The great tapestry artist, Archie Brennan, once remarked that tapestry is “about as sensible as building a life-size model of St. Paul’s Cathedral out of matchsticks”. Weaving a tapestry is a slow and laborious process, and yet it is my chosen medium.

My process of designing a tapestry begins with a drawing that gives framework for the creative work on the loom. Only few lines are traced on a cartoon to guide weaving. The drawing is placed next to the loom. I use colours freely as I work, picking up new colours and stopping those in progress at will. I feel that I am having a dialogue between myself and the tapestry in progress when interpreting the image in yarn. I like the cool and shiny look of linen and use it as weft. I mix several threads together in a bobbin in order to get the colour I want.
— Kaija Rautiainen, 2004