Development of an Idea

The photographs below are a piece from my sketch book. It is a series of layers each with different textural qualities.The basy layer is a photograph of a centapied on a large piece of bark. I then machine stitched into this with similar coloured thread. The secound layer is a piece stitched on ina random overlapping pattern onto vanashing fabric. And thr third is of a piece of lace which i have printed a screen print onto the go on to slice down in lengths with scisors. I this this piece works very well as having layers engages the viewer to turn the page al view each piece on its onw and then as a compalation.

Developing Ideas

After a tutorial sesion a couple pf weeks ago with my textiles tutor it was discussed that a theme that was aparant throughout my sketch book was texture. This took my FMP on a totally different path from what I origonally imagined. Upon this information I had started to develop my book with this in mind. My main aim at the begining of this projectwas to create a piece that would make the viewer want to touch and feel it. Taking into consideration all these fact I started working into my sketch book with a range of textures.


Maggie Ayres
One Artist who has influenced my work is Maggie Ayres. She works with mix media and layers to create textural pieces. An extract from her website bolow explains this in more detail.
 "In my artwork I create numerous layers of colour, texture, light and contrast using a mix of media. I am fascinated by the notion of hidden worlds and the points of tension where we can glimpse them momentarily: revelations of truths obscured by convention; the point when a flower unfurls to expose a world of seeds and possibilities within; glancing through a window to reveal another's reality."

I think this passage really links in with the work I've been doing in my sketch book  looking at decay, debris and decomposition.The photograph is a mixed media piece using items such as pva glue weaved material and pigment ink. Tish piece reminds me of Maggie Ayers work as there are many layers and simalaraties in colours. I think this piece works well on its own but would be more sucessful as a set.

Evaluation

Throughout this project I believe I have gained a huge amount of knowledge and feel I have developed my textiles skills. At the start of this course I felt I was under qualified concerning my knowledge of textiles methods and techniques. This course has benefited me hugely when we went onto our specific pathways. Through extensive research and experimentation I choose to create an installation for my final piece. As stated in my proposal I wanted to create a different perception of what viewing art was as an experience. There has been a running theme throughout my sketchbooks which was texture, therefore I wanted to continue this onto my fmp in order to create a connection between them all.

I feel overall my fmp has both weaknesses and strengths and as a separate piece my instillation was very successful. There was a number of problems I had to overcome whilst constructing my piece. I was allocated a booth next to a window, the first problem I had to solve was covering the window in order for a limited amount of light to be let through. There were other problems I had to solve e.g. what material to use to fix up my strips of material, getting hold of some bark chippings to place on the floor. During the opening night of the exhibition I was given positive feedback from members of the public which reinsured me that my installation has worked successfully.

Over all I believe that this project has been very successful not just on the grounds of my final piece and sketch books being successful but because I have found a subject matter that I am really passionate about. Taking into consideration my time scale I do believe I could have produce a wider range of samples, But feel the work I have done is of a high standard and of superior quality to my previous work

Bibliography

Bibliography

Author

Title

Publisher

Date published

ISBN number

Barton, Julia

The Art Of Embroidery

Merehurst Press

1989

1-85391-016-3

Russell, Alex

The Fundamentals of Printed Textile Design

AVA Publishing SA

978-2-940411-47-4

Cork, Richard

Farthing, Stephen

Art the whole story

Thames & Hudson

2010

　

Websites

www.alicekettle.com

www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/
http://www.vam.ac.uk/

project proposal

Throughout my academic year I have completed projects including an assemblage project leading to a series of paintings in a variety of media, then developing this into a particular pathway e.g. textiles, 3D, fine art. Then using the title, Grids, Layers and Reflections I then developed a body of work which was influenced strongly by textiles. I have gained the strength to work individually and to develop my own ideas. I have also developed my skills and my work is now more complex and sophisticated. I feel that my weaknesses are limited contextual knowledge and the ability to evaluate my own work I’m particularly interested in surface pattern and applied textiles rather than fashion. My ambition is to teach at GCSE level or above. The reasoning for this is I want to teach the people that show a passion for this subject and that are really keen on learning new textile methods and techniques

Using decay, debris and decomposition as my starting point I intend to investigate the properties and potential of this title, also the ways in which established artists and designers have used this subject matter in a variety of different ways. Some ways in which I could explore my theme are using textile techniques such as felting and embroidery to create a body of work in which texture is portrayed through my choice of material and media. I also intend to investigate layers as another title. For this I will be exploring the effects of layering material, looking at what can be produced by layering different pieces of work upon each other. My aim is to change the viewer’s perception on what ‘viewing art’ as an experience can be. My visual sources will include both primary and secondary images and text. I am influenced by the environment around us and the natural form of a wide variety of objects. Some Artists I intend to research are Alice Kettle for her use with textile material and embroidery. Cas Holmes is another textile artist whose work I like because of the range of textures and transparent materials she uses. My secondary research will consist of a range of websites and books and magazine articles. My primary research will include photographs, sketches, paintings and drawings. Putting all these ideas and points together I hope to create a body of work and a final piece using mixed media and textiles.

I intend to advance my project by developing a body of work that shows my final major project from the starting point to putting up a show at the end of the year. Throughout my final major project I will be evaluating my ideas, research and processes by an ongoing self evaluation. This will be in the form of written notes of annotation. I will also be asking my peers and tutors to evaluate my work, as this will result in none bias opinions.

Using New Methods

During a sessions at college I was shown a technique by one of my tutors that involved transferring a photocopied image onto acetate and then taking this image and projecting it across a table using and overhead projector. This method has enabled me to enlarge the image and also create interesting and abstract patterns.

A pattern formation using my acetate photograph.

The photograph above was created using a thin wooden stick and simply tracing over the fine detail of the image that was being projected over the table. I did this as I wanted to get a feel for drawing all the intricate lines and marks on the tree bark. I then went on to develop this idea further.

My piece developed further.

This particular piece was created using the same method as the top piece but instead of leaving it plain I wanted to give this piece more layers and textures. I have used material and thread of similar colours to the bark and leaves of a tree to establish a link between my subject matter and my own art piece. I think this works well as it gives the piece more of a textural feel rather than a flat piece. I then decided to cover the whole piece in sellotape, I did this as i wanted the viewer to feel curious of what the piece felt like to touch and fee and also upon feeling the piece the noises that develop through touch.

Further Experimentation

Further development of one of my pieces

Here I have started to develop one of my sketch book pages, the first thing I did was to take a piece of the dried pva glue and cut out a square window from my book. I did this as I wanted to be able to see the transparency of the glue and also the two different sides of the piece. I've started to work into this piece by stitching strips of different material onto the top. This piece could be further improved by more layers and also a few contrasting colours over the top work with the green and brown tones in the background.

Experimentation

After taking a group of photographs, my aim was to experiment in a wide range on different materials to create a series of mix media piece. 

Materials used were:

• pva glue
• cling film
• tissue
• ink
• string
• silk
• paint
• text pages from a book
• woven material
• graph paper

My aim with these pieces were to capture the contrast between rough and smooth, thin and thick, transparent and opaque. My next step is to combine these pieces with a range of textiles materials to create more layers. I also intend to investigate the possibility of using descriptive language and text with my work.

 

Texture/Decay Photographs

These are a selection of photographs I have taken over the holiday. I hope to capture the way in which time effects the natural objects we see around us every day. I think I achieved my aim as in these picture you can see a wide variety of layers, colours and textures.