My Design Process- Colour Palette: Reds and Blues

This image is so striking and bold, I usually wouldn't choose a colour palette with two dominant colours but I think this one really works. The few scattered pale barnicles really adds a beautiful highlight to the overall image and draws your eye in.

(To purchase this print please visit my etsy shop: TactileCoast!)

My Design Process- Color palette: pastles and navy

This colour palette is of beautiful pastels with a deep navy blue, I love the gentle feel it gives, very elegant and subtle.

To purchase this print please visit my etsy shop!

My Design Process- Colour Palette: Monochrome and pink

So I want to have a little play around with colour ideas before I start my experiments and fabric sampling so I have an idea of the colours that I will be using together and I can also experient with the proportion and develop my colour palette as I develop my textile art ideas.

 

Monochromes and pink

 

To purchase this beautiful abstract print of a rock face from my etsy shop visit: TactileCoast

Art as therapy

This is a really inspiring blog all about using art as therapy.  It is definitely worth a look, I love it!

http://gretchenmiller.wordpress.com/

Designer-maker: Ekta Kaul

I really love this textile work, there is something so simple yet clean and sophisticated about the design. The use of line in Ekta Kaul's work is exquisit. I also love the use of colour, not over complicating things with endless colours but using a very limited colour palette, usually just one or two bold colours alongside white.

 

 

This last image also shows beautiful use of texture within the fabric surface- stunning!

The Design Process: Drawing part1

I thought I would share afew pages from my sketchbook which demonstrate some of my initial inspiration drawings and paintings. These are already a development from my original photographs of textures along the coastline (see Tactile Coast for more on this) This is the first step to starting a project, I get an idea (creating textured textiles inspired by the Cornish coast) then its time to gather and collect images, drawings and paintings of my subject before I even get anywhere near a piece of fabric!

My Design Process

Since finishing my degree 3 years sgo it has taken me until now to realise that the most important part of the design process is the development stage. This might sound obvious but over the last 3 years I have always been working towards the next show and with deadlines looming I have always had an idea of what I want my work to look like and have just concentrated on producing final pieces ready for each show.  This has resulted in my work always seeming to lack something special and I'm always slightly dissapointed with what I have produced. Now I realise that I need to make time for the development stage ss this is where the magic happens, the test an idea then recreate then reinvent it, layer it up, disect it until eventually I reach an exciting result, , something wonderful amazing snd unique! Development is the key to creating outstanding textiles (or any creative work really! )

New printed fabrics

This week the fabric samples of my new print designs have arrived! I'm so excited about this new section of my business and can't wait to showcase this first collection at this years Cornwall Design Fair in August.  For now though here is a sneak preview of some of the fabrics!

 

 

 

Paper pleats

Paper Pleats; the initial experiments....

 

Thinking about how I can create texture within a fabric surface I am starting with pleating. This technique is used by tailors to help create shapes and movement within garments and so I think it is a good starting point. I have initially pleated paper just to get a quick idea of different types of pleats and how they can be created. Here are the pictures below:

 

 All experiments

 

 

Accordion pleats

 

Box pleats

 

 

 

Knife Pleats                                        Scrunching

 

I love this last image, it really shows off the 3D qualities of all the samples. Each one is quite different, creating very different outcomes. I think my next move will have to be to try some of these in fabric so see if they are still as scultural using a softer material.

Top 5 tips for abstract painting....and creating textile art!

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.  

 

These 5 tips are:

1. Tools,
2. Complementary colours,
3. Use the whole space,
4. Layers,
5. Mental tip

 

 

 

 

Watching Abstract Art...the painting process

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juliette Hoffmann

The work of Juliette Hoffmann is just amazing. I love the subtle yet sophisticated colour combinations as well as the stunning textural fabric surfaces that she creates. Each piece is truely exciting and unexpected, whether its through the use of floating yarns, the structures created by the knit pattern or the unsual placement of pleating, her work is just devine!

Jeung-Hwa Park

The work of Jeung-Hwa Park is absolutely stunning. She creates 3D knitwear which is so elegant and colourful. I really love the heavily textured surfaces that she creates, I just find heavily textured and 3D fabrics so much more exciting that a flat piece of cloth.

Examples of Fabric manipulation

 

This montage of fabric manipulation is a stunning example of how to create form within a fabric surface. A very inspirational image that demonstrates that pleating is not the only option when it comes to creating 3D forms in fabric and with some imagination and experimentation it is possible to create something a little more intricate and interesting.

 

Foxglove: revealing from within...

Following my blog post about Chelsea Flower Show and the concept of creating textiles which reveals beauty from within, I was out walking this week when I came across one of the first foxglove that I have seen this year. This beautiful plant is the perfect example of how a flower encloses its most beautiful part on the inside and reveals it through the form or structure of the flower itself.  This principle is one which I am keen to integrate into my work and can't wait to get started on. 

 

Anne Kyyro Quinn

I absolutely love the work of Anne Kyyro Quinn. Her approach to structure and form is really beautiful. Using materials such as wool felt she creates amazing 3D shapes from the sturdy fabric. Here are some examples:

 

I also love how her work lends itself so well to large scale and is used as contemporary wall art/ coverings. This image below of the purple wall is also a good example of my concept of 'revealing from within'.

 

 

To find out more about Anne Kyyro Quinn check out her website:

http://www.annekyyroquinn.com/

How Chelsea flower show 2013 has inspired my work...

I have really enjoyed this years Chelsea Flower Show coverage on the BBC. I have never really watched it before or indeed taken much of an interest at all but this year I have seen florals in a completely different light and it has really captured my imagination. Up until now I have never featured florals in my textile work but after following this years Chelsea Flower Show daily I have seen florals in a refreshing new light.

There are 3 elements which have really inspired me and from now on I am going to intigrate into my textile work. These 3 ideas are:

1. COLOUR
2. STRUCTURE/ FORM
3. BEAUTY ON THE INSIDE (REVEALING FROM WITHIN)

 

 

COLOUR

One of the most obvious things about flowers is the amazing variety of colours they produce. Sometimes subtle and elegant, othe times bold and bright but always a huge spectrum to chose from so there will always be a beautiful colour palette to select from.

 

 

 

STRUCTURE/FORM

Florals also have a beautiful structure and are almost like organic sculptures in their own right.  They are something that I have always considered to be quite delicate and fragile but actually flowers can have a really solid structure. They are quite strong enough to stand alone and hold their shape and hold their heads up to the skys. Here are some examples of their sculptural, 3D qualities:

 

 

 

BEAUTY ON THE INSIDE (REVEALING FROM WITHIN)

This element is the one I am most excited about. I love the concept of having some sort of structure or layers to my textile pieces which reveals the most beautful and intricate part of my work either inside or underneath. The images below show how this happens in a flower and how the intricate details of patterning are revealed from within. This concept will also help to give my textile pieces a 3D or sculptural element.

 

 

 

GARDEN SCULPTURES

I also love the garden sculptures, they are such a lovely feature that breaks up the plants and adds an extra element to a garden. They reminds me of the stunning work by Barbara Hepworth which I have always loved and find their large simple curved forms really elegant and beautiful.

 

 

(To find out more about the Chelsea Flower Show scultures check out the website:http://www.thesculpturewebsite.co.uk/rhs-chelsea-flower-show-21st-to-25th-may-2013-c696.html)

 

 

All these factors have given me a whole new and refreshed view on florals and flowers which has really fired up my imagination. I feel like I have a floral collection brewing inside me but for now I can definitly apply these few simple principles to my work which has completely been inspired by this years Chelsea Flower Show:

 

3 Elements that have inspired my work

COLOUR

STRUCTURE/ FORM

BEAUTY ON THE INSIDE (REVEALING FROM WITHIN

To find out more about the show check out the website:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/RHS-Hampton-Court-Palace-Flower-Show/2013

Pleats inspiration....

Issey Miyake, Pleats Please:
How can I research into pleats without mentioning the amazing Pleats Please from Issey Miyake?!
This stunning work is ingenius, having been produced on a large roll as one piece of fabric which the customer themselves can cut and style to their own tastes, cutting down the seam which is woven together as one layer of fabric whereas the main body of the garment is woven in double layer, a truely innovative use of weaving technology and stretch fabric which pleats, beautiful!

 

 

This page on the contemporary textile art, Anne Griffiths, demonstrates the different types of pleating and how to categorise these, it really covers all the basics of pleating:
http://www.pocketmouse.co.uk/cgs3pg.php


Here is a really simple video from youtube which demonstrates a really easy way to create pleats in fabric lengths:

My love of Pleats!!!

Pleats, beautiful pleats. Im not sure what it is that originally made me fall in love with pleating but I am now absolutely obsessed. In my first year at Uni during my first ever weaving project my tutor introduced me to woven pleats and I was totally amazed that it was actually possible to weave such a sculptoral 3d effect in a piece of fabric, which to me opened up a whole new relm to fabric and opened the door not only to pleating but to the word of weaving in 3D.

This is one of my hand woven pleated lengths which I produced whilst at Uni:

 

and my Jacquard woven scarf length:

Since graduating though I have found that I have been so busy trying to find my way, find my own way of working and produce work that people will want to buy that I have completely lost this exciting element to my work. I do love my hand dyed fabrics but I have always been of the opinion that fabrics are so much more exciting in 3D so guess what....its back...the heavily textured, 3D and scultural form that can be produced by pleating! I can't wait to get started!