Wednesday, 18 February 2015

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 

Monday, 16 February 2015

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.
 
 

 
 

Embroidery second week


This week I looked for artist’s inspiration and was drawn to Alice Kettles piece of work, in the Material Matters exhibition part of the library. Alice is a textile artist whose work exploits textures and uses stitched, embroidered, figurative pieces within her work. This linked to my data collection project, as I was focusing on people and their behaviours when traveling on public transport. I particularly liked the 3d element to her piece and wish to incorporate this into my outcomes in the embroidery area.
drawing each time the bus stops
drawing from observation on the bus lead me to stopping at the traffic lights

Taking photos on the bus
 

This week I had a health and safety induction on the sewing machines however, due to illness and being in hospital, I could no longer attend the rest of the embroidery area. Therefore as a result of this not able to go onto the sewing machines in the university. This had an effect on my work, as I was then not able to join the rest of my group however, I did use a sewing machine at home. I based my ideas for this on patterns taken from rubbings off grids. I was able to create a geometric looking piece if work which linked in with my data collection.

Embroidery week one sampling unit



J.M.P.T bus
Stagecoach

Stagecoach
At the start of the data collection brief, I started in my new rotational (Embroidery) I focused on collecting as much data evidence as possible in order to translate this into stitch, looking closely at things like the journey, distance also looking at the route I was taking and the time it took to arrive at my destination. I collected information and started to take a close look at the individuality of each of the bus companies I travelled with.

looking at the colour of the tiger and applique appropriate yarns in order to get the effect of the tigers coat  

appliqued piece based on observational drawing of tiger

looking at more animals within the museum







Within the Manchester Museum, I thought that the animals and insects would be a good starting point, due to their natural, bright, vivid colours and individuality. I began by trying to incorporate this into my samples by matching up yarns and created some appliqued samples. Using hand techniques, I have learnt, such as the cross stich, backstitch, running stich, knotted stich, loop stich I was then able to produce a detailed textured set of sample pieces. Also this week I learnt how to create Suffolk puffs and used a range of materials to show a variety of samples within my technical file.