C&G Certificate Module 6, Chapter 12 - Study Three Artists
SKETCH BOOK
Jae Maries, Barbara Lee Smith and my chosen artist Dawn Dupree all draw their inspiration from the world around them, the environment and landscapes. They use similar techniques of working in layers to produce texture, adding colour by degrees and using free machine embroidery. I like the way they all use colour, working in a limited palette, which I find very effective. I also admire them for way they find inspiration and develop themes from the world around them.
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C&G Certificate Module 6, Chapter 11 - Making the Wall Hanging
Time to begin!
I ironed Bondaweb onto faux silk and then stuck it to Aquabond 2. I stitched all over it with twin needles in swirls in all directions over the fabric. I loosely pinned the 'sandwich' down and painted it with silk paints and left it to dry overnight. The wrinkles in the fabric were more intense where I had stitched closely together. When the fabric was wet it was also possible to increase/decrease the wrinkles by moving the fabric by hand.
I bleached the jute scrim first to remove the brown colour. It turned to a light straw colour. I then painted it using the same colours as the background.
Clingfilm stuck to Aquabond 2 and sewn with whipstitch.
Most of the Aquabond 2 was rinsed out and then moulded over polystyrene balls.
The shapes were carefully peeled off the balls.
Silk stitched with M2/39, feeddogs down, on the bias to make the rouleau krill. I cut the strips across the bias so that the stitching would form rings around the body of the krill.
Busy making tons of krill!
I segmented the rouleaux with stitch every 4 centimetres and stitched them onto a slip.
I painted them, using the same colours as the background. In their final position, the krill will appear deep and still.
Here the krill are more active and closer to the surface, so are lighter in colour and show movement.
Here the krill will be near the surface and are very active. I stitched wires through the rouleaux.
Creating a broken chain, using painted pelmet vilene, cut and marked with a soldering iron and layered with cotton scrim and more pelmet vilene pieces. Varying shades of paint were used to add depth and light to the chains later.
The complete links (with the krill inside) were painted and covered with a silver random pattern organza and painted again. Originally I thought that would be enough to make them look 'whole' and 'perfect'. However they looked rather flat, so I stitched strips of painted cord onto clear polyester and cut round them with a soldering iron and then added them to the shapes, to give more balance.
The final positions of the chains.
The slips are added at varying 'depths'.
The jute hessian has been applied and threads have been drawn out. A complete disaster! The threads were not thick enough to show up and however hard I tried it just looked a mess, so I removed it and had a rethink. Sorry the photo is out of focus, it's the only one I had.
I attached the chains, rope and bubbles onto the painted faux silk backed with white felt. I cut a piece of black felt the same size and made a sleeve at the top as illustrated below. I then soldered the felt together and finished the edge of the faux silk with my embellisher. It measures approximately 60 x 80 cms.
Side view.
Close up.
Close up.
SKETCH BOOK
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The complete links (with the krill inside) were painted and covered with a silver random pattern organza and painted again. Originally I thought that would be enough to make them look 'whole' and 'perfect'. However they looked rather flat, so I stitched strips of painted cord onto clear polyester and cut round them with a soldering iron and then added them to the shapes, to give more balance.
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I divided the hessian strands up and twisted them to form rope, this effect was much better than drawn threads as it is so much more defined and contrasts well with the watery background.
I attached the chains, rope and bubbles onto the painted faux silk backed with white felt. I cut a piece of black felt the same size and made a sleeve at the top as illustrated below. I then soldered the felt together and finished the edge of the faux silk with my embellisher. It measures approximately 60 x 80 cms.
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Close up.
My theme is krill conservation. My embroidery shows what happens if the food chain is disrupted. Once broken, everything is gone, only bubbles of air remain, representing the fragility of the ecosystem. The severed rope represents fishing net and is there to discourage over-fishing or face the consequences of the destroying the balance of nature.
Two A3 composite boards of ideas. It is hinged down the centre with a width of felt.
I started with the 2 sheets of coloured transparent paper that came from a newspaper. Here one is on a black background, the other one on white. The difference is quite startling. The photo of the squirming krill encouraged me to try and create movement throughout the embroidery. The overall colour scheme developed naturally from the colour of the krill through to the photos I had taken of the sea in Antarctica. The biggest problem was how to create the links of chain, but by layering up onto the pelmet vilene I eventually achieved my goal.
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I started with the 2 sheets of coloured transparent paper that came from a newspaper. Here one is on a black background, the other one on white. The difference is quite startling. The photo of the squirming krill encouraged me to try and create movement throughout the embroidery. The overall colour scheme developed naturally from the colour of the krill through to the photos I had taken of the sea in Antarctica. The biggest problem was how to create the links of chain, but by layering up onto the pelmet vilene I eventually achieved my goal.
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C&G Certificate Module 6, Chapter 10 - Converting Design into Embroidery Techniques
SKETCH BOOK
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I will make a suggestion of krill, using cable stitch and automatic stitch M2/39 as in the sample on page 102. I plan to stitch on the bias and cut across the bias to make rouleaux to represent the krill within the chains. The stitching will go round the 'body' of the krill.
After more experimentation with bubbles, I plan to use whipstitch on clingfilm.
I plan to cover the whole design with a piece of jute hessian and draw threads out to represent fishing net.
Chapter 9 Revisited
I wasn't very happy with the designs I had developed so decided to rethink. My new theme involves the disintegration of the food chain by over-fishing.
Complete and broken links.
This is the effect I want to create. I took the design on page 95 and enhanced it in Photoshop Elements. However I think that with so many links, it might be overcomplicated, hence the simplification of the design on page 100.
Adding 'krill' to the design. I'm not yet sure what I will choose.
SKETCH BOOK
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I decided that the chain was too small for an A1 embroidery, so enlarged everything. Please ignore the yellow background as I was just trying to create a design. Nearly there!
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