A Reflective Commentary on Assignment 1

This first assignment has been an eye opener for me. I have always worked from charts and patterns with my needlework, even with projects that I've designed, I have used software to adapt the image into a pattern. It has been difficult to separate that methodical and organised part of my mind from the creative side.

I used to draw and paint a lot when I was younger, taking Art at A level and even drawing well into my 20s. However I never felt that my drawings were good enough, I wanted them to be exactly like the object or landscape that I was trying to capture and I fought against developing my own styles.

'Making Marks' was incredibly difficult for me. I had this firm idea that in order to represent the meanings of the words, I had to do the obvious. Whether that was someone being happy to convey happiness or a speeding car or someone running to represent 'fast', these were the images that raced through my head. As I practised, it felt more like I was reverting to the child that I was. I had to put away any natural inclinations to draw direct representations and try to free up my mind and my hand to 'just' make marks. It sounded so simple but it wasn't.

It felt like a trial, something to be endured to get to the sewing, if you like. I had to walk away on several occasions, trying to clear my mind and get a blank state to work from. And for me, that worked. My scribbles were very haphazard but the more I tried it, the easier it became. I really enjoyed this part of the assignment and it has definitely helped me to be more fluid in my sewing and my visions. It's no longer about copying something so that it is a perfect replica but now all about giving my view, my impression and thoughts of the image I'm trying to convey.

When it came to the sewing, I knew I had more confidence and more belief in my creativity. Over the years, I have blocked that creativity in a way, preferring to go the tried and tested routes of 'sewing by numbers' or that's how it seems. This section of the course had pushed me to climb a few of those walls and although I know that there are other barriers to get past, I feel as though I have the self belief to at least push myself a little further.

Being able to just let loose with the needle was very liberating for me. It has also enabled me to see everything differently now. I don't just see fabric, a skyline, a flower or faces, I see textures, I see lines and stitches. I see future projects. But I'm not seeing them being a project that is a direct replication but as a new and different version, even if it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the original sketch or photo, it will have been inspired by that.

How I see colours and shades of those colours is different now, as I am attributing moods and feelings to colours. I don't see things as being all one colour or all one texture, now I am seeing many, many variations and combinations.

This section of the course has encouraged me to draw more, to make notes and to try to be more organised about my ideas whilst giving rein to my thoughts and creativity. I'm finding it difficult to turn off at night, with stitches and colours, lines and ideas fighting for space. I'm enjoying that.

Review & Reflection

I chose the image of the woman gathering water from my sketch book, mainly because I liked the idea of having more scope with the fluidity of the water. I felt that once I had really looked at the photo that the sketch came from, there was more to this than just a straightforward idea of water as blue and flowing.

I had already started on a piece from this image and I was initially pleased with my progress. However I seemed to reach a point where I wasn't satisfied with the range of stitches or the ideas I was trying to get across. Nor with the size. I felt it was actually quite small when I reassessed it.

It's really difficult when having already done several hour's work, to make the decision to start again but I really wanted to do this, the image/sketch was important to me in that it had already stretched my imagination on the  ways in which I could move ahead.

I was still happy with my choice of base fabric and really happy with the effect of the netted material on it. This time, rather than use just a small section of the netting, I used a much larger piece and laid it on the fabric in such a way as to create layers. The frame held this in place while I stitched. I'm glad I didn't sew it into place, as the flexibility of it, helped to guide many of the stitches around and on it.

I used the sewing machine to create lines along the bottom of the image, going over the mesh fabric but I still don't feel confident enough in getting the right look with the machine. I need more practice in directing the stitches rather than letting the machine guide me. It did however form a really good base for me to add other stitches to, as can be seen in the photo below.

I did wonder at what point to stop. It was incredibly easy with this piece, to keep sewing and to keep adding to the work.

I like the way that the french knots in the white and lighter shades of blue give a seafoam effect on one side whereas the greener french knots on the left give an idea of plants.

I am really pleased with this piece of work. I feel as though I have managed to capture the lines and the flow of the water. I am left wondering though, if I could have achieved that feeling, if I had chosen another colour range, would it have appeared water like in shades of red or green?

Project 2 - Stage 6 - Using thread and yarns to create textures

The first picture I chose was my sketch from the Georgia O'Keeffe 'Calla Lillies' that I've used before in the early stages of project 1. I really like the colours and the flow of the strokes and this definitely guided my choice of image.

The first attempt was a real hodge podge of stitches, from satin to running stitch and then to seeded stitches combined of white and black strands.

The image below was entirely chain stitch but with varying thicknesses of thread and wool, I felt that the natural curve of the chain stitch made this easier to achieve the curve of the stamen and the lines.

The yellow raffia thread was perfect for the stamen when I chose couching as the next stitch. I felt that I was moving away from the original image. Although it maintained similar lines and colours, the couching and thickness of threads and wool seemed to make it look very bug like. Of all the hand stitched ones, I think this one was my favourite.

This project was my first attempt at machine stitching. I have used the sewing machine before but mainly for unsuccessful attempts at halloween costumes. I know that I got my tension wrong on this fabric but I got so caught up in the sewing that I didn't notice until I was nearly finished. It was incredibly easy to get the lines right although I did feel that the stamen ended up much bigger than I originally intended. 

Below, is the first attempt with the machine. I was really happy with it but this was a case of getting totally carried away. I ended up doing far too much to it and completely destroying the effect. What started off as a quite gentle flower, seemed to take on a life of it's own. It was only when I stepped back from it and had a good look at it that I realised the truth in the saying 'Less is More'.......

I decided to choose a different image to work from and have a second try at this stage. I chose the sketch and photo of the African woman gathering water that I used in the making marks stage from earlier.

I love this imagery. I feel that I need to do more to this or at least make a larger version, it is incredibly easy to give more thought to the water, maybe because it is an active object.

The base fabric definitely gives more life to the image (part of me wondered if that was a slight cheat on my part) but as I worked, I came to realise that the shimmer of the base fabric actually gave me more ideas for the fluidity and the colours of the threads and netting used. This project most definitely isn't finished.

Project 2 - Stage 5 - Stitches to create texture

Believe it or not, I did iron this piece of stitching before I took the photo!

It was during this exercise that I really became a fan of 'couching' and probably used it far more than I should have. I loved couching with the raffia thread - because of the texture of the raffia, it was very easy to make it do more than plain cotton or wool. I was able to raise the raffia between the couching stitches, giving it far more texture and life.

I really liked the effect of the seeding stitches especially when placed over one another repeatedly. Again with the couching but I felt more confident about making curves and shaping the base thread as I sewed it.

This exercise pushed me slightly more towards using more imagination. Again, it's hard to break away from the cycle of staying within the lines or following patterns but I actually feel as though I'm starting to do that now.

Project 2 - Developing your marks

Preparation - I'm never the most organised of crafters. Usually I have a mess of threads and fabrics strewn around which I grab at whenever I need it. To have to 'prepare' was not something I'm used to but I can only say that it helped. It gave me some fresh ideas where the fabrics were concerned and also the combination of colours. Putting the various similar coloured fabrics and threads into plastic bags, I then set to practising some of the stitches. Some were very familiar but others were dredged out of the memory banks and I'll be honest, I struggled with a couple of them.

Exploring marks and lines through stitch techniques

Although I can be very disorganised with my materials, I have always tried to be very disciplined with my needlework. It has always been about keeping within the constraints of charts and patterns but here was a chance for me to let loose I suppose.

I definitely left my comfort zone after the first few lines but I really enjoyed it. I felt freer and in the end it was just a case of ignoring all the previous rules. This was fun!

Stage 3 - A sample


I used a much finer linen for the background fabric of this exercise. I picked my sketch of the woman fetching water because I really liked the lines of her arm as well as the texture and shapes of her hair.

I didn't feel very confident at the start and found it quite hard to put the needle into the linen. I had to fight against basically recreating the image but once I had an idea for the hair, I was off! I was never intending to move as far along the sketch as the sarong but loved the colours in the original photo and just carried on.

Being in Qatar can be a bit problematic when it comes to getting materials and I know that I need to stock up on more fabrics (which isn't too hard - we do have some fantastic fabric shops in the souqs) but things like wool are very basic acrylics. So online shopping and a trip back to the UK at Christmas should swell the material boxes. I am finding this 'freestyling' way of sewing very therapeutic and I know that my imagination is getting very stretched by these exercises.

Stage 4 - Working from your sketchbooks

Q. Have you ever thought about drawing in this way before?

A. No, never. I've always doodled, faces or animals or even just lines or shapes but never given any thought to drawing in this way.

Q. Were you able to be inventive about the range of marks you made?

A. At the beginning I found it quite difficult to be imaginative. I was constrained in my previous way of thinking that in order to convey a meaning, an expression or an emotion that I had to draw an image i.e Happy = a smiley face or similar. To try to draw lines or shapes that adequately described those words was a real challenge for me. I did find it easier to do by the time I got to the second attempt and I had at least stopped worrying if I was doing it correctly.

Q. Did you explore a wide range of media?

A. I would like to think I did. I definitely used a lot more than I am used to. When I draw, it's with a pencil or a pen and when I paint it's usually with acrylics and brushes. Over the couple of days that I spent on the initial exercises I found myself using chalks, pastels, watercolours on a variety of different papers and surfaces.

Working from my own sketches

Q. Are you pleased with what you have done? Will it help you to approach drawing more confidently.

A. To begin with, I found myself quite disappointed with what I was producing. I have been so boxed in with the literal thinking of trying to draw things as I see them, rather than trying to convey meaning with brush or pencil strokes that it was hard for me to look at my work and be pleased. I was definitely happier with the results when I was able to use colour and textures, rather than just the pencil on paper method. That said, I have gone back to review my earlier pieces and I actually feel happier with that work. I needed to walk away and then look at them with a fresh pair of eyes. It made a huge difference. Even in the few sketches that I have done since I started the Making Marks exercise, I can see real progress and a definite change to the way I draw. I feel more freedom now. Before, I was so intent on getting down a true representation of an object that it almost blocked any personal style from developing. Now, I feel that I'm allowing my imagination more of a free rein.

Q. Which exercise did you most enjoy? Why?

A. Definitely the 'Making Marks to create Surface textures' exercise. I love art and there are so many artists that I admire, from many different styles. To be able to take one of their works of art and try to recreate a small section of it but giving it an almost different look was really enjoyable for me. It was interesting as well, to look at patterns in the images and try to turn that lock of hair or the petals on a flower into a texture.

Q. Which media do you most enjoy? Why?

A. I'm torn here between paper & pencil or acrylic paints. I like using the various grades of pencil to create light and dark, depth and body. I was always a smudger at school. I tried to avoid using the pencil to shade, preferring instead to use the lazy option of just rubbing it with my finger. In recent years I've become a little more adept at using the pencil properly and I'm pleased that I have. As for acrylics, I have always loved using them. I prefer them to be almost 'neat' and to use a large brush or a palette knife because I love the richness of the colours and also the texture and body that seems to be created by moving the paint around with the knife.

Q.What other forms of mark-making could you try?

A. I'm going to try some collage work and also the bleaching as well. I also like the idea of making stamps to give a uniform look to the images.

Working from my own sketches

Q. How will these exercises enrich your textile work in the future?

A. I think they have opened my mind to doing things very differently especially with a view to my own designs. I love to sew but I've always used ready made patterns and charts or found a picture I have liked and then used a program on the computer to make the chart. After working from my own sketches, taking sections of the image and 'making marks' it has made me see that even the most basic of doodles can become something interesting and in some cases beautiful. I'm also looking at everything differently. If I'm in the bath, I will look at the bathroom door and see lines and curves in the grain of the wood that I never noticed before. When I see photos in the newspaper, whether it's a landscape or a city skyline, my mind starts to tick over and I will almost 'zoom' in on a particular area and dissect it in my head, break the image apart and try to imagine what those areas will look like. I'm so excited now to try this out with my sewing and see what I am capable of.

Using Marks to create surface textures

Firstly I had to find some images that were rich in surface textures to work from. These could be from the internet, magazines, photos, anything really. I chose 3 very different works of art from 3 very different (in my opinion) artists.

The first picture was 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimpt - and I used the frame around the area of the hand resting on the head of the female subject. The main reason for this, was the small circle shapes, the patterns and the flowers surrounding her head. I already had in mind some methods for putting colour and shape to the paper.

The orange circles with the smaller circles inside them, were the first thing that came to mind when I was looking for various ways to make those marks. I used small round clay cutters which I had already used in a previous making mark exercise for 'Happy' to create bubbles. The inner filled circle was another print effect of a small flat round ring setting from a jewellery making kit and the blue flowers from a piece of scrunched paper. I liked using 'The Kiss' because the colours appealed to me and seemed to give me more inspiration with regards to the shapes.

The next picture was Calla Lillies by Georgia O'Keeffe. I love the purity of this painting. The clear and bright white against the bright sunburst of the orange and yellow but with a darkness to the inside of the flower.

The first attempt was with paint and a palette knife, easy enough to portray the swoop and curve of the petals. With the texture of the paint, it almost didn't need the extra black paint to highlight the petals. I should have left that out, from a certain light, the texture of the paint did a good enough job of that. My favourite interpretation was the image to the bottom left of the photo above. This was all about using the lines to outline the whole flower but to have some lines closer than others to signify the darker shading or the colours.

Exercise 2

This was a similar exercise but it involved using real objects in my home or garden. I took a couple of photos of our conservatory furniture (this is bamboo type wood) and some photos of plants in our garden. I really enjoyed this much more than I thought I would and I've never considered doing this before, in relation to my sewing.

The first photo was of a leaf from our courgette plant, the leaves have been infested with some kind of tunneler worm/larvae - pretty to look at and use for inspiration but not good for my courgettes! The first image was with water colours. I thought that this put across the wishy washy texture of the leaf but it was with the neat acrylic paint that I tried to recreate the tunneler effect. I didn't feel as happy about this as I thought I would. But it did give me the idea to use some embroidery thread (the 6 threads skeins) and stick this to the page. I didn't feel that it needed the colour of the leaf beneath it. To me, the simple swirls of the cotton gave me the visual and physical textures that I needed. It seem to capture the texture better than any other of my methods.

The bamboo furniture was an easier base to work from. Not only in terms of using it to do 'rubbings' but also in relation to the patterns themselves. It became a weave in various ways. When I used the other piece of furniture, made from the same materials but in a different style, I felt like I  was seeing more things but somehow felt as if I was losing my way a little. I could see plaits but it was harder to convey those than I thought it would be.

The final object/image that I used was from another plant in my garden.

Quite a spiky plant and so the obvious choices were going to be sharp and pointy. But my favourite interpretation of this was the one above the photograph in the image above. It's quite dusty here in Qatar sometimes (sand and construction and wind.......) but our plants are watered every day and the combination is usually the little dried spots of dusty water that you should be able to see on the leaves. I really enjoyed using the vivid greens and purples but dotting the little droplets around.

These exercises have really changed the way I look at everything and how I try to interpret them now.

Making Marks in an expressive way - Exercise 1

I don't think I'm too bad at drawing. I'm no expert but it's usually obvious what I'm trying to draw. It was really difficult putting pencil to paper this time. Much harder than I expected it to be. If I actually thought about creating an image to convey 'happy', it's usually a smiley face or if the word is 'fast', well, it would be a car or a rocket ship. But this was (or so it seemed to me) about using pencil strokes on paper to try to convey the meaning of the word.

Given a choice of descriptive words to start me off and the first hour dragged. I think I expected to be able to just whip up a couple of images and was disappointed in myself for not being able to do that. Some words were definitely easier to draw. Sharp - easy, being someone who loves to sew, sharp to me, means pricked thumbs on a regular basis, sharp sharp needles! Happy was smiles, birds over water. Bumpy was a cobble stone path or pebbles on a beach.

I really struggled with slow. I tried drawing slowly and still couldn't get it. No one would look at those small blocks of pencil work, knowing that I had drawn slowly. I think I was trying to convey unmoving and still rather than slow. It was also difficult to show 'sad' as well. I've been sad and I tried to get some of the blackness across but also the criss-crossing of the marks to show some confusion which is often what I feel when I'm sad.

I attempted this again to see if any there were any other images floating around and I actually felt more confident with this attempt.

Exercise 2 involved using different types of pencils and use of pressure to give three different areas of tone. Going from light to dark and obviously the one in between. I really enjoyed doing this. Getting hold of supplies in Qatar can be anything from brilliant to awful so I was restricted to using the few 'B' types and a graphite pencil that I already had. I'm fully intending to do this again with some more grades and types, when I've been shopping again.

Exercise 3 - I had a blast! This was 2 hours of unadulterated fun, painting and stamping and colouring and smudging. Using various types of paper, a mix of chalks, pencils, paints and felt tip pens - watching the different effects of each combination. I can't remember having so much fun. It has definitely given me of an appreciation for experimentation. But I also found that once I could introduce colour and texture to my mark making, I was more able to try to convey what the words meant. At least to me.

I used standard drawing paper and a variety of pencils, pastels, chalks and paints. I've worked with acrylic paints before and like how they appear when very little water is used (or no water is used at all). I also took great pleasure in rooting through old paper bags, ripping the slightly smoother brown paper from a corrugated box. I find myself looking at everything now, with a new eye. Objects that I before, would have taken at face value, a paper bag that the deli put my cheese in or the box that we brought the bottles of wine back from the booze barn in, I now look at and can feel my brain ticking over and analysing them. Wondering what they feel like, trying to imagine what chalks would like on them.

It's very liberating as well, using different items to make the marks, scrunched up paper dipped in acrylics or a palette knive, an unravelled skein of embroidery thread (thanks Henry - our rescue dog) or the round lid from a paint tube.

Another benefit for me, was seeing the effect of my movements on the materials used, affected the outcome. Using a pastel pencil on a scrap of linen, caused the fabric to move, altering the line of the pastel. I knew that water based materials or a felt tip pen on kitchen towel would cause the colour to spread, it's size all depending on the amount of water used or the length of time I left the pen tip in contact. But these were all things I had forgotten.

The act of turning the colours and textures used, into the 'words' came a lot easier to me this time. Sensuous to me, means soft and pink or flesh toned, the curves of a body I suppose. Blue bubbles definitely convey happiness, memories of childhood and running around the garden with washing up liquid and water in a small plastic tube. I had, I think, the greatest success trying to make the marks of Sad or Fast.

Fast - well, that means speed, quickly, a blur fading to almost nothing. I also imagine lines, I don't know if that comes from a line on the road or the line of an airplane's vapour trail in the sky. Using the acrylics, straight from the tube, enabled me to give the texture and appearance of the line as I used a palette knife to flick across the paper. When it was dry, I liked being able to touch this as well. If I closed my eyes, did it convey 'fast'?

Sad or Sadness to me, has always meant a blackness, a scramble of emotions. I used the tangled skein of embroidery thread, dipped in black acrylic and then stamped onto the paper. Then, using the same thread (still with black paint on it) I dipped it into the scarlet. This was to show the anger that can sometimes be one of the emotions that are in the mix.

I think I mentioned earlier on, that 'Sharp' meant pain, too many needle injuries from embroidery or cross stitch. So red was always going to be the colour for that. Again, I was attracted to the acrylics and the pointed palette knife this time.

I have really enjoyed exercise 3. This has definitely opened my eyes to the difference that can be made, simply by the choice of paper/fabric and by the choice of mediums used. I was able to lose myself in this exercise for several hours but rather than feel that I had just wasted a few hours messing around with paints and pencil, I came away feeling that I had made powerful progress in my way of seeing things.

You can see all the images in larger scale on my flickr page 

It's here!!

My parcel has arrived! My course materials for Textiles 1 - A Creative Approach has arrived at my husband's office in Qatar!

I had to get it sent there because this country seems to run on P.O Boxes. We don't have postmen, we have Aramex, DHL or Fedex equivalents, so giving our house address could have resulted in it being delivered 3 countries over. 

Anyway, it's at the office, with the husband. I'm sat at home, waiting...........and waiting. He was kind enough to send me a photo of my box of delights but I'm starting to fidget. 

I'll post tomorrow when I've opened it! I'm so excited, can you tell?

Amanda