This and That

18"x30" koh-i-nor paints and promarkers, acrylic waxed.

 A little bit of fun with my Trident friends yesterday playing with drawing techniques, sparked me off drawing again. I rarely use a butterfly image in my work but I had a little box of cutouts made with  my Cricut. I always wish I had chosen the inverted colours but you can't have one without the other if you see what I mean.

I really must do something with these butterflies one day!

In the meantime my John Clare pieces are progressing slowly.

If it hadn't been so windy today I could have drawn in another layer of shadows, the light was just right to project sharp images. Not on top form at the moment ( awaiting medical tests results) but thank goodness for crafting it keeps me grounded and amused.

Pattern

Inktense crayon, graphite pencil, alcohol inks and Promarker pens on cartridge paper. 30"x 20"

Too hot to think, so brain disengaged, playing with pattern, colour and form. It's quite bizarre but some areas are pleasing me. I am using this as a respite from the little crewel work pieces I'm working on.

It's interesting to digitally increase the shadow in this drawing.

The pale blue shepherds purse suddenly looks as though it has been laid over the piece - really 3D. This is turning out to be a real exploration of drawing techniques and teaching me more than the conventional route did some 10 years ago. At some stage I will just take a pencil and paper and make a plain sketch of something complex just to see what all this practise has brought to my drawing skills, or not, as the case may be. I'm certainly 'seeing' differently, whether it will make a difference remains to be seen. As I have said many times, each tiny improvement I achieve is like getting blood from the proverbial stone. 

Usual Prevarication

I can't seem to get myself in a stitching frame of mind at the moment probably because I need to get stuck into some traditional embroidery for the pieces I am working on. I'm convincing myself (not) that the paintings I'm doing are all part of the investigation  process. what I really should be doing are nine pieces like this. 

They are quite small but each one takes a few hours of stitching, if I had a run at it my needlework would quickly improve (out of practise) but I'm finding all sorts of distractions. I certainly can't blame the weather, it is just right temperature wise for me, a little more light would not go amiss but that is just nit picking. 

I've been thinking of all the people who have been working through the heat wave, it must have been so uncomfortable for them. There is such a thing as too much heat and I understand there is more to come.

 We had a little rain during the night which gave me the chance to get the Zinnias and Nicotiana Sylvestris planted. These are the backbone of  the garden for late summer.

 So how can I get in the mind for stitching?

Process

I thought it might be interesting to share my thoughts behind the John Clare pieces that I am working on.

 It started with me drawing and painting the hedgerow plants that surround this village into which he was born.  I had very little idea of where I was going with these drawings until I realised that the plants I was gathering contained lots of strewing herbs which had been used in medieval times to sweeten the air and to walk upon in homes that often had dirt floors. Certain plants would keep vermin away, others had antiseptic properties, some were purely for their perfume. My link to J.Clare would be the poetry that yearned for that ancient past and his pleasure at the simple plants and wildlife of his native village. I can see the medieval past in the grassland around here, the seeds that lie dormant for generations and when conditions are right provide us with a tapestry of historical plants, self heal, scabious,violas, thyme's, lady's mantle, meadow sweet to name but a few. So among my  herbs will be little 'cameos' of Elizabethan crewelwork or 'slips' as they were called, they were often based on plants or animals. I will take a line of relevant verse and make a stencil of it to weave into the scene. At the moment I see it on cotton organza but I'm not sure if the weight of the crewel work will be too heavy for the fabric, but that is what sampling is all about and as you can see I have started.

I have finished my final drawing/painting, the only one I feel precious enough about not to scribble notes all over it as I have the others. It has taken me from marker pens, to working with paint, mainly down to cost. These images are large and I was going through Promarkers  and various other pens at a rate I couldn't sustain. I have a lot to learn about painting but a start has been made.

   

A Busy Week Ahead

I'm writing all over my drawings, picking out bit's that work for me and bit's that don't. Adding notes on stitch possibilities and ideas for a piece of work for an exhibition coming up in October in the John Clare cottage/museum in my village. I'm concentrating on the humble weeds that grow in the hedgerows that inspired many of his poems.

Less is definitely more for what I have in mind, I shall start stitching samples on Tuesday during the 'Calico' meeting. Tomorrow I meet up with my two textile friends for our Trident meeting - we are experimenting with soluble fabrics, I may be able to slant my efforts towards this project.

This is my favourite piece so far - wallpaper lining paper with a walnut ink wash,  Promarkers and koh i nor paints. I have not finished it because I like the outlines as much as the painted parts. I think these drawings will provide enough resources for a series of work.

Thursday evening I am talking about my work at Beds. Embroidery Guild, mainly about the series of work concerned with time and memory. Definitely out of my comfort zone!

This England

A couple of miles from where I live is a piece of ancient limestone meadow land. Barnack Hills and Holes is a 50 acre site which was first used by the Romans 1500 years ago for the quarrying of the limestone. In medieval times the stone was quarried to help build Peterborough and Ely cathedrals. The legacy from this is a hummocky landscape that is carpeted with a profusion of wild flowers, many of which are very rare and exclusive to the site. I have walked these mini hills and hollows many times over the years and today I think it was looking at it's very best. We walked through carpets of orchids, quaking grass , bell flowers, thyme's, rock roses and  emerging broomrape to name just a few of the 300 recorded species of wild plants. Marbled white butterflies,dragonflies and many species of bee were abundant and the drone of insect life was constant. I must take my wildflower guide with me next time, I used to know the names of many, many flowers but like all things if you don't use it ,you quickly lose it.

My drawings are leading me slowly to an idea for a piece of work at last, I won't be using colour other than cream, greys and black but my exploratory work is highly coloured, how does that work?

These are not finished but nice to have around to doodle into as the mood takes me.

One of the pics I took today had a horizon line of mixed grasses and seed heads against the backdrop of the sky. I have started drawing this image with a view to stitch at the weekend, that is if the North Norfolk coast doesn't tempt me, who knows how long this summer weather will last - it seems wrong to be inside stitching during these precious days.

Stop Drawing, Start Stitching!

If anything could make me give up textiles I think it would be painting. Having said that, this is not painting it's instant gratification using alcohol ink felt tips and a gold promarker, but it makes me think that I could learn to paint. And that's the problem, the world is full of brilliant painters and I would just be another mediocre student. The world is not full of textile artists so I think I'll stick with what I know and enjoy. I think I need to find a way to translate these drawings to stitch, I can see a lot of work ahead!

This piece is A3 cartridge paper and I have selected some Acer leaves, fennel, honeysuckle, poppy and shepherds purse drawn in layers. I have not played with the positive/negative shapes in this drawing, I think that makes it  less dynamic than the last one.

Colour

I can certainly see a difference in my work after Dionne's course this drawing is done on wallpaper lining and measures 24" X 30" so it took me a few hours to do. I started yesterday lunchtime and worked quite late. I'm happy with the design but I can see I need some painting practise. I used Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens and a koh-i-nor palette. It's very Ullapool to me but might read differently to someone else. Now I need to calm down and get on with some stitching.

Monochrome

I'm struggling to find time to fit everything in at the moment, however I have found a couple of hours to work on an needle-felted piece for Dionne's workshop. I initially had problems with this, everything I did looked hard and contrived, it was only when I let my instinct design the piece rather than copying from a drawing I had made that it came together.  I have a day to myself tomorrow so I hope to get up to date with the workshop.

I badly need some colour but I'm going to be disciplined and keep my palette pure.

The Long Day

This is the longest Sunday ever, my son and daughter-in-law were due home at tea-time, the plane is running three hours late. So some drawing/doodling was called for to pass the time.Necklaces, Acer leaves, some plastic netting that the garlic was wrapped in, and of course a crochet lace doily. It has given me a couple of hours of amusement.

Barney and Kate  have landed and will be home around 10.30pm, so not long to go now. I've cooked enough for a small army and they have just text me that all they want is toast. It's their breakfast time, I'd forgotten the eight hour time difference. Never mind it will  save me cooking tomorrow. I'm very happy to have them both home!

Play Time

It was  a very demanding exercise this afternoon in Dionne's workshop, which really challenged my idea of 'art' (in a good way). As a reward I have indulged myself in some pleasing (to me) drawings to relax.

Finding negative spaces is addictive.

Inverting the colours in Picassa shows up all the layers that make up the final composition.

Can you tell I'm enjoying myself?

Drawing for Textiles

It's a long time since I worked way into the early hours with no thought for the time. I'm usually in my pit by the time it's double figures. I'm on day three of Dionne Swift's drawing for textiles workshop and last night I was so excited I could have danced/worked all night. It would be wrong to share technique but I shall post some drawings during the rest of the week. 

I note that my work is still very ornamental compared to the others on the course and that it is in art terms quite self indulgent. I have thought about this a lot and come to the conclusion that the area I work in is based on the decorative image so why shouldn't I tailor my course work to reflect that notion. I'm sure that Dionne's aims are not for us to turn out clones of her work, I love and admire her art but that is not the area I am interested in producing for myself. This is by no means a rant, more a way of me bringing some thoughts together. I know what I need to do to improve my work to meet my own vision.

 I can't wait to get to today's challenges, once again this workshop has me fired up and raring to go!  

Lost in Sketchbooks

Working on two sketchbooks this past week -  'Squares' and 'Homemade Stamps'.

On a bit of a roll.

Play day Monday with my friend Paula. We are both exploring layers in our own individual ways. I seem to be making sketch book pages in my sleep at the moment, these are works in progress ready for another layer of print or stitch to be added tomorrow. I will  keep going on sketchbooks till I run out of inspiration and then see how they have inspired my next project whatever that may be.

I'm also getting ready for a printing day at the Guild this coming weekend. It's quite a feat of logistics to set up a printing workshop so I'm compiling lists, equipment and materials, determined that I won't forget anything. I hope that the weather is a bit kinder on the day, it feels like the arctic here today.

Usual Prevarication

 

 

Twenty days until I'm back in the Highlands again ( for five weeks) and I have so much I want to do in the meantime. The low light levels yesterday left me craving colour and although the printing blocks I made a few days ago were pretty low on my priority list, they provided an instant hit of happiness. I used acrylics with a bit of silkscreen medium (to keep the paint from drying too quickly) and when they were dry I used my Inktense pencils to beef up the colours even more.

 

Just two blocks have given me a huge range of papers to play with before I get down to printing on fabric.

 

 

Today I met up with Jackie and Jean (Trident group) and had a relaxing day working on the theme of Edelweiss - Jackie is an alpine grower with great knowledge and skill on the subject so it was appropriate that for her challenge to us it was this strange alien looking  plant. We have each come up with a different approach to the subject and have agreed to be finished for our next meeting on the 23rd of this month. I started with a few drawings to familiarise myself with the basic structure of the plant and used my felter to make a quick background. I'm glad I decided to work small for once.

 

Lot's of stitching to do on this piece but I'm sure I'll make the deadline.

  





Not So Productive

When I last posted I was planning to get on with 'the next big thing'.  Thinking time was over and planning, sampling and exploration was about to take place, however this last week has passed in a non - functioning daze. Strange bug - no voice until about lunchtime,  a pounding headache and very little sleep - still struggling to get on top of it. Never the less a little bit of drawing has taken place, therapeutic colouring in really (just like an ill child). These are the watercolour papers left over from the pages of last week's Kantha book. I'm making a little book of imaginary landscapes, I think that these are heavily influenced by the Highlands.

We have taken some of the big storage units out of the workroom this week and put them in the under used dining room. This has raised the light levels enormously, John and I seem to spend almost all of our time in the work room because it is the lightest room in the house during winter.We are most definitely creatures of the light!

Drawing to Stitch

Drawing is a learned skill for me which is definitely ongoing.  I thought I would talk about one of my ways of drawing for stitching.  I like to immerse myself in my subject for as long as it takes. I seem to know when enough immersion has taken place - in this case many hours wandering beaches in Wester Ross ( Scotland). I then let all the visuals percolate in my mind; sometimes it takes a few days, then using a fine point pen I just doodle. The imagery just appears without any thought or pre - knowledge or even choosing a subject. The only condition I have for this kind of drawing is that I must have some sort of empathy for the subject. ( Wouldn't work if it was steam engines).

I'm sure I didn't see any imagery like this on my beach walks but that is what comes out of drawing spontaneously.

I had walked on miles of shingle, seen tons of seaweed,  seen thousands of shells and many animal skeletons. This kind of stylised drawing  translates to stitch much  more easily for me than an observational one would.

Having said that  - nothing beats real drawing, but you don't always have the time or energy to draw in a life-like kind of way unless you are one of the gifted few and I'm certainly not one of those. Every little bit of progress I make in drawing is akin to getting blood out of a stone but I'm programmed to keep plugging away.

A sample piece from these drawings.

I traced the shell- like imagery from my drawing on to tissue paper and free-motion machine stitched over the tissue following my lines. After I removed the tissue I dinked about a bit with some fibre tipped pens to highlight some areas.

This resulted in a  useful sample which may inform some later work or be cut up and used in some other piece of work. 

Following the same drawings I spread some paint over my sketchbook page with my trusty credit card and drew into it in the same kind of non thinking way and the imagery appeared just like magic. I can see the sea and the mountains and the birds flying across  and maybe the start of an old boat. I won't do any more to this sketch because now I've named what I can see I will lose that spontaneity.

 All this is making me homesick for Ullapool and I'm not due there until September.

sketching for stitch

Charcoal, pastels and graphite - this may lead to an art quilt.