The early samples relate to these elements. Some of the reults were very pleasing but I had problems trying to work out how I could integrate them into a larger design.
Therefore I decided to develop some ideas for the overall concept before going further, to try to get the whole thing to hang together better.
9.1 Work from Summer School
During Summer School I tried a few samples related to these themes.
Sample 1 (left) was related to drought & cracked earth. It was worked by hand over a soluweb grid and then the web was dissolved, leaving the stitched surface. I loved this technique, liked the feeling of texture it produced, and would have liked to do more with it for the final wall hanging, but have not pursued it as it is largely hand stitched rather than machine.
Sample 2 (centre) was related to drought. It was done by placing pieces of fabric onto a sticky aquabond surface then sandwiching the pieces with another clear layer over the top before machining and dissolving the support layers.
I was very pleased with this sample and hope to do some more work on this technique in the future. However I didn’t carry it through for my design as I struggled to make it fit into the concept.
Sample 3 (right) was related to growth. A simple design was drawn with texta pens onto transfer paper. The design was then transferred to soluweb with an iron. A soluweb sandwich was made with a piece of chiffon scarf in between the two layers. The stitching was applied over the top, following the design, then the web was dissolved leaving the stitched sample.
The final result, although visually different, was fairly similar in texture to sample 1. I could have made it a bit more lacey by not completely filling the space with stitching, as the chiffon would have held it all together. Again, I really enjoyed working this sample but did not pursue it further because it is done with hand stitching rather than machine.
9.2 Work related to John Olsen paintings
I decided to do a few samples related to some of the Lake Eyre paintings by John Olsen to see whether they would assist me to come up with ideas for the wall hanging design.
Sample 4: I started with a simple meandering river line, on dyed scrim over a Pelon backing, to try to give a bit of relief/texture to the stitching. This worked OK but was not very exciting.
Sample 5: the John Olsen picture is on the left and an interpretation is on the right.
The background was made with painted Vliesofix applied to the brown fabric, and then the design machined over the top. I was pleased with this result but struggled to see how I could use it in my design.
Sample 6: the John Olsen picture is at the top left and the interpretation is on the right.
The background was a monoprint with acrylic paints and then the design machined over the top.
Again, I liked the result but was not able to see a ready way to use it in my design.
The problem I saw was that both of these gave “busy” backgrounds which would not fit well with a bold design with strong distinct shapes in the foreground (see below).
I will revisit these ideas once the overall final design has been decided.
9.3 Samples based on the 3 main elements
The next samples related to ways of depicting the three main river elements: drought, flood & growth. I was also trying to get the idea of a cycle into the shape, so tried a disc and also a segmented wavy line. A solubweb backing was use to stabilise the samples before machining and was dissolved afterwards. I also tried some solid background fabrics and some sheer ones, coming to the conclusion that on the whole the sheer ones were more appealing.
9.4 Design Concepts
These were done on butchers paper cut to the size I was aiming for in the final piece.
Background and colour palette: I chose a mottled background from my dyed fabrics, combining mustard, light greens and a little bit of mid-blue. This was selected because it was not too dominant and also was suggestive of the countryside.
For the three cycles I stuck with colours used in section 9.3, i.e. tans, ochres, greens and dusky blue.
9.4.1 Concept 1
This concept used a branching river as the background, with the disc/cycle image superimposed in various places.
9.4.2 Concept 2
River: For this concept I started with a big river winding through the piece. I tried various ways of depicting the river, settling on a monprinted background in brownish green colours on an olive green background (bottom sample below). I used a reverse applique technique to insert the river into the background, fraying the cut away edges to make them straggly and softer. I finally added machining to the painted river to add to the interest.
Shapes related to the cycles: I cut photocopies of the disc from concept 1 into 3 segments which I reproduced on a photocopier. I thought these shapes were a little suggestive of arrows without being too definite.
I also tried cutting out some arrow shapes but didn’t like these as much.
Assembly: I experimented by laying combinations of the cycle segments along the river. The cycle segments were aligned with the river bends to show that they follow after each other. I think this has possibilities, though may be a bit busy.
9.4.3 Concept 3
This concept evolved from concept 2. Rather than having the river winding through the entire piece I experimented with having two horizontal bands of river separated by bands of either flood, drought or growth. I varied the direction of the segments to add interest. I thought about making them continuous but decided against it, partly for visual effect and partly because these are discrete rather than continuous events. The blue and tan rows should probably be swapped, but the blue looks good at the top and the green at the bottom, so maybe a bit of poetic licence is OK.
This is my preferred concept at the moment because it has cleaner lines than concept 2.
Next steps: dye a larger batch of the background fabric then work up the bands a bit more. Decide whether any background stitching would add to the finished effect or just be a distraction.
