Tangerine Trees

When I was a small girl I imagined Lucy, from The Beetles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, was floating around in a sky full of stars in her night gown. So when I began to consider ideas for the, A sixties Celebration “Flower Power” exhibition with The Eastern Region Textile Forum, I found myself transported back to my childhood thinking.

With the lyrics from the first two verses of the song in my head, I began to picture my new Lucy, where she was flying and what was around her. I knew I wanted to include some of my woven flowers into the tapestry, these fitted in nicely with the lyrics ‘Cellophane flowers of yellow and green towering over your head’.

Wanting a stronger 60’s connection I felt my image and the song lyrics fit with Peter Max’s style and artworks Adam Cosmo and Different Drummer.

 Woven in repurposed fishing line, second hand cotton, and wool, I wove Tangerine Trees so it has a translucent quality. A tapestry that plays with light, it is displayed in a frame allowing light from the back so different effects can be created dependant on how it is hung and lit. A bold bright image that with a flick of a switch, or a splash of sunlight becomes a translucent dreamy image. 

Before starting the tapestry I collected together the colours I wanted to use and created my  butterflies ready to weave with, and for this tapestry I painted the warp as I wanted orange to be seen through the areas of fishing line weft.

The flowers were woven in fishing line and cotton on circle looms, before being embedded into the background weave.

Click to Watch Tangerine Trees being created