Part Four: Introduction.

WOVEN STRUCTURES

Who ever thought that recycled materials such as sewing machine cords, armature wire, duck fabric and screen printing would make up so divinely. Not all materials are textile but the overall design and artistic piece invites variable comments from viewers when discovered on my studio wall.

This was purely an experimental object with the intention of using some off-beat and discarded sewing machine unrepairable items. The screen printing was applied to a piece of ‘duck’ fabric and stuck onto a section of fabric cardboard cylinder. Because the machine flex was not stripped down to the actual wires the weaving has ended up as being open and distended.

There are many techniques and complexity’s just waiting to be discovered in my workshop basement when I look for alternative materials that can be manipulated with some other forms of artistry.

 

Part Four: Project Eight – Stage Two. Exercise One.

Experimenting with structures.

 

There is some satisfaction in going back and using some earlier visual source material in that it not only reduces the great volume of work that has been filed but gives it a degree of usefulness. In fact all three samples have some positive elements about each one. The technique is pretty much ‘craft work’ but the outcomes can be seen as a positive construct. The first sample has movement because the outlines and edges to the base material are curved and just not straight and parallel with one another.The second sample has colour and shape because the pattern is just not all made up of squares it also has rectangles. The third sample has a congestion of colour on the right hand side whereas the gold and the black/blue really enhance the visual effect of the overall design. This exercise could have a real sense of resolution once the development stages are progressed.

Varying the size and shape of the strips makes for a more interesting visual piece as does using a variation of materials. To experiment further by working with more open spaces within the design would help to prevent some of the congestion sensations as a result of bordering once strip up against another. Less rather than more would be the next step.

 

Part Four: Project Eight – Stage One.

Exploring the qualities of yarn.

Hours of ‘just looking thankyou’ in wool barns and ‘op-shops’ to build up supply’s of wool,yarns, natural, man-made and regenerated fibres.

A hunt around has produced some oddities such as armature wire, raffia, plastic covered wire, binder twine and knitted and crocheted garments for unpicking.

There is a down side to the collection of quantities of various weights and types of yarns not only as far as the expense is involved but also the storing and identifying of each item for later retrieval. Knowing where to obtain such materials is important if and when required for later use whether it be from specialist shops or by mail order. The secret is to know what the user will require for a specific project so that it can be obtained in sufficient quantity before hand avoiding the problem of not either having enough or the supplier ‘has since closed down’.

 

Part Four: Project Eight – About Weaving (Tapestry)

1st March 2012

I have a need to feel grounded at the moment and to put some evidence of my work up for viewing and confirmation that I have been doing something. This image is of two quilts which I have no further use for cut up into 3″ strips and woven together indiscriminately. I quite like it. They can be dismantled and rewoven as they have not been sewn down/together. The photos show three variations of the same two quilts. These have a 2 and 3 dimension to them apart from being of some practical use as bed spreads. The depth and thickness of the polar fleece made from a blend of wool and polyester provides warmth to the user and pleasure to the viewer when woven in linear segments. Variations to the patterns can be achieved by changing the shape of the cut pieces so that once woven together they will create other visual impressions. The bright colours help to create a more sensual effect when viewed up close. Because they are principally primary colours there is an abruptness to the colour changes where each segment meets. The textural nature of the materials used also contribute to tactile sensations of softness and gentleness. Rather than stick to the conformity of over warp and under weave and visa versa I set about changing the up and over style of weaving. I moved into pipe cleaners, faux fir and binder twine. I even cut up some voiles and wove that into the piece but it was too flimsy and really only brought about a colour change. Being black it really highlighted the brilliant colour of the faux fir – Bright orange.

19th March 2012

Getting prepared meant asking for a loan of a frame from the local guild. The only size available was a 50cm X 75cm frame but with small nails inserted in the head and base boards at the required distance apart. This solved a problem for me of shifting warp threads and I ended up with 44 in total.

Starting with 4 ply knitting yarn was a breeze until 20cm of woven fibres and yarns left me wondering what I was going to do with the excess yarn left outside the frame when starting and finishing each section of pattern/yarn. I had forgotten to weave the ends into the warp thinking that I would simply knot the ends at the right side. After spending a day on weaving the loose ends back into the warp I felt justified in saying that now I really have some texture to the woven wools. Weaving standard knitting wool meant that the piece was tidy neatly patterned and had a touch of satisfaction to it. But it was very structured, bland and uninteresting. By changing to carpet yarns and cut up acrylic fabric it started to take on its own personality, the parallel lines started to meander, move away from the horizontal and left me wanting to run my hands over it to experience the thrill of the softness and roughness of each type of fabric, yarn and fibre.

I have to be honest and say up to now this was my interpretation of what I was being ask to do in this lesson. I don’t have a problem with it but then mine is not a practiced eye and being the first time everything was pretty amazing colour wise, pattern wise, structure, texture and organisation. The materials were what I had on hand rather than going out and buying in new stuff. However in saying that I recognise that perhaps the warp threads should not be so obvious, colour changes not so severe and organisation –  well it was mostly intuitive – certainly not a pre arranged design. If I had had an idea in mind plus a theme plus some development stages then it would have been according to hoile – not so – I think its terrific as a visual creation of my choosing.

Turned the frame up side down and started weaving from the other end so that the first lot of weaving did not have to be cut from the frame.

Moving on to curved wefts, soumak and ghiordes knots took a bit of thinking about. These techniques produced another example of texture and patterned weaving. Because the earlier samples were mainly with knitting wool and non standard fibres such as twine I chose to use curtain chords and strips of fabric as a variation. The thicker cords were able to be seen more easily because they bulked up but the flimsy fashion fabrics became lost in between the warp threads when being compacted as they were pushed up against other threads.

Curtain cord is quite thick and already platted in the winding process. Leaves a brilliant texture when the soumak knot is cut leaving a pile on the surface of the warp threads. But if cut too short it unwinds and if trying to create loop pile unravels – so that was successful and not so successful. Again the colours are important they aluminate and accentuate the weaving process. But the warp threads are showing because the thick cord does not close up leaving gaps between the weft threads.

Introducing supermarket plastic bags, raffia, curtain cord and cut ghiordes knots.

perseverance has paid off. Because I have used a frame bigger than that suggested in the notes I have combined many of the tasks on one frame that is threads, fibres, materials and techniques. Everything has been a new experience, tedious at times and illuminating at other. The major problems I have encountered as I see it was the warp threads being far too obvious in and around the weaving. Every thing I have learned so far is associated with basic weaving but with unusual textiles which have contributed to a variation in outcomes especially texture and colour even if there were some unexpected outcomes.. I now have a foundation on which I can build with energy and creative deliberation.

 

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’.

 

Part Three: Project Six – Stage Four.

Raised & Structured Surface Textures:

 These two photos are of my work in progress from Stage three namely the piecing of denim patches and my experiments with tyvek, both of which I hope to take further.

Two ideas came to mind when reading through Stage Four, those of embellishing the sample piece from Stage Three and/or creating a more resolved project based on my pencil drawing of a block wall with the waterfall pouring down from an aquifer onto a rock starfish and two pedestals.

Will now re-read the notes and firm up how I intend to proceed with a raised and structured surface. Immediately I read that I am to choose a drawing from stage two hence the pen & ink drawing as above. Dam I had some really good ideas for the Denim patchwork top – perhaps I should have sketched them into my working notebooks – next time – aye. Having re-read the notes I must now follow the set instructions before going off on a tangent. Well at least any reader can see my thinking ahead and what is going on in and around my mind so back to the tasks in hand. Really miss the ‘bouncing off of ideas on other students and tutor’.

01/02/2012

Folding, Gathering, Pleating & Tucking.

Sample one also was created by trapunto twin needle quilting and a sliver of quilting wool threaded in between the two rows of stitching.

02/02/2012

Raised shapes created with stuffing and batting. Bu sing a pre-designed fabric it is possible to add a piece of muslin on the back and sew around the features on the piece of fabric so that the stitching is continuous. By making a small hole in the muslin behind the shape (flower) it is possible to insert stuffing – sufficient to give the shape a 3D raised impression. Simply by adding batting in between the top and the backing fabric – depending on the weight and depth – the topping can also be raised and quilted creating either a preset or freehand design to the surface area. The excitement of seeing one’s ideas come to fruition is more specific to controlled designs than abstract ideas at the moment – but I will push on testing and stretching my imagination.

In my mind quilting is a means of embellishing a ‘fabric sandwich’ with decorative stitching as well as simply holding three layers of material namely fabric and batting together. The geometric designs which I make up on graph paper are the most satisfying. Being of my own conception and seeing the finished product is extremely satisfying. Quilting can be by hand or by machine. I take great pleasure in quilting clients quilts on my own Longarm Quilting machine. As far as hand quilting goes trapunto is a special technique more applicable to twin needling and inserting quilting wool between the two lines of stitching.

The degree of difficulty between decorative quilting and abstract fabric manipulation is extreme and what is pleasant and regulated to the naked idea can also relate to creative and abstract work. I still have this urge to create something abstract that I like not necessarily that any one else likes.

Moulded and contrived shapes can also be over a cardboard template. The stitching is gathered and is held firmly in a defined shape. A very common object technique is that of the Suffolk pom poms. This technique lends itself to thicker fabrics such as polar fleece.

Slash and Fray.

Sample 9. Five different layers of fabric consisting of net, cotton, polar fleece and sheer polyester. Sewn from one side to the other in vertical lines of unequal width. Washed in a washing machine and distressed.

Sample 10. Five layers of polar fleece fabric sewn vertically and then cut through the top four layers and washed in a washing machine. Both samples did not fray up to any great extent. Will have to now try different fabrics such as hessian which has a more open weave. Might even try a woollen garment. chenille is also supposed to wash up and fray out.

Sample 11. A resolved piece of personal work showing the effect of fabric tucks sewn into a background fabric and finished off with a border. This is an example of a piece of work undertaken alongside my studies but not written up in detailed notes. The design and instructions came from a retail kit off the internet.

 

Part Three: Project Six – Stage Three.

Applied Fabric Techniques:

 Having chosen the photo resource for the purpose of producing samples I used the ‘Parson Bird’  image which started out as a painting/collage/photo in my sketchbook.

By cutting out template patterns in coloured paper I was able to build up a collage by layering each one upon the other in a predetermined order to create a picture of the native bird. There was a sense of being at the ‘craft’ end off the ‘art/craft’ pendulum, but a greater sense of have achieved something more decorative than some of the abstract work. Each medium has its own ‘for and against’. The fusing  and blending of colours was made difficult because the coloured papers were only one colour when in actual fact the fabrics today especially “batik’ which are multicoloured and merge more successfully than mono tones. Apart from ending up with one colour when dying fabric it is more than possible to have a fusion of colours from which to choose from various dye blends.

The process of interpreting the modules narrative meant that creating samples became an endless and ongoing process which lead to much satisfaction and the sense that what I was achieving was helping me to understand such techniques as ‘Applique’.

Each sample did not have a set plan of action and design as such. The applique technique suggested the manner in which the sample stitching were put together. Coloured paper was a case of cutting out shapes and choosing colours to build up an image in the style of the craft of paper tole.

Stitching was simply a process of selecting the appropriate stitch and fixing an image to a piece of base fabric. Embellishing the image was again a process of looking in the appropriate colour and material plastic envelope and making a considered decision as to what colour, shape, texture, type of fabric and image was in one’s mind. As samples the exercise did not have any specific resolved outcome other than testing ones ability to put various pieces together and record the process and add ones reflections accordingly.

25/01/2012

Moving backwards and forwards, in and out of my sketchbook and blog are still creating some uncertainty in my thinking. I need to meet the requirement of keeping working notebooks to record my progress. The following photos are all about the work I have been undertaking in the past few days.Presenting my work in a logical order backed up by my blog is my goal.

29/01/2012

The first two photos are indicative of the resource image that I have chosen to work with for this exercise and the component parts retrieved by way of observation – hence the charcoal sketch and the block sample, cut up into strips and reformed to illustrate what I was seeing in the rotting boards on the front of the building. By painting a piece of foam in the relevant colours  meant that a very structured outcome was achieved by rearranging the pieces in a vertical formation – with the exception of some smaller strips. So that I was better able to understand the decaying portions of the timber I burnt out crevasses on a piece of foam with a soldering iron and the applied acrylic paint in the darker hues. It is so easy to become consumed with the experiments  – time just flies with the excitement of seeing the fruits of ones work.

The next two photos represent the result of printing out the ink applied to the block in a non descript fashion but with the idea of again representing the up-right stance of the timber except for where some panels had fallen across the vertical lines. This I thought was somewhat more successful than the last time I tried working with a printing block. I have a sense that I am doubling up by working in a sketchbook and also loading the images on to my blog but I am determined to meet my tutors requests for ‘keeping working notebooks’ and to ensure that if the assessors have the time to read my blog they will get a clear sense of my working processes. Having said that I now am having trouble getting the narrative alongside the ‘photo step’ I am talking about. I need to spend some more time improving the layout of my blog so that it makes sense when compared with my working notebooks.

The last twelve photos show the procedure I have used when working with the waste fabric from the cut off hems of denim and worsted jeans. Laying the remnants out on the table I sprayed them with bleach in order to have some of their basic colour removed and/or stained. Rather than paint them I chose to create distressed fibres by running them up against an emery wheel.

There are two A3 sheets of strips of fabric for my sketchbook and also for highlighting the fibres and textures of each different piece of fabric. Whilst able to identify the construction of each sample I was not prepared to include any further techniques of destruction of the fibres in order to limit the number of variables and to move the process of resolution on in the time allotted for this stage of the project.

I purposely separated out the thick hems from the strips of fabric leaving small fragments for later construction and embellishment of the pieced patches. There are photos of the samples pieced, thick hems joined with an heirloom stitch and machine free-motion stitching over water-soluble material. I had in mind the addition of these test pieces to the base layer of the pieced segments of fabric. My initial thoughts were to make a 2D piece to work with and embellish. Shades of piecing patchwork fabric except that when joining the final four strips I used a variation of stitches including zig zag, button and blanket stitch. The long length was cut into four quarters before rejoining in one long strip.

It also occurred to me that if I was to send this work away it would be larger than the red bag and much heavier than the 2KG limit so I decided to reduce the number of samples and experiments on the basis that I have recorded my work in my sketchbook and working notebooks. This way I could be judged on the process from the photos and sketchbook work sheets – hopefully. I was keen to move on to the 3D stage of this project.