Research: William Morris Textiles at Standen House

Although the course handbook encourages us to look at contemporary textile artists, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Standen House and study the vast number of textiles created by William Morris this National Trust property contains. The gallery below shows a selection of the wallpapers and textiles designed by William Morris. I was …

Research: Artists inspired by medicines

Continuing from my previous research post, I have explored the work of some other artists inspired by medicines. Anna Dumitriu Anna Dumitriu makes bioart which ranges from running workshops that teach people how to extract DNA and use bacteria in artworks to her Plague Dress which is dyed with walnut husks (purported to be a …

Research: Artists inspired by medical conditions or anatomy

Faig Ahmed Faig Ahmed's tapestries are inspired by the idea of DNA mutating. He creates "mutated" creations that tap into his fascination with genetic research amongst other sciences. As my condition is caused by a genetic defect, I find Ahmed's interpretation of DNA alterations intriguing. The use of something that is highly ordered and creating …

Research: Artists inspired by medicines – Susie Freeman and Pharmacopoeia

The first artist, Susie Freeman, who is inspired by medicines was recommended to me by my tutor in my feedback from assignment four. According to her artist statement on the Rowley Gallery website, Susie Freeman's work involves "trapping tiny objects in a delicate web of filament." Whilst much of her work investigates what we would …

Books: Natural Processes in Textile Art

As the work in this section has been inspired by medicinal plants, I wanted to bring natural processes into my work and found Natural Processes in Textile Art: From Rust Dyeing to Found Objects by Alice Fox in my local library. There is a wealth of techniques and ideas in here that I would like …

Exercise 4.2: Experimental Yarns and Concepts

The aims of this exercise are to: explore colour translation and development in yarn design and makingexplore textured and unexpected materials in the creation of yarn concepts and designs Colour placement and composition The aim of this section is to develop a series of yarn designs that push the colours in the chosen palette: how …

Books: Stitches, Straps & Layers

I picked up Maggie Grey's book Stitches, straps & layers because I was particularly interested in the fact that it focuses on the 'fabrics and art materials that we already have in our cupboards' and uses them to create textile art. When I set up Purple Iris, one of the aims was to try to …

Books: Exploring Dimension in Quilt Art

I picked up C. June Barnes' book Exploring Dimension in Quilt Art in the library when I was pondering ways to make my textile work more three-dimensional in response to my tutor's feedback on Assignment 2. This seemed like a perfect title and there were some ideas that could be tried and possibly incorporated into …

Books: New Ideas in Fusing Fabric

Margaret Beal's New Ideas in Fusing Fabric explores ideas for using a soldering iron on synthetic fabric and is based on three key techniques; cutting, fusing and mark-making). Margaret Beal suggests the following basic tools and equipment: soldering iron - very fine tip works bestfine wire wool - grade 0000 to keep tip clean (clean …

Research: Worthing Museum Exhibitions

A while ago I managed to get to Worthing Museum and Art Gallery to see the Open 2019 and the Sussex Makers: Painted, Printed and Crafted Exhibitions. One thing I have noticed about most gallery exhibitions is that the works are hung very high which makes it difficult for me to see and/or photograph them …