Make It In Design Summer School

I have not done much weaving of late as I have been busy taking part in the Make It In Design Summer School.  This consisted of three briefs to create surface designs over six weeks, I took part in both the beginners and intermediate briefs, which meant I had six briefs in total. 

It was really fun getting back onto Photoshop, and getting my paints and pens out again.  I have started to build up my knowledge of illustrator as well, which I am finding a really good design tool.  I have been asked to create a curtain design for someone, and am hoping to use illustrator for this.

The summer school has now finished, and I thought I would share some images of work I created during this time with you.

feather design

Tropical paradise design

 

Jewels design

It is amazing how designs end up from their initial start.

For example the jewels design I started by experimenting with my camera, by taking a close up photo of some costume jewellery and leaving the flash on I collected images of circles of light, which I then copied with my paints.  I then started to draw aspects of the jewels, such as the pentagons, and the light shapes caught in some round pearl type beads.  I then layered them all together and created a kaleidoscope image for this final design.

 

Henri Matisse - The Cut-Outs, British Folk Art, Made In Mexico and Making Colour

This was a whirlwind day - I had an itinerary worked out as it was my last full day in London I needed to make the most of it.  I planned to see all of the above exhibitions, which meant I wouldn't have time to look around the rest of the galleries which housed them, but I would have to come back another time for that. 

Matisse - Tate Modern

My first stop was Tate Modern for the Matisse exhibition, this was the first, but I hadn't expected it would be my favourite of all the exhibitions I saw.  Although many of the pieces were recognisable, only by seeing the original pieces could you fully appreciate them. 

He himself did not like the flat prints of the original work as much as the cut-outs, and I can see why.  Although the prints are good, they lack the texture and some of the shading is lost in the prints.  Each piece of paper he cut out had previously been painted and you can see brush strokes in areas, which bring added interest.

With the cut-outs he was condensing the complexities of objects into simpler shapes, when this is done, the background, also a single colour, has the same importance.  The shapes that are created between the objects becomes just as interesting to the overall work as the objects themselves. 

One of my favourite pieces was The Parakeet and the Mermaid from 1952, it is a huge piece of work.  It was interesting to see the way the shapes worked around each other within the composition and the flow of the shapes directing the eye around the work and around the different colours. 

It was also wonderful to see the windows he had designed, I imagine it would be amazing to see the chapel with the light coming in throwing the colour across the floor. 

The Jazz room is also interesting, showing circus images used to create a book, along with his scribbled notes, although his writing has a beautiful curved flow to it.

I thoroughly recommend this exhibition, there is so much to see and learn about the works, I felt I could have gone round again.

British Folk Art  - Tate Britain

The first room of this exhibition is a large wall with large objects on it, which were originally used as shop signs.  At a time when literacy was low, signs such as these were used to describe trades on offer.  They are imposing, but would actually make a great print design, I could imagine it drawn out and worked into a repeat.  Objects such as a shoe, a key and a top hat are on display in a larger than life format.

Folk Art is an interesting term, in that it is seen as art of the untrained, but in context you can see that it gives a social commentary of the time in which it was created.  A large quilt is hung on the wall, designed by a couple getting married it includes objects which represent favourite items or hobbies of the couple, it even includes a drawing, in stitch, of a cartoon character they enjoy. 

I thought the sweetheart pin-cushions were particularly beautiful, in the 14th century pins were rare and handmade, so were prized possessions.  Putting a pin into cloth was meant to be lucky, so a pin-cushion would bring luck to the person for whom it was made.

Another beautiful piece was the engraved cockerel made from bone, it was made by a French prisoner of war between 1797 and 1814, there is real craftsmanship in the piece, which is put together with such precision and accuracy.

Made in Mexico - The Rebozo in Art, Culture and Fashion - The Fashion and Textile Museum

I dashed around this exhibition somewhat, although it was lovely to see it, particularly as I have an interest in weave.

The Rebozo is a woven shawl, often inherited or given as a gift to the woman in the family, it is therefore seen as a sentimental piece of cloth with ties to the Mexican heritage, it is seen as a symbol of national identity.

The Rebozo is often decoratively knotted at the end or with other decorative features to finish them off such as beads, feathers etc. 

Rebozo showing different techniques used throughout the shawl.

 

beaded detail on a Rebozo

 

Rebozo with decorative fringing.

 

A decorative box used to present a Rebozo as a gift

 

 

Also on display were some modern pieces created by designers such as Kaffe Fassett and Wallace and Sewell.

 

Making Colour - The National Gallery



This was a very different exhibition, I hadn't been sure if it was something I was particularly interested in when I first heard about it, but a friend of mine had been to see it and said it was amazing.  I have to admit when she told me about it, it did sound good.

This was a fabulous and eye opening exhibition, through it you discover more about the pigments used by artists in the past and the differences between the different pigments used.  Each room is themed in a different colour.  It was really interesting to see how the pigments used had changed over time, where some kept a rich colour and others had faded, although originally they would have been the same colour. 

It was also great being able to take part in an experiment at the end in the cinema room, this is worth doing if you are planning to go as you also learn some interesting facts about the way we perceive colour.  What especially amazed me was the experiment with the dot - I'll say no more, go and see it!!

I had such a fun time in London, I would have liked longer so I could have explored more parts of some of the galleries as I only had time to go to specific exhibitions, but I will definitely have to go back again, although it may not be till next year.

I feel inspired to create, which is the main thing. 

Kaffe Fassett at the American Museum

I was desperate to see this exhibition, it looked absolutely fabulous, and it was.  Although it is not a huge exhibition, the amount of items that are crammed into the space was amazing. 

The look of the space is exciting, as you stand back you see a riot of colour, as you move further in you see details, such as texture and pattern that make up the whole.

 

 

It was wonderful to see his mood boards and inspiration items among the collection. 

 

Each room is a different colour setting the theme and pieces are hung from the wall or draped on mannequins.  I particularly liked the glass cabinets of items, it was fascinating to see these collections. 

 

The exhibition was truly inspirational, and a back wall had quotes from him, which were also thought provoking, encouraging a designer to play with colour and not be afraid of it, and also not to be afraid to use a lot of colours together.  

 

 

 

After the exhibition I went to look at the rest of the museum, it was interesting to look around the house as there are some really interesting artifacts housed here.  I was particularly interested in the Folk Art room, as I was going to an exhibition of the same name at Tate Britain the following day.

 



 

London and Bath 2014 - Radical Geometry and the Poppies

I have just returned from a trip down south, I had really wanted to see the Kaffe Fassett exhibition in Bath, but it was so expensive to get the train down from Leeds, that it actually worked out cheaper to have a few nights in London and go up to Bath for the day from down there. 

It was also a great excuse to visit the London galleries too.

I got down to London on the Monday around lunchtime, which gave me the afternoon to explore a bit.  The first thing I did was head down to see the poppies at the Tower of London.  They are very special, and a beautiful sight, especially against the backdrop of the Tower.

I headed from there to a small exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, Radical Geometry.  This was a really interesting exhibition, as it was not something I knew a lot about.  It covers Modern Art from South America in the twentieth century.

Artists in the earlier part of the century were influenced by Europe, artists were very political, such as the Marxists of Argentina, and wanted to liberate art from the traditional.  They experimented with composition, and no longer wanted to think of art as something within a frame, but that could be any shape you wanted it to be. 

Technology was also advancing at this time, and in Brazil it was a machine-aesthetic that came through in the work.  Mathematical principles and the psychologists theory of Gestalt was used to create the work of what were known as the Concrete artists.

There were a number of pieces of 3D art, creating visual interest, along with the discovery of the shadows, which become a work of art in themselves behind the pieces. 

There is a wonderful piece in the centre of the room called Nylon Cube from 1990 by Jesus Soto.  Long pieces of nylon thread hang down to create a cube shape, which seems to shimmer as you walk around it.

The highlight of the exhibition was the final room, which showed the work of Carlos Crus-Diez called Physichromie No. 500 from 1970.  This is an amazing piece of art created using Perspex coloured strips which stand out from the canvas at different heights.  As you walk along next to the artwork it changes as the different colours come into view, it is beautiful and magical. 

Harlow Carr

A visit to Harlow Carr, the RHS gardens in Harrogate.

It was gorgeous weather, and such a relaxing place to visit.  It's lovely at this time of year with all the colour of flowers in bloom.

New beginnings

I have been quite busy since my last post, which was over a month ago, I know that's bad, but I was being creative.

I really needed a change of direction, as I was getting bored with what I was doing, I think because it was almost a follow on from my final collection it felt like I had been working on it a very long time.

I decided to just choose a topic that would take my creativity in a new direction, so I have been looking at Art Deco.

Art Deco used a combination of line and curve, it took inspiration from everywhere drawing on both tradition and the modern machine age to create images that moved away from modernism's graphic styles to something that gave pleasure and escape.  Art Deco was the period of the 1920's boom to the Depression of the 30's, during Hollywood's glamour years following the end of WW1.

It followed on from Art Nouveau with the influence of nature and natural form, but also including graphic, geometric and angular styles, such as those seen in cubist paintings.

This is where I have started from, I was very much drawn to the bold colours, which was a complete move away from what I had previously been doing.

And I have a new warp:

I started experimenting with striping across to find what combinations worked well.  I have been developing my own lifting plans on Fibreworks.


I loved the way these colours worked together, I am trying to create more curved patterns across the weave to bring together the curves and straight lines, I am really pleased with how it is going so far.

I don't know what it is but it makes me feel really happy working with bright colours, it might be that along with the sunshine, which seems to be wanting to stay around for a while as well.  Ahh isn't summer lovely!!!

Vintage Loom

I thought I would share with you a job I had through my work at Texere Yarns, the Mill shop in Bradford. 

They have had a vintage loom in storage for a number of years and I said I would have a go at warping it up to see if it still worked.

The loom is a Dryad Leicester four shaft table loom, it all seemed to function well enough, and although the heddles were obviously old, they were not rusty.  The only thing I had to do was create a set of cross sticks for the warp. 

Once it was warped up I did find that it was not that good at beating into the fell, leaving the weft yarn travelling across the warp curled up in places.  This could be because of the yarn used, a thicker or smoother yarn may work better with the reed, or it may just improve as the cloth builds up.

 

 

 I had more warp ends through each dent than I would usually like, but the shed did not seem to be affected by this.

 

Warped up and ready to go, bit disappointed that this picture is a bit blurry!  The warp was made up of different shades of grey and a lilac, I thought that brighter colours could be added into the weft.

 

I won't be giving up my Ashford anytime soon, I certainly appreciate the smoothness and lightness of use you get from a more modern loom after having a go with this, although I enjoyed the challenge and it was a really interesting experiment.

New Warp

My new warp has now been dyed and is back on the warping frame.  I hope to get it onto my loom tomorrow.  It is looking pretty, the colours travel from a pale yellow, to mix with pink creating coral and through to a bright pink.

 

I enjoyed a trip into Leeds last week, I wanted to go to the library to see what weaving books they had, not many I found out, but still worth a look in the Art Library, I always find something interesting.  It's a lovely building too.

 

There was a display of antique butterfly and moth encyclopedias with their illustrated plates.

The building is linked to Leeds Museum, although I didn't have a look around, I did manage to get into the gift shop.  I really like this illustration from Ohhdeer.com, which was on the cover of a notebook, it's fun and I am always drawn to anything to do with animals.  The face and eyes are so lifelike, but the feathered headdress shows that it has clearly been painted, I like this mix of realistic and playful, creative art.

First warp finished!

I've had a busy time over the last week or so, I intended to finish this warp as quickly as I could.  I wanted to see how the threads would work, and what types of items the cloth would be suitable for.

It has created a really delicate cloth, with a lovely drape, and I am really pleased with the way the dyes have worked on the warp.  I intend to carry on experimenting with this dyeing technique to see what other results I can achieve.  It was interesting overdyeing the yarn as this means the yarn is all colour, so even areas I did not apply dye to are still a pale yellow, as was the original colour of the yarn.

I'm preparing my second warp, and including lots of ties so that it doesn't get tangled after it has been dyed.  The first warp I made I tied after every 50 ends, which probably wasn't enough really.  This time I'm doing it after every 20 ends. 

We'll see how it goes.

Preparing my warp

I am so excited, I have just got a warp onto my loom.

I decided to have a go at warp painting, I wanted to create a soft look to the weave and I like the way the painted warp gives the variations in colours across the cloth, rather than the striping created by using single colour threads. 

The inspiration has been my floral pinhole photos, which create blurred images of colour.  The images convey memories, when we reflect on images in our mind, they are not always clear and things may be missed.  The images have a romantic feel to them.

 

 

I took inspiration from this photograph to match colours and to inspire the dyes I used.  The warp is an organic cotton warp, and I dyed it using procion dyes.

 

I didn't leave the dye on too long as I didn't want the colours to be too bold.  The colours have a fresh summery feel to them.

 

I'm really pleased with the way it is weaving up, this is a distorted twill pattern, using a pale green.  I wanted to try a few different structures and colours, but as I am pleased with this I am going to keep going for a while before moving onto another colour and structure.  I'm hoping to create purses and other small pieces from this warp.

Spinning

On Sunday 2nd March I was invited to take part in a Spinning workshop at Texere Yarns.

I have previously had a go at spinning, and it was great fun to give it another go, the main aim of the day was to get used to using a drop spindle, it was all going so well with the fleece that was brought in, however, as I attempted to try other fibres such as possum! and merino it all started to go a bit wrong.  More practice needed I think!!

It was great to have a go on a spinning wheel as well, I think I preferred this to the drop spindle as I felt my hands could just concentrate on teasing fibres, rather than having to keep spinning the spindle.

It is such an art and I really admire those that do it, they make it look so effortless. 

I came away with an interesting - highly textured, length of yarn, which I intend to have a go at knitting up, although what size needles to use is anyone's guess!

My name is Paula Cutter and I graduated in 2013 with a First Class Honours Degree in Contemporary Surface and Textile Design.  I intend to continue with my exploration of woven design and set myself up as a Designer Maker creating products such as scarves, bags, cushions etc.

I like to explore themes with drawing in different types of media, along with photography.  Whilst studying I began to experiment with alternative image capture techniques, such as pinhole photography.  I intend to continue with this as it is such an interesting and exciting process.

I have an 8 shaft loom on which to create fabrics.  Experimenting with the setting up of the loom, the preparation of the warp and the weave structures will be a continuous journey with many possibilities. 

Whilst studying I wrote a dissertation on the slow movement and as part of this researched sustainable and environmentally friendly fibres, I intend to source yarns with these credentials for my collections.

Alongside my work as a Designer Maker, I am also going to be working part time at Texere Yarns, which I am really excited about.  They are a large mill shop in Bradford, selling yarn, books and accessories along with running workshops throughout the year.

I look forward to the journey and will post images, explorations and thoughts as I go.