Silvery Threads

The Silver Thread, machine embroidery on dyed and painted organza. 2014

Another competition and another piece of work! I saw this particular call for submissions quite early in the year but didn't have chance to work on my entry until quite near the deadline (nothing like a deadline to get you going!) The competition was run by Norwich based charity the Costume and Textile Association. To celebrate their 25th anniversary they ran an open textiles competition on the theme 'Silvery Threads.'

Detail

As soon as I saw the brief I had an idea of the kind of piece I would like to make; something to do with hands making to carry on from my drawings of hands engaged in various textile practices such as knitting, crochet and stitching. Having started to experiment earlier in the year with machine embroidered drawings on organza I decided that this would be a good option to explore further.

An embroidery from earlier this year

My experience with display and mounting of my stitched drawings earlier this year made me very aware of how the work should be displayed so I tried to keep this in mind throughout the time I was working on the piece.  To fit in with the theme of silvery threads I had decided I would use silver thread for the embroidery and I also wanted to incorporate a silver yarn. So, after drawing and playing about with ideas I decided to create a stitched drawing of hands crocheting, with the yarn the hands were crocheting forming a long, silver chain that would fall off the edge of the piece. I was thinking a lot about silvery threads and spider webs and the various creation myths associated with spiders and threads.

Stitch detail

Stitch detail

The piece was quite challenging to work on for a number of reasons. Firstly, as usual, my drawing ended up really big so manipulating it around the sewing machine was awkward. Secondly, metallic thread is not the easiest to work with and I had to work with it in the bobbin so I was in effect working backwards (the right side of the work being face down.) As I was working on organza this wasn't too bad I just had to keep checking I was going in the right direction!

Crochet chain

Hem detail

However, by far the biggest challenge came in trying to photograph it. When I hung it in front of a wall the camera was unable to pick up the silver thread, so the pictures just looked like a random blue rectangle. When I photographed it with light behind the drawing was clear but not that it was in silver thread. So, for my submission I had to do a halfway house. I sent a picture photographed against the light so you could see the drawing and a detail against a dark background so the silver thread would show up. The piece wasn't selected but I learnt a lot making it and I've got a few ideas out of my system so I can now focus on other things. Onwards and upwards!

Drawing

Knitting, mixed media drawing

As I wrote in my last post it's been so good the past few weeks to have a bit of time to work on my own practice and enjoy playing around in my studio. I've been doing a lot of drawing and as well as enjoying the drawing in itself it has been giving me lots of ideas. My brain is ticking over with lots of ideas for work I want to make and things I want to try.

Work in progress

Paper and bamboo fan with pen drawing

Paper and bamboo fan with pen drawing (other side)

Paper and bamboo fan with pen drawing (detail)

I found these 'decorate your own fans' in The Works last week and thought they might be interesting to experiment with. I started by taking the paper off one of them to make a template so that I could replace the white paper with other materials. Having made a template with the paper I then started drawing on it and quite liked what I'd done so I put it back on the fan staves (not as easy as it sounds!)

Graphite and pencil on tracing paper and knitted sample

I've been doing some drawing on tracing paper as I like the translucency and it relates well to the textile work that I do. I did try making a tracing paper fan but it looked a bit rubbish so I started experimenting with arranging the drawings I'd done with samples and I think this works a lot better. Having the time to play and explore these ideas is really great and I find that the more I do the more I keep thinking of different ways to develop the work.

Drawing made into a vessel

Different views of the vessel

I'm running another Vessel making workshop soon and with this in mind I've been playing around with turning some of my drawings into vessels. This is something I've been wanting to try for a while so it was good to try it out. The drawing I chose to work with was of hands knitting and having made it into a vessel I decided it didn't work so I flattened it out again. However, I do think it will work with other drawings so I'm going to carry on experimenting!

Back to a 2D piece

Back to a 2D piece

Back to a 2D piece

I've got a couple of busy weeks work-wise coming up and I'm really looking forward to it; having had chance to spend some time focusing on my own practice I'm feeling all inspired and creative and looking forward to sharing that with other people. I started a series of felt making workshops today with the No Borders art group (who I have worked with several times before) and they came up with some really interesting ideas they want to explore, including felting a portrait of Lady Gaga.

Open Up North

Hands, continuous line drawing

One of my aims this year is to make more time for my own artwork. As much as I love the work I do with other people it is sometimes frustrating as it can seem like I spend all my time helping other people use their creativity and express themselves but never get a chance to do so myself. One of the ways I've been trying to get to make more of my own work is by finding exhibitions and competitions to enter. Sometimes, having an end goal really helps as it makes it easier to justify taking the time out to make the art. So, with this in mind I entered two pieces into the Open Up North exhibition. I entered the first Open Up North show in 2011 and my piece got through the first round of selection but didn't make it into the final show.

This year I am very excited and pleased that one of my pieces has been selected for the show. The piece selected is one of my life drawings. I've liked this drawing since I did it, it was one of those very rare drawings that somehow just worked, I was really pleased when it made it through the first round of selections and to get into the exhibition is great. The drawing is a continuous line drawing of the models hands and I really like the composition and shaping of the drawing. The exhibition is on at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal from 31st May to 27th July.

The embroidery in the window

Detail

Detail

As well as the drawing of the hands I entered an embroidered drawing of hands knitting, which didn't make it through to the second round. As it turns out I'm really quite pleased it didn't get selected as I wasn't at all happy with how I'd mounted the work. The embroidery is in white on a white organza base and works really well (I think) when hanging in front of the light. However, in order to submit it for the exhibition I had to frame it which I did by stretching it over a deep frame in an effort to keep some of the light behind it. It didn't work very well and so, as I say, I'm glad it wasn't selected as I now have another idea of how to take it forward and develop it. A good lesson in when to compromise and when not to I think!

Experimenting with backgrounds

The embroidery mounted on a frame

Detail