Module 3 Chapter 7 Design and Composition

A very interesting chapter to work.  Many ideas and methods, some of which I know from photography, but it is always good to review and remind oneself of these and learn new.

Module 3 Chapter 6 : Design Development

Module 3 Chapter 5

Well it has taken a while to get going on Chapter 5. A busy summer of gardening and decorating, and a feeling of needing a complete break from the course - but September brings with it the resumption of creative embroidery classes, the Embroiderers' Guild summer school and maybe the memories of the return to school after the long summer holidays.  So here goes:

Please ignore the red and yellow on page 1 - it has seeped through from the next page!

Now the second part of Chapter 5 - some research into designer/makers in machine embroidery.

One whose work I find interesting and inspiring - Yvonne Brown

I met Yvonne when she gave a talk at our branch of the Embroiderers' Guild, and the following day at her workshop entitled Marvellous Marbles.

In her book 'Tex-tiles and other Treasurers: Using Medieval tiles and stonework' she describes herself as a freelance textile teacher with students all over the UK, into Europe and now to New Zealand. She writes "My passion for fabric, threads, texture and colour has led me to explore textiles as an artistic medium creating images with rich, tactile surfaces. I find my inspiration in the natural world and from art historical sources, particularly the medieval."

Yvonne giving her talk to the Norwich Embroiderers' Guild (she is facing the camera on the right of the picture), and displaying some of her quilts.

Why do I find her work so inspiring and interesting?  I have visited many architectural sites in Central Asia and am drawn to the colours and (usually Islamic) geometric designs and patterns on the tiles of the buildings. Places like Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan and Turkestan in Kazakhstan in particular have ancient mosques and medressas built in the time of Tamerlane with unbelievably intricate geometric designs. The faded glory of these beautiful sites is absolutely awesome, and I like to think of the vast numbers of peoples of different cultures and beliefs who have marvelled at their creation.

Yvonne is drawn to the medieval tiles often found on the floors of our great cathedrals and abbeys, and I am attracted to her creations because I can see in them the images of worn and distressed ancient tiles and designs.  I imagine she, too, would think of all the people over the centuries who have walked on, and marvelled at, the beauty of the tiles. 

I like her method of researching and photographing tiles, then working out how to create the effect with fabric and stitch.  She uses a variety of fabrics, both man-made and natural, and makes use of soldering iron and heat gun to achieve the distressed look she wants.  I like the gradations of colour and the muted, weathered and aged look she achieves.

Her techniques include use of transfer dyes, melting, burning and distressing, reverse applique, coloured washes of acrylic paints, and free embroidery.

Her machine embroidery stitches include straight and zigzag stitch around applique shapes and various "fill" stitches to enhance and highlight areas and to add texture.  I like the way she uses stitch to create the effect of worn grouting between tiles.

Below are some examples of her work. I received her permission to copy pages from her book.

The two examples above and below are copied from 'Tex-tiles and other Treasures'

A different work to the tiles, but what interesting colours.

One whose work does not appeal : Linda Miller

Linda's work reminds me of fun postcards and birthday cards.  She uses blocks of often quite strong colour to depict her images of people and views, often in either gardens or at the seaside.

Linda Miller at the Great Northern Contemporary Art Fair

Below are five images (taken from the internet) of her work:

The figurative style of her work creates amusing flattened images of people and animals.  In three of the above she has used dark red to create interest, and the artistic use of the 'thirds' method to draw the eye in to the picture.

Linda uses an industrial Bernina machine and sews on to heavy weight cotton using viscose, cotton, silk and metallic threads.

It is difficult to tell from the internet images of Linda's work which stitches she uses.  I imagine there is much satin stitch to fill in the shapes, and straight stitch to give  definition.  There may also be some automatic patterns (not sure if industrial Bernina machines have these) used for flowers and stems.

I think her work is very clever.  It is very obvious to anyone looking at it what it is.  It conveys a happy message.

Why does it not appeal to me?  I like gradual changes of colours rather than blocks of colour, and prefer more abstract images.  I think also that colour and texture are more important to me than actual image.

One whose work has influenced my own work, and how - Wendy Dolan

I was lucky enough to meet Wendy at the Embroiderers' Guild Eastern Region Summer School in 2015, although I had chosen a different tutor for my workshops.  Nevertheless during and at the end of the Summer School all students had a chance to walk around to see what everyone had been doing, and I thought the techniques demonstrated by Wendy were interesting and inspiring.  (And what a lovely lady!)

In her book "Layer, Paint and Stitch" Wendy writes she continues 'to be amazed at the range of textures and original effects you can create on a basic sewing machine. Combining different stitching, painting and printing techniques gave me a broad range of skills with which to experiment and to help develop my own personal style; I hope you will develop your own approach to this fascinating medium.'   This could describe my reasons for studying the City & Guilds Course!

Of the pictures I have seen of Wendy's work, the ones I find most interesting are those based on architectural designs.  As with the crumbling tiles of Yvonne Brown's work, Wendy talks about the 'contrasting textures of the crumbling, weathered brickwork and the elegant architecture of the windows and balconies' which inspired her 'Venetian Facade' work.  She adds texture with horticultural fleece and x-pandaprint, layering fabrics and using washes both above and beneath fabrics to create the effects she wants.  She uses a wide variety of machine and hand stitches, including straight, satin and cable stitch for definition, granite stitch to provide surface texture.

Below are examples of her work, including one three dimensional piece.  They are taken from her book 'Layer, Paint and Stitch' and she has given me permission to copy pages from the book.

It has been interesting to look at designer artists.  Given more time I would like to see their work 'in person' and will certainly study those on display at the Stitch and Knit Show this year with renewed interest.

Module 3 Chapter 4

It has taken a while to finish this chapter.  In June our branch of the Embroiderers Guild had a workshop with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn, and this was followed two weeks later by the DS Summer School - three happy delightful days, again with Jan and Jean.  I feel the artistic part of my brain is overflowing - so many ideas, so many techniques.  And what a wonderful group of people!

Chapter 4 is all about fastenings ...

And finally a photo of some felt balls which could be used as beads, and some quilled paper beads.