Practice Unit Evaluation

For the practice unit I completed the Bradford brief and produced a body of drawing and sampling to build from in unit X resulting in a finished quilt. Throughout this unit I have improved as a designer and refined my working methods. This can be seen through my development and progression of work from Bradford and into self-initiated and Gawthorpe brief. I have refined my skills in choice of material as a result of this unit. Originally in my Bradford I didn’t take enough care when choosing materials resulting in a vast array including polyester. A number of samples were unsatisfactory due to the choice. However this downfall in Bradford allowed me to fine tune my choice of materials; cottons and silks for my self-initiated body of work and a clear improvement in quality of samples can be seen through this.

I feel that I have challenged and improved my critical and analytical skills throughout this unit as I was able to see my down falls in the Bradford brief for example; time management due to decision making and lack of initial drawing. I used the negatives of the previous unit and challenged

them head on with the inspiration of my self-initiated brief being that of a ‘chance dice’. This method greatly improved my time management. I built a large body of drawing in my self-initiated brief as it was lacking in Bradford as a result my work is now more efficient.

Chance dice

Body of drawing

I used photography, sketchbook, sample ideas and plans book, blog and concept boards to communicate my ideas in a variety of forms that could be easily understood by different audiences. I have become more precise with the context of my work. Bradford was a context led brief; A fashion material. I broke this down and after taking into consideration the delicate nature of my samples I decided that the material would be best for one off garments in runway similarly to that of Iris Van Herpen opposed to high street.

Iris Van Herpen

For my self-initiated and Gawthrope brief the context was more open ended and although My work could be presented in the knitting and stitching show I wanted it to have an ambiguous factor. I took inspiration from HAY and Owen’s Olivia both contemporary design companies for interiors this is where I see my work sitting. As I go into Unit X I want to create a versatile quilt that can be used in a high end interiors context or simply as a piece of art. This ambiguity would not only mean my work could be used in different contexts but also open more opportunities for income as a professional artist.

My own work; Hand paper patched
 using dyed cottons and silks with quilted circles.

Owens Olivia Interiors

I have continued to build on my prospects of professionalism outside and after university. I had a placement at a primary school and set up some opportunities local craft societies. I’ve researched into what types of job opportunities there are in the industry right now. I have sent my CV’s off to high schools for opportunities and will be applying for a secondary PGCE after I complete my degree with a year’s experience.

Overall I am slightly disappointed in my research and development of Bradford but feel I managed to turn it around completely in my self-initiated as can be seen through my initial drawings, refined drawings,artist research folder, context ideas folder, sample plans, choice of material, initial samples and current working samples. The techniques I explored in my self-initiated; paper patches, quilting machine, dyeing, double cloth cut through, were all relevant and helped the progression of my patchwork samples. I am now moving into unit X with a body of work I am proud of and look forward to refining.