Assignment 5 - Project 10, Stage 2: Focusing on Your Theme Book

For Stage 2, I spent time working in my rust theme book to see which pages held potential. In Slovenia I had begun to photograph manhole covers and ended up with a lot of images.  I cropped these in Picasa to find some interesting areas of pattern and created the photo collage below.  I squared off a page in my book and made line drawings in random boxes until they were filled. 

 



Some of the little drawings generated ideas.

 

 

 

The top two I related to the idea mentioned in my last post about using small interesting areas of rust print.  I was thinking about the shapes of these scraps and how they might be attached or applied. I photographed my fabric and cut out and arranged shapes to see how they might look.  This first one below, I'd like to try with further shapes applied on top.  I like the idea of a simple curved shape contrasting with the straight lines, particularly a large ring that would frame a view and dissect the parallelograms. I think a complicated shape will be too distracting.

 

 

This second one is not as simple as it appears.  The quadrilaterals have no parallel sides and are arranged in not quite straight lines. I cut and arranged the shapes by eye, leaving a border around each that was roughly even and trying to achieve a pleasing colour and pattern distribution.  Working out the maths behind the shapes (are they bicentric?) might help me understand an easier way to make this pattern work. Both I can imagine as some sort of furnishing fabric and I began to think about the scale if used for something like a cushion or curtain panel. 





The bottom drawing I imagined in stitch and I spent some time working out how best to construct it. I stitched a small sample and tried drawing some variations, playing with the length and direction of the stitch components. I particularly liked the uneven rows and the circular design.  This I could see as a round cushion with rows of concentric stitches, becoming huge by the outer row.  The stitch could possibly be embellishment for one of my other ideas and I also picture it used on a small scale, like in Shisha embroidery as a frame for something. 



 

I then spent some more time working into a page I'd begun a few weeks ago when I was thinking about washers and rivets.  I'd started by making prints using a button stuck to the end of a cork to make rusty washer-like marks and added further layers of circles and rings of different sizes.  As I stuck down the photographs of angled washers at the bottom of the page, I imagined them on a huge scale as sculpture and was reminded of my visit to the Hepworth Gallery and the interesting views that were framed by the holes in Barbara Hepworth's work. Ideas on circles, holes and views are becoming a recurring theme for me in this project.

 

 

I always carry a camera with me now and I've begun to keep my images by theme: glass, moss, beach, Winter etc. These I pulled from my rust folder.  I was interested by the shapes created by the perspective on the pier construction, particularly when I began to lay the images on top of each other.  I experimented with the angles and imagined them simplified as quilt blocks.  I decided though, that what was really inspiring me was the colours, so decided to look at the images and come up with a colour palette for this potential quilt.

 

 

I enjoyed this approach so thought I'd look through my theme book and create some further possible colour schemes for my project based on some of the pages. 

 

 

 

By now, I felt I had enough potential ideas ready for development into a design during Stage 3. 

 

Assignment 5 - Project 10, Stage 1: Reviewing Work So Far

Ideas for this final design project have been brewing for some time. In this stage we review the work we have done as potential source material.  By re-reading my reflections and taking a fresh look at all my drawings and samples, it's clear that I've particularly enjoyed trying various felting techniques.  I've been reading around the subject recently and watching video tutorials and it's something I'm itching to explore further.

Felting experiments carried out so far

 

Although I found the actual process of creating rust prints unpleasant at times, the anticipation and experience of revealing them some time later was very exciting.  I've been intrigued by some of the colours and marks that have resulted.  Now I'd like to consider ways to use some of these pieces of textile into a more defined piece of work.

Some of the prints I've made by rusting and/or burying objects

One idea I've had, to give the fragile fabric enough stability to be incorporated into a larger textile piece, is to use some of the more open weave pieces as a base fabric for nuno-felting.  I'm imagining that the puckering and gathering this technique can cause might translate some of the rust-like textures I've been drawing. It would also create a more stable surface to stitch into if I decided to highlight some areas.  As nuno-felting gives interesting textures on both sides, this idea could lend itself to something reversible like a scarf.

Gathering information and making notes of my early thoughts about nuno-felting

 

I've been making some notes in my theme book on these initial ideas which threw up some questions and further thoughts such as:

• Results are unpredictable - how much control would I have on the outcome?
• Encrusted areas are scratchy - will felting make the fabric soft enough to be wearable?
• Do I want to shape any edges and how is this done?
• I could leave holes as viewing areas.  Does it matter if the base fabric is holey?
• What else might I want to incorporate by trapping between the layers?
• Do I want borders, or to create any kind of deliberate pattern with the wool?
• What colour scheme, and should this be rust related?
• Might the felted piece benefit from further embellishment such as paint, beading or stitch?

Of course, it's also possible that rusting might make the bonding between base fabric and the top fibres more difficult, or even prevent it happening at all, particularly in the encrusted metalized areas.  Some advice I've read to test suitability of the base fabric is to blow through it, and if you feel your breath on your hand on the other side, then it will probably work.  If it didn't work so well, I might need to try sandwiching the base fabric between the wool tops, rather than just layering on top. This might not leave enough of the rust print visible or compromise the design.

As the rust printing process is slow, I'm also aware I only have a limited amount of fabric.  I don't have weeks and months to create more.  Felting will allow me to join patches but the different fabrics may well pucker differently resulting in narrower areas.

 

Clearly I will need to make samples to test the feasibility of the nuno-felting idea. I can try on some non-rusted fabric first to make sure I can get a hang of the technique than try some small areas of the rusted fabric so it isn't wasted.

 

I've been thinking about other ways to use the prints.  Some of the fabric pieces have areas which I find particularly interesting or beautiful.  Maybe I could highlight these small areas by patching them together somehow or cutting out shapes and using one of the applied fabric techniques I tried in Assignment 3?  If I were patching, I can imagine something like a semi-sheer window panel, or perhaps I could apply pieces onto a base fabric. I'm ready now to move onto the next stage, which is focusing on my theme book and beginning to make some design decisions.        

Assignment 4: Reflective Commentary & Progress Towards Final Project

Once again I've been surprised by how engrossed I became in the Research Point and am actually disappointed this is the final one.  I'll look forward to seeing what the subjects are when I begin the next course.  One of my highlights was receiving positive and encouraging comments from all of the artists I contacted, particularly the e-mail asking for a link to my blog, which Kaffe Fassett would like to read!  

The research point, and the Imagine arts series I've been watching whilst weaving, also led me to think about my own work and make further investigations.  Kaffe Fassett and Judith Kerr for example, really stressed the importance of being an almost obsessive observer and I enjoyed reading how, though now in his 70s, Fassett is still inspired by his visual memories, even going as far back as his childhood.  Increasingly, I find I'm linking back to something I've seen or done earlier in the course that might not have seemed relevant or useful at the time, such as the Nike Savvas 'Liberty and Anarchy' Exhibition I related to the structures exercise.

Sue Reno, a quilt artist I researched, uses cyanotypes in her work.  I experimented with photograms and sun prints earlier in the course and she inspired me to find out more so I booked a cyanotype workshop. I learnt techniques on how to prepare papers, did further print experiments, identified when prints are ready ('pregnant snow cloud' is a phrase I'll always remember!) and came home with ideas on what I'd like to try in future, such as painting solutions onto silk or cotton and trying substances like bleach or tea to see if and how this alters the colour.  Contacting the Museum of Film and Photography in Bradford to arrange access to their archives to see the notebooks of Anna Atkins is something I'll do next year for myself and other OCA students.

Here's a few shots of my cyanotype prints developing and the results.

 

Below are some of my photographs, copied onto acetate and held flat with an inexpensive clip frame.  This resulted in much crisper, detailed images than my previous sun prints. 

 

 

 

This last print was created by placing the prepared printing paper under a quick sketch I made directly onto acetate using a black marker.

During this assignment I've really appreciated how important the properties of the materials I'm working with are to my enjoyment of the process.  I've experienced frustration braiding and weaving with scratchy, inflexible yarns.  The sensation of gritty rust dust on my fingers, staining my nails and working surfaces has been unpleasant along with the eye-watering acidic smells when preparing for rust printing.  In contrast there's been smooth silk and soft merino yarns which feel wonderful under my fingers and the excitement and anticipation of revealing the contents of a rusty buried package that immediately makes the disagreeable parts of the preparation stage worthwhile. Opening the parcels feels like Christmas, when you almost don't want to unwrap a beautifully wrapped present as you don't know whether you'll be delighted or disappointed. 

Here's the results of the experiments I began in Project 8, Stage 2, six weeks on. The left package was in the greenhouse in the same polythene packet that I've successfully used for previous rust prints.  The right hand package is freshly dug up after burial.



 

The outer layer of the buried package was the largest cloth.  I've tentatively planned to incorporate this into my final piece as it has a fairly open weave so should be suitable for the nuno-felting I have in mind. Once I've found out how to do it and made some test samples that is!

 



I'd wrapped various yarns around each layer that I could use should I decide to incorporate stitching.  Any stitching will be by hand as the rust could damage my machine.   


I love the range of shades; from the subtle peach to strong rusty browns I got from soaking in white vinegar and the lilac/grey that resulted from tea.



These were the cloths underneath.  I was fascinated by the grey silk square that makes me think of some winged creature like a bat or moth.  I've never had a result this dark before. Was this just a co-incidence, or caused by chemicals in the soil?  The cloths here were freshly dug up and soaking wet, so the shades were slightly lighter once dry. I was a little nervous washing the cloths but washing is necessary to neutralise them (and remove the smell!).  Having done it before, I was reasonably confident the prints would remain and they have.  

I also wanted to capture how the grid weaving had changed before I disposed of it.  There's not much left.  It's a very fragile and unfriendly object to handle now - brittle, grainy and sharp.    

 

 

 

This was the greenhouse package ready for unravelling. (Just noticed piece of lace on the right is same one I used for cyanotype print above.)

When I unwrapped the fabric lace layer, something new and exciting was underneath - this sparkling turquoise square! 

Initially I thought the turquoise silk I'd added had bled somehow but then realised it was the caused by that small mystery square of Metaltex I'd popped in.  The square itself also had some beautiful autumnal markings on both sides but it is now very brittle and too crumbly to be useful. 

 

 

 

The interlaced rectangle I had wrapped hadn't changed in any interesting ways itself but I love how the pattern from the nails has transferred onto the fabrics.  

 

I thought there was a good chance the intensity of the turquoise mark would change by washing or over time so took a few more shots to record it. I'm glad I did. As the fabric dried a hole developed in one side.  I've found this often happens as the rusted fabrics dry and shrink.  They become more fragile, particularly the highly crusted areas where there had been close contact with the object and especially if it's a delicate fabric that's been left a long time for a strong print.  I'm hoping that, by nuno felting, as well as adding texture to the patterns and colours, this will give the stability and durability a delicate open weave fabric would need to function when incorporated into a useful object.

 

 

Finally I unwrapped the other stitched grid.  Again the most interesting result was the marks transferred onto the silk fabric rather than any changes to the sample.

(I visited the Silk Museum in Macclesfield with the Embroiderer's Guild a few weeks back and my purchases from the bargain bucket of silk samples have come in very useful.)

The tiny dark grey patterns made by the grid itself are my favourites.  I think I should be considering some way of highlighting the most interesting areas of any prints I use.  

I linked some of the other exercises in this Assignment to my theme and this has given me clearer ideas on the direction my final piece is likely to take. In Part 4, Textile Structures, as well as the exercises, I continued experimenting with felt-making and also tried paper-making.  Both are additional methods of creating a surface. (I'll shortly be writing a report on the paper-making for OCASA, along with Letterpress and Bookbinding.  These were a series of three workshops I arranged for OCA visual arts students following a successful application to access the funding pot for student-led activities.  Links to follow soon.)

Below are some of my handmade papers which I've letterpress printed with words found on manhole covers.  Here I was making rust marks on it, trying torn up Brillo Pads and tea. I've also made some papers with snippets of rust printed threads and fabrics incorporated and have begun binding the papers into a book.

My final piece is due to my tutor on 31st January, which is not long at the rate I can manage alongside family and working life, so I'm grateful I've been progressing my theme alongside assignment 4.

Assignment 4/5 - Theme Book Drawings

My frame is warped up again ready for the final stage of Assignment 4, but I felt like I needed a break from weaving before I began again. I've been thinking a lot about my final project and wanted to spend time working on my rust theme.  It's been very tempting to dig up the rusted objects I wrapped and buried during Experimenting with Structures but I know the longer they are left the better to achieve strong prints, so instead I joined up with the workbook group run by local textile artist Anne Brooke.  Weaving's been quite a solitary experience and I wanted some company. 

As we were meeting indoors and all my rusted objects are busy printmaking, I searched on Pinterest for 'Rust' and printed a few images to attempt capturing their colour and texture using some of my favourite mediums: acrylic paint and paper.

For this first image, I printed through a plastic doily using orange paint then sponged on gold and browns for depth of colour.  I was debating how to achieve the crusty edges of the blue peeling paintwork and Anne gave me a piece of teabag paper to try that she'd bought at the Knitting and Stitching Show. I painted it, then scrunched and tore it and ran my nails around the edges to make them craggy and irregular.  Teabag paper seemed a bit resistant to glue and it took a great deal to stick it down!

Since I photographed this, I've added touches of darker blue paint to highlight the raised areas.  I may add some acrylic wax to the blue surface too and add further detail with pen.

 

Anne had a wide range of materials for us to try and I created this page below using only a finger stamp with a simple design of circular dots. I dragged the paint down using the stamp then added the blue and brown texture by varying the angle of the stamp and the load of paint.  

Obviously I hadn't captured the rust colours well before adding the blues and browns so I worked over the top with pencil crayon.  This helped take back the brightness a little and the crayon caught the raised areas of the dots, making them two tone and more dimensional.

 



 

A while back I bought damaged coffee table books with satellite images taken from above earth and these are my favourite source of paper for mixed media.  I love the textures of the topography and used strips of the images for this paper collage.  

 

Some of the edges looked a bit harsh I felt, so I used the same dotty finger stamp to print and blur them, adding texture.

 

When I stood back later and looked at this, it felt familiar.  Eventually I realised that there was actually quite a strong resemblance to my weaving, which I'd always considered seascape rather than rust inspired, though of course rust is rife at the seaside.  I was weaving the colours and shapes by instinct before I'd ever seen this image though. Surely the similarities are more than a co-incidence? I assume that I've chosen this image because I still had the weaving in my mind. 

  

 

Below are some more of my Theme Book pages created during the last few weeks to generate ideas:

 

When I was on holiday, to the embarrassment of my family, I began noticing and (risking my life standing in the road) photographing the surprising variety of patterns on manhole covers. Before long, the kids were joining in with the spotting though; "Here's a new one Mummy!", "Ooh, have you seen this one yet Mummy?"  On this page I was trying out some spray inks and sponging and overprinting with shapes carved from erasers.  I've thought about making a photo collage of the patterns and drawing boxes with different manhole patterns in each square to see how the simple shapes sit when adjacent to another.

 

This next page is still to be added to.  I like the simple shapes of rusted rivets, and the washers that I've been using in some my rust printed fabrics.  These stamps are made using a button stuck on the end of a wine cork dipped in acrylic paint and I like how they don't come out quite cleanly giving a sense of disintegration.

Below is an oil pastel drawing of a rusty beam under a bridge I saw in Slovenia.  I struggled to achieve the raised effects of the peeling paint until I stuck on small pieces of torn, crumpled paper. I like how the surface of oil pastels can be scraped away to reveal a colour underneath, a technique which I've used to show textures of surface cracks. They can also be used thickly and blended for smooth areas and lightly on their side for a powdery effect.