Surface, Structure, Stitch at City Lit: Week 6

  Week 6 already of  Surface, Structure , Stitch  with Louise Baldwin  at  City Lit  and we were looking at  joins, seams, darts , pleats , and  tucks.  I'd done some homework   looking through some of the many books I own , especially the ones above.  We looked at the work of  Karen Nichol,  Caroline Bartlett, Joan Livingstone , Debbie Lyddon,  Tanana  Takite

 Louise had  lots and lots of samples : use of darts to give volume; pleats on different fabrics, manipulated into shapes;  joining  different fabrics( the seam of the 'back' being just as interesting); inserting small pieces  into seams; pintucks in different directions  with waxing ; working on the bias  with zigzag giving ' lettuce' effect ;  working with  various weight/types of fabric, giving different effects; smocking, suturing , faggoting  stitches  to join  edges. 

 One technique   caught the imagination of several of us  -  using  a bobbin of  tightly wound shirring elastic ( or ' knicker elastic'  as someone referred to it !)   on very taut fabric held in a hoop, stitching from the top with ordinary thread, 

  I didn't have  a chance to do a ' before' shot  as the tension  while stitching finally came too much  and it burst out of the hoop !  Nice effect but  would need a lot of practice ( and hand winding the tensioned bobbins was hard )

 Thinking of my limpet shapes, I spent  time just using  different  weights of calico and  muslin , using darts to make the shape and then using pin tucks in between to give structure ( Louise suggested I could insert kebab sticks in the pintucks to give it even more form )  

 I'd bought some of my ecoprinted fabrics with me  and started to apply  the same processes to that 

 Then  while I was in pleating   mode,  Louise suggested I use the 'Princess Pleater' smocking machine .  Caroline Bartlett  ( who also teaches at City Lit)  puts yards and yards  of it through  to make her work .  

  This is my  16 needle Read Pleater which I bought secondhand  years ago   for shibori but have used very little,  but I'm keen  to experiment  with after   seeing its potential.

 The hardest part  was threading the needles as I'd cut my left thumb badly and the plaster made it difficult  to hold.  The trick is to use long lengths of threads   to push the pleated fabrics off the needles .  I put through  strips of muslin, folding it as  I turned the handle;  cotton organdie  and the ecoprinted  linen ( which being so soft   was lovely to work with )

 This could get addictive  but I need to concentrate on sorting out what I'm going to take on my annual textile retreat   at Glenthorne in the Lake District  next week ( it'll be my 9th trip) .  As I'll be missing a class , Louise   went through what we'd be doing exploring the possibilities of using one shape in a variety of ways , manipulating and making multiples so I have homework to do !  

EDAM Term 2: Drawing with manipulated paper and stitch

Most of the  drawing  projects  of  EDAM  course  so far have really pushed me out of my comfort zone, trying  new techniques, media and approaches.  But  part of the benefit of  that is that I've not been afraid  to try things out, to experiment , to be prepared to fail.  So I was really looking forward  to the  2 sessions with Ruth Brison  on drawing with manipulated paper and stitch  as textiles are my favourite medium.  In  many ways though it was the most difficult so far , knowing so much  about the subject , it was really  hard to try and put aside my experience and knowledge and look at the techniques with fresh eyes and try something new. 

Ruth has explored using paper and stitch a lot   in  fine art drawing  with links to sculpture and textiles," developing the idea of using the fluidity of paper as structure and seeing stitch as a link or a line  to draw, divine. mould, trace or forge a commentary or idea about something" 

 Many of the artists she mentioned  I was familiar with : Alice Fox; Gwen Hedley; Ian McKeever.  Ones new to me included Noami Kobayashi; Heather Tribe ; Mia Pearlman;  Kate Ward . Work by Ines Siedel I found particularly exciting.    

 The first morning was about exploring the process , choosing methods  to make  several paper structures  and practicing ways to use sewing machine and/or hand stitch. Resources included a variety of papers, acetate , string  etc and   lots of ideas for paper manipulation ,layering with collage , stitching and linking  with pins, staples, tapes. 

 I mainly concentrated on  sewing  tubes of paper and scrunching them  around  cardboard  tubes  in a similar method to  the what I use for indigo shibori)   and  tearing paper  where it was perforated from stitching.  I also  stitched layers of  pages from 'Time Out'   and cut through them in 'faux chenille' effect  ( much quicker than using fabric! )   

 The sewing machines provided were sturdy mechanical  Bernina's and although  not exactly the same as my machines, I was familiar with the threading etc so  was able to assist several people when they  were having problems with tension etc. Other peoples work where they were new to the techniques seemed much more exciting than my efforts .  I rescued  a piece of  stitched drawing that Asli had thrown in the bin  as the  loops  on the underside   where the tension had  gone wrong  produced wonderful marks! As a novice she had persevered in stitching whereas I would have realised there was a problem straight away and corrected it  (  she abandoned using the machine and produced some lovely work using hand stitch ) 

 Back of Asli's drawing with looped stitches

At home , I took photos of some the pieces I produced against the background of Asli's  'failed' drawing:   stitching on acetate ( above) has possibilities ( I had tension issues too!) ;  crumpled 'shibori' paper (below) 

 In the afternoon of the  first session  we were encouraged to  choose a direction  developed in the morning leading to a sculptural drawing, hanging  or mobile  choosing  2-3 key areas of interest , creating a mind map .

 Following up the idea of vessels  from my tutorial with Ute , I used  some of the  stitched papers from the morning to construct some 3D structures.

 Then at home  in the evening   for my daily drawing in sketchbook,  to record my day I explored layering with torn stitched paper, rubbings on colour catchers and tracing paper ( below)

The second session  the following week was devoted to developing  a single theme or idea  from drawings , sketchbook work , photographic information or found materials.  Given my usual  problem of having too many ideas, I decided to return to the subject material of limpet shells  which I've used  several times before  ( eg in Large Scale Sketchbook)  but so far not satisfactorily.  Plus I had some new ones in my collection thanks to my visit to Birchington -on- Sea! 

 I used my time on the train profitably  in recording the   paper structures I'd made the week before ( above)   and in making a 'mind map'  of what methods I might  explore ( below) .  

And here are some of the results: 

Pleated and gathered photocopy of thread monoprint  ( from session on bookmaking ) 

  Cone  of  textured khadi paper  wrapped with linen thread 

 Disc of grey watercolour paper, ink lines, wrapped  with variegated crochet thread 

 In my daily drawing sketchbook I repeated  some of these ideas, drawing on a disc of paper, gluing it on sketchbook page and cutting out hole  then stitching and wrapping linen thread  around it. Interesting from the back too, with glimpses of the page  below ( lessons from Large Scale Sketchbook   if on an A6 scale ! ) 

With a plan, concentrating on  exploring just one idea and the beginnings of understanding mind maps  , it was a far more relaxed , productive session  with time to have a long  discussion with Ruth  and talk with others  about their ideas for the project next term on the theme of 'meanwhile'. 

Transient: Prism at Hoxton Arches

Mary Gray ' River Ripples' 

After sketching  at the Museum of London , Margaret, Jo and I  continued by bus to Hoxton Arches to see the latest 'Prism' exhibition 'Transient'. I last saw an exhibition of their work in 2014  at the Mall Galleries and then at Knit and Stitch  and before that in 2011   and  in comparison to the excitement I've felt before about their work I was  a bit underwhelmed.   The  combination of the exhibiting space which felt a bit gloomy and being away from the centre  of town  and therefore   few people  didn't help  but it was  probably more to do with my own tastes having changed and developed. 

Having said that there were some pieces of work I really liked, no surprise that these were mainly ones that  chimed with my own work and interests.  

I loved  how Mary Gray had captured the watery qualities in her piece ( and the  shibori gathering added an extra dimension, definitely something to  experiment with ) 

Ali Brown 'Amulet' 

Ali Brown has recently graduated from an MA in ceramics ( having switched from a textile course)  and her work was stunning, the textures imprinted from fabrics, the use of unusual materials. Amulets are  something that interests me a lot and  having done ceramics in the past ( I have a box full of tiny thumb pots in the garage beside those that Ian has chosen to put in the lounge) so these pieces really resonated with me.  I look forward to seeing what she does next. 

Julianne Long 'Erosion'

 I had a chat with Julianne about her work based on long term observations of weathering of a large piece of timber on a beach. I can relate to that  with my work on breakwaters! Her sister had sent her small shards of  timber as they disintegrated  and she'd  displayed them with embroidered rubbings of the larger timber.   Having  been reminded of the joys of 'frottage'  when at Lund Studios , it makes me want to rush back to Birchington armed with crayons and colour catchers ! 

Jeryl Church 

With more of an interest in 'artists books' and book structures , I was intrigued  by this 'Tunnel' in dyed and burnt organdie ( reminding me of the telescopic  paper mode of the Thames Tunnel  in the Museum of London (Docklands )

This sculptural 'hat'  made of electric cables combined  with  a much larger drawing of the sculpture was interesting, the  change of scale  and medium making you look more  closely  

Katherine Paton- King 

Anita Bruce 'Loss' 

My favourite and the exhibit with most meaning for me was 'Loss' by Anita Bruce. Based on the IUCN Red list of extinct  and Critically Endangered birds, she had embroidered the names of these on varying weights of  black and grey  fabrics ( including organza). What made it for me is that ,for once, the 'unconscious side' of the back of the stitching was integral to  the work, text  losing meaning, turning into marks. 

 During my botanical career I worked mainly on threatened species and was  a member  of several specialist groups of the IUCN  so this work carries even more significance for me.