Chapter 4 stencilled designs

for this chapter i used cut and folded strips to use as 'masks' to colour fabric and of course some paper too! i used a mix of freezer paper and sugar paper.
#1 was worked on a piece of ramie i had painted with fabric paint and then used Markal paint sticks which the more i use the more i love them, although sitting here at the computer i am feeling slightly sick from the smell of oil paint! Sian suggested using the masks and then displacing them, which i have done.
#2 i was interested to see how the Markal would work on wool. this is a thick wool flannel and i am pleased with the simple effect achieved, it looks a bit like spray paint .
#3 is worked on cotton organdie, again painted with fabric paints in simple brush strokes so the white cloth is still visible between the two different stencils used.
#4 both worked on newspaper, one coloured and the other plain.
#5 i was looking at papers to re-use and came across a sheet from an exhibition i had seen in the summer and hated, so hopefully something good came out of it but i think i might have messed it up with the orange varnish brushstrokes! i was trying to include a jarring colour as everything alse seems very harmonius.
#6 two green papers, again worked on exhibition leaflets. i really like the simpler one! whilst looking out my papers a thought came into my head that i possibly need never buy any paper ever again as i am forever picking up leaflets etc. which could be reused more usefully than putting in the recycling tub(see the previous post!).
#7 the remains of my 'masks' which i think i might utilise in the next chapter of making braids.

Material Actions Exhibition and Seminar

i recently attended a day seminar at Plymouth College of Art on the exhibition 'Material Actions'. the exhibition was developed by the college and Textile Forum South West and at the time was on show at the college before it travels to CCANW (Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World). the artists selected for the exhibition represented 'different approaches to questioning how textiles are used to affect and contribute to ethical, social, cultural and environmental change'.
the day consisted of talks by 4 of the exhibitors, Emma Neuberg, Charlotte Squire, Jonnet Middleton and Lucy Brown.
it was a fascinating day and addressed some of the issues of recycling or rather 'upcycling' that is dear to my heart, although i won't go as far as Jonnet's manifesto never to buy any new clothes ever again!!
Emma Neuberg talked mainly about the use of plastic in her work and her blogs are well worth a visit. Charlotte Squire discussed her work 'so far' as she feels it is continually evolving, from her initial work in fashion to her 'lampshade forms' saying that 'I think in a climate of uncertainty that flexibility is a necessary strategy for survival'. lucy Brown showed her work and method of construction, by deconstructing items of underwear and re-weaving them into 'abstract' shapes, exploring their unknown histories. Jonnet Middleton was a breath of fresh air with her Unity Panda experiment in 'social media aesthetics' by creating a community to knit 100 panda's to send to china.
my main disappointment was that both Emma and Lucy's works were at least 10 years old and i am sure there are many textile artists out there with more recent work addressing these questions.
Do go and see the exhibition if you can. 27th November 2010 - 27th February 2011

Ally Pally again and so soon

a whole year came around very quickly and I wasn't going to go this year but fairly near the last minute changed my mind.
the first stall i saw was Ruth lee of 'Contemporary Knitting for textile artists' fame which was something of a coincidence as the other night i had sat down with said book on my lap trying to figure out double sided knitting (i have chosen the knitting option in Module 3 which i have started while sitting in front of tv at night). i have never seen her before and obviously missed her last year if she was at AP!

The highlight of the show, apart from my stash of goodies above (half of the Habu stall!) were 3 very small textiles by Elisabeth Rutt in the 'Hue' display, absolutely amazing. one shown above, i hope she doesn't mind me including it in this post but it was one of those momentous epiphanies!!!

It was great seeing Madeleine Millington (my tutor for the certificate), Ruth demonstrating and Jen from Ferinbroidery, to whom i had to confess that the large stitches on canvas in my last post were actually Sian's idea!

the 'World Paper Exhibition' and the knitted Textile Awards (its amazing what you can do with Lego and cable ties! were also very inspirational, so onwards and upwards and better get down to Chapter 4 with the Markal paintsticks shown above.

Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 more braids and paper!

Chapter 2 is developing work from research into braids by working enlarged stitches on rug canvas for use as printing blocks. the top 'block' was worked with braid stitch in thick paper yarn and the lower two, plaited braid stitch and ladder stitch with string.
i printed using mainly metallic fabric paint on ramie (bottom right), organza (top right), newspaper (top left) and some kind of paper that came wrapped around a bunch of flowers.
i used scoobies to make braid samples. from left to right are 'square knot macrame braid', Josephine or true lovers knot, french sennit, common sennit and english or flat sennit. i have a wonderful book called 'knots, splices and fancy work' by C.L.Spencer (printed in 1934) which i used for most of the instructions.
Chapter 3 asked for exploration of paper braids. luckily we have a huge bag of paper which has been shredded! and photo 4 shows braids made by weaving some of these paper strips (each about half a centimetre wide). the one at the bottom nearest to the 4 is a random 'weave' reminding me of barbed wire. i sort of missed out the open structures do i NEED to do them?!
Shaped bands in the next 3 photos i could have continued doing for ages, i really enjoyed this. in my research of Tudor strapwork i looked closely at Arabic influences and in particular lettering which i would like to investigate further hence the pointy bits in these cut and folded bands.all about 20cm wide.
photo 5 and 6 shows combinations of two bands woven in and out using japanese paper printed with photoshoped graffiti patterns.
#7 combines 3 bands together.
the final photos show the use of single hollow paper shapes linked together with paper strips.all these pieces are about 10cm wide.
left in photo 9 and that in 10 are also influenced by Arabic lettering.

#11 uses the ampersand which is something like a knot in itself.
finally more letters!

It seems an awful long time in producing this! Module 3 Chapter 1

Strapwork - I have really enjoyed researching this subject, something I have never studied before or even thought I was interested in! But it has been fascinating. I looked at the obvious things first such as costume and as you can see I have taken it chronologically. I was going to separate the men from the women but in the end mixed them together. It is interesting to see the progression of the designs and also Henry and Elizabeth.
I left many of the images whole as they are such wonderful examples of the whole image.
Hope you can understand my writing! I probably took this too far in as much as I copied Queen Elizabeth's hand although somewhat squatter.

Note the lovely E R on the cushion in the above portrait
I became fascinated by armour and also this wonderful little jewel above from Torre Abbey in Devon.
Then a friend said did I know about Exeter Communion Cups - NO! but I do now. We are lucky in Exeter with St. Nicholas Priory which was turned into a Tudor home and has recently been refurbished in Tudor style. I was able to see an example of this silver and draw the design.
Tudor lettering and illumination was also a rich source for study.
then there was the influence of carpets!
and Spain.
I looked at domestic textiles and Blackwork separately.

I am interested in Ceylon stitch which I found on this coif above. Would it have been called that in Tudor times? I have to admit I never want to do these stitches EVER again! I was almost in tears till I discovered PIN TANGLE and two great videos showing me Plaited Braid stitch.

Now i have posted this I feel I am getting somewhere!

Back at last!

it seems a long time since my last blog entry but i am back now and ready to go!!! so before any new course work blogs, thought i would share a few Edinburgh notes. new find for us on the streets of Edinburgh and it tied in with my recent study of faces! these stickers are by Sam Knest an australian. he also did some monumental faces which i am sure i took a photo of but can't seem to find, anyway he has a blog with some awesome faces on.
also this little chap!!
as usual we went to numerous exhibitions! 'Another World' Surrealists at the Dean Gallery which i am ashamed to say above child found boring (sooner he goes back to school the better!), Joan Mitchell at the Botanical gardens which he related to better, Atsuo Okamoto at the Corn Exchange (one of my favourites),Craigie Aicheson and Martin Creed to name but a very few. Martin Creed at the Fruitmarket Gallery was quite amusing and one that my son did find interesting. there were musical stairs and a wonderful lift, which had to be re-booted every so often because so many people were using it to hear the tonal installation.
the main reason we went up earlier was to catch the '62 Group' exhibition 'Bending the Line'at the Collins Gallery in Glasgow - I WENT BY MYSELF!!!! it was great i had a chance to really absorb work by people i had seen in photos but not in the thread (or not in some cases). Sian had a piece that she had talked about at Summer School but there were also pieces by Hannah Streefkerk who repairs nature and Jan Miller whose installation i loved. Unfortunately i found the lighting a bit dull in places (rich coming from a textile conservator!) but nevertheless a great exhibition.

Yesterday i caught up with another Collins Gallery exhibition 'Sashiko' at Plymouth Museum. Do go its really comprehensive and such wonderful textiles but only until I think till the end of this month.

A Study in Black and White

to mark my 70th posting i thought i would keep it all in black and white NO colour!
my son is at his happiest when he is either watching incredibly horrible and gory films or painting his Warhammer figures. being a responsible mum i get the job of spraying the undercoat onto the models. we often end up with some amazing patterns on the board or newspaper where they are sprayed, hence these two pictures and my new heading.
the one below was from summer school and one i left without colour
perhaps i am subconsciously thinking about blackwork in anticipation of Module 3