Tutorial

I had another meeting with Mr Davis about my extended project. This meeting was spent talking about how I was getting on with the extended project and how the mark scheme works. I was also asked to go through my sketchbook in more detail and show him what I had done since I last saw him. I was asked to add my YSL photographs into the sketchbook and write some bullet points of evaluation for some of the artists to keep me going through the essay writing I will have to do at some point. I was given a deadline of finishing all the preliminary research and artists which needs to be finished by the first week back after Christmas.

more developments

I used my Adobe Illustrator work to create a fabric version of my Cath Kidston inspired work. I traced the outline on fabric and painted the leaves and flowers with the same colour dyes. This gave the edges of the motifs a vintage looking effect instead of the lines being crisp, meaning it looked like Kidstons work. I then decided to develop it further with a technique I like, adding some embroidery onto the piece.
This could have been done more precise with heat fix paper however I do not think this would give it the vintage effect that adds to the charm of the piece.

exhibition

Today I went to an exhibition at the Bowes museum. The exhibition was the Yves Saint Laurent "Style is Eternal". A lot of YSL's work is based on the natural world therefore I am including his work in my extended project sketchbook. This again is a primary resource for research which will help me a lot in this project.

Work inspired by Cath Kidston

I spent two hours today drawing out some quick sketches of simplified leaves to create my own pattern. I scanned them into the computer using the photocopier and opened them in Adobe Illustrator. I used the pen/brush tool to redraw the lines to make them smoother as Cath Kidston's work is compter generated after initial sketches. A problem I came across whilst using this tool is that I had to use the computer mouse. I think a graphics tablet would have allowed me to draw easier on top of the initial drawings however I do not have access to one. I then decided to play around with different ways of adding colour to these designs. I also tried different ways of positioning the motifs before I repeat them to make the pattern. I plan to finish this on Monday when I have access to the program at school as I don't own Illustrator at home.

Cath Kidston Research

I have been looking into pattern work as a different type of textile technique to include in my sketchbook. I've printed photos of her patterned cushions and also closer up images of them to see how they have been printed and also designed. This was stuck into my sketchbook today and I plan on creating a pattern similar to her style on the computer. I visited the Cath Kidston store to see the work in person. I find primary research a better resource which is why this was a good visit.

Lindsay Taylor inspired work / / Problems

I decided to start an embroidery of a plant that was near me at the time. It was bright pinks and also green around it. I decided I would make it into a necklace shape. I got half way into making this, after about an hour and realised the pinks were too bright for what I was creating therefore I am going to have another go at creating work inspired by her. I also did not have soluble fabric today, which is the material she uses therefore I could not make it as similar to her work as possible and also couldn't show how I was inspired by her as much. I have now got some soluble fabric and will be producing a piece inspired by her work which I could possibly develop into a jewellery or accessory piece later on in my project.

Adding more artists

I spent a couple of hours researching more artists and adding them into my sketchbook. I looked at an artist inspired by butterflies and who uses a lot of embroidery, which I know is a strong point of mine and I could use this as an advantage. I also looked at an artist inspired by the seaside who's work is very stylised.

Tutorial

I had another tutorial today where I showed Mr Davies my project proposal form which has been updated however he still thinks there should be some improvement made. I showed him my sketchbook and what I had started to do since last time however there has not been much added therefore not much feedback could be given other than to do more analysis and more research in general. I also decided in this tutorial to look at different types of artists who are also inspired by nature therefore I think I may move onto researching pattern in the natural world and artists who use this.

Analysis

I have looked at the three artists' work more closely and analysed their work. I started by making notes of what techniques and materials they used and also researched into their backstory a bit more to find out why they create jewellery and accessory pieces. I intend to look at other types of artists however these are the types I am most interested in at the moment. My analysis is very loose at the moment so I'm going to go more in depth and then put this into my sketchbook and possibly come up with some design ideas for if I was going to take this further.

Tutorial

I had a tutorial with Mr Davies today where we went through my extended project proposal form and decided how to improve it. I also showed him that I had identified textile artists I liked and had put them in my sketchbook. I have been asked to do some analysis of the artists' work and some preliminary analysis.

Creating work inspired by artists.

I created a piece of machine embroidery inspired by Caroline Homfray of an autumn leaf. This reminds me of one of her pieces but was taken from a real leaf I had picked up.

This leaf took longer than expected considering the size of the piece considering it is very small. I could have created a bigger version as it isn’t on a very big scale however I cant imagine a necklace being much bigger than what I have created the piece to be.

I also created a hand embroidery piece of an eye inspired by mother eagle. This took less time than I expected considering it is a hand embroidered piece. 

Lindsay Taylor

I looked at Lindsay Taylor’s work and started to create a sketchbook page for her work. I have been looking at the techniques she has used. Her website is laid out in a great way however it was hard to find the pieces I wanted to print and look at in more detail. I wanted to create a piece of work inspired by her however I could not get my hands on soluble fabric therefore I have left it until later on to make until I can get some.

More Research of Artists

I google searched embroidered jewellery to find artists. I discovered Caroline Homfray and decided to create a page on her work. I also found another artist called Katie or “Mother Eagle” who I created a sketchbook page for. Caroline Homfrays website was laid out in an awkward way so it was hard to find her embroidered jewellery work within all of her other work.  She has recently changed her website however it is even worse than before and is very hard to find anything. Mother Eagle’s website is very easy to locate her work however I tried to find her last name and it is not stated anywhere therefore she is known as mother eagle and this name will be the title in the sketchbook page instead of the way I have my other sketchbook pages.

Mood Board

I created a mood board and mood board of different features of the natural world and also different areas I could look into with an overview of which artists I already know about and plan on looking into. The photos I have used have made me get into the mindset of what to look at in the natural world. I am confident in the photos I have chosen for this mood board as the colours and photos inspire me for the work I am going to create.

Questionnaire Results

I have collected the questionnaires in and created pie charts and bar charts based on the results. This will help me decide on what artists to look at and what kind of work to look at within the project.

Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire to help decide which artists to look at and what kinds of artwork to look at I will hand it out to 10 people and ask for their feedback. This will help me through my Extended Project with what to move onto next in my sketchbook. It will also help when creating my final artefact(s).

Gallery Visit - Shipley Art Gallery

I visited the Shipley Art Gallery and saw the "Blooming Marvellous" exhibition of the knitted garden. The exhibition was a whole room of knitted items of what you'd find in a garden during summer or spring. there was a lot of knitted flowers and also some animals and bugs such as bees etc. I spent an hour looking in depth at the different knittings. This inspired me to maybe look at some knitting artists during my extended project who have been inspired by flora and fauna. I could make these pieces into an accessory or something with a purpose as I would prefer that to a piece of art which does not have a function to it.