Visit to Ruthin Art Centre

As a birthday treat my husband took me to visit Ruthin Craft Centre. The Centre is in Ruthin Denbighshire.  It has three galleries where contemporary applied art exhibitions are regularly held and on site makers studios.  The gallery building is very light, airy and welcoming.  

The three exhibitions that I saw were by Simon Carroll who is an expressionist Potter,southern lines and northern lights which was work by a selection of designers and Pamela Rawnsley who did silversmithing and jewellery.

When I first walked into the gallery that was housing the Simon Carroll pottery exhibition and saw his work I thought I did not like it.  However, as I looked closely at his pieces I could see pattern in it and that the colours blended into one another making lovely textured surfaces.  I think I didn't like this work at first because it seemed very big and clumsy but I did like the texture, colours and pattern.  It was sad to read that Simon Carroll had died at an early age.  

Pamela Rawnsley was a silversmith and jeweller.  She lived in Wales and most of her work was inspired by landscape.  I liked this exhibition very much.  The pieces were displayed in a lovely natural light filled gallery.  Pieces were in glass cabinets,some free standing and there were some framed pieces.  It was very interesting to see some of her sketchbook pages which had been framed and collograph print.  I was able to get closely up to these and they interestingly they were quick drawings of marks.  They reminded me of some of the first mark making exercises on this course.  I think there was obviously a lot of thought and work that went into Pamela Rawnsley's work and the simplistic look is very attractive but deceiving as to what went into it.  My favourite pieces were some of the jewellery she had made.  Particularly the brooches.  Again they were of a simple design and were beautifully made. The bowls and vases were very interesting shapes and I particularly liked the small bowls that had patterns on them as if they had been drawn on afterwards. I liked this set of work as it was modern and I could see where the inspiration for the work had come from.  I could also see it standing the test of time.  When I read up about Pamela Rawnsley I was very sad to read that she had died last year.  Her husband is keeping her website up to record and celebrate Pamela's work.

The third gallery housed an exhibition southern lines and northern lights which is a view of design practices in Wales. It explores the ideas and understanding of materials needed to illuminate them.  It looks at design in production and reproducing by hand.  There are pieces exhibited by seven artists. Next to each piece was a clear explanation and the inspiration for it.  There was also a separate leaflet for each artist containing a short explanation of their background and inspiration together with photographs of some of their work in the exhibition. There were two artists work that I was immediately attracted to.  The first, my favourite, was Sian O'Doherty.  Her current collection is Print, Stitch, Cut, Sew.  The pieces on view  were framed.  They attracted me because they looked very tactile and neat.They were not very colourful but she had used black, white, greys with flashes of red.  Not a bright red.  The red was in the same hue as the greys so stood out but at the same time merged in with the rest of the work.  The pieces appeared to be layered printed fabrics machined in rows at intervals then cut and hand stitched in rows s that the fabric was lifted and gave a glimpse of the fabric underneath.  I really liked the overall effect.  I wish I had seen this exhibition before completing Part 3 of my course.  I found Sian's pieces very inspiring.

Another artist exhibiting whose work I liked was Sian Elin.  There were printed fabrics hung next to lampshades made from printed fabric.  The patterns were quite geometric and the colours ranged from teal and grey to peach and orange.  There were a couple of black and white patterned lampshades that were very striking because of the shapes used and the negative areas that brought up different patterns on them.  Rolls of the patterned fabric were also displayed.  What attracted me about Sian's work was the colour.  I have realised that this is what attracts me to pieces first and then the texture.  

The on site makers' studios are very accessible and the makers can be seen working.  There are many events and workshops held at the Centre and I shall certainly be keeping my eye open for possible workshops.

I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday treat visit to the Centre. Most of all I found the exhibitions interesting and inspiring and was introduced to artists I had not previously heard of but also because I had a lovely lunch in the Centre's very nice cafe! 

Part 3 - Reflection

Textiles 1 – A Creative Approach

Assignment three

Reflection

I am pleased with the work I have done for this assignment. My favourite part of this assignment was Stage 4 Raised and structured surface textures.  I tried as many techniques as I could and I like the gathering of fabric. I think the gathering ones were most successful especially the silk chiffon and silks. I like the texture from moulding and gathering the fabrics and the way a three dimensional look can be achieved very quickly. In the exercises I tried very hard not to let the technique take over but they are different from my drawings.  I feel I have learned a lot working with the techniques and can see possibilities I perhaps would not have done if I had stayed true to the drawings.  I could be more experimental by using a variety of fabrics and on a larger scale.

In contrast to the way I worked with the fabric manipulation techniques I found it helpful to work from my drawings when doing the appliqué exercise.  I found it easier to choose materials that would interpret my drawings.  I think this was also because I find that cutting and using the shapes is more like drawing.  The fact that I was able to do the larger sample from one of my drawings is I feel a step forward for me.  I have before found it easier to work directly with the fabrics and thread.

I like working with stitch both by hand and machine.  I find hand stitching very relaxing and therapeutic.  It is also more sociable as there is no need to shut oneself away hunched over a sewing machine.  However, I do like to stitch by machine to quickly build up rich textures for background that can be hand stitched on.

As I work through the course I am finding that I am looking to work through any limitations that can occur.  I like the problem solving and the thinking that goes into it.  I am beginning to think about my choices such as have I used the right fabric/thread what would happen if I used something different? 

I did find the research pieces difficult to do especially the second piece.  I was unsure of how much I was to write on this as I found the subject quite extensive when I looked into it.  I think in hindsight I should have contacted my tutor for guidance rather than deliberating for so long.

On completing this assignment I know now there is no right or wrong way to do something and I do need to experiment more and follow through the possibilities I can see from the work I am doing.  Time is a limitation with this but I have found that I am managing my time more to get the most out of it as the course has gone on.  

Part 3 Research Point (2)

Consider why craft-produced textiles maintain a place in our society

To craft something usually means to make something by hand involving skill.

The production of textiles is an ancient craft.  Until the late 18th century textiles were produced in cottage industries.  Textiles were spun and woven in rural areas on a large scale.  Rural woolen and linen industries faced competition from the growth of spinning and power loom weaving.  This led to mass produced textiles and clothes.  During the 20th century the consumer required fashion that reflected their active lives.  Clothes chosen to reflect personal style and cultural preferences.  There is now a demand for high quality clothing leading to handmade products.  People do want to own unique items.  With the onset of the internet handmade items are available through sites such as Etsy enabling the craft worker to work from their home rather than in other premises which can be costly.

Craft produced items can be made by skilled qualified people. Craft makers work to maintain the textile traditions and skills such as weaving. Alternatively a craft can be done by someone who enjoys doing the craft as a hobby.  Both do it for enjoyment although the outcome is for different reasons. 

Over the years crafts such as knitting and crocheting fell out of favour but once again have become popular.  There are many magazines and books available now on a variety of textile techniques encouraging people to learn something new.  Society works at such a great pace nowadays that people are now looking for simpler slower pastimes and are looking to crafts to do this.  Groups have grown via the internet and though very different are a reminder of the days when women would meet in informal gatherings to complete a quilt together or sew.

There are many benefits to crafting.  Knitting and sewing have been reported as having beneficial effects on health and well being releasing stress and causing relaxation. 

There is a workshop advertised at the V&A to take place in their digital studio this month.  Solo Disco Scarf  This workshop is to make a scarf into which you can plug your music player and headphones.  I thought this was interesting because it marries the practical of making something by hand with a popular item of today's technology.  Unfortunately I am unable to go on this workshop but will be looking out for something similar in the future.



Gale C and Kaur J (2002) The Textile Book Oxford Berg

Crafts Magazine 2015

https://www.ukcraftfairs.com/guides/textiles

Part 3 - Project 7 Theme Book

I have been thinking long and hard about what theme I should choose for my Theme Book.  There are so many subjects and areas that both interest and inspire me.  

I wrote a list and broke it down to the following subjects in turn writing a list of ideas I thought of from that subject.  The list looked like this:-

		Resource Material
Africa	Clothing Embroidery Hats Bags/purses Masks Jewellery Beads Talismans Earrings Necklaces Bracelets Body adornment Tattoos Patterns Rugs and carpets Pottery Habitat Tents Tribes Lamps Berber Wodaabe Tuareg Animals Camels Trappings Saddle bags	Book – Africa Adorned by Angela Fisher           National Geographic      magazine           Museums – Liverpool/Manchester/London
River	Lochs Bridges Boats Rusting Peeling paint Ropes Masts Water Reflections Fish Birds Trees Leaves Pathways River bank	5 minute walk from river and boat yard            Weaver Hall Museum
Tudors	Textiles Embroidery Jewellery Armour Book covers Houses	Books            Museums            Art Galleries            Hardwick Hall Derbyshire            Little Moreton Hall Cheshire            Gawsworth Hall Cheshire            Speke Hall            Haddon Hall Bakewell
Wrought Iron	Lace Patterns Edges Cutwork Gates Fences Looking through Positive Negative	Stately homes           Gardens

I have so many ideas that I could not make my mind up.  There is one subject that I am always drawn back to and that is Africa.  I know it is a very broad one but there are lots of areas that I like and feel I could get inspiration from any one of them.  

Part 3 - Research point (1)

Investigate the diversity and design in textiles available to the consumer

I looked in high street stores to see what the trend is at the moment in style and fabrics.  I looked at fashion magazines.  The 1970's era is popular at the moment.  Suede fabric for skirts and patterned cottons and chiffon for blouses.  Tassels and fringes embellish clothing and accessories.

I have collected pictures out of magazines of the latest fashions.  They appeal to me as I actually wore some of the original styles back in the 1970's.  I remember I had two suede skirts one red and the other a tan colour.  The red skirt was fastened all the way down the front by press-studs.  I also had a waistcoat that had a suede back.  The front pieces were crocheted and it had a long suede fringe around the bottom.  I like it when I go clothes shopping with my daughter and she finds it very amusing when she is looking at an item and I say ' I wore one very similar to that when I was your age'.  It has also brought back lots of memories for me.  Not only of the clothes I wore in the 1970's but people I have lost touch with and places I went to.  I think it is fascinating that textiles can evoke these memories as much as a photograph can.

Part 3 - Project 6 Stage 4 Raised and Structured Surface Textures

I liked the gathering of fabric.  Below are silk chiffon, silk and cotton muslin that have been gathered in rows.  Also a piece of silk that was first painted with silk paints then salt sprinkled on so that when dry the fabric had lovely patterns on it.  The silk was smocked into a flower pattern.  I would like to do more work on gathering fabric.  I really like the texture.  

The sample below is worked on a piece of painted wool blanket.  Layers of chiffon and metallic organza were layered onto the wool blanket.  The chiffon pieces were layered in strips and then the metallic organza piece was placed on top.  Lines were machine stitched in sections and in different directions.  The chiffon and organza were then cut inbetween the stitched lines.  These edges were then frayed giving the piece a whole new texture.  I think this was very successful and could be used as a good textured without any further embellishment on it. 

The sample below is a velvet background painted with metallic acrylic paint. A pattern was then burnt into the velvet with a pyrograph  Strips of torn chiffon were layered onto the velvet and machined at intervals with a straight stitch. The chiffon was then distressed to give more texture.  I like this sample and think it was very successful because of the colours and the texture that was achieved by applying the fabrics to a heavy background and distressing the fine chiffon.

I decided to stitch on water soluble fabric so that I could add the pieces to the dyed scrim I had soaked in a mixture of PVA glue and water.  I manipulated a piece by scrunching it into pleats and moulded a piece around a small bowl.

I then stitched running stitches with a perle yarn between the folds.  This was backed with a piece of dyed vilene to give it stability.  I then stitched the pieces I had sewn on the water soluble fabric between the folds of the scrim.

Below are samples of gathering in different fabrics - calico pleated by hand, a piece of metallic chiffon layered onto a piece of chiffon and gathered using stitches randomly placed, dyed scrim with threads pulled from the weave tied and secured to gather the fabric.

How does working with fabric in this way compare with working directly with stitch?

I tried many of the techniques and felt that there was a lot more freedom working this way as opposed to working directly with stitch.  A three dimensional look was very quickly achieved.

Are you pleased with the shapes and movements that you have created in both applique and fabric manipulation?  What would you do differently?

Yes I am pleased with the samples.  I particularly liked the fabric manipulation exercises and especially the look I got to the samples I did by gathering.  I think the fine silk chiffon and silks were most successful.

I would perhaps try to be more experimental with the fabric manipulation exercises for example I would use heavier fabrics and thread and work on a larger scale.

How did the pieces work in relation to your drawings?  Were the final results very different from the drawings?  Did the fabric manipulation technique take over and dictate the final result?

My final pieces are very different from my drawings.  I tried very hard not to let the technique take over but unfortunately it did.  I say 'unfortunately' but I feel I have learnt a lot from working with the technique and can see possibilities I would not have seen if I had stayed true to the drawings.  

Was it helpful to work from the drawings in the applique exercise?  Would you have preferred to play directly with cut shapes and materials?

In contrast to the way I worked my samples with the fabric manipulation techniques I did find it helpful to work from my drawings when doing the applique exercise.  I found it easier to interpret the shapes and colours that I had done in my drawings.  I also fond it easier to choose materials that would interpret my drawings as I wanted, when doing the applique.  Although I would like to play directly with the cut shapes and materials I would not have preferred to do this.  I felt pleased with the sample result and part of this was because I was able to work from my drawing.

How do you feel about working with stitch in general?  Is it an area you would like to pursue in more depth?  Do you find it limiting in any way?

I really like working with stitch both by hand and machine.  I find hand stitching very relaxing and therapeutic.  I like the feel of fabric and thread and that it is worked at a slow rhythmic pace.  However, I do feel there is a need sometime to stitch by machine and techniques such as machining on watersoluble fabric can give some lovely results such as adding lace like edges.

I would like to pursue working with stitch.  I have loved stitching from an early age and as my interest has developed I have become more interested in embroidery from the past especially the 15th/16th centuries.

I do not find working with stitch limiting.  I am finding that I am looking to work through any limitations that can occur for example if hand stitching is not working is it because of the choices of thread or fabric or would a machined technique be more appropriate.  I like to work through any problems and find that thinking about these and any research I do take me to other possibilities.

Assignment 2 - Tutor Feedback

I have received the feedback for Assignment 2 from my Tutor.  I am very pleased with the feedback and the comments made.

One point that was made was that I could have elaborated a little more on the piece I wrote about my mother's wedding dress.  Suggestions were that I could have described how I felt about the dress and could have said more about particular aspects of the dress such as the handmade buttons.  Looking back at the piece I wrote about the dress I can see how relevant my Tutor's comments are and I do need to say more about how I feel about a subject rather than just a description of it.

My Tutor said my description of my visit to Kelvingrove Museum is a better example of writing critically.  I have looked back at this and can see the difference between my writing on this and on the piece about my mother's wedding dress.  I will try to take forward how I wrote about the museum visit into my writing and notes in future Assignments.  I feel the piece about the visit was written with more enthusiasm and I feel my interest and enjoyment of the exhibits and the museum comes across and makes this a more successful piece of critical writing.

My Tutor suggested the names and links to textile artists that may interest and inspire me.  I am looking into these.

In relation to the next Assignment my Tutor gave me some pointers. Particularly interesting was the idea of looking at origami in relation to fabric manipulation.  Also she suggested I look at the art of Shibori which I have started to do and feel very interested and excited about this technique.

The point was also made to look regularly back at previous work as sometimes when moving forward to learn new techniques we can forget to consider and incorporate those we have already learned.  I think this is a very good point for me as I have been doing lots of samples and I should be taking some of those further rather than jumping to the next technique.

Part 2 - Reflection

Textiles 1 – A Creative Approach

Assignment two

Reflection

This section of the course was very good for me in that it took me right back to basics with regard to working with colour.  I began by painting a colour wheel and after doing this began to feel more confident trying out different paints.  I found recording colours accurately quite difficult to do. However, it has shown me that as I have gone on further through the exercises I am getting more of an ‘eye’ for the colour I want to mix and am finding it easier to do.

I worked samples for the colour in stitch exercises in hand stitch.  I used a plain dark background for the samples and found this quite challenging. The French knots sample in reds and yellows was most successful because you can see the colours change when they are worked more densely and close together then apart. 

In Project 4 Developing Design Ideas I felt that I was beginning to get more of an eye for colour.  I found it difficult at first to decide on an area to use from my source material with relation to shape and size.  I decided to work on a small scale and began to increase the size as I became more confident in my choices and which elements to keep or leave out.  The 3cm drawings I did from my source material were successful as they were a stepping stone for me to see which shapes worked well together and for me to then take these into drawing a larger piece.  When I look at my drawings I am now beginning to feel that certain elements are not working and I am enjoying experimenting with different colours, materials and scale and am beginning to feel quite intuitive about my decisions.

I am feeling much more confident about working independently.  I enjoyed the work on looking for shapes and drawing this has given me more confidence to look for inspiration.  I feel I am able to interpret source material in my own way although I could improve on this. 

Experiments with Printing and Painting has been a very enjoyable part of the course for me.  It enabled me to experiment with a wide range of backgrounds and fabric paints and inks. As I went through the printing exercises I realised I was using many of the things I had covered in the previous sections mixing colours, looking for inspiration, choosing areas of designs and interpreting them in different ways and sizes.   This was helped by making the different types of blocks and doing the different types of printing.  This has also helped my sketchbook work.

On completing assignment two I feel I have worked with a wide range of materials, am continuing to improve my use of colour and am experimenting more.   I do need to research other designers work more.