P.E Task 2

For this sampling unit I was given the brief “data roaming”. I played around with the idea of data and finally decided on the theme of “traces”, and how data is compiled through traces left behind from people, objects and processes. I glanced around me and realise the many traces left behind such as stains from the bottom of a cup, scratches on the table top ect. I took some photographs and began to create some inspirational drawings concentrating on shape, line, colour and texture.

I entered the textile world of construct, firstly weave and created a collection of weave samples; I took the colour pallet of neutral creams and beiges from my photographs and artist Anne Goddard.

. “Chester based Ann Goddard combines textile elements with non-traditional textile media such as wood, slate and concrete. She describes her work as a mixture of crafting and conceptualising – working on the margins of textile practice & existing in a border zone between fine art and craft. Themes explore the concept of boundaries and human impact on the landscape.”  (www.textileartist.org ) Her theme links well to mine as she looks at the impact that humans leave on the landscape and so the traces that are left behind. Although Anne isn’t a weaver I found her work very inspirational for my own samples for many reasons including her colour palate which is clearly shown through my sample with the muted creams alongside a darker brown tone as with her piece. The way in which her work is very textural is also something I took forward and introduced into my knit and weave both through using different yarns and fibre as well as experimenting with a variety of techniques. Her use of natural media such as wood alongside manmade materials including concrete was and interesting concept and is shown through my use of combining natural fibres and yarns such as wool and cotton alongside manmade yarns; viscose.

The next thinking step for me was where I envisioned my knit and weaves and the context in which they would be, I started by first ruling out fashion and commercial product and realised that they are much more abstract and textural and so more gallery- based work and so I researched this and came along some artists including Jonathan Brilliant’s “To weave.  To stack. To stain.” This photograph became very influential in my woven samples I looked at the forms he created the “loop” and brought this into my weaves through the technique of floats.  Clear influences are shown through the colour scheme and textural effect.

Another extremely influential artist in my work is Sonya Phillips, she’s a knitter who creates both large and small scale abstract pieces showcased within installations in galleries this is one reason I found her work interesting. I used partial knit to create the small sections of colour change similar to that of Sonya’s, I used a varied thickness of yarns and hooking up to give a tactile surface. This artist influenced may of my final knit samples.

To take my samples further I would experiment with scale and composition to create large textural gallery-based installations as this is where I see me work for an audience interested in traditional crafts used in an abstract form. All of my sample link back to my theme of traces as surely a knit or weave sample is a trace left from yarn, needle or a loom.

Sam. (). Featured artist Ann Goddard – Crafting & conceptualising. Available: http://www.textileartist.org/crafting-and-conceptualising-2/. Last accessed 18th feb 2014.

Drawing day Fridays

This unit we had several drawing Fridays including drawings from natural object but only in block colour, this was something I found quite hard as I had to make lost of shades and times of colours so that it didn't just look like painted sections and actually looked like the object which in this case was a shell.

The drawing Friday that was most influential in my work was one in which we had to create a paper structure and then draw it I found the making of the structure enjoyable and the drawing very experimental

I found this drawing Friday showed my theme of traces really well as, I used a knife to cut into the paper and the traces of ink soaked into them. This way of experimental drawing is something Ireally  enjoyed and continue to do.

Knitting week 3

This week we were introduced to the new techniques of hooking up and partial knitting. These were techniques I found extremely valuable as they gave the knit a very tactile and textural surface. This is something that comes across in my drawings and so it only makes sense to show similar qualities in my knit work. I also took inspriatiog from the shapes in my drawings, I continued with my muted colour scheme and added some viscose loop with cotton binder to add another effect of a lustrous yarn. I continued to look at my artists and drew inspiration from them including Sonya Pillips.

During the demonstration of the partial knitting I felt slightly overwhelmed as it seemed a difficult concept to grasp, but as soon as I got onto the machine I found the technique a lot simpler and more enjoyable. The technique itself is very adaptable as it can be used to create a vast amount of shapes both regular and abstract.

Knitting week 2

This week learnt new techniques including, casting of, lace wholes, ladders, punch hole and e-wrappings. I found these techniques really interesting and found that ladders and lace whole work well together and link back to my drawings and theme of traces.e-wrapping was something that really interested me as it can be used to create a variety of shapes both abstract and formulaic but also that it creates an interesting texture and it is possible to e-wrap with a large variety of thickness's and textures of yarns.

Whilst researching a came across the artist Sonya Phillips; a knitter who uses a very similar colour palette to that I have been using and also creates textural effects to her knits. As well as this another reason I found Sonya's work inspiring is due to the fact that she exhibits her work in galleries this is something I think my work if taken forward and expanded would be placed,I am looking forward to combining all the techniques I have learnt to create my final samples next week.

Knitting week 1

I was excited to learn the new techniques that came with knitting. We were taught this week the techniques of casting on, open loop casting off, colour changing and changing tension. I learnt how to thread up on the machine and although it looked incredible fiddly it was actually quite simple to do. When creating my samples for changing tension I found that when the dial is on a looser tension it was much easier to pull the carriage across, you could feel the change in tension while knitting. I experimented with tension hanging and while the weights were on the sample although it looked nice it was quite flat however once I cast off the tighter tension parts curled and the looser tensions didn't as much and so an interesting surface occurred.

Weaving week 3

This week I continued with my yarn wrappings, sketchbook work and weaving. I looked back at my inspirational photographs and drawings which inspired me to create this sample in which I used a variety of threads and yarns to inlay into my weaves this adds a very textural effect and shows clear links to my drawings, photographs and my theme as the inlay yarn looks as though it had been pulled across and snapped to leave traces of the yarn behind.

This week I also had my dye induction in which I was showed how to mix different percentages of acids and dyes together and showed the formulas that are used to dye materials and yarns. Although I found this process interesting and very useful I don't think that for my project at the moment I could use it as I am more concentrated on natural yarns in neutral colours.

Doodle lecture

This week in the lecture we were told to brig scissors paper, pens and a sewing needle and thread. The lecture was to prove or disprove a theory that if you you keep your hands busy then you would listen and remember more

As a result I did actually remember more from what Kate was talking about but I doubt that it was because I was doodling and in fact believe that I remembered more because I knew that the point of the lecture was to see if we remember more.

Weaving week 2

This week we did some rotations and I moved over to another machine, For this week I decided to concentrate more on the combination of both natural and man-made fibres and yarns which is a concept I gained through looking at Anne Goddard's work last week.I used a 2 ply cotton, a thin wool and added a viscose which gave a sheen to the sample. I used a similar colour pallet and colour ratio off darker brown to the lighter cream shade to create this sample. The theme of Anne's work is how humans influence the natural world this shows strong links to my theme of traces as it is the trace that is left behind from humans on the natural world.

I researched into another artist Jonathan Brilliant, he is a weaver that creates large scale instillations I find his work very inspiring with its shapes and circular looping forms this is something that links well to my theme and samples, his textural surfaces are also something that works well with both my samples and drawings.

Weaving week 1

Before getting started we learnt how to read the cards to operate the loom, this was something that looked complicated with its layout but I found to be very easy to read. My first thought was how I could introduce my theme of traces and influences of my drawings into my samples.

 I looked back at my drawings and took inspirations from the shapes to create this weave. Clear links between my inspirational drawings and my weave sample are shown through its composition, colour and textural effect.

I did some research and found the artist Anne Goddard. I was really inspired by her colour scheme of neutral creams and beiges as well as this I was fascinated by the way she combines natural materials such as wood and moss, with her own handmade creations this is something I plan to show through my weaves using both natural fibres and yarns; wool, cotton and manmade yarns. This is something I will explore next week.  

Introduction to construct

For the introduction to construct we took part in a lecture about qualities of materials which followed with an exercise in which the group had pots of a variety of fibres and yarns and a booklet with descriptions of each yarn which we had to match up. This was something I found challenging as fibre an yarn qualities isn't something Ide previously concentrated much on however once I concentrated I managed to work the fibres out, this is something I recognised is vital for working within construct because knowing the limitations of fibres and yarn can completely change a woven or knitted material. The rest of the introduction week was primarily drawing based, I created a variety ink an bleach experiments and then made yarn wrappings to show the colour scheme I used, I created some interesting marks with the ink and bleach which I then mimicked in my drawings.