Part Four: Analysing colour, texture, proportion.

The chosen source material was a handful of Pot Pourri spread out on a sheet of white photo copy paper. Using water coloured paints similar to the colours of the pot pourri was stressful but due to the paleness of the shade only partially lifelike. I now realise that there are many other types of pot pourri and a lot more exciting than the ones I managed to source.

By changing the amount of the chosen colour and the amount of water it was possible to create a stronger hue giving a more substantial effect to the painted image. This change was able to be matched with selections of photos from glossy magazines. This colourization was then transferred to a piece of compressed dacron backing. The colour was representative but the texture was much more prickly than the slightly coarse and rough surface of the pot pourri.

I do admire the colour range and tonal changes within these autumn colours shown on the colour card of cotton patchwork fabrics. Once again I realise that the subtle changes in tones are not always available in the basic set of paints or fabrics commercially. I seem to be able to make do though with what I have for sampling and experimenting but would need to broaden the range of materials if I was contemplating  some more demanding results from a textile piece.

There comes a point where the practicing student has to decide just how much is enough and the need to hold stocks of materials for some later possible project which may or may not eventuate.

 

 

Part Four: Research Point.

(Have made contact by e-mail with forty-two of the New Zealand  textile artists profiled in Ann Packers book entitled “STITCH” of which fourteen have replied to date)

How do you think the work of the textile artist differs from that of the designer, the designer-maker or the craftsperson?

1. Different traditions, training and desired outcomes . (Morris. L. 16/02/2012)

 – Designers are the creators of the concept/idea; design-makers grow the idea by developing a precursor of the concept/idea/design;  craftspeople focus more on techniques using predominantly other persons kits/patterns; whereas in theory and practice textile artists do all three ending up with:

 “textile-based decorative objects which are not intended for practical use”. (www.Wikipedia.org) retrieved 17/02/2012.

In my mind textile art and textile artists can be anywhere from one extreme to another on the craft > art spectrum. At one end is the maker of practical items and at the other, the creators of abstract textile artistry.

2.  On the craft/art pendulum and at any specific point on its trajectory, the energy may become concentrated and focused on the industriousness of: for example the textile artist whilst being supported and sustained by any one or all of the other pursuits. The same maxim applies for each of the others individually.

 A Venn diagram can be used to explain relationships between groups (=sets) of things suggesting that some craftsperson/s will also be designers, and within that group of designers some will also be designer-makers and crafts people, but, not all designers & designer makers will be crafts people. Similarly some textile artists will also be crafts people, &/or designers &/or designer makers, but, not all designers & designer makers will be crafts people. (Plug. C. 15/02/2012)

3. Definitions and labels possibly are the starting point for some more academic and hypothetical treatise. However the boundaries are not always expressed concisely by these persons nor are they ‘too bothered about how they are defined’, (Plug. C. 15/02/2012) The exception to this maxim is that if  they are wanting to take up membership in a professional  group who make their purposes mandatory in the form of a constitution, then applicants will ensure that their C.V’s and/or marketing profile meets the groups requirements in terms of their classification.  A specialist group in New Zealand in this category is: http://www.bodkinz.co.nz

There is definitely a crossover in terms of their approach and the way in which each one uses ideas and/or textile processes and I refer specifically to http://www.genevievepacker.com/ 

On her website Genevieve describes herself as:

 “a Wellington-based textile designer-maker, craft enthusiast and educator. Her design practice continues to explore New Zealand’s national identity, material culture, and overlooked things in the everyday, alongside an obsession with repeating pattern. She has a multi-disciplinary approach to contemporary craft-based design, which covers a range of materials, hands-on and digital processes and techniques. She is currently working on textiles for costumes for film, juggling her own practice and applying her spare time to any commissions and collaborations that grab her attention.”

Because the internet is opening a whole new world for practitioners such as Genevieve they appear to be less concerned about what category/classification they fit into in the art/craft scene. Personally and to-date I have not been able to justify the time and expense  but will concede that this may not be the same for other textile artists operating in other countries throughout the world. At present I am overwhelmed by the number of textile artists and their textile art that can be accessed on the internet. As a student I find it exciting on the one hand in being able to view such a wide variety of textile pieces, but on the other hand numbing as to where practitioners must have to ‘pitch their piece’ and/or ‘market their wares’.

When looking at any painting or sculpture I look for what is pleasing to my eye and makes sense in my mind.

The proliferation of artists and their exhibitions would appear to me to be increasing for three reasons: one –  more people are using the art/craft pendulum as a means of escaping from the boredom with all types of media, two – in the hope that they can access the craft/art fairs/markets in these weak economic times and three – to satisfy their urge to create something. In saying that the corporates and those with discretionary dollars are continuing to purchase and invest in textile and fine art as a means of spreading their portfolios and wealth.

Two internationally known textile artists:

Carol Naylor – http://www.carolnaylor.co.uk    http://www.axisweb.org/artist/carolnaylor

Carol specialises in machine embroidery creating one-off textiles by stitching directly onto painter’s canvas using a variety of rayon, cotton, woollen and metallic threads.

“I sometimes embed other materials and fibres. The continuous heavy stitching can cause the base fabric to distort and these qualities I like to exploit particularly when working on a large-scale. I use fine detailed drawing with the (electric) needle, as well as large gestural movements within my work, a combination that provides me with a painterly approach to textile art. My work is very tactile, and I prefer to leave larger pieces unframed so that the public can interact with it more directly.”

Carol’s stitched textiles range from small intimate pieces to large-scale hangings. Heavy, intensive stitching changes the base fabric from a flat surface to one that moves and undulates with its own unique quality.

recent statement for Designer Crafts at the Mall 2011:

“Qualities of light and colour observed on land and water continue to inform my work.  Shadows with strongly contrasting shafts of light are explored through heavily stitched surfaces that (are) undulated and vary as the onlooker’s point of view changes.”

statement from Borderline exhibition 2008 K & S:

“Boundaries edges and borders are created by the coming together of fields and pathways, rivers and mountains, beaches, cliffs and waves. These forms along with qualities of light, pattern and colour observed on my travels provide challenges that I try to meet and resolve through thread and line. As I manipulate and change the surface of my base fabric by stitching, the earth’s surface provides me with visual stimuli that I seek not to emulate, but to investigate. For me drawing from source and working from first hand experience are essential parts of the creative process. I look, I record, I select, I develop. If I can’t draw then I make notes, or take photographs as back up. Sometimes I simply rely on the memory of the shapes or colours observed. It can be enough to launch a series of works. I constantly revisit my sketchbooks, and one drawing can be interpreted in many ways……………………..Some works are clearly image based, whilst others have a more abstract quality.”

 (The artist statements are subject to copyright and have been approved for publishing on this blog.)

Julia Caprara – http://www.opus-online.co.uk

Julia and her husband Alex ran the Opus School of Textile Arts until her sudden death in…………………. Her art and colour philosophy has been used and illustrated in her book “Exploring Colour”. Julia saw herself as a master at multi tasking in order to  be “committed to hand stitching………..we speak in particular through textiles and fundamental to this expression should be a practice of drawing”.

“I use colour in very deliberate ways, using strong bold marks of colour to create visually vibrating surfaces. I enjoy working with unusual colour relationships, working very large, and I do like to challenge myself to work with ideas that have no obvious solutions and which I don’t know how to handle. I enjoy complex compositions and have to work experimentally, and my ideas usually evolve through the making rather than by preplanning or designing. I think that I can do this just because I have spent so many years in looking and drawing and working with such strict disciplines as stained glass and wood engraving. I guess I ‘draw and paint’ with stitch. Much of my work has focused on Light and Illumination – either the physical attributes of light, the spectrum, reflected light or else the spiritual illumination of the soul. Many of my pieces have their own mythology and symbolism and I am constantly fascinated by the textiles of other cultures where the cloth itself becomes a sacred element in its ritualistic use. I have recently been working with a totally different ‘cloth’ which has evolved through bonding and layering ‘glazes’ of cloth and papers. This has metamorphosed into a new kind of translucent surface, very like glass, which I work into compositions using wood, sticks and other found objects in a more sculptural form. I see these ‘wands’ as transmitters or instruments that link elements as disparate as earth and air, mind and spirit, memory and mythology. My influences come from many areas; in the early days nature and natural light reflecting surfaces, the phenomena of light, mythology, history, myself and some of the great artists of our time: Cubism, Abstract Expressionism and above all music and words”.

 

Part Three: Project Seven – Themes

Te Ana Maori Rock Art:

Having been involved with this project today and because it will mean some detailed research as well as the possibility of basing this research around textiles (Maori) I have a sense of excitement and further involvement with our local Iwi/Tribe.  http://.www.teana.co.nz

My prior guess at a Theme had to do with “Family Violence” which thinking about it may not be in keeping with the thoughts and suggestions made by the module. Will have to speak with my tutor and talk this through.Tutor has now asked for clarification of this theme and suggested a variation: “Family Issues”.

I am more inclined to go to my back up themes of music & drama, freemasonry, eclesiastical regalia and forest and bird.

 

Part Three: Learning Log.

Raised & Structured Surfaces:

 I was working away quite happily with the applied fabric technique samples until I came to the development of the drawing stage. I chose the appropriate drawing

on the basis that I could replicate at best the objects in the sketch  by photocopying the image, cutting it up and then weaving it back together. This completely destroyed the image I had in my mind. My revised thinking was to make some sense of the convoluted result so that I could proceed with some certainty towards the action part of stage four.

I applied three different tones of red gouache paints to areas of some significance. Still did not suggest anything that I could justify as being definitive

.

Starting to doubt my ability to convert my sketches into a design.

Will move on to applying PVA glue to a piece of calico and hope for a better result.

 Will need to really open my mind to understanding how the design relates to the moulding of the glued piece of calico whilst waiting for it to dry. Used hessian, calico and nylon curtaining fabric. My guess is that a natural fabric such as cotton will manipulate better than a synthetic. Will wait and see. The other aspect is the tighter the weave the more difficult it has been to stretch the fabric over and around each mould.

Designing is not accidental. It must be something put together with an intent or goal in mind. The only exception is that it cannot fail. The outcome however may not be just as the mind perceives the image – well that’s my impression with abstract work based on creativity. The variables in this exercise have to be experienced to be believed. With all the good intentions in the world I can concede however that these exercises make the work interesting and demanding until such stage as a point of clarification is reached. Understanding then becomes believable. I await with a heightened sense of great anticipation the outcome of the drying process and the next stage of resolution of the sample.

In the meantime I will move on and think twice about reproducing the images and objects in my sketch/drawing – this seems to be the way that other students are interpreting the instructions. More of a defined and identifiable sample.

04/02/2012

OMG. O ye of little faith. Arrived at my desk this morning to view the moulds drying and lo and behold they have potential for fulfilling my wildest dreams – well at least they are showing signs of dimensional relief and once completely dry I will be able to add the appropriate stitching and embellishment -YAHOO.

Have three separate moulds which I am now not sure how far to take them?

The component parts got the better of me and I have put them together in a creative way so that each element compliments each other. The 3D effect is obvious as the moulded fabrics stand in relief with colours blending and moving from top to bottom allowing the eyes to run down automatically following the curves and the patterned pieces. The blandness of the calico actually detracts from the piece at this stage and I will need to think about how I can embellish it in order to make sense of the colour, shape and texture. Perhaps this is where I should go back to my sketchbook for some ‘brain storming’.

Took another students idea in regards to securing small screws and bits and pieces inside a piece of fabric and then boiling the object so that when it dried it kept its moulded shape and could be used to embellish my ‘resolving experiment’. No such luck didn’t work. My guess is that the patchwork fabric did not have enough dressing in it or that it had been pre-washed so that the dressing had been washed out. Will try denim drill next time as an alternative. Finished up pasting PVA on to the rubber band tied bits and pieces.

Will have to wait for it to dry now before arranging it suitably placed on to my resolving art piece.

Now faced with the conundrum of having used PVA to firm up the bits and pieces and having forced them out of the fabric I am left with a series of moulds which looking at them could become an artistic feature in themselves. What to do with them now and also should I be working in my sketchbook to record what is happening to my slowly resolving piece of art work. Should I sketch them, colour them, stuff them, stitch them – here is photo because the parcel I send to my tutor will be over the weight limits. I have carried on with this stage writing it up in my log as part of my learning phase.

Simply sewing/attaching/applique stitching moulds appropriately to form a sensual image.

Creativity has no bounds. Rather than overdo the embellishment with all the moulds I have been left with I think it wise to stop whilst I am ahead or as they say ‘having fun’ I have not backed myself into a corner but I have persevered with the design to the extent that I am happy with the outcome. There is substance, there is shape and a pattern which is discernible by standing back and asking one’s self what I am seeing and experiencing. The viewer needs to ask themselves just what is my experience when I am looking at this piece of textile art. For me personally I feel satisfied that I have reached a point where I am now OK to move on.

05/02/2012

How does working with fabric in this way compare with working directly with stitch?

Both require determination on the part of the student/artist to convert an idea into a concept by way of a plan. The plan has to be tested and allowed to evolve so that the outcome is acceptable in the eyes and mind of the fabricator/stitcher. When making the comparison with stitching techniques I experienced a sense of completeness which I put down to the smooth and picturesque tactile nature of fabric. The accuracy of piecing small irregular shapes of fabric and the cleaner and sharper machine decorative stitching thrilled me more by electric needle than the hand needle.

Are you pleased with the shapes and movements that you have created in both applique and fabric manipulation? What would you do differently?

Being the hard task master that I am about my own work I am very seldom completely satisfied and always looking to improve the quality and versatility of embellishing my efforts – wanting to see them come alive when standing back rather than up close.  I need to understand perspective better when designing and colour enhancement when choosing and selecting fabrics.

How did the pieces work in relation to your drawings? Were the final results very different from the drawings? Did the fabric manipulation technique take over and dictate the final result?

With my abstract designs I think I still have some very basic lessons to learn about “visual integrity” – that is being able to meet the expectations other viewers have of my work – herein lies the debate of who is the artist trying to satisfy – themselves or their audience?  I have few qualms about reproducing applique that is based on figures and clearly identifiable images – I think I can copy my designs very well thank you. However in saying that the fabric manipulation sample in stage four did take over and just simply evolved as I worked with the moulded fabric pieces. The effort itself was simply worthwhile.

Was it helpful to work from drawings in the applique exercise? Would you have preferred to play directly with cut shapes and materials?

Yes and no. At this stage of my studies I do not have a preferred method of working and if I had a guess it would be that both options apply depending on the nature of the design and the piece of work being progressed.

How do you feel about working with stitch in general? Is it an area you would like to pursue in more depth? Do you find it limiting in any way?

Apprehensive. Yes, as and when I see the need and/or a project that would be better resolved by stitching. At this stage, no. I see it as having no bounds and so open-ended that it is conducive to my feeling of apprehension – I feel overwhelmed more than anything. I look at the work executed by the masters and cannot help but be wildly impressed. This now opens the debate about the feelings one has for their own current status and comparing themselves with other artists rather than using it as an occasion to work towards ones own goals and achievements.

Reflective comments: Assignment Three.

The energy level is still in overdrive and the ability to work alone is constructive and self-propelled.  The amount of work in Part Three has been less but concentrated on more practical aspects of recording thoughts and workings in a sketchbook and working notebooks. The hands on work with textiles and resolution of ideas and designs has been more satisfying than the previous two parts of this module. I have a strong sense that I have made changes as suggested by my tutor but am still mindful of the fact that presentation will still be extremely important as the assessors will be of similar mind but will make their own judgement of my final efforts. I await my tutors report on Part Three.

Having e-mailed tutor of my work-in-progress dilemma  I am now having to revise the work undertaken for Part Three. I am thinking that I have still to make acceptable changes to my output and presentation in order to comply with the modules instructions. It just seems that I am hearing these things later rather than at the time of ‘going off track’.