unit x final outcome and summery

 

Final Pieces

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided that for my final knitted piece I would use Blackpool tower as the main source of inspiration in both colour and structure. My outcome pieces have strong links and connections to the illuminations, using the colour pallet I was able to introduce the same element by introducing  multiple, gradual colours into my design and applying this to a knitted piece for a horse/donkey bridle. Archives taken from Blackpool, the Manchester Slide Library and personal photographs relating to the seaside resort, initially inspired this idea and was the golden thread throughout this journey.

 

 

After researching tassels, trims and fringes, I decided to apply this to the edge, when thinking of a passementerie design idea still using the same colour pallet however this time instead of a gradual Concentration of colour this time i mixed the yarns.

This was a new technique that had to be tested before hand usually when inserting eyelets, firstly you create a hole and then insert. However for me this wasn’t the case, as I intended to inserted the eyelet into the end of a hook up, each one had to mirror the other and measure to a size 22mm fitting the equipment and creating a tubular design outcome.

week 5-6 unit x

 

A New Direction 

This Photograph above left I had taken, as the sun illuminates from behind almost acting as a backdrop, for the intricate structure of the Blackpool tower. I love the fact that the sun shines in the day, piercing through the tower casting shadows and shapes, making it a powerful structure. On the other hand for some this structure can appear over powering and a little drab. The colour for me wasn’t what I had imagined or what I intended to use. It was a disappointment  to see, as on so may postcards, the tower is a bright cherry red and when presented in front of it appeared to be more of a burgundy in colour than red. After sampling a knitted pieces I found my choice of colours to look dull and uninviting so changed my pallet. 

 

photograph taken in the same spot as above however after dark.

 I found at night the Tower is still as much of a dominant structure and tourist attraction, however much less dominating and visually beautiful, light up with a rainbow of bright, vivid colours. This is just the type of colour pallet I intend to use for my horse/donkey bridle.

 

 

I intend to include some form of neon light within the knit sample by creating pockets and inserting them this will hopefully bounce off the reflective yarns and materials within my samples and produce a glow resembling that of the tower.

 

 

using a tension of 7 and E-wrapping multiple colours I was able to create this knitted piece using the colours taken from the illuminations however for me still wasn't bright enough. Therefore I then continued on with the knit and later weaved in glow sticks impersonating influences taken from the Blackpool tower.

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs taken of knitted pieces, taken in the dark and worked with on Photoshop in order to get the effect of it illuminating imitating that of the tower. I plan to use these C.A.D designs in order to progress on the knitting machines with my design ideas.

week 3-4 unit X

Blackpool Inspirations and research

 

This circular cage design, created for the Blackpool Illuminations I felt was fitting when looking at photos taken of Blackpool's tourist attraction horse and carts. The circular shape, 3D element and the fact it lights up are all going to be introduced into my knitting when thinking of Passimenterie I intend to create an edge for a bridle or blanket for either a horse or donkey fitting in with the Illuminations based on light, reflection and the circular shapes. I will do this by introducing lace holes, punch cards, tassels and a bright colour pallet on the industrial knitting machines.


figure 1. photograph of Illuminations worked on in Photoshop

 



2015 visit to Blackpool 



 

 Week two and my journey so far has intrigued me to further research into looking at archives and the history of Blackpool, looking at slides from the Manchester slide library that date back to the 1900's as a starting point. Inspired I am able to look over personal photographs and try to portray what Blackpool means to me and my family. Finding links and traditions that still are practiced to this day such as visits to the tower, horse/donkey rides and the illuminations. Therefore I have decided to use this as a source of inspiration when thinking of Blackpool and looking over slides the Tower keeps appearing in each Image therefore, I think it is important to include this. Maybe by using the metal material within my work or taking shapes as a form of inspiration from the structure of Tower such as crosses from the metal frame in order to create a mesh looking effect within my knit. 





Idea to incorporate into design fringes and tassels.



 

After a visit to a donkey sanctuary in Heaton Park I was able to visualise my knitted piece and decided to research fringes and tassels, as these animals have quite large foreheads therefore I need to bare this in mind when thinking of an edge as the size needs to sit correctly on the head without impairing the animals vision.  





fig 2. left is a slide from Manchester Slide Library dated 1900s

fig 3. right of this picture is a photograph taken in 1967 of my mother riding a donkey.

Notice the Headpiece on the donkey my intension is to create a knitted piece that will sit on top of the head as this one in the photograph does however it will brightly coloured fitting in with Blackpool illuminations and created on the knitting machine using a variety of materials and yarns. 

Week 1-2 UNIT X – Knitting area- Blackpool

Blackpool Inspirations

Week 1-2 – Knitting area



fig 1. Mood board Blackpool Inspirations

Artist found in Blackpool’s lighthouse Ian Whittlesea triggered initial idea to create a piece based on light. Focusing not only on the illuminations but also taking into consideration other sources of light and intern how that reflects. I plan for my final knitted piece to include some reflective yarns in order to incorporate this idea.  I also plan to incorporate the brightness and range of colours taken from Ian’s colour pallet however plans to find a source of original inspiration for myself.

 

Figure 2. Four Season's Illuminations inspiration for knitted piece
 

I have started to look at this project in a more sensitive way and began to incorporate how i feel about the seaside resort, as it focuses on emotions/ feelings by looking at the facial expressions. The weather reflects that of how you feel about Blackpool on a nice sunny day its the place to be. Therefore I plan to extract this circular shape and include it into my knit in the form of experimenting with lace holes, punch cards, hook ups and weaving into the knitted pieces.



fig 3. Glitter ball South-Shore

Observational Drawing outside Blackpool lighthouse of the Glitter Ball left me wanting to introduce reflective yarns into my work, also inspired me to look for circular shapes. I came across a child's Ball/toy machine, that for me fit perfectly, now armed with this photograph I was able to extract areas and create designs for a knitted piece, to which I plan to then in some way incorporate into a passementarie design which will be then placed onto either a horse or donkey somehow.



PE TASK 2

found in a drain this sparked off my ideas to take rubbings off grids.

weaving using pictures and newspaper

looking at yarn wrappings and the bus journey

Whilst working in embroidery I was inspired by the artist Alice Kettle. I was drawn to the way she uses threads in order to make unique, almost sketchy looking pieces of work. Kettles work appears to look hand drawn and focuses on moments from life, similarly linking into the same criteria as myself during this project. In order to translate my findings into stitch, I looked closely at things like the journey, distance also the route I was taking and the time it took to arrive at my destination.

I visited the Manchester Museum and was drawn towards the animals and insects section, due to their bright, vivid colours and individuality. I began by trying to incorporate this into my samples by matching up yarns and created some appliqued pieces. Using hand-stitch techniques I have learnt, I was then able to produce a detailed textured set of sample pieces.

During the second rotation I started in the construct area (weave) I’ve been able to further develop my ideas using the word ‘Duality’ looking at opposites within my work with the choice of media for example, As a material to draw onto I used the free newspaper ‘Metro’ which are available for passengers on the bus. I found this was another element of data collection and added a new dimension to the word Data. The viewer is now able to get information from the drawings and their meaning, also able to take a small caption from the events going on in the background wrote about that particular day within the news articles.

During my research I found an artist whose work inspired me ‘Mary Catlin Sellers’ uses people’s emotions and expressions within her work, this I believe links into my own work however in a more abstract form.

I planned a trip to Liverpool I was able to apply the same method as I did previously when travelling on buses and began drawing the passengers on the coach each time it stopped leaving me with quick sketches to work with. Within the galleries themselves, I focussed on textures and the actual visitors themselves. I was inspired by many artists work such as George Stubs famous paintings of animals and statues, which I drawn from observation. Though these I found interesting I wanted to focus more closely on artists like William Morris as I was able to create patterned rubbings using his interactive pieces. I was also able to take rubbings using these creating interesting and unique patterns to further develop within my work and gave me inspiration to then take grid rubbings.

Sally price is the most recent of my artist inspiration, her choice of materials links as she uses newspaper within her work this sparked a new direction for me. I noticed each bus I travelled on the Metro-newspaper was a key element, as they were threw everywhere on the floor, seats, front of the bus and on each bus I travelled with, therefore I interpreted this within my weaving.

looking at people on the bus.



Alice Kettle

Rubbings taken from Jacob Steins statues and also William Morris's interactive pieces 

Week three chosen area weave

 

 

 

I realised that a possible way of incorporating the newspaper/photographs, yarns and patterns was to incorporate this into my design

realising that the Metro Newspaper is a key element in my daily travels as each bus I board they have them scattered everywhere

Mark Making techniques Friday drawing day

Each drawing, like a photograph captures a moment in time, as all the individuals travelling together on that bus, at that certain time, for one reason or another was now evident within my artwork. As a material to draw onto not only did I use paper but also the free newspaper ‘Metro’ which are available for passengers. I found this was another element of data collection and added a new dimension to the word Data. The viewer is now able to get information from the drawings and their meaning, also able to take a small caption from the events going on in the background wrote about that particular day within the news articles.

week two chosen area weave

Looking at the word Duality thinking of colour

using browns and creams taken from lion  in the museum

 

 

My chosen  word after researching them all was ‘Duality’ I chose this as I thought this was the most suited to my ongoing project in terms of I’m looking at complete opposites for example studying human interaction when drawing them on the bus, behind the glass windows and also the animals presented behind glass windows in the museum. I will also take into consideration the duality of pattern taken from that off grid rubbings and that when drawing animals, the contrast between me walking and using public transport. Looking at statues in comparison to taking rubbings of them compared to that of actual people. After researching all words I felt this word was the right direction in moving forward.

weave week one chosen area

 

another sample of weaving on hand looms trying to incorporate the tiger stripes

trying to get the effect of tiger stripes by using the loop technique on the handloom

yarn wrappings based on the animal collection at the Manchester museum

 

 

 

This week I have drawn up a lesson to plan as a way of managing my time, I intend to use this in order to ensure I am able to keep to the deadline without worrying or hesitation. My plan for the beginning of this week is to sort out my technical file getting it into some sort of methodical order in order to ensure it reads easier to the viewer also I intend to research all the words given as part of the new brief this is so I can get a broad understanding before I make a choice as to which word I wish to choose. Alongside this I plan to gather artist research in the form of books, journals and gallery trips this may give me a sense of knew direction and as a way of refreshing my ideas. I plan to still use the colour pallet from the museum however choosing a new word from the list given I plan to take a new direction. 

Weave/Construct Data Collection week three



Manchester Museum spark of inspiration



stone found in drain

Grid/ Floorings of interest

 

 

 

 

During my visit to the Museum, I branched out my developments as I became interested towards two large carved pieces of stone. These pieces dated back to 1821 and was discovered in Hulme, Manchester by builders digging an ancient temple (Mithraeum). This was then the spark of my new direction in the collection brief finding these two pieces of carved stone lead me to taking rubbings off grids, staues, flooring etc the stones and began to focus more on patterns and textures. The link between this was grids as each one has its own unique design and I wish to incorporate this design within my weaving samples.

 

Weave/Construct Data Collection week two

Rubbings taken from statues and grids around Manchester an Liverpool

I began by focusing on people’s postures, body language and interactions with one another on the bus I take. By drawing quick sketches using a vast range of media such as pen, pencil, charcoal and graphite. This resulted in my drawings to appear to have a sketchy quality of movement within them. Each drawing, like a photograph captures a moment in time, as all the individuals travelling together on that bus, at that certain time, for one reason or another was now evident within my artwork. As a material to draw onto not only did I use paper but also the free newspaper ‘Metro’ which are available for passengers. I found this was another element of data collection and added a new dimension to the word Data. The viewer is now able to get information from the drawings and their meaning also able to take a small caption from the events going on in the background wrote about that particular day within the news articles.
 
 


using a choice of colour based on grid rubbings however also incorporating elements of my drawings and the Metro newspaper from that day in a way to document data collection.

 

 

 

drawing from observation on the 118 bus journey 8.15am - 9.00am

Weave/Construct Data Collection week 1

 

looking at people on buses and colour pallet based on floor/ grid rubbings

interesting floors and grids patterns to inspire my work

My first week in the weave area of construct for me has been great, as I have enjoyed using the handlooms, these are manual machines, made up of eight individual shafts, in order to use to weave with, using a vast range of yarns and materials. This enabled me to create different thicknesses to my samples and learn new techniques. At first the task in hand seemed to appear a little daunting, as there seemed to be a lot of working things out and maths involved (not one of my strongest areas) however, I adjusted to this and once worked out the sequences began to enjoy creating the individual designs, it appears to be straight forward and a more hands on approach out of all the areas I have worked in up to this point, to which I enjoy.

Weaving based on animals from the Manchester Museum however taken into consideration the patterns collected from grids.

Trip to Liverpool

Visit to Liverpool

Friday, 23 January 2015



Taking rubbings from statues in the Walker Gallery Liverpool, in order to get patterned designs in which I could then interoperate into my weaving samples.



looking closely at textures



Bluecoats Gallery looking at pattern design to include in my weaving samples

For a trip to another city my location of choice was Liverpool, this was due to not having enough funding in order to travel to London at this time, however I do plan to also visit London galleries in the near future. I started out by planning which city stood out within the world of art therefore planned my Liverpool trip by mapping out the best galleries to visit  Walker, Tate, Bluecoats and the museum and their location, distance within one another. The best way of travelling there was to go by coach, as this was the most cost effective way. I found a link with travelling by coach and what I was initially doing when travelling by bus. I was able to apply the same method as I did previously when travelling on buses and began drawing the passengers each time the coach would stop. Within the galleries themselves, I focussed on textures, animals and the actual visitors themselves. I was inspired by many artists work such as George Stubs famous paintings of animals and statues which I sat and drawn from observation. Though these I found interesting I wanted to focus more closely at artists like William Morris as I was able to create patterned rubbings using his interactive pieces of his work and also statues were also an inspiration as I was also able to take rubbings using these creating interesting and unique patterns to further develop within my work.