Month: November 2015

Formative Assessment- First Term

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Assesment term 1.jpg

This was my wall, for my formative assessment. We were asked to mount and present six dye samples, and six stitch samples. I attempted to create a theme for my work, including botanical pieces, but decided to title is natural forms, due to the tie-dye and shabori. I was overall happy with my presentation skills, because I decided to keep the margin at the top of the paper all the same size and stitched along the edge which I thought made it look very professional. We were in groups of five and asked to talk about our work for two minutes, and in my group I went last, which made me feel a lot more comfortable.

I had the idea of putting my drawings behind the water-soluble samples, which I thought was a clever idea to see the transition between where I started off- drawing. and where it ended up. I also got the idea to try create some repeat patterns using Photoshop, and placed that behind my sample of the daisy, because again you could see where my ideas have come from on one sample. I thought my colour scheme was quite contrasting because it was mostly built up of yellows and blues, but that splash of neon in the water-soluble sample, I think pulls the wall together.

Mothers Of Africa

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http://medicine.cardiff.ac.uk/mothers-africa/

In Africa:

each day, the equivalent of three Boeing 747s full of mothers die in childbirth

a woman’s risk of dying from treatable or preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth over the course of her lifetime is 1 in 6.

The main activities of the charity revolve around visits to Sub-Saharan Africa countries to provide training for anesthetic medical staff at the front-line of maternal care.

In order to help the charity, we were asked as textile students to create squares of decorated fabrics in order to create a blanket and sell, to give the proceeds to charity. I started off looking on google at African patterns, and this was the result I got. I loved the idea of incorporating warm colour’s, with animals and geometric shapes.

Celia Birtwell

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Celia Birtwell was the most important textile designer of her generation. She has contributed so much to the world of interiors and fashion. She is known for her distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, influenced by Picasso and Matisse.

Life Drawings

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Today I completed my first ever life drawing session. I thought I would have been un happy with my work, but the different activities helped me a lot. I think looking at all my drawings, it’s the one I drew with my left hand I preferred, because the marks are much more interesting. At the end the model was dressed up in a Celia Birtwell Dress from Topshop, based on a dress designed by Ozzy Clark.  I found the layers so hard to draw, because some of the dress was see threw, and some wasn’t. Slightly confusing but I was happy with my drawings.

Hand Stitched Samples

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Outside of our stitch workshops, we were asked to complete samples of different types of hand embroidery stitches, from a PowerPoint on Moodle. My first sample I decided to use the different ribbons received during our first workshop, but thought some of the stitches were unclear, so I re-done all the samples using an embroidery thread.

I thought some of these techniques were lovely, however they are time consuming, it just depends what type of look you are aiming for.

Water Soluble Fabric

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During our third stitch session we learnt the technique of using water soluble fabric. For this technique we first used the drawings we had made on the Monday before from the National history museum, where we drew from the botanical art collection. In order to complete this technique, the idea is, is to stitch in straight lines using free machine embroidery and then stitch using a zig zag stitch over the top, so the stitches don’t fall apart when you dissolve the water soluble. We were also told to fill in the gaps and not leave anything that could fall, for example, my leave I made, when I finally dissolve it the stem may go floppy. Although that’s why it isn’t dissolved yet, as I am going to try stitch some wire into the stem so it can stay up and maybe bend. I have used water-soluble before but I’ve never learnt any of these correct techniques of letting it dissolve for over 30 minutes, so that the piece is soft.

Botanical Drawing’s at the National History Museum

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Today we went to the National History Museum in Cardiff town center today, to look at their collection of botanical artwork.  We were asked to then copy images from the collection in our sketch books. I thought the two drawings I completed today were amazing. I was so pleased with both of them, as I really dislike drawing, however I felt drawing from another person’s interpretation of the flowers helped me a lot. I feel a lot more confident about drawing now.

Hegemony, Binary and Heteronormativity

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Hegemony,

This Is the dominance of one social class over another. Not just political or economical control, the idea that ideologies are accepted as natural.

Binary

This is the idea that all elements of human culture can be understood in relation to one another. An example of this is the relationship between upper class an lower class.

Heteronormativity

This is the belief that society is built upon strict norms and values for different genders, meaning heterosexuality is the ‘norm’. Anything outside of this definition transgresses the ‘norm’ for example homosexuals and transgender.

Bonder Web and Appliqué

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During our second stitch workshop, we learnt how to add bonder web to fabric for applique. This technique is fast and simple. The idea is to use bonder web before stitching fabric down to other fabric, because it might move and you might be left with it not being flat or straight. In order to complete this technique, we first ironed on the bonder wet to the fabric, sticky side facing the back of the fabric. Then once its cooled down, peel away the backing and cut out the shape. Once this has happened you can then iron it into place and stitch on top. Bonder web is not a permanent solution, so it is perfect for these samples.

From this workshop I learnt its much easier if you have a simple design.