Monday, May 25, 2015

Tyger! Tyger!


"Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
-William Blake, The Tyger-

Just finished my first commissioned piece. Tigers! It was fun to stretch outside of my usual subject matter and there are a lot of firsts going on in this piece. For example, this is the first piece I've done on a birch wood canvas. The birch canvases are great because they have the gallery style depth and are sturdy enough to allow me to apply pressure when pressing the wool into the beeswax. The wool for this piece is another first. Most of it is worked in Peruvian highland wool. I like the Peruvian wool for the tigers because it is 'crisper' than Shetland wool and gave a sharp definition in the tiger stripes.


The above photo shows another first. When I wrapped the wool yarn around the sides of the canvas, I worked a border pattern around the edge to complement the piece. Some parts of the main image go over the border and some parts are covered by it. Overall, it finished the piece nicely and leaves the owner the option to frame the piece or not.

I had a great time making 'Tyger! Tyer!' and hope to do more commissions in the future. Having a subject chosen for me encourages me to travel outside of my comfort zone and I love the challenge!