Final Evaluation: Intentions Unit

Research & Concept:
Starting with the Future Past brief, I began the project visiting Archives and Museums to start a collection of drawings and inspirations. This developed a vast amount of initial research and ideas to develop from. The archive that inspired me the most was the Downing Collection at MMU - there was a range of textiles sample books and block prints. In particular there was a Japanese sample book from the late 19th to early 20th century, this contained a metallic colour scheme with carefully and eloquently embroidered and printed designs.

This enabled me to start producing drawings that linked to the Japanese theme, I further researched Japanese embroidery and techniques to see what would arise, however; this was a dead end as I didn't find anything worth using in this project. Although I did find old Japanese traditions helpful, finding techniques such as Katazome - "Kata means pattern and the pattern sheets are made of washi - traditional handmade Japanese paper - coated with astringent persimmon juice. Since washi processed in this way is very strong and waterproof, it was commonly used for umbrellas or wrapping paper before being supplanted by modern synthetic paper or cloth. Nowadays some dyers are using patterns made from plastic, but at Kosoen they still use the traditional type." This inspired me to create prints and repeat patterns to express my ideas. Another ttraditional method is Kintsugi -“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” I decided to marry these two techniques together and produce repeat prints with a gold embroidery to allow my material to look repaired.
This was a really strong theme to work under in the early weeks. However, as the project progressed, the many strands and avenues of my research made it hard to pin down the direction of my work. This led to what I know was a few unanticipated and somewhat diminishing weeks of experimentation and sampling. So I traced back to my archive visits to rediscover what my initial thoughts and concept were.

Risk Taking & Experimentation, Creative Approach to Process:
Developing through to L5 allowed me to experiment and explore more options of risk and to push the boundaries - this was all a result of being inducted onto different machines and using them to their limitations. As I was producing and mapping out samples it became clear to me that instead of sticking to the repeat patterns I produced from my initial content ideas I should prehaps use the line quality in my drawings to explore what I produced with stitch, this led to distortion of patterns and prints.

The effect of this sample can be seen as a clear developing link from initial ideas through to final outcomes, as I carried on pushing the boundaries with the idea of line qualities and distortion.
As the project progressed I found I pushed myself further out of my comfort zone and I feel this really shows in my samples. My initial samples aren't successful whatsoever as I wanted to produce a repeat tile print using techniques seperately and creating  a patchwork with the gold thread to link back to my content, however, by moving onto larger scale material and combining techniques I feel I have created successful and ambitious outcomes. Also by using new machines such as the Ethos with the Brother(stitch out) and by exploring the different ways this machine can work to produce samples - During this unit I also explored the Print room as previously I hadn't tried this, I produced gold foil prints with the Kintsugi (gold fixation) in the back of my mind; I then worked over these with the Ethos machine to really push myself creatively.

Contextualising Practice:
I often find my work difficult to contextualise. This was something I wanted to progress throughout this unit. Although I still feel I didn't research this early enough in the project. The analysis of designers has helped to  develop my work into the world of Interiors, whereas previously I always saw my work in Children's boutique clothing. I decided to continue with the idea of Interiors and explore where it would take me without having an actual end product in mind (as I found trying to visualise my work into interiors distracted me).

Systems and Scenario thinking:
Throughout this project I have realised my development from Level four as I have developed successful ways of working - one of these being producing words to refer back to (Draw, Repeat, Print, Sew, Distort and Cut) these words help me to keep the designing and making cycle constant. Overall I understand my own practice work better and where it could possibly lead to in the future if I keep exploring the boundaries of embroidery as well as using other workshops to coinside with this - I feel like I could prehaps carry on with this project using my word bank to see what the end outcome would be compared to the original drawings.

Final Developments - Refining Ideas

After previously experimenting with pattern and layering techniques and materials to create textures and disortion of imagery and prints, I found myslef going round in cirlces and not really moving forward in terms od development.
I became bored of the same print and I found that layering samples didn't really produce the outcome that I had hoped for. So I decided to play with scale and size of prints, to do this I used the Ethos machine as I find the effects of the stitches relevent to my practice.

Prints onto Cotton Gauze, with Ethos over to distort imagery. This was too much of a certain pattern.

 After discovering that scale wasn't the answer to my problems in terms of developing ideas, I analysed older samples and drawings to see what new ideas I could stitch from drawings.
I took the disaster that I previously had with the Thermogaze and decided to develop on that. As there were holes in parts of the fabric I decided to produce Ethos samples with a tight satin stitch to allow me to cut back into samples to expose underneath layers.

Ethos

Reverse Applique over foil prints to reveal Ethos designs.

I found that the line qualities within these layered samples were very interesting as they broke up the pattern and displayed a variety of textures.
This then led me back to the Ethos machine where I created further designs that could be stitched out in the same way only this time I would experiment with the machine and breaking of stitches. For this I would use the Brother machine during the stitch out and skip parts of the design.

Ethos - skipping the design to distort imagery. Skipping the design left an excess of threads which distracted from the foil prints to make more patterns.

After producing a few of the similar prints I decided to work back into my samples to create even more depth using a fine black cotton thread - this came from previous samples where I had used a variegated thread and it broke up the stitches and patterns.

Layering samples after breaking threads.

Sampling, Fabrics & Thread

From the previous samples I created on the ETHOS machine I decided to make a selection of foil prints onto the three materials that I was experimenting with to develop on the repeat pattern.

However these prints were too repetitive for me to work into and so I decided to choose sections of the print to sew. This idea originated from one of my previous samples where I drew one of my pattern designs onto fabric with a fabric pen and the filled the centre of the patterns with hand stitch. The most effective fabrics for me to use were Metallic Silk Orkney and Cotton Gauze in an off white as these are lightweight materials, when sewn into it can pull the stitches and disort the pattern.

 So I tried this same technique over the foil prints, but off setting the pattern to build layers and texture like the artist that I previously looked at Jill Ricci.

From this sample of layering designs I decided to place some of my samples together to viualise the effect and to help contextualise my work even further.

ETHOS & Developments

The Ethos machine opened a whole new world for me as I was struggling to translate my print and repeat samples from pen and paper to stitch and material. I found it easy to depict certain drawings and shapes into patterns onto fabric.

 

Computer Design

The end product from the Ethos machine has connotations of a traditional tile print, therefore I decided to go back to my sketchbook drawings and see which patterns I could make into different repeat tile prints. 

After experimenting over the past few weeks with my patterns and exploiting line qualities within sketchbook work, I decided to create samples with the ETHOS machine. Using my tile print I tried this technique with a few samples to play with composition and be selective about the techniques used to further work into ETHOS samples using hand embroidery. 

The sample in particular that was successfully worked into after the ETHOS machine was; 

Changing the scales of my samples to compensate for the composition. Using hand stitch to add thread variations.

 

 

 

Using various hand embroidery techniques from the line qualities in my sketchbook work to create a sewn repeat print. 

However, the sample above had Thermogaze on the back for stability when seeing, and due to the material used when the backing was ironed off it burnt through the material creating holes; 

As an accidental sample it was effective as it could be layered over other samples to expose further pattern and create textures. Much like the work of Jill Ricci.

The hole qualities in this sample furthered my ideas so I created more samples using the ETHOS machine. These were then cut into to reveal layered patterns, as well as this the quality of the edges of the material were also interesting as it left a frayed/uneven edge. 

Sketchbook Development & Sampling

From my tutorial I decided that the idea of patchwork wouldn't be successful and effective as it wasn't possible to display my skills and techniques to the best of my ability, the materials that I had chosen wasn't a clear translation from my drawing media as I had used acetate and tracing paper to draw onto and layer up to make further patterns, surfaces and textures. With that in mind I referred back to my sketchbook and with the previous research from Nancy Straughan and Robert Kelly I decided to combine the two techniques together using inspiration from mixed media artist Jill Ricci, her work allowed me to combine pattern and texture and refine my colour pallet more.

To allow the translation of stitch to come easier to me, and to help decide which stitching techniques to use I related back to the ''Kaleido Lens" App. Then using my patterns I combined the two together and composed a drawing with the influence of Jill Ricci. 

I developed these patterns into prints that covered a whole surface. In the upcoming weeks I want to embroider these with my most skillful techniques onto my new sheer materials and layer them up with different compostions to create texture, new tonal ranges, and to distort imagery.

Again by layering drawings and creating collages that contain various compositions, line, tone and colour, I have produced further patterns to work from thoughout the sampling weeks.

Samples:

Using "Metallic Silk Orkney" and couching with fine metallic threads, then layering over drawings to create new patterns.

Sewing over silk, couching, chain stich in different ways to disort and pull the material & then layering with drawings.

Using reverse applique and a cotton organza to layer materials creating textures.

Initial Sampling

My initial sampling ideas all originated from the colour pallet developed in my Future Past sketchbook.

The materials that I chose for this were all heavily woven, they included cord - to replicate the linear textures throughout my drawings and velvet, to connote the sheen from the acrylic paint. I chose metallic threads which were similar tones and colours to the fabric. 

The sample above was my first of the project. I decided to take the line qualities from my tracing paper drawings and apply it to the thick acrylic paint connoting material. Metallic thread was used to work against the fall of the material in order to create a more distorted texture. I used a machine couching technique using a super twist metallic thread again to work a satin stitch over, which added a rougher, broken edge. Overall these techniques were effective to me but would perhaps be more exciting and interesting onto different backgrounds that were maybe prepared. This led me use the embellisher to fuse materials together using the linear inspiration. 

After my tutorial I felt that these weren't working but could be better with an apparent shape embroidered over the top, I also wanted to experiment with the other end of my colour pallet which was a more silver and pearl based selection - so I combined the two together along with a repeat tile print from my development work. 

Im planning on using patchwork and creating different backgrounds using different materials and embroidery techniques such as the embellisher. Again with the tile print over the top and patching together to create one large repeat print.

Tutorial & Further Development

During this weeks tutorial I had the chance to take thorough observation over my sketchbook work from the "Future Past" brief. This allowed me to notice the potential and ideas that could be developed as the project progresses. I decided to narrow down which drawing I really wanted to focus on to develop into successful embroidery samples, prehaps using parts of other drawings.

My strengths throughout this were the technical patterns created using tracing paper from my simple motifs and 

drawings. My weaknesses were the refinement of my colour pallett and the lack of texture in my work, I will develop on this by layering my tracing paper patterns over drawings and different textured surfaces - almost like a collage. 

To help me progress my ideas and collage, I researched artists on Pinterest and came across an artist called Robert Kelly, he uses inspiration from the De Stijl movement to masterfully build his surface with the tools of line, form and colour - his work is composed of linear drawings in equal segments re-arranged to create a jumbled/abstract form. 

After trialling this technique I wanted to marry this with the block patterns created in my early work, therefore I took time to research into styles of patterns. As I was doing this I discovered Nancy Straughan an interior designer and wallpaper artist, she's also contextually what I'm aiming for as a target audience. 

I took simple drawings from the Future Past sketchbook, in particular the Downing Archive and created a repeat print with this, which was then translated into a block pattern and used in the style of Nancy Straughan.

To help translate more texture (stitch) into the patterns I used an App called "Kaleido Lens", for this you take an image and the App turns it into a repetitive Kaleidoscope pattern. This was helpful as it abstracted my tracing paper patterns and aided the selection of fabrics and textures. 

Visual Research Development

After thorough observation of my sketchbook drawings and underlying theme, I found myself struggling to move on and further decelop my practice, this was probably due to lack of attention to my artist research and experimentation with my drawings. Therefore I decide to play around with parts of my successful drawings by processing them through the photocopier and printing onto tracing paper so I could layer them up and create patterns, this was helpful as I  found new patterns and marks to take inspiration from.

From these patterns I decided to create new drawings so I processed them through various drawing techniques, this pattern in particular was translated into a mono print. For this mono print I used a gold gel pen to create the marks as it keeps the metallic theme from the Japanese inspiration consistent. 

I found these mono prints really bland and flat, so I created more mono prints using metallic acrylic paint to print onto and with. These were successful as I could see a colour pallet developing, the marks and inconsistency of constant colour also helped me to keep in mind materials with different qualities, that will be useful to create samples with e.g. pile fabrics - velvet.

Special Collections & Sketchbook

After the downing archive last week I felt I had been given more of a direction to push my work into, with the Japanese (early 19th - late 20th century) metallic undelying theme.

This was still apparent in the Special Collections visit as I was always attracted towards the metallic designs, whether it be embroidery or print. In particular the William Morris wallpaper samples, the one below is named, Pink & Poppy -Number 133. 

However I didn't feel as I could relate and work from the archive material in the Special Collections as much as the Downing Collection - therefore, I won't be using this throughout my sketchbook. 

For this archive I realised that I needed to expand on my research of Japanese textiles and the processes that they use , in the archive was a handmade Japanese stencil. 

When I looked into this further I found that this is a regular method in Japanese printing throughout the late 19th - early 20th century, and they call it Katazome. I wasn't interested in the detail but the general shapes. As I kept with the metallic colour pallet I further researched Kintsugi this is a process used to mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold as they believe that when something has suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. 

When finalising drawing experimentation and ideas I will use this throughout my samples to join materials and embellish old materials. 

Downing Archive

The Downing Archive was extremely eye opening and helped me to push my practice work into the right direction. I feel like some of the work shown was very reflective of the advice given in my tutorial from the summer project. I now understand how to develop my weaknesses which were; my colour pallet (adding metallics and subtle colours).

The main influence from the archive was the Japanese prints and designs as I enjoyed the shimmer and textures of the samples, the particular Japanese work which inspired me was from the late 19th - early 20th century (I will further research this period in Japanese textile art). The sample book pages were covered in a pearlised solution which really harmonised the work throughout the book. 

The archive also inspired me to further research metallic embroidery, I found various books that contained artists for me to work from, one of them being Metal Thread Embroidery, I descovered an artist -  Ann Sutton, I'm inspired by her use of chunky threads with the gold and metallic couching and basket weave techniques. I would consider using a similar method in my own work as I feel it could work effectively over the top of my prints and patterns to distort them. 

I started to produce drawings and mark making from this archive, these generally consisted of blocks of colours and comapring colour together to see which harmonise and which contrast/clash, and also selection of how drawings couldbe transferred  into stitches.