Re Evaluation of project

Re evaluating my work

This week I have begun to question myself and my work, in terms of the outcomes that I am producing. It has helped me this week to take a few days away from the loom to re evaluate my ideas and think about how I can make the very most out of my final year. So far, I am relatively pleased with my samples, but I don't feel like I am pushing myself to my full potential and so I felt like I needed time to think about what it is I'm trying to achieve and how I can achieve it.

Being able to experiment is the reason I enjoy textiles so much, and I feel that so far this year I haven't allowed myself enough time to experiment or challenge my ideas. I have been too wrapped up in producing X amount of samples rather than really thinking these samples through. I need to stop being so fixed by time frames, as I believe it is imperative to my practice to produce outcomes that I am happy with rather than satisfied. Enclosing myself to time frames isn't helping me be creative or enjoy my project.

In the future I am aiming to be more experimental, possibly in Unit X when I feel like I have got to grips with techniques and sampling. I would like to produce much more innovative fabrics and play with materials such as clay, furs, chunky ribbons, and not being overcautious with my colour palette despite wanting to be more restrictive, I have already found that being too restrictive is stopping my work being the best it can be.

Collection | One

First Collection 

For my first collection of woven samples, I have been looking primarily at patterns found in Moroccan landscapes and architecture and drawing through use of layers. With this in mind I designed my warp as a single cloth with two brocades, the first one being copper and the second purple/indigo. The feel of the fabric was very important to me, I wanted my samples to feel luxurious, fancy, rich and ornate. These samples were produced for a High end fashion context, specifically targeting menswear. 

Close up of inlay through my intricate extra warp patterning 

I selected yarns which I felt were appropriate to the market area, 2 80's cotton, and I threaded up at 80 ends per inch to allow my cloth to be extremely fine as my context of these samples is for linings of jackets/ trimmings or edges.  I finished weaving being relatively happy with the outcomes I had produced however a large downside to weaving so fine was that I feel I spent more time fixing my warp than actually weaving it. This meant that I couldn't experiment or push myself as much as i'd have liked to throughout this collection. At the end of the warp I began to come to grips with how to fix it quickly, general maintenance of the warp, and this therefore led to some more experimental samples using inlay; an element of intricacy and embroidery which is an important factor in my work. 

From Left to Right: Ted Baker Menswear, Hackett Menswear London, Dashing Tweeds Bespoke woven fabrics. 

Final Collection of samples 

Practice Unit

Inspiration/ Visual Research 

Since the very beginning of the Textiles in Practice course, I have always been interested in culture, marvelling in traditional woven techniques and textiles from around the world. Colour and world textiles have always been my main inspiration, and so for the Practice unit I have decided to base my visual research and inspiration on my recent trip to Africa. For this project, I am aiming to design and make a body of woven textiles that explores these areas of research, and this will be focused towards a fashion based context; aimed at the top end.

Through my woven sampling, I want to visually explore my experiences in Morocco; focusing mainly on the busy bustling streets and vibrant warm colours. I intend to visually explore these ideas through an experimental approach in order to demonstrate the impact that the experience has had on my work. I would also like my work to continue in embracing an element of embroidery, and also continue to illustrate my attention to detail and intricate pattern making. 

Photographs from Morocco

At this stage in the project I am currently drawing by using found shapes from my imagery and I have also found cut outs to be particularly helpful in order to get me going. I am playing a lot through layering which I have found to be a good way to initiate the drawing process. 

Task Two

Degree Show Review

AlwaysAllwaysland 2014 

http://degreeshow.mmu.ac.uk/

Stephanie Lawton's Degree Show Work

Stephanie's work focuses on elaborate detail and intricate patterns, as an aspiring surface pattern designer, her work feels the right balance of mixing traditional with contemporary. Her work is a combination of both hand drawn and digitally drawn elements to create patterns, 'which have a very graphic and illustrative feel'. She draws her inspiration from modern technology and is interested in incorporating it into textiles and interiors which I think is clear within her work. The context for Stephanie's work is bespoke, flexible enough to be applied to a range of outputs.  

When I first walked past Stephanie's work, I found myself automatically drawn to look closer. I thought the presentation of her work was perfect, and showed it off to the best ability. I chose to write about her work as next year I would like my work to mimic hers visually. Furthermore, I would also like my work to parallel hers in terms of attention to detail. I was drawn towards her work because of the intricacy of the patterns. It reminded me of how much I enjoy to work using intricate details on a small scale. Looking at her work was thought provoking, and I came away with new ideas about how to use layers and scale within my own weaving practice. 

http://www.stephanielawton.co.uk 

Emily Otchie's Degree Show Work

Over the past year my work has been slowly working its way towards a fashion/ accessories based context, and so I thought it only right to choose someone working in a similar direction. However I am not interested in the garment making itself, I am only interested in the designing and making of the fabrics to hopefully be used for luxurious and high end clothing. Emily's vibrant work has been influenced by a 'fusion of cultural influences'. Her work really exudes lots of energy and colour, something which is important to my own work. Her yarn choices and design of the garments, demonstrate a juxtaposition between urban city life and traditional tribal textiles. The combination of such different ideas really helps to make her work original and unique.

I feel as if my own work relates to Emily's on a few different levels. Visually, our colour palettes are very similar, and when I read deeper into her work, I realised that we use a lot of the same research for our inspiration sources, for example, I am always drawn to vibrant cultures, and thats something I'd like to draw on for my final year work. I particularly liked Emily's brave colour choices and I felt that I understood her work before reading the text; something which I think is important.

Christina Hesford's Degree Show Work

Finally, Christina's work was the one that I felt most related to my own. Christina is a hand weaver and her work is focused on her interest in broken objects such as ceramics and textiles. Her work is directed at open spaces; galleries, both public and private. Christina's key interest is in exploring 'humanity's passage on earth'. Her recent work draws on the notion that sometimes things are more beautiful for being broken and this in turn inspired her intricate woven outcomes. I particularly liked  the brushing as the finishing process, which was a means of breaking down material surfaces which I thought related clearly to her concept.

Furthermore, Christina's work has inspired my own in many more ways. I thought that her work looked so professional. Her presentation was thorough, and the attention to detail was second to none. Looking further, I found her website to reflect her work perfectly and she takes such care over her work; the quality is just amazing. I loved her yarn choices for all of her samples. The pick up technique Christina used was also really interesting and I'd like to consider doing something similar with my own weaving. The subtle colour choices give her fabrics a luxurious feel. In addition, I was amazed at how much care was taken during the dying process and I will definitely have to get in touch to find out how she created such a beautiful tonal colour!

http://www.christinahesford.com