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!

Researching displays for show stands

With my forthcoming show at the Cornwall Design Fair in August I have been having a good think about how I want to display my work. Over the years I have tried all sorts of different methods of display including:

Using wooden rails to hang long textile pieces....

to shelving for cushions....

to using small metal hooks for scarves and just a hammer and nail to hang pictures....

or even just a floor plinth to diplay antique chairs.

My currently collection is mainly scarves and purses so I am looking for some simple yet effect (and relatively cheap) methods of display that really shows off my work to its full potential.

I'm mainly thinking of using wooden knobs to display each scarf and some wooden crates to act as shelving for the purses. Here's some good ideas I have come across:

 

 

(I will update this once I have done the show to demonstate how my stand looked in the end and what methods of display I decided to use)

Norma starszakowna's beautiful textile wall hanging

'Diasporas', hanging textile by Norma Starszakowna, 2005 - Victoria and Albert Museum

 

 

 

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:

http://hannahlamb.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/norma-starszakowna.html)