I don't like to use this blog to write about my personal life. I would only mention something if it was perhaps a memory that was sparked by textiles or techniques in some way. However, I feel I have to mention here that I have been struggling with my theme book work partly because my husband became very ill and everything obviously went by the board. Thankfully he is recuperating well. The reason I am mentioning it is that I have begun to think about how things in my life affect my textile work. I have always found that when I am under stress I turn away from my textile and art work. I admire those that are able to turn to their work for solice. I am not able to do that. I cannot understand why as I get great pleasure and comfort from doing my work and this course at all other times and wonder if I don't want to associate anything unhappy or stressful with it.
As mentioned before I have been struggling with my theme book. I had come to a decision that I am going to use the river and 15th/16th century embroidery as my inspiration. There is much to work with and I have kept being drawn back to the rusty old tug boat. I did manage to get permission to view the boat up close. I was not allowed on it as it was too dangerous as it is deteriorating very badly. It was wonderful to be able to photograph the boat from so close. The different surfaces and colours are what I am being drawn to. I am thinking about layers and peeling back. I also want to try to incorporate some of the flowers and grasses that I see along the riverbank.
As an added surprise I was able to have a walk around the boatyard and found lots more to inspire me. There was rust and peeling layers of paint everywhere. I find the colours and textures fascinating.
I think my main concern about my theme book has been how to work in it. How do I set it out? I am going to be in contact with my tutor very soon and when I speak to her I will mention these concerns. Thinking about it though I suppose it should not matter and I should just work through and see where it takes me.
Below is work from my theme book. I have been concentrating on the textures and colours from the deteriorating surfaces of the tug boat. I really like the rusting and flaking paint on the boat. I have been working with paint and paper and now feel ready to start working on fabric and stitch samples. I have the idea of textured backgrounds and hand and/or machine embroidery over the top or on layers applied over the background. I have in mind at the moment to stitch the grasses and wild flowers that I see when walking by the river. I am going to gather together all materials that I have in the textures and colours I have in mind. I will spend some time also colouring fabric to the effect I would like. After having a slow start I feel I am moving on more now with this part of the course. I have realised that I just need to start working from my source material not worrying about whether everything is correct or neat or it does not work out how I envisaged. I have actually had a couple of nice surprises from pieces that have not turned out how I thought they would. This has helped me to just experiment and to remember that this is a journey and I will get to a stage where I am happy with the outcome but always to be mindful that I could go further with it if I wished.
I do find it difficult to go from art work into stitch samples. When doing the art work I can go on trying technique after technique and wonder if I should restrict myself more before starting stitch samples.
I am pleased with the feedback I received from my tutor for Assignment 4. I feel it was very positive.
I had felt that my final sample was small. My tutor pointed out that although it was small the quality of the weave is very delicate. Having looked at the sample again I can see this and realise that I had overlooked the texture and finish of the piece as I was so focused on the fact that I had worked it very small. Thinking about it now, I realise that it does not matter what size a piece of work is as long as it is what I am trying to convey. My tutor suggested that if I wanted to add to this work it would look beautiful as part of a triptych or pair. I had not thought about working this way and think this is very interesting and something to think about when doing future pieces.
My tutor had suggested in the feedback for my previous assignment that I begin to check my referencing against the Harvard system. She said my referencing is 'spot on' now which I am very pleased to hear. I admit that the referencing was a big worry to me but I am pleased that I have got over this and now feel more confident about it.
I enjoyed doing the research for Assignment 4 and therefore did not feel as anxious about researching as I had in the previous assignments. My tutor suggested that I could add a few more comments about how I feel textile art has been accepted as 'fine art' by the fine art establishment and perhaps reference a gallery which has exhibited textile art recently. I will look into this and follow the suggestion that my tutor made about an exhibition being held at the moment called 'Meticulous Stitchers'. The exhibition is not too far from where I live so dependent on my circumstances and time I plan to visit it.
My tutor also suggested some reading and web links for my Assignment 4 research. I shall look into these and add notes to my research.
My tutor gave me some pointers for my theme book. She suggested we have a chat about it. I have contacted her and we are arranging to speak as soon as possible. I have been struggling with my theme book but feel I am getting over this. I was pleased to see that my tutor's pointers were very much in line with what I had been thinking. She did give me a couple of ideas I hadn't thought of and will think about these. I will be researching the artists' work she has given me examples of. I feel this will be good inspiration for me. When I talk to my tutor we will also discuss how I should prepare my work for assessment. With this in mind she said to refer to my guide on submitting work for assessment and to the submission guidelines so that I understand the process. I will do this before I speak to my tutor.
