lovely books

Mark Hearld's Workbook reminded me that I want to develop a collage style of work - it isn't happening yet and maybe it won't develop much in this unit but there is time. I love the energy of this book. It's full of detail and processes.  And it looks so 'do-able'.  Love it.

 

India Flint's eco-colour book is reminding me that I want to work in a gentle and sustainable fashion.  I love her eco prints and I'm looking forward to trying the technique.  I recently dyed some cotton fabric using Dylon in the washing machine.  The colour was even and it was intense but it was lifeless.  I used to be disinterested in plant dyes because they can result in many shade of sludge but I've moved on!

 

I'm also looking at India Flint's book Second Skin which is about choosing and caring for textiles and clothing.  I often talk about  Slow Fashion - I want to practice what I preach more effectively.

 

I have also borrowed Drawn In by Julia Rothman which peeks at the sketchbooks of 44 artists.  I am not good at sketchbooks, I attempt to make them look good but it doesn't work - they aren't sketchbooks - they are useful workbooks with cuttings and printed bits from the Internet.  I think I am more successful with this blog.  Hope so.

 

  drawing loads of images for repeat prints.  I began with detailed paisleys - using daisies and swirls as decoration  - all different shapes and colourways.  I think I prefer using just one colour.  Eventually all this detailed stuff got to me and I drew many scribble paisleys which I hope to use but I'm not sure how - yet.

 

 

 

 

paisleys, daisies and swirls

Following on from my research into 1960s fashion textiles, I have decided to use daisy, paisley and swirl motifs in my repeat patterns.  During the AVA class I experimented with some of my drawings but they were too rigid, the colours too saturated and the repeats too predictable.  I wanted to develop a more painterly approach.


In my Learning Agreement I discussed collage style prints and I need to research and think about compositions a little more carefully.

Useful exercise in joining for repeats.



 

Alfred Wallis

Visited the Time and Tide museum in Great Yarmouth today to see the Alfred Wallis exhibition.

Alfred Wallis painted 'for company' after his wife died, he painted anything - cardboard, wood, his tea tray, fire bellows - with household or boat paint (hence the limited colour palette which gives a sense of identity when viewing his paintings).  He wasn't limited by perspective or proportion, his 'canvas' was irregularly shaped (I pulled this image from the Internet and they have 'squared' the image).  I really like the irregularity and naivity of his paintings.  He painted scenes from his memory (he had been a fisherman) and his images really captured the 'splash' of the sea.  At the time (1930s) neighbours and family were disparaging, but he worked on - and then he was 'discovered' by Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood.  He died in a poor house - what's it all about?

I use repurposed textiles for my work - but in future I'll try using something a little more obviously repurposed to give an added dimension.

preparation for repeat print tutorial

 

 

Birthday party

 The subject (twins) of my wall hangings and tablecloth celebrated their 65th birthday yesterday with a 1960s party - complete with 1960s band and decorative tablecloth and hangings.  It was a fabulous evening.  I received many compliments on my textiles - including from professional artists.  I was particularly pleased with these large wall hangings and the A1 poster - enlarged half tone (line) screenprints and a print - which resemble abstract shapes when viewed at close range and I was a little worried that they wouldn't  easily be identified but they worked beautifully in a large room. 

 

I also hung the large collaged piece of experimental work.  It is too big, too diverse, too fragmented and I have to confess I finally ran out of patience and it lacks finesse.  I have spent many hours on this piece, stitching, unpicking, removing double sided facing (too rigid), adding home dyed stitched threads, machine stitching.  It has been a useful exercise but do I like the finished result?  No.  But I enjoyed the process and learnt a lot.

books, age and directions

I currently have three inspirational books and one useful book on loan from NUA library.
The practical one is Designing and Printing Textiles by June Fish.  Practical instruction which is enabling and encouraging.

The other three books are
Push Stitchery curated by Jamie Chalmers.  It shows the work of 30 textile artists which 'explore the boundaries of stitched art'. 
Mark Making by Tilleke Schwarz.  Showing her freestyle embroideries.
Radical Thread by Lesley Millar.  It celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 62 Group 'at the forefront of innovation and creativity'.  I love the features on the individual artists - many of whom are not young and indeed some are older than me!  Inspirational on many fronts.  Many of the artists describe the simple pleasure of stitching - which is what I love too - and these three books invite me to be braver with my designs.

Why do people keep asking me 'What are you going to do when you finish?'  What they are really saying is 'It is pointless you are too old'.   Anyway, I have decided to answer 'I am enjoying myself now and that is all that counts'.

Enough of the ranting.  Inspired by by 'no holds barred' books I have made a collage of all my 1960s samples - comprising stitch, screenprint and transfer - the include newspaper headlines, a poem. song lyrics and a speech.  They represent the music, politics, flower power and poetry of the era.

I want to hand stitch it together to unite it all but it would take a long time.  I prefer handstitch, it has faults and differences and textures.  Machine stitch can be harsh and sterile.

I spent a lot of time deciding on the position and aspect of the images - I decided to have the face them all the same way because it is a collage first and, maybe, a tablecloth second.

I also tried a product called 'Image Maker' by Dylon.  It transfers images from photocopies to fabric.  I'll try again but my first attempt made the cotton textile stiff and the image was unclear.

stencils don't work

 

I experimented with screenprinting over laser cut paper.  It didn't work as well as I had hoped, the printing ink pooled against the cut edges of the paper - not totally unsuccessful, both the print and the stencil had a charm of their own.

I used a textile pen to put some text onto a screenprint.  I also used Magic Touch  transfers for more 1960s text - poetry, speech and newspaper headlines.  I find myself with some interesting samples which I would like to combine so I have been researching - Internet and book - for inspiration.