Ruby Leslie Lost in Translation…or Why Color Theories Don’t Guarantee Good Cloth

October 11, 2018 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church 345 Bear-Christiana Rd (Rt. 7), Bear, DE 19701

Weavers seduced by gorgeous colored yarns often fail to use them successfully. The usual approach to this problem is to learn color theory — a huge and daunting undertaking. Learning terminology is NOT the equivalent of learning to use color well. What is needed is a method to translate color theory, terminology and yarn wrappings into actual weaving. You don’t need to master color theory to use color masterfully.

Ruby will share her extensive collection of samples for a production line of scarves, which document her evolving approach to color design. This progression led to the development of a practical approach to color theory as applied to weaving and a process for designing swatches for Handwoven magazine’s ‘Color Forecast’ series that is applicable for all fiber artists.
Project Colorway: For Weavers Who’d Rather Die than Dye…
Weavers who don’t dye their own yarn are dependent upon color palettes provided by commercial sources. Learning how to blend color while working with already dyed yarn is a different beast than learning how to dye specific hues. “Project Colorway” to the rescue! This is a hands-on approach to learning how to increase your color range when dealing with a finite number of yarn color choices. A variety of off-loom exercises using Ruby’s basic approach to color theory and optical blending, together with a complete color line of Tencel yarn will help you train your eye to see color and value and begin to understand how to incorporate design and color principles into woven structure.
Ruby will demonstrate her method for winding warps with multiple colors without using a paddle and how to design color wrappings that translate into realistic, usable warps. She’ll share an extensive collection of samples for her production line of scarves which document her evolving approach to color design. This progression led to the development of a practical approach to color theory as applied to weaving and a process for designing swatches for Handwoven magazine’s ‘Color Forecast’ series that is applicable for all fiber artists. Participants will be invited to bring in a project that’s giving them headaches, or yarn that they’d like help incorporating into a design. These are the sorts of challenges that this class aims to help resolve.