Baptism by Fire finished

I finished hooking and binding Baptism by Fire this week.  It is 18" by 46".  The entire surface of the rug is waffled with four analogous colors in 8-values each: McIntosh Million 101; Finnigan Flame 102; Jacky Lantern 103; Somerset Sunset 104. 

There was no drawn design.  To create this original abstract, I simply concentrated on values, hooking similar values downward, with my waffling technique.  To waffle, I work downwards, hooking a few loops and then jumping over and hooking a few more loops, skipping some loops along the way.  I then continue with another color/value and build downwards, hooking a few loops and skipping one or two, jumping over a bit and hooking down some more.  Then I go back in and keep filling in until the area is thoroughly hooked.  I move to the next area and do more of the same.

I have envisioned this for many years, and although I tried desperately to acheive it in paint, I was not able to do so until I turned to try it in wool. 

What I'm learning about Abstract rug hooking

I am almost finished hooking Baptism by Fire. I have about six inches in length to go. It has been a different experience from hooking representational pieces. What am I learning about hooking abstracts?

1. Color matters more. Since there is no 'picture' to view, what really matters is color. Color is what grabs the attention and gives the emotional pull to the piece. So color can't be 'off'. I thought that randomly hooking colors next to each other would be fine. But there were times I had to go back and pull out and adjust the color because it was 'off'.

2. Value matters more. I have known how important value is to representational pieces since it is what 'pops' the object to be viewed. But when you have no object, the values are what the eye sees as the 'picture'. So where I hook the light values is where the eye goes. The eye then rests in the dark values and the medium values disappear. Again, I have found that I have had to go back and rehook areas of the rug to get the value right so the visual flow was not interrupted.

3. Size matters more. The emotional impact of the piece increases with the size of the abstract. The more length I have added onto my piece, the more I like the feeling of it when I view it. I find the same is true when I go to a gallery and view abstract art. The size of the pieces (which are often enormous or overscale) create a feeling of immensity and power.

4. Direction matters more. The direction of the hooking is extremely important. It is what provides the movement. Without an object to view, the direction of the hooking provides the interest. Straight rows decrease the movement and keep the piece flat and slow (which might what you want in certain abstracts). Slight curves all lined up in rows effects slight movement and peace. The more curve, the faster the flow. Interspersed color or value such as the waffling technique I used in Baptism by Fire has the fastest, even chaotic, flow.

Last day of classes

Phew...tomorrow is the last day of classes at Rice, so I'm looking forward to having a bit of a breather. Didn't get any dyeing done after school today, and probably won't tomorrow either, but I have my white wool ready to go as soon as I get the next chance. Will probably hook on my fire abstract tonight since I'm too burnt out to do anything else.

Back to rug hooking

The academic conference was wonderful, but it is also wonderful to be back at home in the evenings. I have returned to my abstract, asking Wade to hold it up this way and that so I can see the way the light is hitting it and the movement of the shadows. So I spent this evening pulling out areas and adjusting, mainly removing some of the very light areas and the middle mediums, and replacing them with darker values. I have also decided that this will be one panel of a tetraglyph which I am going to call "Elements". I will hook the other three all the same size, all abstracts, but with different textures.

The red panel (FIRE) is an example of 'color penetration', where I am using four colors in all of their values in such a way that the colors penetrate each other. My plan is to set up the other panels to experiment with other types of abstract expression. I would like one to play with 'color fields' (raw plains of color) and another to work out 'color bands' (linear bands of color). I haven't figured out the fourth panel yet. But I know it will come to me as I make my way along this abstract road.

Making progress

I have been working on the abstract, Baptism by Fire. It is coming along, now measuring 17" across and 12" high. The size doesn't show well in this picture, but the piece is becoming more powerful the bigger it gets.

I am having fun hooking it, although it is much more challenging than it looks. Being conscious of color and movement of line without a drawn form takes some time to get used to. I have done quite a bit of reverse hooking already, and it took about a week to figure out what I am doing.

But hooking this abstract is also liberating, hooking with a certain randomness is a pleasurable experience. I find myself immersed in the color of what I am hooking, and the color seems to be unfolding in the piece emotionally, as I feel so moved to hook a certain strand of red or orange or yellow. I like hooking the darks the best. I feel a sense of richness and deepness when I hook them into the piece and the light values are supported by them, almost dancing in their depth.

Abstract progress

I started to work on the abstract rug for the 2010 Abstract Challenge. It is tentatively called "Baptism by Fire". I am waffling the entire area using 6-cut. I am discovering that the 6-cut is a little more difficult to waffle because it creates a very tight mat. So I'm a little concerned about that. I'll try to address that issue as I hook the mat. I'm using swatches #101, 102, 103 and 104.