M6, CHAPTER 10: DESIGN RESOLUTION

This section of work refines the design ideas from chapter 9 in preparation for executing the final piece.

1. Shape & Dimensions: After considering a few options I have decided that a rectangular shape with the length longer than the width would suit the types of designs I have in mind. Proposed dimensions 75cm long X 50 cm wide.

I considered making the bottom of the hanging wavy to match the river shape but, after preparing a paper cut out, I decided against it because I thought it looked a bit contrived.

2. Background Fabric: I did some dyeing experiments to finalise my colour choices. I started with a so-called homespun cotton fabric but the dye uptake was weaker than I expected and the cut edges did not fray very easily, so I suspect it was not 100% cotton. I then purchased some “handkerchief linen” which seemed to be a suitable weight & texture for the wall hanging and tried some dye experiments on this, hoping it would be more successful.

I was intending to use a mixture of orange/yellows, blues and greens to reflect the land/water/crops of my theme,  so I  tried two different blues, three yellow/orange options and one green in 2 strengths.

From this I selected the aubergine, double strength green and yellow ochre colours to dye some larger fabric swatches. This was done in a shallow tray , painting the different colours onto areas of the cloth and allowing them to run together. I sprinkled salt onto the wet fabric to try to enhance the dye effect but this did not do a lot, possibly because the fabric wasn’t flat. I was pleased with the result and plan to use this fabric for my final piece.

3. More samples: I decided to try a few more samples before making my mind up about the final design.

River 1 – extra machine stitching was added to give a more pleasing textured effect of a river in full flow.

River 2 – I inserted a piece of “river” fabric into one of the John Olsen style samples I had worked earlier. I then added some light patches of stitching to the river to simulate sandbanks and dried up areas of water.  This was also an interesting result and will look at ways of incorporating this idea.

Flooded river – I tried an alternative idea to give the impression of a flooded river by machining the river outline and then having water “escaping” into the surrounding countryside with bushes & trees engulfed.

I thought this sample also had possibilities depending on the final design selected.

Crops along river – I was interested in the idea of trying to depict crops in paddocks along the river, so tried a couple of extra samples with blocks of stitching in that vein.

I think these also have possibilities depending on the final design.

4.  Design Concepts

My intial idea was to have 3 rivers in a vertical design, one in drought, one in flood and one with a healthy flow, with other shapes top and bottom to depict dried up earth (drought) and crops growing. I found it easier to work with a full scale concept, so outlined the final dimensions on the chosen background fabric and then started placing pieces.

A) Rivers: I modified the shape of the rivers so they were more loopy than those presented previously. I still intend to insert them  (reverse applique) top & bottom into the background fabric and fray the edges.

I cut out two river shapes of a suitable size, and laid them on the fabric, then assessed various options for filling in the rest of the surface.

When looking at the pictures below you need to keep in mind that the final rivers will be approx 1cm narrower on each side after insertion so they will be less dominant. I added some paint to the river surfaces using a monoprinting technique but have not yet machined them. Therefore the colours are starker than they will be in the final piece. The machining will be similar to the samples in section 3 and will reduce the colour contrasts so they are not so overpowering.

A1: Initially I thought that the middle (flooded) river could be based on the third river sample in section 3. However when I placed this on the background with the other river strips top and bottom it did not seem to fit very well with the rest of the piece, so I gave up on this idea.

I then decided to go forward with just two feature rivers and look at other ways of suggesting flood cycles.

B) Depicting the river cycles:  I was keen to achieve a feeling of the river and season cycles in the work. I tried to do this by placing rows of shapes above, below and in between the two feature rivers. The idea was to depict periods of drought, flood and growth.

Concept B1: The first shapes I tried were a mixture of squares and rectangles, which were meant to suggest the paddocks along the river bank. I used a mixture of fabric and photocopied samples for this design work depending on the concept I was trying out.

Concept B2: The second concept I tried was  based on rows of alternating segments of the different phases of the river.  I thought this was more visually appealing than concept B1.

Concept B3: I returned to another of the ideas I had experimented with in the previous chapter, where the cycles were joined in a wavy strip. I added a flood section to the drought and growth ones. I thought this might give a better impression of the continuity between the different seasons rather than the disjointed effect in B2. I will call these season strips from now on.

I then positioned copies of these season strips above, below and between the rivers. I was very pleased with this result as it conveys the message of both the river  and the cyclical nature of its character due ot the seasons. I propose to carry this one forward into the final piece with a bit more refinement.

Although only one configuration of the season strips is shown above, it will be possible to experiment with the wavy shape a bit further and try different colours and placements once I have generated some more strips.

Next steps: I plan to insert the river strips and over-machine them before I work on the season strips, so I can optimise the dimensions and colour contrasts.

I may also add some stitching to the background but will wait and see if this is really necessary after doing the other bits, as I think I should be aiming for balance and  simplicity rather than  “busyness”.

M6 CHAPTER 9: DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

My main theme is based on 3 key elements of river cycles: drought, flood & growth.
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.

I thought that multiple discs all over the work could be a bit confusing, so left this concept and tried a couple of others.

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.

M6 CHAPTER 8: RESEARCH FOR CONSERVATION THEME

My chosen topic is “Healthy Rivers”, as this is a significant issue in Australia. The Murray-Darling river sytem is the largest one in Australia with a combined length over 3,500km. The introduction of European farming and irrigation techniques has resulted in too much water being taken out of the river, causing issues with flow, erosion and salinity, affecting  fish, plants and other wildlife. Large variations in the water supply occur due to seasonal rain fall, drought and floods, making management even more complex. Water flow in the Murray-Darling river is now regulated through dams and locks and limits on the amount of water which can be extracted. Programs to improve water quality have also been introduced. The Coorong, a natonal park area at the mouth of the river, is a particularly beautiful place that people are keen to preserve.

Page 1: This shows various words I have written down realted to the theme, particularly to express abstract concepts. These include stagnation, healthy, thirsty, serenity, salty, meandering, interdependent, abundant, fertile, desperation, anger, alive, balancing, branching.

Page 2: Rough sketch of the Murray-Darling River system with its many tributaries.

Page 3: Pen and water colour sketches of various elements related to the river, including cracked earth, birds, crops, river mouth and native grasses.

Design Exercises

1. Black paper: This was cut, manipulated or torn into various shapes to try to represent the meanings of selected words:

a) gentle, bend, rhythmical
b) cracked, branching, combined
c) enclosed, entwined

d) cracked, dry, parched, barren
e) partnership, interdependent
f) salinity
g) restful, serenity, gentle, flowing

 

h) extremes, cycles
i) alive, branching, freedom
j) frenzied, fierce, angry

2. Decorated papers: Selected shapes were torn or cut from decorative papers prepared previously. These were used to start developing some early concepts for the design of the final piece (wall hanging). Colours relevant to the words were used where possible. They included:
a) bend, gentle, rhythmical
b) extremes – angry, fierce, frenzied

 
c) salinity, crystalline – note shape was changed from exercise 1 after reference to photos of actual salt crystals

d) cracked, dry, parched, barren
e) and g) freedom, branching, alive
f) extremes, cycles

 
h) cracked, combined, branching

 
I realised that the bottom shape was relevant to both a branching river and the parched, cracked earth in a drouhgt, so then looked at the idea of using the same shape in two different colours to give opposite impressions. This could be the basis for an interesting design element (2 i).

j) and k) ears of grain can be used to give an impression of growth, abundance

 
l) wavy water shapes depicting flow, tranquility superimposed on a background of dried up earth (photocopy of a dyed cloth) and  
m) branched river shape superimposed on a background of dried up earth (photocopy of a dyed cloth)

3. Reference to some earlier fabric samples
These two samples were produced in the 2015 Summer School class with Sarah Burgess. I thought both of them were relevant to this new topic. The fragments of stitched lines in the first reminded me of the branches of a river. The second long one, with three panels and a strong blue line running through it,  reminded me of a series of scenes along a river.

4. Initial rough design concept

I distilled the words researched earlier into 6 that seemed most relevant to the theme:
- drought
- flood
- salinity
- cycles 
- abundance
- flow

I also liked the idea of a strong image of a river running through the piece as the unifying theme.

This mock up (only A3 at this stage) shows an idea of overlaying the six concepts along the river. I plan to use this as  a starting point for my workshop at Summer School 2016. I am thinking of calling the work “River Cycle”.

M6, CHAPTER 7: USE OF DISSOLVABLE FABRICS

 

1. TESTING FABRICS

Five dissolvable fabrics were sourced.  All were tested for ease of machining and how readily they dissolved. All claimed to be dissolvable in cold water but I found that the speed and amount of water required to achieve this varied. Each film was machined in 3 ways: a firmish straight grid, a spiral and a looser zigzag grid.

Series 1. Soluble webbing (generic brand recommended by local Bernina store): Easy to machine, dissolved readily in cold water.

Series 2. Aquabond 2 film (Art Van Go): This plastic-type film peels off a backing and is sticky on one side. Not so good for general use, but handy for holding other bits of fabric or thread in place while you machine over them. Dissolved moderately well in cold water.

Series 3. Vilene Soluweb: Pretty similar to fabric 1.Easy to machine, dissolved readily in cold water.

Series 4. Romeo Film:  Appearance like a sheet of plastic. A bit more resistant/firm to machine but OK. Dissolved more slowly in cold water, better in hot water.

Series 5. Ultra Solvy: Appearance like a sheet of plastic. A bit more resistant/firm to machine but OK. Dissolved more slowly in cold water, better in hot water.

Below is a picture of the above samples after dissolving the soluble stabiliser.

After these experiments I concluded that all could be suitable for various machine embroidery tasks.  I decided to use fabric 1, the generic soluble webbbing for my next round of samples, due to all round ease of use, especially the dissolving step.

2. EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT STITCH METHODS

The next 2 pictures show the samples after machining and then after dissolving the stabiliser. Descriptions refer to row number then left-L , centre - C  or right – R.

 

Row 1 L: Grid pattern, straight stitch, combination of machine thread and thicker rayon thread

Row 1 C: Grid pattern, zigzag with low upper tension, combination of machine thread and thicker rayon thread

Row 1, R: Loopy pattern, zigzag with low upper tension, combination of machine thread and thicker rayon thread

Row 2 L: Combination of diagonal rows and loops, straight stitch, cable, two types of perle threads plus machine thread

Row 2, C & R: two attempts to construct a leaf shape using straight stitch, with perle threads  (C) and machine/metallic threads R

Row 3 L: Cable stitch in zigzag loops using silk chenille thread in lower bobbin

Row 3 C: Straight cable stitch in a zigzag grid using silk chenille thread in lower bobbin

Row 3 R: Straight stitch grid pattern with metallic and machine threads

3. SOLUBLE LACE SAMPLES BASED ON SEA AND SKY DRAWINGS & PHOTOS

Sample 1: Cloud pattern using straight stitch and combination of perle and machine threads. Generic soluweb was used as the stabiliser.

Sample 2: Bubbles in spa  using combination of machine and perle threads. Generic soluweb was used as the stabiliser.

Sample 3a (left): First attempt to represent breaking waves using loopy pattern with combination of perle threads, machine threads  and white knitting yarn. I felt this result was too heavy, so I created a second sample with a much lighter feel. Generic soluweb was used as the stabiliser.

Sample 3b (right): Second attempt to produce a more open representation of breaking waves using less dense loopy stitching with machine threads, slightly thicker rayon thread and very fine white perle thread. Romeo film was used as the stabiliser. This result was more visually pleasing.

Sample 4: Sunset produced with wavy stitching, trapped dark blue sheer fabric and combination of machine and perle threads. Aquabond film was used as the stabiliser.

Sample 5: Ripples on water produced with straight stitcing and combination of machine and metallic threads. Ultra Solvy was used as the stabiliser.