Delicate Stitches: twig

Friday, 6 May 2016

London Calling

Seagull Sculpture (with yarn bomb)
Limehouse, London

At the end of March Mr. Stitches and I headed down to the great metropolis to see his siblings. I hadn't been to London for ages, over six years, so I was looking forward to going and seeing some of the galleries and exploring the city. We had a great trip; good company, nice walks, intriguing sculptures and excellent exhibitions. I got to have a wander around the V&A which I always enjoy (so much to take in, I only ever try and tackle one or two galleries per visit) and we visited a rooftop garden at the new Crossrail station.

Little head sculpture
Limehouse, London

The view from where we were staying

Tower Bridge

Whilst we were in London I really wanted to go and see the Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture exhibition at Tate Modern and I wasn't disappointed. The show was even better than I hoped, I came away full of ideas and really inspired by both his work and his approach. I could have spent many more hours in there but did get chance to sketch some of the pieces and I bought the catalogue which I'm enjoying reading.

From the Circus Series, wire drawing by Alexander Calder
Image from: www.wireartsculpure.altervista.org

My sketches from the exhibition

I was particularly inspired by his early wire portraits, literally drawings with wire. Because they have a 3D element the way they are lit can radically alter them, with the shadows becoming as important as the drawings, something which I have a keen interest in with my own work. I also like the sparseness, as I often work with continuous line and in a quick and sparse way myself I saw in these wire portraits another way to develop my own drawing.

Thread wrapped twig and feather mobile

Thread wrapped twig and feather mobile (detail)

I also especially like some of Calder's later 'mobile' sculptures. Although not all necessarily based on natural forms I read a lot of them as natural forms and it sparked off all sorts of ideas in my mind. This week I finally got round to putting some of the ideas about mobiles and making into action, experimenting with feathers and twigs. This has really got my creative juices flowing and I'm hoping to explore these ideas further.

Two Sides to Every Story...
Twig, thread and feathers. May 2016

Two Sides to Every Story...(detail)
Twig, thread and feathers. May 2016

March was a busy month and April even more so so whilst we were away I thought I'd be amazingly efficient and use our trip as a chance to prep for one of my workshops. I was due to run a folded sketchbook workshop (which sadly got cancelled) so for one of my samples I thought I'd make an envelope sketchbook about our trip. I used leaflets and tickets and bits and pieces collected on the trip which I collaged together to make custom envelopes which I then joined together to make a little book. I love making these books, they are a good way of using up all the stuff I have collected as well as acting as little mementoes of visits.

Plants from the rooftop garden

Although I really enjoyed our visit it confirmed my belief that I really don't want to live in a big city any more. Too many people and not enough greenery for me, which not so many years ago is not something I thought I would ever say. Whilst I do miss the amazing and easy access to art and culture that big cities offer I now find I prefer the access to the natural world and the peace and space that living in a more rural county offers. Luckily, because I live in the modern world with planes, trains and automobiles I'm able to take advantage of both!

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Wrapping

Thread Wrapped Branch, 2015

One of the great things about the work I do is the way that ideas and techniques cross over from my personal practice into my work with people and vice versa. For example, when I began my Applied Textiles sessions with the No Borders Art Group in November last year one of the first activities we did was thread wraps as I thought it would be a good way to start having a play with colours and textures. In my first year at Uni we did a lot of thread wraps (which I didn't really enjoy at the time) and they are a good way of exploring how colours work together.

Thread Wrapped branch made by No Borders participant, 2014

One member of the group really got into the thread wrapping and her main project for the sessions was a thread wrapped branch. Inspired by her enthusiasm for the technique I did a thread wrapped piece of driftwood as a sample and really enjoyed it. It's a very therapeutic technique, quite slow and methodical which allows the mind to wander and explore different ideas.

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

As well as enjoying the process I like the look of the wrapped branches and the ideas it stirs, it feeds back to my interest in dichotomies such as the hidden/revealed and exposed/protected. So, I decided to explore a bit further.

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, in my studio

'Scotland' thread wrapped branch, 2014

The sample piece I'd made was inspired by our holidays in Scotland; the soft, rain washed blues and greys of the sea and sky and the bright purples and pinks of the heathers. I also used a lot of threads I'd collected on holiday so for me this piece really has a strong connection with place and memory. In my further explorations I was more interested in looking at the ideas mentioned before rather than creating something specific to a time and place.

At work

In progress

Wrapped and dyed sample

This led me to work in neutral colours and I chose mostly natural fibres as I was thinking about dying the finished piece. I did a small sample to start off with, which I floated in a dye bath for a while before I began on a larger piece. As can be seen in the small sample different fibres absorb dye differently so when I was wrapping I used different threads in different sections but also did a lot of overlapping, to build up different tonal and textural effects.

Wrapping with different threads

Wrapped and ready to dye

Dip dyeing

As I was working one of the ends of thread worked itself loose. I was about to re-wrap it but looking at the work I decided not to and then deliberately left other threads hanging, I like the way they reach out from the piece, connecting to the space around it.

Drip drying

Wrapped and dyed branch

Detail

I thought about how I would dye the piece as I was wrapping and decided to dip dye it. I'm really pleased with the result, I like the changes but after discussion with some of my fellow artists I'm inclined to agree with them that the gradation needs to be a bit more subtle. So, next time I will be using a bucket to dye the piece so I can dip more into the dye at once!