STAGE 4 - Raised and Structured Surface Textures

What have you Achieved?

I prefer working with stitch on fabric than manipulating the fabric into different shapes. I enjoy seeing the contrast of colours made by stitches rather than making a shape but I am looking forward to working on the next stage and to try to incorporate different colours and shapes into one piece of work.

The final results were very different to the drawings but i find it interesting how you can develop one idea to another without actually noticing. The fabric manipulation totally took over and dictated the final result.

I would have prefered to play directly with cut shapes and material in different colours like I said before.

I would like to pursue working with stich in more depth - I do not find it limiting at all.

I prefer to make texture by sewing things on to fabric like beads, trimmings, etc. which I want to explore now!

STAGE 3 - APPLIED FABRICS

Hand Applique

Hints and tips

• 
  
  Use herringbone stitch or buttonhole stitch

• Pin and/or tack fabric onto a background fabric and work stitches over the cut edges. fabric which fray easily use closer stitches or turn the edges under. Fabric which doesn't fray can be applied with small running stitch worked vertically or slip stitch

• 
  
  Other suitable stitches would be chain stitch, blanket stitch, crossed stitches, feather stitches and couched lines

I decided that my first applique work would be stitched by hand. I have taken this idea from a sketch I did in the last assignment and moderated it quite a lot!

So, here are the stages I went through

I decided to have the frayed edges because I like this effect on other artists work but now that it is finished I think I would have prefered it turned under in places and done more neatly - next time??......

When I had finished the sewing I decided to add buttons - which I seem to always do - and a few beads and overall I am happy with the finished piece and I could see it as a cushion cover or a wall hanging.

Project 4 Stage 4 Developing Design Ideas

What have I achieved?

I must say that I have not enjoyed doing this Project as much as I thought I would - I am chomping at the bit to get stuck in to weaving and using yarn and doing more sewing so I have really struggled to get motivated.

One of the projects I struggled with was the colour perception in Stage 2. For some reason I couldnt see the differences of colour with the complementary colours. Having said that, I have used complementary in the latest project and it has stood out to me very well the tricks your eyes play with different colours but when I was looking at the squares it didn't work for me - perhaps that is why I like working with colours of the same hue or different shades of the same colour.

I am very pleased with the drawings I did in Stage 3. I enjoyed colour matching a piece of fabric and matching the colours on the photo I have of the cotton reels. I particularly enjoyed drawing the pebbles in a jar. This seemed to come along so naturally and I have also enjoyed developing this drawing and changing the colour to black and white and then complimentary colours. I could use the drawings to develop further and I can envisage them alread being turned into fabric pieces. I also can't wait to further develop the mosaic structure that I made taking inspiration from a photograph of poppies. I can also see that being developed into a stitiched piece.

I am confident with my working method but I have to hold myself back and take it slow instead of just working on the first thing that comes into my head without taking more time on it.

Creating Shapes and Three-dimensional Forms with Fabric #2

Understanding the Textile World

Things I need to do:-

• Collect a collection of examples of  furnishing or fashion fabrics in the following form:

• actual fabric pieces  tweed, silk, pile, felt, voile, muslin, glittering - visit furnishing and fabric shops - get small samples - need to get spec of fibre content and origin of fabric

• photocopies from books - see recommended books

'A Woman's Work is Never Done' T-shirt (one-off)

Machine-embroidered organza with metallic thread

Carolyn Corben

UK, 1990

Horse head dress from Sind, Pakistan (Moira Broadbent)

Horse chest band from Sind, Pakistan (Moira Broadbent)

Photo micrographs of typical geosynthetic fabric structures.

Quilts exhibited in the V & A Quilts exhibition Summer 2010

 

• photographs
• magazine cuttings - Interiors, Elle Decoration, Vogue

A new handblock-printed range featuring organic cotton from India.
http://www.vanessaarbuthnott.co.uk/
Country Living
• internet

New Fabric! P+B Textiles - Wild Thyme
Carolyn Gavin's Wild Thyme is a lively contemporary eco collection, with stylized birds, dots, pods and stars within the main print, which are echoed throughout the collection. Colors are fresh and modern, but not overly bright. This collection is great for quilts, home decor, children's clothing and just about anything else you can imagine.  

New Fabric! Liberty of London - Lantana
Just in from Liberty of London is Lantana, a collection of high quality cotton and wool prints just right for garment sewing. As is the usual with Liberty, the prints are eclectic and modern, with a range of moods from bright modern florals to cosmopolitan navies, blacks, and greys. The Purl Bee

Tweed

New Fabric! Echino Ni-Co Oilcloth

From the ever-popular Echino series, Ni-Co is now available in sturdy, spill-proof, weather-proof oilcloth! Etsuko Furuya designed this contemporary print that gathers disparate objects and tidily places them on a backdrop of natural color. Stamped with dots and stripes, Ni-Co is brimming with youthful energy!

My sketch book
• visit Nostell Priory - are the furnishings original or reproduction? - if reproduction where and by whom were they made?

Creating Shapes and Three-dimensional Forms with Fabric

Some books to read for the next assignment:

The Art of Manipulating Fabric by Collette Wolff

Surfaces for Stitch: Plastics, Films and Fabric by Gwen Hedley

Layers of Stitch by Valerie Campbell-Harding and Maggie Grey

Bonding and Beyond by Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn

I think I am going to buy this. I have also reserved two books at the library - The Art and Craft of Applique and Textile Arts which should be with me soon!

Amish, the Art of the Quilt

Magnificent Molas: The Art of the Kunas Indians

What have I achieved?

As I have worked with my main selection I am liking it more and more and have added alot of variations to the finished piece, I feel that I could just go on and on with it and never know when to stop!

The fabric I have chosen to work on is nice, clean, cream cotton which I can use like a blank canvas without it making a statement for itself, more like you can make several statements on it. The other fabrics I have used is a coloured cotton and a pink gauze. When I bought the pink gauze I never thought I would work with it (don't know why) but I feel that it works really well with this project and I am pleased with it.

I feel that the scale of marks and shapes work well on the fabric because of the blank canvas effect. I would not of liked to work on any other fabric as it would detract from the design.

I have extended from the ideas I did from the smaller samples but have stuck to the original design but changed the colours abit and added stitching and fabric overlay to make a bigger impact.

I did not really like painting onto fabric - I find it too constrained and it doesn't seem to do what I wanted it to do - I have found the whole assignment rather frustrating and didn't really enjoy myself until I started making marks with stitches! So if this last assignment has taught me anything, it is that stitch is my preferred medium so far but I am quite happy to mix painting and stitch together in the future but not printing!

I feel that I haven't put my heart and soul into this latest work and I feel quite despondent about it so I am going to submit it and then forget about it and start again with the next piece of work that I start.

I am going to use this blog now for ideas that I find and work it alongside my book which is my log book.

Here is some inspiration from embroiderersguild.com which I am liking very much

What have you achieved?

I am usually a very colourful person but I have got to say that I have struggled abit with this work so far. I have felt very constrained in the colours that I have had to work with and I haven't enjoyed it. Maybe that is the reason why I haven't finished the assignment on time because I have found other things to do instead because I didn't like what I was doing.

I did enjoy using colour to express emotions and I hope to develop some of the ideas further. I have stitched one of my drawings already.

I have embraced using contrasting primary colours which I have never done before and will be developing that into knitting and crocheting at a later date.

I find water colours rather wishy washy where as gouache is very strong and I prefer to work in strong colours.

I enjoyed creating the colour exercises in Stage 5. Again, I have not worked with red and blue together and I liked the colour combinations I created. They were far more interesting to create that working with paint as you kind of know what the outcome will be before it is finished.

I am again pleased with what I have achieved and it has made me realise that I prefer to work with strong primary colours rather than pastel colours. Before, I didn't think about it, I just chose the colours that I felt was right but I now realise that I was being slightly 'safe' - but not any more!!!

Coloured Stitches

I have noticed that usually when I have put colours together for knitting projects I have mainly stuck to the same colours or at least the same hues. I have just noticed this when I have had to put colours together in a different way - a way to make me learn more ABOUT colour - hope that makes sense! I have put two primary colours together, a thing I would never usually do. I chose blue and red and again had to put them onto a black background.

I have got to say that overall I am very pleased with the outcome and am happy to have been given the oportunity to play with colours abit more.

I would say that red is very predominate on this piece of work, both when it is next to the dark blue and black but when next to the more turquoise blue the turquoise stands out more to me.

I am still not convinced though that I would use this colour combination for my personal choice as I still like working with similar colours together more that colours that can be described as 'wrong'. I will continue to experiment with this method however, and maybe I will change my way of thinking - or maybe not! only time will tell!!!!

GARDENERS - TIME TO ARM YOURSELVES WITH SEEDS...
With bulbs starting to peak through, the flag is being waved for seed sowing preparation! Here's a sprinkling to get you going - Borage, Catnep (Catmint), Purple Basil, Sweet Marjoram, Lady's Bedstraw, Lovage, Betony, Pot Marigold, Lettuce (Mixed) Organic, Spinach (Matador) Organic...

Must remember to look at this website before I order any herbs.

Andrew has gone to Barcelona today – Theo is now into his second hour of afternoon sleep….Phoebe is at school and Im listening to James Morrison – what more could a girl want on a rainy afternoon in Badsworth

Went to the Country Living Spring Fair last week and came home with lots of goodies!!!

One being a candle of all candles – I have never, NEVER, had a candle that gave off so much odour for such a prolonged period of time! So I will now tell what it is….

Bay and Rosemary – a fresh and invigorating combination of herbal scents
From www.elitegardenlandscape.com
The contact is Becky Brickell wellinghamsoap@yahoo.co.uk 01435 883187

Must get in contact and re order candle and find out what else she does….

Theo was still awake at 9.15pm….what is going on!!!
Single, Married, Other….slightly disappointing ending.

NOTES FROM MY TUTOR REPORT

write the word beside the mark

need a bigger selection of pencils

combine collage with paint

bleach and paint, paint over wax crayon, old lipstick, any old household or fence paint can be used

"One of the best attempts I've seen at this exercise"

line stitches are technically things like running stitch and chain stitch

long sweeping lines that cross one another and big, free swirling shapes

don't think so much of neat lines

really breaking out and being expressive with the marks

put a copy of your drawing next to samples

"This is a lovely little sample piece that you should be proud of, a great beginning"

vitality

good natural eye for what makes a balanced design

like the long ends of thread left hanging

tear up strips of magazine or newspaper, twist it firmly and use as a thick thread

try garden twines and even dead creeper lengths from the garden (clematis is good)

elastic bands tied together in a length

strips of old tights and discarded clothing

think in terms of anything which you can get through a needle

Hessian and very loose fabrics make ideal backgrounds

the more you can express your own thoughts and feelings about what you see, or otherwise experience around you, the better you're work will become

a great start Rachel, one of the best first assignments I've seen for a while

BANKFIELD MUSEUM, HALIFAX

BANKFIELD MUSEUM, HALIFAX

The second piece of art that I really enjoyed was an embroidery collage by Claire Hey entitled AKROYDON REMEMBERED 1995. It was commissioned by The Friends of Akroydon and is hanging in one of the corridors upstairs in the museum. It measures about 1.2m square. It is a huge piece of fabric made up of photographs printed on fabric, beads, dried flowers and sequins and to me it was very expressive of the history of Akroydon and I have to say that I LOVED it!!!!

The third image was in the costume department under the India section. It is a childs coat and is about 14" long. India has produced a culture that produces elaborate decoration. Each group has its own distinct style of decoration, embroidery, colour and material. Merchants work in silk and peasants/farmers work in cotton or wool. The images are of figures and animals which tell Indian Folk traditions.

What have I Achieved??

I have dabbled when at Art college drawing like this but not getting it like I am now! I found it hard at first to be inventive with the range of marks I made but once I got into it, it seemed to flow along and before I knew it I had created alot of marks I have not achieved before. I was reluctant to explore different media at first but like I said before, once I was into it then more exploration was necessary and I enjoyed making marks with different things.

Overall I am very pleased with the work I have done so far. I feel that I am still hesitant to make a start on drawing but once I am doing it I am fine. The key to remember is that I am not trying to reproduce an object but to interpret the object into something that can be textile.

I enjoy making marks in response to an image. I can make marks in relation to words if I am in a certain mood and I find that music helps as the emotions encouraged when listening to different types of music is very good to let your imagination run. I find it still quite hard to make marks in relation to real objects unless they are really tactile but I am sure that the more I work on this the easier it will become.

At the moment I enjoy working with watercolour pencils. I like the fact that you can sketch away in coloured pencil while out and about and then add colour at home and transform the work into something completely different. I have not done much work in watercolour before so I would like to study into this further at some point.

I am absolutely convinced that I have not exlored all the possibilites of mark-making as I feel I am just at the tip of the iceburg but I will read and observe more so that I can continue trying different tecniques.

I have already got lots of ideas for making my marks into textile work and am now really looking forward to doing more towards this goal.

BANKFIELD MUSEUM, HALIFAX

Went to Bankfield Museum in Halifax today and had a lovely time. When we approached the place I was slightly sceptical but as soon as we entered the building you were transported into textile heaven!! The exhibits were seperated into different rooms with a private exhibition for Dionne Swift in the entrance which was next to the World of Textiles which was very exciting. Upstaires there was costumes and textiles from around the world.

The overall feel was that the exhibits were well displayed and the lighting was adequate but not great but I presume that strong light is not advised as the fabrics are fragile and will fade. I struggled to find explanations of the exhibits and some of the things that I was interested in had no information at all. What was even more frustrating was that when I asked a member of staff about it they just said that they didn't know and left it at that.....not very good.

Having said all that I found the pieces on show visially stimulating and interesting and I am sure that I will return to this museum again as they had a very good library concentrating on textiles which was very useful to know.

The three exhibits that I chose to look at in detail where Beadwork in World of Textiles, Claire Hey Collage embroidery and Embroidered Robe from India in the Costumes and Textiles from Around the World.

bEaDwOrK - wOrLd of tExTiLeS

The exhibit was a boy's hat with a pointed crown that was machined and stiffened with cane. From India and made in the 20th century. The information was very limited about this piece unfortunately so I dont know who made it and couldn't really tell what it was made of. It was aproximately a foot long and 5" wide. It appeared to be made from cotton and was decorated with embroidery, buttons and beads. It is decorative and functional and is obviously from another culture.

Embroidery is the art of stitching and design on cloth using needle and coloured thread. The use of colours, materials and stiching varies between countries.

bReTtOn sCuLpTuRe pArK

I have been there again today, not just to shop, but to eat and to look at an exhibition. I walked around the Peter Randall-page exhibition which made me say "WOW!" This exhibition of sculpture is very simple in form but makes you look and look and look and want to touch.....the touch part is very important to me and I found it very hard not to just reach out and touch the pieces! Outside you can satisfy your need as you are allowed to run your hands over the different textures. I could just imagine transforming the different textures into textiles and I really enjoyed looking at this work in a completely different way than I would have before.

A dAy OuT iN yOrK

I have had a great day today in York, I visited an amazing arts and craft shop and bought lots of things and then walked around the Minster taking lots of photographs! I seem to have slipped back into the girl I was when at college studying photography and film as in the fact that my camera was never out of my hand and I was completely in my element. I haven't been like that since college and as I contemplate it now I realise that I now have a purpose, a reason to look at the world in a different way - a textiles way!

I have just been on www.craftscouncil.org.uk to look at Crafts magazine and I am now going to use it as a excuse to go toYorkshire Sculpture Park
Bretton to buy a copy and to see if I like it! Just read a back article about Zandra Rhodes who I love and would like to study about in more detail at some point

The beginning

I am now starting my first course in textiles and I have to admit that I am very excited about it!! I have got my sketch book ready and have been looking at my old sketch books this morning and now I can't wait to start. My hopes for this course are that I can do it.....?!, that I enjoy it and that I can continue with it until I have completely achieved a BA Hons! I plan to work when little T is at nursery twice a week with additional time being found in the evening and at weekends, but I will have to see how it goes and maybe juggle it about abit it, we will have to wait and see....

I want to gain from this course a greater understanding of textiles in all its forms, my only real hands on experience of textiles so far is knitting and I am just learning to crochet so I am looking forward to learning more ways to create textiles. I am also looking forward to learning how to look at the world differently, how to interpret objects I see every day into textile art and to develop my drawing, which, I have to admit, I haven't done much of since my days at art college in the 80's, gosh, when that is put into writing it makes me feel really old!

Hi, this is my first post on my OCA Learning Log!!!