Sunday Share - 21. 6.15

Another delve into the sketchbook.  After last week's chat, you might have thought err why?  Well what you see here is more of how I use a sketchbook - really its just a place to save information, and in convenient form.

For some reason I have a deep need to photograph doors, which also at times includes windows, gates and chimneys.  The doors dominate my photo collection though, but I haven't really made much art from this source...

However, as you will know from past posts and work, I do like beach huts and conversely the stereotypical birdhouse.

So here we have the latter.  Much as you can readily find templates for such things on the internet.  I work everything out myself.

I will spend ages drawing, planning, measuring, trying to get the look right.  Yes it would be easier to copy someone else's work, but then it wouldn't be my work would it, and I've always believed good or rubbish, at least its all mine.   Plus there is something to be said for working it out, as it gives an understanding of the how and what.
I've said before my sketchbooks look like architect plans.
As well as trying by drawing, I do also go on to make paper mock ups.  I find it a lot easier to work in my hands this way, and to look and adjust and see what I like and don't.

Here we have a whole pile of try-outs in different sizes.  This set of workings pre-dates my Beach Hut trials, so it informed me of how to proceed with those.

So after all that plain dull playing, which actually I find quite satisfying... this is what appeared.

Little colour ideas for a selection of, and a stitched sample.  So far it has not gone any further than this, but it might do.  However, there is a whole wrath of colourful houses and  birdies around, lots of skillful artists experienced with bright colour and shapes, which I am drawn to looking at, but not quite made my own.  Unless of course you count this...

My secret postcard made for Burnham Art Trail 2014.

Sunday Share 7. 6.15

The pages this week are fairly recent, 2012, however the technique is not so new.  When I was at college we called it Counterchange.
Take a look.

About this.... its was inspired by a technique I saw by Alicia Merrett  - now I find myself continuously drawn to the world of quilters - but I have never ever made a quilt, was made to remake my quilting samples for City & Guilds Embroidery (yes I know Embroidery, but we had to do some quilting too) - my piecing was a smidge out and I had to do over.  Grrr.
I suspect its because I'm abstract minded, quilters like Alicia fit that concept,  the bright bold colours and shapes.

So I've done the above technique before, but this time I wanted to stitch it in a different way, using a twin needle, well if you can possibly look closer, you will see what a disaster that was.  I did not make a good job of the wiggles.  Perhaps I used the wrong size of needle - these days I have twin needles in many widths.

As you can see I have had better success with it, using other stitches.  Actually there is a blog post somewhere about this piece.  Essentially the handstitching was worked first, then it was cut up and joined together.  It was originally one long piece but I didn't like it, so chopped it up into "postcard" sizes.

Isn't it always the way, when working on one particular topic and method, the urge to do something else is a strong pull.  Another thing I ought to revisit, but not until end of June at the earliest.

Beverley

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Sunday Share 24. 5.15

Well flicking through another Sketchbook, and thought, how utterly boring, lacking in colour on almost every page.  Put that one back, and fished out another.

Instead I found this, dated August 2002.

True, may be to you this is also boring, but to me its a pivotal sample.

I know exactly where I was when this was shown to me, and who shared it..  Post City & Guilds a group of us met once a month to continue our stitching together.  We became known as EsTA - Estuary Textile Artists,  in the main the companionship and sharing was our essence of existence.
The group lasted over 10 years, until numbers came down to just three, with our founder moving away.

So on one of the monthly meetings this technique was demonstrated, and I had a go and thought, wow this has so much potential.

Indeed it has, I've done so many variations of this, and continue to find others all the time.

This is just one of those.

I never expected to find something that interests me long term, and actually quite thought that those who stuck with the same old same old, were lacking in imagination!  However, from this original sample play, I still find new things in it and am still wanting to explore.  So I find its a technique I return to and always enjoy.
I've no idea of its proper name, but I have seen it in the quilting world, so I guess it comes from there, especially as the person who demonstrated it to me, is primarily a quilter.

There may be more of this, coming soon.....

Beverley

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Sunday Share 3. 5.15

Few pages from various sketchbooks this week, just showing the same idea.

When I buy new paints or threads, I make a little sample chart in my sketchbook.  To be honest it would be better if I'd taken note of what I'm doing and kept them all in the same book, but hey - brains, intelligence and all that.

I started doing this kind of thing right at the beginning of the C&G studies.  I can remember clearly my first Preparing Working Design topic (hated it, had changed my mind, as I often did when someone else in the class picked the same idea as me)  So here I was faced with a green plant.  I must have been asked to consider how many shades of green it had, because the result was me emptying out drawers and boxes etc to find every single green pen, pencil, paint I could lay my hands on and making a colour list of them.
For C&G I kept a little paint book, given that many paints were new to me, like interference colours, and texture mediums..
In this book I applied what has come to be known via him indoors as, Beverley Logic.  ie no proof, evidence, understanding, just me saying well, this is water based, and this is water based, so, two must mixed together....
So this is what we have in the image above, strong water colour horizontanlly, and fancy named acrylics vertically, see how the colours change.

So I also apply this kind of template to other things I buy...

A little square of the paint colour and a mini stitch test of the threads.

I attending a talk years and years back, by Leslie Morgan and I've never forgotten one thing she said.  Don't forget a single strand of thread will look very different from the mass on the reel.  I know, obvious hey?  Well it wasn't until she said it....
These threads in the photos were new to me, as in variegated thread which a short colour change, think its only an inch.  Being me of course couldn't possibly believe that was true, so have to have a little stitch out to see.

I try to make my little record sheets as soon as.  Even if I don't use a product right away, I can alway remember I have it noted and know what it looks like.

Mhmm, I will have to investigate taking them out of the various sketchbooks and collating - but I suspect something on the reverse will have to be sacrificed.