Project 2: Building a Response – Developing Yarn and Linear Concepts

The aim of this section of "building a response" is to develop yarns and linear concepts whilst working on the textile concepts from the previous blog post which can be found here. The first few yarns I created were spun on a drop spindle to experiment with how the colours from my scheme could be …

Project 2: Building a Response – Developing Textile Concepts

The aim of this part of the project is to use the drawings from Project 1 as a source of inspiration to develop a series of textile concepts, using papers and other surfaces to develop material ideas, textures and structures. We are also encouraged to begin to explore ideas of material manipulation in conjunction with …

Project 2: Building a Response – Colour Palette

Project 2 aims to use the drawings created in Project 1 to build a response that can be further developed into a textile collection. The first part of this project focuses on identifying and presenting a colour palette. I found it easiest to create colour chips at the same time as the simple stripe designs. …

Research: Angie Lewin

I have been a fan of Angie Lewin's prints for the last couple of years and recently discovered that she has also created a textile collection which can be found here. I have a copy of her booklet Spey Path & Strandline in which she discusses how she creates watercolour sketches in preparation for creating …

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 …

Project 1: Developing Visual Research

The first part of this section is to create 8-10 drawings based on our chosen still-life. The still-life I created was based on the theme of medicinal plants as outlined in this post. A photograph of the included plants and materials can be seen below Inspired by early taxonomy sketches I used pen and ink …

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 …

Assignment Four: Reflections on Feedback

I was pleased to read that my attempts to improve the quality of my photography (particularly by using a white background in all images for consistency) has paid off. This is something that I intend to continue, not only in this module but future ones too. My tutor has suggested that the yarn created in …