M4, Chapter 11: Work in Progress

I am now well into my final piece  for this module, so wanted to give you an update of my progress with the work and some of my design decisions.
Roses: All of the roses are now stitched. Apart from the 2 withdrawn thread insertions discussed in a previous blog, I have used stem stitch for the rose outlines and Cretan stitch for filling the shapes, with lots of colour variations for interest. The centres feature a mixture of random cross stitches and French knots. I mainly used silk threads for the stitching, but had to resort to stranded cotton for a couple of the colours.

The two photos below show the front of the wallet and the entire panel unfolded (left to right: bottom
 flap, back, top flap).

    

Cords: As discussed at Summer School, I was going to overlay some coils of twisted cords to add interest to the empty background and provide some connection between the roses.
The first photo shows three colour combinations of twisted cords overlaid randomly on the  embroidered silk paper. These were:

1. grey green/deep green combination (bottom left),
2. grey green/pink combination (top centre)
3. leaf green/deep green combination (top right).

I have decided to go forward with the first combination because it gave a greater contrast and also the grey green colour provided some continuity with the drawn thread rose on the front panel.  The final picture shows what the overall effect will be like with several grey green/deep green cords overlaid on the panel.
 

Please note the placement of these cords is just to give an idea of the overall effect and does not reflect the final placement that will be used. This will be more in line with the design drawn during Summer School (below left), although on reflection I think there are too many curly lines on the front flap and I will simplify this a little for the final piece. Next to the drawn design is a small sample with a twisted cord sewn into place. However this one has been done with the brighter green cord, whereas the final piece will have the darker one, which I think will look better.

CHAPTER 11 PART 2: REVISIONS TO PROPOSED DESIGN

 

After receiving  my tutor’s initial comments I have done a few more samples aimed at resolving some outstanding design questions.

1. CENTREPIECE ON FRONT FLAP OF WALLET

In my initial sample for the main Glasgow Rose on the front flap of the wallet I had tried a filling of textured wool rewoven into  sections of withdrawn threads combined with other pulled threads area. However, Sian suggested that a more lacy look might fit better with the art nouveau theme of the Mackintosh house. I did two more samples where I experimented with other approaches. The first picture shows the outline worked in machine stitching and then filled in with a combination of needle-weaving and pulled thread areas. I embedded this one into some silk paper to see what the overall impression would be like.

I thought it had definite possibilities but the final shape was a bit large and I was not that happy with the colour combination and the placing of the needle-woven areas, so I did a second sample.

The second sample, shown below, is more pleasing, as the size and colour combination is better, as well as the placement of the different areas of stitching. Each area was outlined in a grey-green chain stitch, which I preferred to the machine stitching used in the first sample. The grey green colour represented the leadlight windows used as inspiration for the shape.

  This panel will be embedded into the front flap of the silk paper for the final piece.

2. THE BACK OF THE WALLET

I experimented with a few approaches for the leaf motif on the back of the wallet. I dyed some fabric with the green dye I intended to use for the silk paper and then worked an outline of the leaf shape, using the same pulled thread technique as the main motif to fill it. I was planning to embed this motif into the back of the silk paper wallet. However, although I tried several ways of doing this, I eventually decided to leave this idea for another day, as I couldn’t successfully resolve the design.

 

Instead I decided to simplify the back and incorporate a second rose worked with needleweaving and pulled thread work in the same style as the front flap.  Two embroidered roses and grid lines will be added (see below)

3. GRID LINES

I made several twisted cords, experimenting with various thread and colour combinations, to give the grid-lines a heavier weight. The combination which seemed most acceptable was made with the grey-green Perle 8 thread used for the outline of the rose and a forest green Pearle 12 which looked good against the chosen green background.

4. PRESENTING THE PHOTOGRAPHS

I had  stated previously that I hoped to embed the wedding photos in the silk paper, but had not yet tried it. I experimented with two methods. In the first I just laid silk fibres around the edge of the photo to adhere it to the paper background. Whilst this method worked, there was a risk of accidently damaging the photos when the textile medium was applied.

In the second method I made a blind pocket that the picture could be slid into after the paper was dry. This was done by laying down a layer of silk fibres, then placing a piece of mesh slightly larger than the size of the photo (“photo template”) on top. More silk fibres were added around and overlapping the edges of the photo template. Once I was happy with the placement the entire sheet was stuck together as before with a mixture of diluted fabric medium and dye. This was left to dry, and then the template was removed and the actual photograph slid into place.

This technique worked very well and has been used to incorporate all the photos into their silk paper frames. I worked a row of wavy running stitch around each page to add a bit more interest, but decided to keep this simple so as not to detract from the effect of the photos and the silk paper. I also made a small hole in the corner of each sheet with an awl and worked an eyelet into it. The sheets were then bound together with a twisted cord and finished with a tassel to make the photo album. The album will be the main insert in the wallet.

5. NEW MOCK-UP OF WALLET

A rough mock-up of the new front panel of the wallet is shown above. The lacy insert will be embedded into the top flap of the silk paper. A section of the twisted cord is also shown to demonstrate the intended colour and weight of the lines. The exact positioning of the cords will be decided after the objects have been embedded.

 

The new back panel of the wallet is shown above.  The cords will continue in line with the front panel. The colours of the embroidered roses will be adjusted slightly to combine better with the lacy roses.

CHAPTER 11, PART 1: PROPOSED DESIGN FOR STRUCTURE RELATED TO MEDIA

General Description & Inspiration for the Piece

My proposed piece is a folded wallet which can be used to store memorabilia from my daughter’s wedding last year, such as invitations, place cards, notes and photos. The wedding took place in Glasgow at House for an Art Lover, which is a mansion designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh. The art nouveau features in the house were a rich source of design inspirations. The wedding was also themed to fit in with the venue, so this was a perfect choice for developing designs. I had also decided, as a result of the work in earlier chapters, that I wanted to make the wallet from silk paper. The finer, more delicate nature of the silk paper also seemed to be a good fit with the theme.

Below are some photographs of leadlight windows, lights and wall decorations from the  House.

 

On the whole the designs are simple but impactful, with repeating motifs and a limited colour palette. The themes which recurred, and which attracted me were the “Glasgow” roses, the leaves or trees, and also the criss-cross lines (reminiscent of grids – such as in the light) which linked in with some of the embroidery we have studied in the module. However, although the same general themes were used in many parts of the house, giving unity to the overall design, small variations often appeared in different places (e.g. not all roses were the same). I decided to apply some of these principles to my own design, limiting the colours to shades of pink, purple and green, repeating the rose shape in different sizes, and filling the stylised roses with several different stitch variations.

Samples

The proposed wallet is based on the A4 one made as a book sample in Chapter 10 (below).

However the size will be increased so that the starting point is an A3 sheet of silk paper. A 7cm fold will be made along one of the long sides so there is a pocket to hold the items of memorabilia. The wallet will be a soft green with pink blotches loosely placed where a series of roses will be worked. I tried out some rose variations before settling on the final design.

The overall appearance will be like this, incorporating the rose, leaf & grid themes. More explanation will be given a little later.

The top flap will have  a rose worked with a withdrawn and pulled thread technique, similar to the two samples below. The left one was worked on a thicker fabric to try out the idea, with various colours and stitches. I then found some silk noil scrim which  was a lot finer, a looser weave and seemed more suitable for embedding into the silk. I dyed this fabric a light pink and then worked the second sample (right), doing the outline in chain stitch instead of machine stitching. The outer petals were filled with yarn woven over groups of withdrawn threads and mock faggot filling was used for the  inner petals.

 

I then tried out some embroidered rose variations on silk paper.I started with machine stitching, but was not happy with the results, so then went onto hand stitching.

With the hand stitched samples, testing roses in 3 sizes, I tried out a few types of outline stitches, deciding that stem stitch was the best. I also experimented with some filling stitches and different colours  (mostly pink). The filling stitch variations included cretan stitch- worked as a single row or layered(left rose) with chain stitch in the centre, Bokhara couching, seed stitch and French knots (centre rose)  and couched grids, cretan stitch and detached chain stitch (right rose). All of these gave reasonable results, so I will use a variety of fillings for the roses  in the final piece to add interest.

The next sample shows leaves with the outline worked in stem stitch and filled with Bokhara couching.  This will appear in certain places in the design and also be placed in the bottom left corner of the loose leaf photograph sheets (discussed below).

Design Mock Up

The front of the design incorporating the rose, leaf & grid themes was shown above. The main feature is lots of stylised Glasgow roses worked in various sizes, different shades of pink and varied stitches. I photocopied my stitched rose samples and cut out the roses, so I could experiment with the size and placement. This shows how the wallet will look when the top flap is raised.

The green grid will be machine stitched and is used to link the various sections of the folded design. The edges of the paper will also be outlined with a row of green random free machine stitching as used in the earlier book sample.

The back of the wallet will feature 3 roses plus the leaf and grid design.

The next photo shows the inside of the wallet when it is unfolded. The machine stitched lines will show through and extra rose and leaf motifs will be added to the inside pocket.

The final picture shows the entire panel unfolded. You can see the front flap at the top, the back panel in the middle, and the bottom front section at the bottom. The inside flap is folded out on the right.

Instead of stitching some extra sheets of paper into the wallet, as I did with the book sample, I am going to try embedding some of my favourite photos into smaller sheets of silk paper which can be stored as loose leaves inside the wallet. If the embedding doesn’t work I will make a hole in the paper and stick the photo in (see example below). A small motif will be worked on the bottom left, as shown  below, to link these pages with the wallet design.

Eyelets will be worked into the top right hand corner of each sheet and a handmade cord or ribbon inserted to loosely tie them all together like a small book which will be inserted into the pocket of the folder.

M4 CHAPTER 12: STUDY THREE ARTISTS

1. CAS HOLMES

Cas Holmes works with textiles, paper and mark-making materials to produce mixed media collages embellished with stitch. She is well known for using "found objects" - discarded items or waste materials considered no longer useful and transforming them into meaningful artworks. She states that: "Using recycled and vintage fabrics and found materials creates a sense of age or atmosphere conveying a past history." Her themes mainly relate to elements of the natural and built world. Drawing and the use of colour are the foundation of her work, using her sketch book like a diary. She has described her stitching as often being "stitch sketching" with a narrative quality. Cas studies the links between nature and the urban environment and by re-cycling objects, her work encourages sustainable living. She often layers papers and fabrics in her pieces, some translucent, but then may cut away some layers to reveal what is underneath.

Cas is about to visit Australia for a series of workshops. The images below from the Australian FibreArts website (http://fibrearts.jigsy.com/holmes) advertising these classes illustrate her style and approach.

Relevance to my work: The layering of items and combinations of paper and textiles appeal to me. The piece on the right has an interesting combination of items, including some paper with writing on it, but it is the band of red colour, rather than the writing itself which draws the eye to the work. The stitching is very integrated into the work, rather than being a feature. Cas introduced me to the technique of Momigami at the Distant Stitch Summer School in 2008. This was the first time I had considered using paper and fabric in combination. I was able to utilise the crushed paper technique in my final piece for Module 1 and was delighted with the result.

References

Cas Holmes' website: http://www.casholmes.textilearts.net

Cas Holmes: "The Found Object in Textile Art", 2010.

Jenny Whisker, Interview with Cas Holmes at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrowgate: http://vimeo.com/54353849

Axis on-line resource for contemporary art, artist profile Cas Holmes: http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=6037

2. LOIS WALPOLE

Lois Walpole began making baskets at Art School in the 1970s where she trained in both sculpture and basket making. Her work has evolved since then into designing and making functional objects and art works using the techniques and the forms traditionally associated with baskets. She likes to take colourful every day waste and sustainable materials and transform them into something new, drawing attention to the unexploited potential of the materials. Many of her pieces feature recycled juice cartons, bottle tops, corks, old rope, plastic bottles, wire or packing tape. Some of her designs are quite witty or quirky (for example the ball made from cast off fax parts), encouraging the viewer to see things from a different perspective. For example, the item in the photo on the top left was made from strapping and jar lids, the item in the centre from fruit nets and the one on the right from juice cartons and willow.

Lois believes that basket-making techniques can be relevant to other activities (whether artistic or functional) where the final outcome is a 3-dimensional structure. She encourages people to look for techniques which suit every available natural and found material. She sees value in producing objects that are "sustainable and versatile or use little equipment and free material". Her materials, methods and forms have been described as "imaginative, original and technically innovative". She finds innovative construction solutions through play and making lots of ‘samples’ to learn what the material can do, how to work with it and what can be made from it. As her work has become more well known, people bring her more and more items to recycle - somewhat of a challenge to manage!

Relevance to my work: Whilst I have never done basket-making, I love looking at woven work, including pictures and paintings of woven items, so maybe it is something I will try one day. For the moment, I think that Lois teaches me two things. The first is to try to look at materials around me in a different way, thinking of uses beyond their traditional areas. The second is to do more samples in order to get the best out of my chosen topic or medium, and to keep pushing the boundaries to explore what may be possible.

References

Lois Walpole's website: http://www.loiswalpole.com

Sandy Brown, Resurgence & Ecologist, March/April 2007: "VISUAL JAZZ. Lois Walpole takes innovation to extremes in basket-making." http://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article218-visual-jazz.html

3. INGA HUNTER

Inga Hunter is a mixed media artist working in the Blue Mountains, a few hours' drive west of Sydney. She began her artistic journey in the 1960s, first with weaving and then batik and shibori dyeing. After that she added quilting and embroidery to her skills, then during the 1980s she began making paper and combining it with textiles. About 1974 she began an organisation then called the Batik Association, which has now evolved into the Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association (ATASDA). Her work tends to be done in series, depending on the techniques and themes that she is exploring at the time. These have included series of artists books, miniature paper robes and pieces relating to her heritage.

These pictures show two examples of her books. The one on the left entitled "Gridded Book" combines handmade paper, collage, sticks, copper nails, waxed thread, plastic, metal mesh, wire, paint and coptic binding. On the right is "Boat Box" - featuring three books and two baskets. Her most audacious book, not shown here, was a 1-year collaboration with garden snails "Collaborata Mollusca", where she put manilla folders soaked in beer outside and then brought them in the next morning to see what holes and trails the snails had contributed, ultimately making the pages into a book.

Below are a couple of other examples of Inga's work, to show the broad range of items that that she has produced with paper.

On the left is a miniature paper robe from her wonderful series entitled "Robes of the Imperium", an invented world. Each robe, about 30 to 40 cm long, is accompanied by a story about the wearer - this one is the robe of the Head Inquisitor. The techniques used to produce the effects for these robes include rusting, applying wax (encaustic) and use of unusual materials such as sausage skins. On the right is a mixed media work "Structures with Print", comprising a woodblock print with collaged structures made from bamboo and fine paper, gessoed.

Relevance to my work: What I like about Inga Hunter is that she has not constrained herself to work with one or two materials or techniques. She combines whatever is required to get the effect she wants for a particular piece: paper, textiles, printing, dyeing, waxing, etching, drawing, painting, beading. She has taught herself many of these techniques, through experimentation, and selected courses. She didn't do a drawing class till she was 50, when she decided that she needed to learn how to do it properly. She has tried, and now promotes, the idea of drawing regularly, keeping a small sketchbook with her on her travels, but like me, struggles to make it a daily habit.

Inga draws on all of her experiences and combines her chosen techniques in new ways to express her ideas in an imaginative manner. I think this philosophy fits well with the type of work that I am trying to produce in my City & Guilds course - minimal boundaries, just draw on your tool box and experiment! She has opened my eyes to a much wider range of possibilities for working with paper than I had ever imagined.

Inga Hunter's website: http://www.ingahunter.com.au/

Robb Street Gallery: http://www.thersg.com.au/rsg_touring/hbascatalog.php, Inga Hunter's Kite Book

Inga Hunter: " Something Different - A Drawing a Day .... Revisited." Textile Fibre Forum 28: Issue 4, 8 (2009).

Inga Hunter: " How I Did It: On Rusting and Encaustics - Making Two New Works of the Imperium." Textile Fibre Forum 29: Issue 1, 14 (2010).

Inga Hunter: " Something Different - How I Did It: Using Gut and the Robes of the Imperium." Textile Fibre Forum 29: Issue 2, 17 (2009).

M4 CHAPTER 10 : BOOK-TYPE STRUCTURES

In this section I have experimented with several methods for constructing books, ranging from simple folded items, to more elaborate stitched covers. I started working with ink-washed cartridge paper, and then moved on to some constructions using hand made silk paper.

I really enjoyed this section and had to consciously decide to move on or else I would still be making books for months!

10.1 Pamphlet-style Books

These books are constructed by nesting pages inside each other then stitching/lacing the whole bundle together. The most basic form uses 3 holes, but 5 or 7 holes may be used for larger items. Each group of nested pages is called a signature.

Sample 1 shows a very simple notebook, where the ends of the thread have been tied to form a small tassel decorated with a long rolled paper bead I bought in South Africa.

Three lots of nested paper were used in Sample 2, with a different paper cover on the outside. The centre of the cover was pleated and one signature was placed into each fold. Each group was sewn in place with two strands of cotton thread, then all of the tails were gathered up and tied into a bow at the back to finish off the book.

Sample 3 was constructed similarly to Sample 1. However the pages were cut from a collaged A3  page of paper that I had made some time ago. These pages were cut, folded and assembled to give an interesting effect, with the back and front pages appearing to merge because of the folding. The pamphlet was stitched with 3 different coloured threads, then these were plaited and twisted to produce the decorative loop on the spine.

10.2 Stitched Books

These pictures show two approaches to holding the signatures together and attaching them to a cover.

In Sample 4, a Japanese Stab Binding  technique was used. The covers are entirely separate and a similar size to the interior pages.  The cover shape was cut from mount board; the back side is a single piece of board and the front cover is cut into 2 pieces to create a hinge so the book can be opened. The book is assembled and held firmly together with clamps or large bulldog clips. Holes are poked through all layers and then the thread is passed through all layers making the selected pattern. I used an awl to poke the holes, but later found a set of graduated nails which might be useful in future.

Sample 5 uses stitching with a ribbon  tape to hold everything together. I only used 3  signatures in my sample, but you can join many more to give a much thicker book. Each signature is held together using pamphlet stitch, and then the 3 have been stitched together top and bottom with the thicker green thread over the red ribbon. The ribbon is then attached to the covers. The covers,  made with mount board, are a few mm larger than the inside pages. In this case I chose to carry the ribbon right across the from the front cover to the back cover and glue it on the inside, but you can also  finish the tape part way across each cover to give a different decorative effect. The front page of the first signature and the back page of the last signature are glued to the inside of each cover to finish the book.

10.3 Folded Books

There are many ways of folding pages to create books. I experimented with 3 styles here.

Sample 6 is the simplest – made from an A4 sheet by simply cutting and folding the paper so that the centre panels bulge out. The final shape could make a good display item, depending on the content.

Sample 7 began as a 24cm X 24 cm square, folded and cut as shown below. Mount board covers and ribbons were added to back of the middle squares of rows 2 & 3, so that when all the sides were folded in, the book covers emerged on the outside.

 

Sample 8 began as a long rectangular strip of paper which was folded to give a concertina of triangles. The covers were made of foam core board covered with fabric. Ribbon was attached in such a way that it could be wound around in a figure of 8 and tied to hold the book in place.

10.4 Silk Paper Books

The silk paper has an elegant but informal appearance and is better suited to less formal book styles.  I tried out a few different options to get the feel of working with silk paper and to start the thought process for my assessment piece.

Sample 13, “book in a sack”,  combines cartridge paper and silk paper. The folded book was made by folding and cutting an A4 sheet of cartridge paper  so that there were 4 rows of panels, with cuts across 3 squares on alternating sides.  This allowed the panels to bend back on each other, giving the pages a tumbling appearance when the book was removed from the sack. Folding and cutting the silk paper would have been less effective because it is not stiff enough. However I made a little silk paper bag to slide the folded book inside and keep it together. The edges of the sack and the joins were sewn with a loopy buttonhole stitch.  I thought this concept worked quite well and I liked it as a finished item.

For the next sample (14), I experimented with a wallet type of structure , where the pamphlet cover  had a section folded up at the bottom to form a pocket that items could be slid into for storage. Then I stitched some pages, pamphlet style, into the fold on the right. When the wallet is folded over, as in the top photo, it has an attractive envelope style appearance. The edges were decorated with a row of random free-machine stitching. This had the added benefit of holding the folded section in place at the sides.  I added a bead and embroidered loop to finish off the front. Overall I was pleased with this sample and think it has possibilities for development for my assessment piece. However it may be unnecessary to sew in the pages. Another alternative, which could be interesting, would be to slide them into the pocket as loose leaves.

 

In sample 15, I joined the pages of the book together with Japanese stab stitching, this time using tortoise-shell stitch. The covers were made with 2 layers of silk paper, stiffened with pelmet Vilene in the middle. The white Vilene was washed with green ink to that it blended with the silk paper. I thought this worked only moderately well, and this style of book is probably better suited to standard paper with cardboard covers.

For sample 16 I experimented with a concertina-style construction. First three separate panels (pages) were made  by gluing two layers of silk paper to a pelmet Vilene insert (with a red ink wash). These panels were then laced together over a twig found in my neighbourhood. The holes were made first with a needle before stitching.  I decorated the edges of one panel with a loopy chain stitch. I thought this structure also worked well with the silk paper and could definitely be developed for a more elaborate piece.

The big decision now is which way to go for my assessment piece. I think something based on samples 14 or 16 would work best.  At the moment I am leaning towards the wallet with a pocket and some loose leaf pages.

Reference Shereen La Plantz "Cover to Cover", Lark Books, New York, 1998. Acknowledgement Thanks to my good friend Judy Muller who inspired me by sharing her experiments in book-making with me.

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 9

More Stitched Edges on Silk Paper

Sian suggested that I try to work more imaginatively with the edges of the silk paper, trying to reflect the wispiness and swirling character of the fibres. The following photos show 4 additional samples. These were worked on the edges of some of the book structures which will be dealt with in Chapter 10. The focus here is just on the edge treatments.

Overall I feel that these samples are more successful than the first ones that I did. This was partly because I didn’t fully understand the intent first time round, but this is much clearer now.

Sample W was worked in a very loose buttonhole stitch in two colours, allowing the ragged edges of the  paper to show through.

Sample X shows a loopy version of chain stitch worked in two colours. The stitches were worked on alternating sides of the paper, so that loops appeared on the “front” and “back” of the page.

Sample Y shows a row of pink free machine embroidery wandering randomly along the folded page, a little inside the edge of the paper. The irregular jagged line echoes the irregular edge of the silk paper but blends in nicely with the overall effect.

In Sample Z I experimented with irregularly placed beads and stitches, forming an uneven border around the unbound sides of the page.