looked around for a nice pet bed but couldn't find one I liked and also I wanted Harry to have something handmade. So, I had a look on the internet and decided to make a sort of house/nest type affair for him.

Cosy

I used boodles, a yarn made from the waste from t-shirt production and an 8mm hook. I made the pattern up as I went along but basically it is a circle, into a basket then decreased again to make a roof-with an opening of course so he can get in and out. It was quite hard work as the yarn, being fabric, is quite tough and the house itself is quite heavy. I added a hanging loop so I need either to hang the bed for Harry or put a wire frame in to support the structure.

And out again

I finished the house just before New Year and despite trying to lure him in with treats Harry has remained monumentally unimpressed with my efforts, preferring to sleep at my door or under the table. So, I was very excited when he eventually, and without any prompting, went into the house to try it out. I didn't have my camera but luckily my Mum was there and took these snaps on her 'phone. I'm hoping that he'll use the house a bit more now either as a hidey hole or as a bed but either way it made me happy him trying it out.