I have a bunch of weavings I never made frames for. I don’t enjoy making frames or cutting mats so I put it off. For a weaving the frame is only at the top and bottom. It terminates the weaving and provides a way to hang it.
I went with the design on the left.
Common weaving ends didn’t appeal to me. I knew what I wanted and tried implementing it in wood and in brass. It was overly difficult. After I got the 3D printer, in part to do just this, I drew out what I wanted and printed it. Months and uncounted iterations later I had something that worked. A hanging rod with a trench along its length and pins across that to pass through the warp where it is tied.
Each cross beam needs to be positioned exactly
Not without problems, I framed and hung my largest weaving (41625 beads). Two years on, the frame’s printed layers are delaminating in places. It’s cracking. I expected it might and embedded a carbon fiber arrow shaft to hold it together. This won’t be its last frame. The plastic is made from corn starch and it isn’t archival.
That design, what I planned to present in this WAYWO, requires me to make numerous precise measurements that are never precise enough. That means I iterate until it fits. That’s a lot of plastic and no fun. After my first success I stopped framing.
Recently, I begrudgingly accepted my fate, and framed two more weavings. A new drawing but the same idea. True to form each end took many iterations. It sucked. When I write “a bunch of weavings” I mean a BUNCH of weavings.
The generic solution. 3M Dual Lock in a 3D printed shell.
I needed a generic solution that didn’t need a tailored fit. I’d had an earlier idea that didn’t work, but in thinking about it and sub-cranial implants, it came to me — velcro. Lots of little hooks to grab the tied off warp wherever it was. No measurements. That was two weeks ago. I printed a bit of what I was thinking and it worked. Then my printer broke.
It was the “end effector.” Here, a “hot end.” It’s where the plastic filament is melted just prior to being pushed out the nozzle. This wasn’t its first sign of trouble and a few months back I back-ordered a new one. It would arrive in mid to late August. It was a week shy of mid August. It would be here soon. Not wanting to wait and wondering why I would print velcro I headed to “the bottom drawer” in the kitchen. Crammed to the gills with wonders and hand tools I retrieved from it, without injuring myself, the remnants of a roll of 3M Dual Lock velcro-alike velcro.
Mona Lisa (detail) Warp pushed into the Dual Lock fingers.
I pushed the warp into the Dual Lock and it looked pretty good.
It needed a shell and I drew one but I had no printer to print it. I took the hot end off the machine, put it on the coffee table and periodically stared at it for a day or two. That had no effect so I took it apart, figured out what was wrong, and fixed it, sorta.With my printer limping along I printed a shell for the Dual Lock to sit in and tried it. Mirabile dictu, it worked. It worked well. Really well.
Mona Lisa (My second abstract photo impressionism)
And then the new hot end arrived too. I’ve been framing night and day ever since.
I’ve put up some of the pieces that have been tied off and framed to have them stretch. The corner they’re in is not well lite. I’d like to move them but I’ll have to find places for the paintings they’ll displace first.
These frames are so easy to make I feel like I’m cheating.
There have been small changes and additions to the design and like the other frames these are printed in PLA . I want to see how the design manages. Then I’ll print them in some forever plastic.
I’ve been reluctant to show my work here at the Daily Kos. Most of it’s edgy. I made pretty pictures once. But when the convicted felon started squatting in the White House I found I wasn’t inspired by pretty anymore. I looked. Nothing clicked. Nothing worked. “Hillary” is one of my last weavings B.D. (Before Donald).
“Hillary” (Created Before Donald B.D.)
During Donald (D.D.) I worked from photographs taken during the Holocaust. I moved on to the Depression, to Vietnam, to famine in Africa, and to home grown atrocities. Everywhere there was “ugly.” The works grew larger and more profound. Many are spectacular. Then you realize what you’re looking at. Bright colors, the hint of an image, sparkling faceted glass beads, it draws people in. Then the realization sticks and you can’t unsee it.
“Girl” Warsaw Ghetto. (The first piece I did During Donald D.D.) The nazis made the women going from one place to another strip to check for contraband and humiliate them.
We don’t use certain words or show certain kinds of pictures here at the Daily Kos. Those who do are warned, timed out, banned. It frightens and upsets some people to see or read such things. Nothing I’ve beaded falls into a ban-able category but I suspect being drawn in by the pretty colors then realizing the ugliness will be too much for the defenders of those people.
For now I’ve abandoned the morose. The work is pretty again.
“Pelican” At the National Zoo. (created After Donald A.D.)
Welcome to What Are You Working On? where we talk about (and often display) our handiwork, whether yarn and fabric crafts, woodwork, metalwork, art, or anything else “crafty”.
What Are You Working On?
Do you knit? crochet? sew? make jewelry? do metal (or other) sculpting? build furniture? create with your hands and heart?
If you do anything 'crafty' please consider doing one of our Sunday afternoon/evening diaries. You can volunteer by replying in the comments or by sending vgranucci a Kos-message.
