Exploring My Creative World and Textile Design Blog.....
welcome to my online sketchbook. A place where I document all the ideas, research and inspiration thatdrives my create process.
I have been busy working away at homw over the past few weeks experimenting and creating some textile pieces for the Storm exhibition. I thought I would take advantage of our meeting this weekend at the lifeboat house to get a sense of size and scale of my work. I am really pleased with the outcome! .....time to get back to work rhen :)
I am so excited to be taking part in a local exhibition in mid December here in Porthleven at the Lifeboat House Gallery. This exhibition is with a collective of artists from all over Cornwall who have been brought together by Mid-Summer-Nights.
This is a brilliant opportunity for me to work to a set brief and really get creative again. For far too long I have felt like I am so busy thinking about product and business that I have lost my creative side, or at least it has been repressed lately!
I am focusing on storms around Porthleven. They are wild and the waves often come up over the pier and across the road.
My statement of intent is:
To
capture the power of a storm and its huge crashing waves; the motion,
movement and energy in the creation of a piece of textile art.
I find land art incredibly inspiring! If we could all have such a direct relationship with our natural landscapes our world would probably be a much healthier place.
There is something about land art that really reminds me of several of the Japanese principles, I think that is because they similarly are inspired by nature, working with nature and being part of nature. I love this idea!
Land Art = Beautiful............... Spontaneous......... Natural........ Honest............ Ancient............
Profound........ Simple.......... Thought provoking.............Powerful.......
.............experiencing nature in a whole new light.
Andy Goldsworthy:
This video is a fascinating insight into the incredible work of Andy Goldsworthy and the ideology behind his work.
Richard Long:
These videos above give an amazing insight into the process and installation of Richard Long's artworks. Seeing these beautiful natural pieces on display in a gallery away from their natural setting is a stunning way to 'frame' and really highlight the simple beauty of our natural world.
I sometimes get lost in my work and in my direction and I then feel that it is helpful to come right back to the beginning and remind myself of obvious basis. For this purpose here are the definitions of art and design as a way of defining how I work and what path I am on:
ART:
noun
1 [mass noun] the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power
DESIGN:
Noun
A plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is built or made.
Verb
Decide upon the look and functioning of (a building, garment, or other object), typically by making a detailed drawing of it.
I absolutely love Japanese design. There is something so simple yet stunning, so natural yet elegant and so well executed and thought out that just creates such a perfect overall piece that you can only admire in awe. I have discovered that there are the 7 Japanese principles which can be applied to all areas of your life but can definitely be found present in beautiful Japanese design. They are:
Simplicity- uncomplicated
Irregularity- uneven, irregular
Austere- beauty in being understated
Naturalness- raw, non-artificial
Profundity- avoid obvious, not revealing all
Unworldly- freedom from habits
Tranquillity- stillness, energised calm
I think I can learn from these principles and I am going to work these ideas into my design process from now on to help me to evolve as a textile artist and create my best work yet!....Here goes.... :)
To find out more here are a couple of links to more indepth explanations of the 7 theories of Japanese philosophy:
Whilst watching videos of abstract artists on youtube I came across this really inspiring video. The artist discusses his top "5 tips to make better abstract paintings" but I personally think that these 5 tips lend themselves perfectly to creating textile art.
I am definitely going to apply these tips to my own work to some degree in order to help me to create something really exciting and beautiful. Please watch the video as the artist really explains each tip very well and uses examples to demonstrate his point.
I really love painting and one of the ways which I work is spontaneously painting abstract pictures, it's such an expressive way of working. Here are some really inspiring videos which show the entire process from blank canvas to finished piece and each one demonstrates how the artist builds up colours pattern and texture to create something truely unique that captures the moment.
I really love this textile piece. I have been looking into different ways of mounting textile art pieces when I came across this stunning textile piece. Very inspiring in terms of design, colour and also how to hang textiles, proof that you don't always have to use a frame.
Below are some more examples of Norma's work. I really love the simplicity of a draped textile length. Her work is so beautiful and elegant I really love it!
(above photo from Hannah Lamb's blog- take a look to see more images of the work:
I have recently been really interested in improving my drawing skills and generally making more time to draw as I feel it is a really important element to design and I know I just don't do enough drawing. Heres afew inspiring links that I came across on youtube to help get started when doodling....enjoy!
