Project 1 - Work Review

I have now finished project 1.  I won't say it's been easy and I'm very glad it's finished!  I have learnt a great deal from working through it, and am now looking forward to doing some sewing in project 2!

The following questions were at the end of the project.....

Have you ever thought about drawing in this way before?

Before starting this course I had never considered drawing in any shape or form.  Because I had decided long ago that I couldn't draw I would never attempt to.  I have always expressed myself in words rather than drawings, so this part of the course has been a totally new experience for me and a difficult one to get into.  Once I realised that there's no wrong way of mark making I was able to relax and actually enjoyed it.

Were you able to be inventive about the range of marks you made?

After a bit of a shaky start I did get quite inventive.  While the ideas didn't exactly come thick and fast, I was most definitely thinking of ways to express different feelings, words and textures in ways that I'd never considered before.

Did you explore a wide range of media?

I used an assortment of every day items such as combs, sponges, cocktail sticks etc to make marks along with some techniques like wax resist, wet on wet and collage.

Are you pleased with what you have done?  Will it help you to approach drawing more confidently?

I am pleased with what I've done, considering my reservations at the start, and it will help me to approach drawing more confidently.  Just doing the first few exercises has really opened my eyes and I now see everything around me in terms of texture and colour instead of just shapes and objects.

Which exercise did you enjoy and why?

I enjoyed using marks to create surface textures as I was using real objects found around my house.  I found it easier working from an object I could see and touch rather than just looking at an image.

Which media did you most enjoy working with and why?

I enjoyed collage most, especially when used with other mediums.  I found it more expressive and texturally interesting to mix media in this way.

What other forms of mark making could you try?

I would like to try stencilling, lino cuts and print blocks.

How will these exercises enrich your textile work in the future?

They will make me much more inventive than I ever thought I could be.  I am now beginning to realise that there are many ways to make marks and textures which will help me to develop ideas and explore different ways of creating interesting textile work.

Project 1 - Using Marks to Create Surface Textures

In this exercise I had to make marks using photos or images from magazines or books and things around the house and garden.  Any medium could be used.



Ginger Snaps and Field in Summer



Cup Cake and Cheddar Gorge

Rain Stick

Rock Crystal and Peeling Paint

Workshop on the Web

On a recent rummage round t'interweb I found a gem of a website called Workshop on the Web.  It's a quarterly on-line magazine full of interesting textiley articles, interviews and fab PDFs to download.  I paid my subscription and am now all set to go!

Aren't Trees Brilliant! Part 2

Following on from yesterday's look at tree trunks, today's pictures concentrate on looking up into the canopy of leaves and branches.

A living willow seat at Wakehurst Place

Aren't Trees Brilliant! Part 1

I could have a whole blog dedicated to trees!  It's the way the grow that fascinates me; gnarly, smooth, covered in moss - it all works for me!

Water and Light

Wonderful reflections of light on water taken at Wakehurst Place in West Sussex

Project 1 - More Marks

This is where things started to get very messy!  Let me loose with a box of paints and you're asking for trouble!  I had a great time playing with paint, wax crayons and coloured pencils.  I had to look at different ways of making marks using techniques such as wax resist, block printing, using bits of bubble wrap and scrunched up plastic bags, wet on wet etc.  After a considerable mess had been made I did some rubbings which was serious fun!  Finally I had a go at collage using mulberry paper.  I created the fluffy edges by running a wet paint brush down the paper.  When the water has soaked in it tears easily to leave a lovely fluffy edge when dry.