Posted by Agnes Iley , Sunday, November 7, 2010 6:51 AM
What have you achieved?
Do you feel happy with the work?
Hmmm…..overall I do feel happy with the work. The drawing and working with sketchbooks is so far out of my comfort zone. At the same time the whole design element was my main reason to sign up for this course. So after a few anxious days I decided to jump in head first.
Still wondering if I interpreted the assignments right and simply if my work is good enough to make the grade though.
Do you prefer working with stitch to drawing? Can you begin to see the relationship between the two?
I definitely prefer to work in stitch. A lot of this has to do with my lack of drawing skills. But fabrics have always been my “thing”. I can look at interesting objects or people and will start to think about constructing them in textiles.
I can definitely see the relationship between stitch and drawing. I always have.
I compensated for my lack of drawing skills by using digital techniques.
I added some small samples of this to my sketchbook, but am not sure if working with digital techniques is permitted for assessment.
Having worked through stage 2, were you able to choose stitches which expressed the marks and lines of your drawings?
Now that was the fun part! Feeling so much more comfortable with stitch I really enjoyed the “translation”. For some odd reason I feel so much less restricted when stitching!
Do you feel you had the right source material to work from?
This comes back to me wondering if I interpreted everything right.
I made a lot of scribbles and sketches, but got a bit stuck when I had to make a sample from a drawing “with strong lines or linear qualities”. So I scribbled and scribbled and wasn’t happy with anything. Until I threw the assignment aside for a day and just started “playing”.
Still wondering if this sketch qualifies as having strong lines and linear qualities. But I was actually quite happy and surprised with myself after drawing the “faceless crowd”.
Do you think your samples work well irrespective of the drawing? Or do you think your sample is just a good interpretation of your drawing and nothing more?
The first sample stands by itself, I think. But this also caused by the fact that it isn’t a sample as such, more like a complete work.
The second sample is more like a real sample and yes I do think it works irrespective of the drawing, partially because I changed my goals a little. I didn’t so much went for recreating the drawing, but concentrated much more on how to create the textures.
Which of the activities did you prefer – working with stitch to create textures or working with yarns to make textures? Which worked best for you and why?
I like both techniques and I don’t have a strong preference either way. I choose a technique based on the effect I like to achieve and both techniques can create a textural effect in a very different way. What excited me most was the textural stitch, simply because I hadn’t done this before and I can see many possibilities for future use.
Make some comments on individual techniques and sample pieces. Did you experiment enough? Did you feel inhibited in any way?
- Oil pastels, maybe the most surprising discovery for me. I loved working with them. They force me to leave any of my perfectionist ideas behind and just work in broad strokes. This really helped me to loosen up a bit with the drawing.
- Hand embroidery, is not something I do a lot and I really enjoyed it! I can see many possibilities for this in the future. I particularly enjoyed the textural effect of the tree sample, but also liked the scattered French knot sample.
- Abstract thinking, my work tends to be very realistic. This sometimes surprises me, because personally I do really enjoy abstract art. So what pleased me most about the way the “faceless crowd” turned out was that it has a strong realistic reference, but also an abstract quality. For the same reason I like the little hand embroidered sample with just straight and bend lines (bottom picture on page 11 of my log).
- Free motion machining; definitely a challenge, but a technique that I would love to perfect. I love the possibilities and the fact that there are no restrictions.
- Drawing, this definitely tends to bring out the worst in me. I can actually totally freeze, when faced with a sheet of paper and a pencil. Reading Sandra Meech’s book (see book reviews) definitely helped me. The realization that I didn’t need to create a masterwork, drawing is just a means to an end and that sketchbooks are not for anyone’s eyes, but yours (this course being the exception there) helped me a lot.
I don’t think I will ever be finished experimenting. I’ve got very lively imagination and an active mind. So one thing will always lead to another and another and….
I am fully aware that I create my own inhibitions. In my day job I am a confident person who will defend her opinions to everyone. When it comes to my “artwork”, I doubt everything.
I am also a horrible perfectionist, so things can always be better.
However I have learned not to let that stop me anymore. The success my dolls had in various exhibitions helped a great deal. And a good telling off by one the judges (now a great friend) helped me no end. When I started pointing out the mistakes in my doll she missed, she told me in no uncertain terms, that not a single person there had seen these or recognized them as mistakes and that I needed to get over myself! So I am a lot better, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop questioning what I do, but I guess that will also make me better in the end.
How do you prefer to work? From a drawing or by playing with yarns and materials to create effects? Which method produced the most interesting work?
Seeing my earlier answers I definitely find it easier to play with materials. However I would prefer to have some drawings to back my designs up. I’ve often have more ideas then my little brain can hold and to be able to put my ideas on paper would help me a lot.
Also I really enjoyed the process of the first sample where I worked from a drawing and made 2 little samples, scribbling down notes on how to improve the samples really focused my mind. The most interesting work for me was definitely produced by working with sketches.
This was not necessarily the easiest or best work, but it’s the technique I want to develop further.
Are there any other techniques you would like to try? Are there any samples you would like to do in a different way?
My hands are itching to start combining some of the techniques that I learned with some of my 3 dimensional work. I have got a challenge coming up next year with the theme “Enchanted forest” and I was thinking weeping willow. A willow merged with a person. Some of the textural techniques will definitely find their way into that one!.
I would like to make another version of my “faceless crowd” sample. This time with the appliquéd fabric, I really liked the “painterly” feel of that little sample.
Is there anything you would like to change in your work?
For the moment I really would like to get a critique from my tutor.
To give me an idea if I am on the right track. There are so many components to the course work and at some point I have doubted them all. Is my logbook what it should be? Or am I writing a drama in six parts? Have I put enough work in my sketchbook? Have I done enough work overall? Is my stitch work up to scratch? I had to make a conscious decision to leave these doubts behind me and wait for the feedback on my first assignment. I am hoping that this will point out any mistakes I have made and will make me feel more confident about how to go about the next assignment.
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