Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills – I think I show good design and compositional skills and link my designs well to my visual observations. My technical knowledge is improving and I am showing different technical abilities with some materials. I can improve by experimenting with even more materials and refining techniques and experimenting with pattern.
Quality of Outcome – I have applied my knowledge to present more content in my work in this part of the course and feel like I have done this well, both in my pieces and in my blog, communicating my thoughts, ideas and processes. I am pleased with the work I have achieved.
Demonstration of Creativity – I have been experimenting with lots of different techniques and processes to develop ideas and engaged in the creative process through working in my sketchbook and producing small samples before embarking on larger pieces.
Context – I have tried to increase my research into other artists and also technical skills. I am engaging with other artists and crafts people outside of the course and am gaining further knowledge and experience of a variety of mediums and subjects which is helping to give me a more critical understanding. I feel like I am able to reflect on what has worked and what hasn’t in my work which enables me to make decisions about work in progress.
Throughout part two of the course I feel like I now have more of an idea of how the design process works. I have experimented a great deal in this section and this has fed ideas into the work that followed. I hadn’t previously really used a sketchbook but I can see how useful it is to develop ideas and keep a record of my experimentation so I am able to see how my ideas and skills are growing and also perhaps be able go back and use an earlier idea with the hindsight of what works and what doesn’t. I have also learnt new processes both in stitching and embroidery, fabric manipulation and the use of different threads and materials which I will be able to apply to future projects. I really enjoyed learning new techniques, in particular free machine embroidery which I would like to pursue further. I enjoyed using the textile paints to create coloured backgrounds so would like to learn more about dying and printing to create surface pattern that can be stitched into and also manipulating the fabric to create shape and texture.
I have a new found strength and confidence in exploring ideas after this section of the course without the fear of ‘being wrong’ as mistakes can sometimes be just as valuable, and am eager to increase my knowledge of skills that I have touched upon. I think one of my weaknesses in the past was to rush and not explore topics thoroughly enough and I feel like I am progressing with this. However I think I need to create an appropriate timetable and take into account the time needed to complete each task to help me to further improve with this.
After my work on my composed paper samples, I was pretty clear about what style of material I wanted, the translucent and lightweight properties of tissue paper was what I wanted to replicate. I bought some polyester voile but then decided it was a bit stiff and silky so went to my local art and craft shop and came out with cotton muslin. I liked the softness of the drape and the lightweight open weave and thought it would be great to try and use the fabric in different ways to create different feelings and textures from it.
My first piece was going to be based around trying to create a 3 dimensional textured piece using stitch to create the folds and shapes instead of actually folding it like paper. The original drawing I was using for inspiration was my ink and pencil flower drawing. I decided to focus on the cow parsley flowers for the textured background and to try layering over the top with an applique fern. My original drawing is in colour so I decided to use textile paint for the applique motif to make it stand out from the background. I did some sketchbook work to solidify my ideas, along with some small samples to make sure my ideas would work before starting my piece.
Stitched circles on the rear of the fabric with loose ends
After stitching I pulled the loose ends together to create little 3D bubbles
This is the rear of the fabric, in retrospect I quite like the flower like texture created here, I could use this in the future.
I stitched in the centre of each bubble to create the centre of the flowers
I left the edges of the motif unstitched so they would lift off the background texture.
Fern and Cowparsley Textile Sample on Cotton Muslin
For my second piece I wanted to try and create a crumpled piece of fabric with similarities to my tissue paper sample. I also wanted to recreate the blended colours that were in the sample when the tissue colours bled into each other and to embroider a repeating pattern on the fabric. Again I did some initial work in my sketchbook to try and get a firm idea of what I was going to do before beginning. I found that my original embroidery pattern ideas developed as I was stitching onto the fabric, both in pattern and stitch.
Before Stitching I wanted to crinkle and colour the fabric. I wet the fabric and painted with textile paint adding more water when I wanted a more translucent colour. After this I twisted the fabric tightly and secured it with elastic bands and popped it in the microwave for a minute to try and get a bit of moisture out of it. I left it to dry out a little more naturally before untwisting so that the crinkles didn’t fall out and then hung it to dry completely. I got a really good colour result from this technique as well as the crinkly texture, the only problem is because I used textile paint that needs ironing to fix I can’t fix the colours without ironing the crinkles out! So can’t be washed!
The first stitches to represent cowparsley flowers
I found that repeating the pattern across the bottom of the fabric gave a nice effect
The poppies
Embroidered Floral Pattern on Cotton Muslin
You can really see the crinkles in the fabric in this photo.
My embroidery plans seemed to organically develop as I was working on this piece, my initial thoughts were to just embroider a couple of flowers, but once I got going and looked at the size of the fabric and the layout, it just seemed right to add more, slowly increasing size down to the bottom right corner.
For my next piece I wanted to create layers incorporating ideas from my previous two samples and introducing a new idea by creating a firmer texture on top. I had the idea to create a 3 dimensional flower on top of a layer of machine stitched crumpled fabric. My first port of call was again to explore ideas in my sketchbook and try and figure out how I was going to make the material almost moldable and firm so it would stand up when stitched onto the backing fabric and be able to take some heavier weight materials that I had ideas of stitching with.
Experimenting with PVA Glue and textile paint to see how it stiffens fabric and reacts to the colours of the paints.
I decided to experiment with a mix of PVA glue and textile paint to see how this would effect the muslin. I put my samples in my sketchbook and did some exploratory stitching with some ideas that I had to see what effect I would get. I wanted to have a sturdy background that would stand up to having a heavy piece of work stitched to it but also wanted a contrast for the main flower motif. I used my earlier experiments to decide which of the different techniques to use for each.
Work in progress, fabric mix for the stitched flower
Free machine embroidery on background piece
Petals finished, now for construction
Finished sample
I created the background by painting wet fabric with textile paints then coating with pva, I then twisted the fabric and left it to dry out a little overnight. In the morning I unravelled the fabric as I didn’t want it to stick together but just hold its crumpled texture, and dried flat. My initial thought was to use white muslin to again create my bubble flowers, stitched onto the background but felt that the white was too stark against the muted colours of the background and would detract from the main flower. I decided to use a softer approach to give the idea of the cowslip flowers behind by stitching with my machine with metallic thread.
To create the flower I added machine stitched edging and detail to each petal and some of the leaves, then created a centre by scrunching up some muslin and hand embroidering to get a firm disc shape that I could then stitch the petals and leaves to. I stitched thin beading wire to the centre so that I could have stitches that would actually stand up on their own. Then it was just a case of hand stitching the flower to the background.
I’m really pleased with the samples I’ve created, each one seeming to give inspiration, feeding into the next. I have tried out new techniques and can see how the design process is an organic one, with ideas developing both on paper and as you are stitching.
I found this artist through a google search of artists using recycled materials. There were many artists using recycled materials in a variety of ways, however Louise’s work seemed to connect with me more than others that I looked at. She uses old scraps of fabric, paper and packaging and then stitches on to the surface to create pictures and wall hangings. By her own admission, she doesn’t pre-plan any of her work and takes an organic approach by letting the work develop as she goes, sometimes cutting down pieces to fit and form backgrounds before creating the top stitching. This way of working also conveys the message she is trying to get across in her work about the way we as humans function, sometimes we just ‘go with the flow’. This resonates with me, as planning ideas gives me a focus, but pieces only come to fruition through a practical and experimental process of doing.
Another artist that works in this way is one I have mentioned in an earlier post, Joanna Atherton who uses items washed up along the coast to create pieces of work that also give us an insight into human nature.
Eli Pope 