An afternoon in Matlock

After a morning of discussing our self written briefs with academics, me and fellow students decided an inspirational and spontanous trip to Matlock was required to begin the project and enjoy the sunshine!
Fish and peas, ice cream and sunshine are the only way to enjoy our 'inland seaside'.
I photographed a number of natural shapes for early project inspiration, and a wonderful sunset once home.

Self written project

The final project of Year Two is a self written brief. It can be based on whatever you desire, however must be structured appropriately and requires approval from a lecturer.
As my brief has just gained approval I felt it would be appropriate to share it, and here it is!

Project Brief:

In this project I intend to look at natural forms for inspiration, with an aim to creating traditional inspired florals.

I want to use my own surroundings as starting inspiration for my collection, and as I am surrounded my countryside this is where I wish to take my inspiration from.

As I have a large garden I have copious amounts of photographs of my garden in every season, which makes basic observations simple. As spring turns to summer, I can also make first hand observations of the plants and wildlife around me.

In style I wish to take inspiration from William Morris and Sanderson’s, maintaining a traditional and somewhat archaic approach to interiors. As well William Morris’s style, his philosophy and morals of design also interest me, and I wish to research these further and apply them to my work in some degree. Modern designers who interest me include Robert Kime and Bennison. Their designs appear rich and sophisticated and are strong examples of what many people desire from their homes and interiors. Both of these companies promote the use of hand techniques and authentic dyestuffs, as well as British manufacturing.

When considering the techniques I want to focus on in this project, I wish to put to use my recently acquired knowledge of printing large scale repeats. I also wish to print repeats in up to 7 colours and at official furnishing width dimensions. This skill will be useful to practice and master as I want to print 3metre lengths for my degree show, not small swatches, therefore practicing this now and the skills it requires will be useful.

I intend to use natural fibres within my work and attempt to keep to a natural colour palette. I would like to experiment with traditional dyes using mordants and natural colourants, however, as many of the mordants are chemically harmful and cause more harm to the environment than other synthetic dyestuffs I will use safe products and attempt to replicate natural results.

I will not do any digital printing during this project, as I want to focus on the merits of hands on processes and traditional techniques, as well as designs.

Using the Jacquard loom is also a feasible way of interpreting my designs, as Morris was known for his weaves as much as his prints, so creating woven fabrics with natural motifs is also an aspect I wish to explore within this project.

My final fabric collection is intended for use in interiors, specifically soft furnishings, but could easily be translated into wallpaper also.

When considering my target market I want my collection to appeal to mature individuals who appreciate high end products and top quality. The idea behind the fabrics is possibly restoration work and to replace damaged original fabrics.

Bradford Textiles 2011

Today was the deadline for submitting my entries for the Bradford Textiles Society competition once again. So after an extensive period of long hours and hard graft the time has finally arrived to breathe a sigh of relief and submit my work. Here are a few of the boards I chose to enter featuring work from my current project:

Fashion Illustrations

As well as photographic visualisations using a model, I also decided to use fashion illustrations to illustrate my scarves. I used the ink templates created sevral months ago as a basis for my illustrations, and editied elements. I considered how I wanted fabrics I had already created, including devore and digital prints, to be used. Some examples can be seen below:

Scarves

As the project draws to a close I have taken the oppertunity to photograph my digital mimaki prints as scarves, kindly Modled by Natalie Cole, some of the best images can be seen below:

Brownie Break

Between university work I managed to squeeze in a little time to bake, for the first time in many years. I decided to make a cookie brownie to take into university and share amongst friends, and I think we all enjoyed it with a nice cup of tea.
Here are a few snaps of the brownie fresh out of the oven:

Scarf Designs

Based on my studies of insects and spiders I began to create designs suitable for printing on the Mimaki. I plan for the designs to be printed as disperse and transered onto sheer fabrics to create scarves. Some of the designs feature Wasp mimicing insects such as moths and beetles, however my favourite design features a swarm of stag beetles.

Colour Palette

As part of an exercise we were asked to create a colour palette from one of our own photographs. I chose a photograph of a web I took in Shropshire last year. I used photoshop to pick a palette from this image, and to look at the spectrum of colours in a specific section of the image. The results and my final colour palette can be seen below:

Creepy Crawlies ...

As my work progresses I find myself again returning to the idea of assembling insects into patterns. Therefore it was necessary to draw more pen drawings suitable for screen and digital development. Some examples are below, I also began to draw bugs and insects as well as spiders, expanding my studies to the creatures which become trapped in webs.

Airy Citadel ...

'It appears to me that almost any man may like the spider spin from his own inwards his own airy citadel.' - John Keats

The above quote inspired me down the path of studying spider webs. I wanted to capture the beauty and technical perfection of a web in my visual studies, so I experimented with different media and techniques, including collage, watercolours, biro and cutting. Below are some of my favourite studies:

Pattern concepts

As my drawings developed I began considering my work on screen and how I wanted to involve spiders and webs within my designs. I manipulated an early drawing of a spider on photoshop to create the circular design below. I put this design and some variations onto a craft screen to begin testing printing techniques and possible ideas to be carried forward. I specifically made the screen to assess how the image would appear as a Devore print. As a technique new to me I felt that observing how line qualities worked was essential.

Come into my parlour ...

As my 'Fine cobwebs' project gets under way I have begun my visual studies for the project. I felt that logically it would be apt to begin with the spider itself, not webs. My drawings (and choice of topic) has received mixed reactions thus far. My thinking behind the project revolves around irrational fears and phobias, and how we seem uncomfortable with the sight or thought of a spider (not me personally of course) and I have been reading several books concerning arachnophobia and attitudes to spiders.
Anyway, here are some of my early visual studies:

Frosty webs

As I begin my new project I am looking everywhere possible for inspiration, and after a particularly frosty spell I stumbled across spider webs covered in hoar frost, they were the perfect oppertunity for me to build up images of webs, here are a select few photographs:

Araneus diadematus ...

A suitable starting point for my project seemed to be collecting together all my existing photographs of spiders, webs and insects. As an amateur Nature photographer, these were in abundance. I feel that using my own images to draw from and take inspiration from is an important part of my work. Here are a select few photographs:

End of the first semester

Today I collected the results of my semester one assessment; and the grades I would receive for both of my projects and all visual studies and practical work for year two so far. I was very pleased to receive an A in both areas, and receive positive and constructive feedback. My work was also retained to be moderated.
This also marks the start of my new project, and with a vast array of topics to choose from I have chosen something which holds a personal interest to me; 'Fine Cobwebs'. From a young age I have been fascinated by spiders and their webs, so this is something I am eager to explore artistically.

Here's one of my photos of a Garden Spider from a year or two ago:

Creative CV

After a recent set of lectures on professional studies looking at copyright and CVs I completed the set assignment, to create a creative CV. The assignment brief suggested that the CV be published on our blogs if we wished, and i thought that this was both fitting and apropriate, so heres my CV!






(If you require a complete copy of my CV please contact me)

Digital Disperse

Being a great purveyor of innovation and tradition I decided to use digital disperse within my work, as I am working on a modern project. I was incredibly happy with the results. This was my first time using the mimaki for disperse, and it worked fantastically! Here are some of my digital designs prepped and ready for the mimaki (and adhering to the colour atlas):

Origami Obsession

As part of embracing different levels and elements of Japanese culture I began to indulge in the art of origami. Origami is something Ive never quite got to grips with in the past, so with patience and determination I set out to learn how to make one of the most recognisable symbols of Japanese culture; the Crane. After a few attempts I was pleased with my Cranes and soon became origami mad. I found the pass time both soothing and relaxing, and began working on the concept of creating a graphic print from 'crane chains', which reflect the Japanese tradition to make 1000 cranes and have a wish come true. With that in mind I designed the graphic prints below. I also adapted this idea to the concept of making fabric from actual cranes (below).

Japanese project

As my Japanese project begins to develop I find myself once again turning to text and typography as an inspirational force. I seem unable to turn my back on my love for type, but I will try to limit it within this project!
After studying Japanese textiles for 2 years at college I initally found it dificult to move away from the traditional themes I enjoy, but after some project research I had a more clear focus on modern Japanese design, as opposed to ancient.

But, for old times sake, lets take a look at my bold step into the modern world!

From hand made, hand embriodered Kimono (and a rather ridiculous model :P):





To modern, graphic prints:





And Ill leave you with that stroll down memory lane!