Rainbows in Winter

This isn’t our first winter storm, but it is the first one in some weeks, and the first one to lay down enough snow that I had to have my driveway plowed. That’s almost unheard of down here in the snowy southern tier of western New York – plowing often starts in mid-December. Like much winter weather, it was visually beautiful, and it wasn’t so cold out yesterday that it was uncomfortable taking a nice, long walk with the dog.

The spruce in my driveway were laden with beautiful, white snow.

The temperatures were mild, and Red was happy to be far ahead of me. (He’s that little dot on the right shoulder of the road.) We’re both glad we live on a dirt road that sees little traffic.

The creek was running nicely, making its lovely, meandering path downhill.

When we got back home, we had to make our way through the unplowed snow, past my little car that was awaiting our plow guy to get up to the garage.

We loved it all.

Meanwhile, back in the house I was completing two handwoven shawls. I had an order for a rainbow rayon chenille shawl, and wanted to make an extra to have one for sale at shows. Rainbow shawls are a bit more of a challenge than some others, because the colors are not all the same; some are a bit thicker, some thinner, some stretchier, some more rigid. Keeping an even tension on the warp is both critical and sometimes difficult. But the end results are SO worth it! I like this second one better than the first. I used only 6 threads of black between colors instead of 8 threads on the first one. Also, I had only 14 color bands instead of 16 on the first. All together, that means more colorful. The rainbow shawl makes me happy, bringing brightness to every space it’s in, and every person who sees it.

I’d like to have my rainbow shawl be one of the slides for this year’s show jurying, so I really need a great photo. I tried draping it on Dolly, but didn’t like that result. (This is one of at least 7 draping attempts I tried on her.)

Then I tried laying it flat so I could show how nicely it moved. (This is how I shoot most of my pieces.) Maybe an acceptable picture for my website, but not at all workable for a show jury.

Think, think. Where can you put it with decent light so you won’t get a bunch of flash bounce? Where you can have or create a nice, clean white background? I’m at a loss.

Suddenly I think of my shower. I hang a white sheet for the backdrop, and try draping the shawl over one of my lovely rod people. Much better.

One more brainstorm – bring in one of my display rods, and drape the shawl over that in the shower.

I think this one may be it. I’d love your input…if you were on a show jury, which of these photos would you want to see? Or do you have suggestions for more improvement?