Bradford Textiles Society Design Brief

 

Figure 1: Confection by McNeill, Mayra From Machine Embroidery: Lace and See-Through Techniques by McNeill, Moyra, 1985.

Figure 2: Crewel Embroidery by Sue Hawkins, 2001.

I feel this piece was the feeling I have been looking for within my practice. The delicacy, emptiness and yet full of energy. In the past, I have easily gotten into a routine where I default to one, two or three different machines and stick to a single technique, but through looking at this, I realised I have limited myself too much. I have been thinking of what is ‘original’ work and concentrated on how I can create a original piece. Through these fruits and butterflies, I realized that for every stitch I put in by hand, that is original and that is the meaning of handcraft.

Figure 3: Sketchbook drawing

In terms of composition, I experiment with different approaches. I appreciate that much of my strength for design comes from my drawings and illustrations. It can be difficult to translate energy of the image onto fabric through stitch and so I am developing a technique that focuses on representing this energy. Such as using splashing ink/ colours onto my drawings to add movements to the background and the interactivity between stitch fabric.

 

Figure 4: Sketchbook drawing

Figure 5: Sample: I have combined different machines such as Multi head, Pfaff, embellisher and Conerly as an experiment of seeing the overall techniques. The combinations of stitches offer a rich sample that can be developed to give the face of the fox more personality. The embroidery sampling helps me identify the composition of the thread and image.

I have combined different machines such as Multi head, Pfaff, embellisher and Conerly as an
experiment of seeing the overall techniques. The combinations of stitches offer a rich sample that
can be developed to give the face of the fox more personality. The embroidery sampling helps
me identify the composition of the thread and image.


After every drawing was done, I would ask myself the same questions: which textiles techniques are best to use to describe the mood of my drawing?

Figure 6: Fabric painting

Figure 7: Hand-stitch: Vanessa: People always ask me how can we charge so much for what amounts to gradations of white. I tell them it's not about the artist's name or the skill required, not even about the art itself.

All that matters is "How does it make you feel?" - Quote from Daredevil.

Katrina Mclaughlin (MA) has inspired me and opened my idea of who I am and who is my

audience, for after her talk about aiming for the sky has led me to think, that I should focusing on

making my work more aiming for high standard and don’t stop myself at commercial.

I developed my knowledge of how might I translate watercolour into textiles.
My current technique is to stitch the eyes last as a focal point. The eyes help me to identify the energy and soul of the narrative of the fox. After the discussion with my tutor about where do I see my work as, I have decided to use Photoshop to put together a design which contain drawings and embroidery design I had based on the fox.
I see my work as a collection, for I work in different ways, individual characters for bespoke works and also repeat prints and patterns for larger more commercial pieces.