Bradford- Week Four..

For the final few days of weaving  for the Bradford Brief, I wanted to experiment even more by brightening up my warp. So I tied in vibrant dip dyed wool ends and scattered them across the sample. I then selectively chose yarns for my weft that would highlight all the liveliness now in this warp.

 

 

The outcome of this project has been very different to how I imagined it in the beginning. The quick start of getting back into my work  after a long Summer has been mentally tiring. I am now extremely pleased with how my finished project has come together, and especially how it’s photographed. As I am still bursting with ideas, I am looking forward to developing my Self-Initiated project even further in the coming weeks. The images below are of my final photograph and selected sample that I have decided to put forward for The Bradford Textile Society.

My Final Collection is inspired by my Summer experiences at the location I admire - my home, Llandudno in the middle of the North Wales coast. My collection of samples are tailored towards a bright and vibrant colourful explosion of throws and blankets for modern interiors.

 

Bradford- Week Three..

This week has been a lot more challenging than the previous few. I was feeling very negative towards both my weaving and my drawing and found that having a clear picture in my mind of how I wanted something to be isn’t always the best idea! I really felt that "nothing was working" and that definitely isn’t the right frame of mind whilst doing a course like this. I’m learning that there is no right or wrong and that there are many endless opportunities and combinations.
From this I decided to try and turn the negative into a positive! I took some time out and focused on what I already had instead of what I didn’t. As colouring and dying took up a massive part of my Summer work, I decided to go back to this and try something that I hadn’t done before.

I wove a white mohair sample and added elastic into one area to create movement. I then piece dyed the sample with a vibrant colour pallet to create the idea of a small scale sunset and scorching sky. This technique was simple yet so effective in my opinion. This is a perfect example of something I would like to develop further. The image below is of the same sample but before and after washing.

Bradford- Week Two..

With my tonal warp on, this now gave me a good opportunity to focus on colour and see exactly how much I could experiment with the weft to my weaving - the most exciting part.

I quickly found that the plain weave and satin structure worked best along with the bright chunky wools and mohair. This allowed me to experiment with something new in terms of the blending of colours from my photographs. I decided to brush and tease the fibres of my sample to create a very similar look to my research. Both heavy and light brushing affects were used to create two different finishes to my samples. 

 

Georgia Fisher, the winner of Texprint 2015 also has a very similar way of working. Straight away I fell in love with her unique way of weaving, using fine yarns with interactive fibres that allowed her to tease her samples to create brushed affects. This finish is a very similar look to my own work.

 

 

Bradford- Week one..

I was hugely inspired by the standard of work at this year’s Degree Show, one particular student that stood out for me was weaver Camilla Thomas. I found that there were many things that we had in common, both her work and her life style too. I’m inspired to follow her lead for my own projects, such as her particular colour palette choices, yarn choices and adding in extra ends to her warp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I have focused on colour, tones and textures within my work, the artists that I have closely selected share the same focus. Wendy Puerto is my inspiration throughout the Bradford Brief. Below are my five favourite images of her work.

 

The first week back after a long Summer break and I was eager to be back at the loom but this came with having to make some very quick and important decisions. As I was looking through my Summer work, in order to continue with the brief, without even realising I found some similarities between Wendy Puerto’s style and my own. 

With Lesley’s specific guidance after my first tutorial, I selected a tonal colour palette of cream, baby blue and peppermint green - all lambswool. I needed to create the chunkiness for my samples to fit the right context to my work.

 

With relation to my drawing work, I started off with my Summer project and picked the areas that were the strongest to develop into this brief. Selecting a lively colour palette, I was able to produce a number of compositional drawings for the look of my woven designs. At this point I decided to closely focus on three main structures for my weaving - plain, satin and sateen - carefully combining them all together to create finished pieces tailored for the interior market.

The reason I chose these particular structures is because I wanted bold, strong and eye catching sampling, the same type of colour explosion as I have in my photographs.

 

 

Bradford Textile Society..

As a part of the Practice Unit, I will be taking part in the Bradford Textile Society Live Brief; I have chosen to create “A Woven Textile Piece for Interiors” and this is where I see my future. My designs will be woven samples using wools and chunky mohairs specifically suited to soft furnishings, bringing vibrant accent pieces to homes worldwide - hopefully! 

 

For my Summer Project, I focused my whole work on colour, developing it within many types of media and processes; natural dying and my own colouring; and more technical processes to my work including Photography and Photoshop.

 

My inspiration was entirely based on my surroundings and the love of the place I call home. With regard to this, I pay close attention to the enormous skies, spectacular sunsets, the local beach and the imposing mountains beyond; such an inspiring combination. I have decided to carry this work further into The Bradford Live Brief by developing my 'colour' combinations and inspirations. 

 

I will be using my own photography as my starting point. This will reflect in terms of the yarn choices I make in the weaving of my samples.

 

The colour palette for my warp initially was inspired by a cooler, tonal colour selection taken from one of my own pieces of work that coincides with a photograph I took from Mount Snowdon during this past Summer.  
As a start I intend to continue to develop my drawings, exploring scale and composition in response to my chosen colour palette of both bold and vibrant colouring.

My instinct is to go bright and colourful. I have researched artists such as Scott Naismith, Wendy Puerto and Tim Fudge for their stunning use of colours and definitive choice of media that I would like to interpret in my own way. I have also looked at artists from the Bauhaus weavers such as Gunta Stolz and Anni Albers for their composition and techniques in their woven fabrics. These skilled artists have become a personal influence in developing my own sampling skills for future projects.