Sample Project 2013 - August

A five sample month! And three of them geological.

Week 31: Puffin beak
(Photo of puffin with beak full of sand eels)
Based on close up of the banded beak.
Free machined on calico. Shaded orange thread used instead of accurate colour bands.

 Week 32: Granite under microscope
(Photo of Dartmoor granite tors)
Inspired by a thin section under a microscope, showing the different minerals.
Scraps of fabric and metal flake bonded under sheer fabric using Misty Fuse.
Doesn't photograph very well!

 Week 33: Rocks on a beach
(Photo of rocky beach at Diabaig, Torridon Mountains)
Acrylic paint on black Craft Vilene. Stones outlined in black free machining.
The paint didn't go on easily, as I hadn't bothered to mix it with fabric medium - but in the end I liked the effect it gave, with some of the black showing through.

Week 34: Pattern inside foxglove flower

(Photo of foxglove plant)

Commercial wool felt, embellished. Tiny bits of felt break up well when needle felted with the machine, giving a suitable fuzzy effect.

 

 Week 35: Ammonite suture patterns

(Photo of Jurassic coast, Dorset)

Jurassic = ammonites, but let's not be too obvious... The suture patterns are the intricate boundaries separating the chambers of the ammonite shell. They became more complex as the creatures evolved.

Free machine embroidery on Kunin felt using a light gold rayon thread reminiscent of the iron pyrites often found in ammonite imprints.    

 



 

 

Sample Project 2013–April

So here are we are, a third of the year gone – or 17 weekly samples. I’m still hanging on in there…
I’m quite pleased with how little these textile bits resemble the photos in my John Muir Trust Wild Nature Diary!

 Week 14: Cross bedding
(Photo of Millstone Grit outcrop in Derbys.)
I used a typical cross bedding pattern as found in Millstone Grit, from a geology text book.
Free machined on Aquasol, in moorland colours over a white supporting grid (which wasn’t supposed to show up against a white background!). Tedious. 




Week 15: Adder markings
(Photo of adders)
Knitted (!) in tapestry wool then embellished onto black felt.
Makes a change but I think I’ll stick to embroidery.


Week 16: Dandelion
(Photo of dandelion seed head)
Decided to do an Angie Lewin style dandelion. I see a lot of AL rip-offs, not always credited, but I think I can be excused for a fun sample.
Bondawebbed applique and free machining on cotton. Fun! Maybe I should try using actual permanent fabric more often.


Week 17: Heron feathers
(Photo of heron)
Based on the rather straggly looking feathers on a heron’s wing.
Long straight stitches in a subtly shaded Stef Francis mercerised cotton thread, on a double layer of hand dyed cotton fabric.

Orkney v. Antarctica

Skara Brae

The other week I was in Orkney, and I've been going through the photos again - so much inspiration for textile art! The stunning Neolithic monuments of Skara Brae, Maeshowe, Stenness and Brodgar - places I've always wanted to see that definitely didn't disappoint. And the fascinating geology exposed along the coast, such as Yesnaby's subtly patterned rocks laid down in Lake Orcadie some 400my ago.

But... no time for that just now, as I've still got work to finish for the next Textilia III exhibition and it's due in next week. This is continuing my Antarctica theme - something I'm finding really difficult. The expedition to Antarctica last year was absolutely wonderful, but it's left me feeling a bit frustrated and inadequate. I'm burning to highlight both the beauty and the environmental issues of that incredible continent, but finding it impossible to do it justice. I have made quite a few pieces, but I'm only scratching the surface - hopefully something more powerful will emerge eventually?