South West Textile Group Exhibition

I have joined South West Textile Group. We are having an exhibition at the Town Mill Gallery in Lyme Regis from 5th - 27th October (not Mondays).

some of the work has been seen before but there are also many new pieces, including my windmills!
Do come along if you can.

a few summer holiday extras

when i sprayed my net for the windmills i protected my work surface with newspaper and i have been playing with the resulting sheets.

 i love the voids created where the net was and rather than throw this paper away i have cut it up into strips and been playing with 'books'.

the one in the middle with the really curly pages i placed in resin to see how it would react.
i have used fairly conventional stitching but have also played with metal so they can be bent into shape.

as in this one above and below

and also playing with cut outs as below

all the strips started out 2.5cm wide, some folded once and others more so they are tiny. still playing!

It is finished!

this is really an interim report before the final placing of my textile. after talking to Siân at Summer School i came away rethinking the 'site specific' bit, thinking exactly what i wanted to portray with the piece. it dawned on me that what i was really getting at was the fact Skypeing is an enclosed activity so in order for my piece to work it could be placed anywhere.

so to bring you up to date with my production process.....

i rethought the method for display, i really liked the net idea but made a sample which was simpler like a wire fence structure.

i worked out the size i wanted and drew a grid onto newspaper joining the paper where necessary. i wanted the top and lower edges to be re-enforced so i added a strip of Lutrador. i was still going for a long thin 'tape' like shape.
once finished i gently soaked a bit at a time removing the newsprint and hung it to dry.

i rolled it on a roller to keep it straight - deciding to revisit this technique sometime as i quite liked it with the newsprint colours.

i then sprayed the 'net' with Warhammer Chaos black spray paint a bit at a time. above shows the net with only one side sprayed, something else i might revisit.

i attached the windmills with fishing line placing them in a regular pattern. i decided that the windmills didn't need to move independently, the fact that they are possibly moving all together when placed outside is enough.

i wanted to keep it simple and i feel i have achieved this! i attached perspex rods to either end to stabilise and keep the edges straight. i am hoping this is to be displayed soon so my fixing mechanism can work wherever the item goes.

i took it outside to see how it would react en mass, firstly laying it on a path in my garden. the path behind does distract from windmills so when placing it i feel it needs a paler backing to be suspended to keep the lightness visible

i then draped it from a windowsill where i could see how it worked with the breeze. i finally attached it to my washing line and made a short video but i now need to convert the MP4 into something that i can easily attach the sound recording to and upload easily! so watch this space.

as it is still summer holidays and it might be displayed somewhere in October i am going to wait till November to take it out and about to photograph it in various situ's. i will take it to the beach but i now feel it might work best in an urban environment but the video will i hope be the final outcome.  

more creating and playing

i have now finished making all the windmill bodies. the tape made 64 in the end.

some but not all

the resin has brought out the colours of the tissue

i then re-thought my net, making a sample with a larger, simpler grid and spraying it black to merge with the black of the tape. i attached two windmills to it and took it outside to see how it would work in the wind.
there is obviously not going to be any individual movement of each windmill, they will work as a 'mass' and NO sound will emerge just like a Tibetan prayer flag.

i attempted to attach another video but it was taking so long to upload i gave up! perhaps in another post.
i feel it is now decision time for the final look of the piece and the location/locations.

watch this space!

 

Playing

I have been playing with my windmills deciding on the best way to install them. Still thinking but this is playtime.

Plodding on

continuing to make the rest of my windmills. all 64 have been made, they just need to finish the actual construction now!

it takes time cutting them out, not to mention the stitching together in the first place and then removing the excess tissue from the back but i am pleased with what i have achieved so far.

i have found a way to stiffen them without adding wire to the outside. once they have been constructed i paint the tissue side with a liquid resin, it makes the colours more intense and stiffens them at the same time. will show that later. 

Summer School with Louise Baldwin

we have had a great Summer School at Farncombe Estate. the memories that remain are heat,hills,hard work,laughter and sleepless nights but it was great to meet old friends and new. Louise Baldwin was a great tutor, very inspiring and generous with her knowledge.

we were basically playing with paper, stitch and fabric. our initial task was to make some 'coloured papers'.

using acrylic paint and scraping circles

more scraping, sticking of spots and mark making

as above

we were then given 5 tasks to make a series of small pieces joining firstly 2 pieces together, then 3,4,5 and 6 using the above coloured papers and any 'found' pieces we had brought with us.

2, 3, and 4 joins i knew there would be a use for those Rizzler roll up papers i picked up from the street

5 pieces joined

6 pieces joined and cut through

then we had to make a collage using again the paper we had coloured, found papers and any image we liked. i continued with the cloud shape i have used in my lace chapters.

collage using pieces of potato printing from designs for my certificate

we then had to turn it over and cut it up without considering the front! Difficult! then we added stitch etc to some of the pieces.

left piece has the addition of some tufted organza

finally we were allowed to 'play' with a more considered approach. i have recently been thinking beyond the Diploma (if there is life after!) and sketching from reflections in windows/mirrors etc.so i based my 3 pieces on these images.

images of my bedroom window with mirror in front

i have wanted to use that piece of sellotape for ages, this piece working with cotton organdie

using lettering and pieces of paper stuck onto card, painted to give 3D effects and more organdie

adding a piece of metal and spray paint

i felt exhausted when i got home and only beginning to surface into normality, i actually managed to work on my windmills today and have a tidy up. i will certainly use what i have learnt with Louise in the future.