Week 3

This week following inductions on the ‘Ethos’ system (multi-head embroidery) I recognise the advantages of digital embroidery and translating my very figurative work. Following Mark’s advice from previous tutorials, I’ve spent a lot of my time developing my skills on the Ethos system as I find my drawings work nicely with the abilities to stitch wide areas of fill or intricate satin stitch I would not be able to achieve on the Bernina. I attempted mixing some text with my illustrations which initially did not work to plan and produced something quite illegible using the running stitch, but developing my skills of the program tried it in some other text in a satin stitch to much more success.

initial attempts with Ethos; I kept the design quite simple, so used a lot of abstraction of marks

further development on Ethos; I think my confidence on the software is growing.

referse side of Ethos design on stitch and tear; I find something interesting in the white space and the dominant black bobin thread

Week 2

This week I have concentrated on developing a series of drawings to inform the next few weeks of work. Following on from my summer research I took the firecracker as inspiration to produce a series of still life sketches, focusing on the importance of ‘selection’ in what I visually record. I’ve learned through this week of drawing that abstraction of key line qualities and colour is integral to my style; both Mark and Nigel have reiterated the translation I must start to make from my drawings into material qualities. 

felt tip and fine liner; could work nicely on pintuck or Ethos

abstraction of visual information gathered from firecracker

exploring the tubular structure, using stitch and collage to add the fiesta essence

Working on a bigger scale has helped me free up my hand producing some work I’m pleased with. An A2 drawing inspired by the repetition and movement of ‘shards’ contrasting with parallel horizontal lines could be nicely translated into pintuck stitch adding the opportunity to create structure. This week has been a challenge as I’ve found the open-endedness of the project unclear; I will push through with producing work and not let an over-all direction bog me down.

Week 1 - Intentions Brief

Following my summer inspiration of a trip to Barcelona and a variety of festivals, I chose the term ‘Past/Future’ from the list given to us to help propel our research. I am interested in conveying ideas of the temporary/ permanent within time and action. Over the next few weeks I plan to capture the essence of ‘explosive situations’ of colour and motion, playing on the idea of a fleeting temporary moment resulting in a permanent affect. 

Correfoc, Festa Major de Gracia, Barcelona August '15

Firecracker and ash

Firecracker; interesting tubular shape

Using found objects as a starting point, I am inspired by some firecracker remnants I saved after the Coreffoc (fire run) in Barcelona. I will also pull inspiration from Catalonian traditions, protests, festivals, found objects memory and dreams. 

Intentions - Induction Week/ Group Crit

Term began this week with a briefing of the Intentions unit, and an introduction to Alex who urged the importance of risk-taking within this unit whilst also attempting to contextualize our work to begin to develop our skills towards a specific industry. A sketchbook presentation took place as part of the Intentions introduction. In small groups we had the chance to present our drawings from the summer which was a great opportunity to see our peers work whilst also getting some constructive criticism and a fresh perspective in a mini-crit. I fee like the session was quite informative both to my current work, and to our practices in general as peer-critiques are an important part of our development as a creative practitioner.

Hand-made skecth book, using ariety of grounds.

La Sagrada Familia; fine liner, watercolour, graphite

Crayon, felt tip, fine liner, colour pencil and oil pastel on newsprint and sugar paper

Chloe described my work as “quite illustrative” full of  “character”, which was a great positive note, reassuring me to keep the illustrative quality of my drawing and mark making, As my sketchbook is quite small due to the fact I made it A5 size for handiness to carry it with me on my summer adventures, Maui suggested to try larger scale to free my hand. My sketches are from a recent trip to Barcelona, exploring line qualities and bold colour; I home to retain the energy I capture from specific moments there in my future drawings for this project.

Pangaea: Vol.1 | Stendhal Fest | Pangaea: Vol.2

Following the end of Unit X and our first taste of freedom for the summer I found myself getting restless without an exciting creative output. This brought me to contacting the organisers of Manchester festival night 'Pangaea' to enquire about possible voluntary work for a week. I have begun to grow an interest in the possible opportunities of festival decor and application of textiles to installation so I was excited when they eagerly took me on board to help them design the decor for the upcoming summer party. Pangaea is a festival which takes place 3 times a year in the University of Manchester's union and has been running for almost 15years. The original spirit of the festival was grounded in the idea of a festival 'for the students, by the students'. 

I absolutely loved giving them a hand and ended up being Volunteer Co-ordinator. This was a great first taster, as its interesting to see the runnings of an event not just in terms of decor, but the bookings and promotional side of this as well.

scene from the 'Disco Appocolypse' decor

willow arch in Stendhal

Back home in (not so sunny) Ireland, I managed to get a week and bit of hard graft working with Stendhal Festival of Art and Music in Limivady. This is a family oriented folk festival whihc prides itself on an imersive whisical festival experience. Although my tasks were mainly quite menial, I spent most of the time painting signs, erecting willow arches and having a laugh down in the 'Wooly-Woodland' helping yarn bomb over 50 trees. This was a fun experience, and a great way of making contacts for future festivals, perhaps securing a chance for an installation next summer. 

Stitching the yarn bombing to trees

Wooly Woodland set up

Wooly Woodland at night

In July I was contacted by the organiser of Pangaea, and offered a paid creative internship, leading the decor team for the September instalment of Pangaea. I jumped at the amazing offer, and the chosen theme was a dream come true; so from the start of September I worked towards transforming the Union into Peter Pan's Neverland. This was possibly the most stressful month of my life, as I was learning completely on the spot with little help, but I feel I've gained invaluable knowledge and experience from this endeavor. I co-ordinated volunteers for decor, compilled room and stage plans, laiasoned with outside contractors whilst simultaneously having to adhere to saftey regulations and budgets. This was a completely new concept for me, working creatively in an actual industry; it took a lot of organisational skills, and forward planning, but I found the most useful skill I learned was the ability to just run with it, as unforeseeable problems always cropped up. I feel like this experience has helped me to start to consider how my work as a textiles student can be contextualised to the real world.

swamp decor mad from paper

'The Village' teepees

Barcelona Babes

In August I visited the city of Barcelona for the first time and I was not disappointed by the visual feasts the city has to offer. Obviously, its a must to delve into the work of modernist architect Antonia Gaudi when visiting the Catalan city; the city feels like a collage of his adventurous designs. The Sagrada Familia cathedral and Park Guell are amazing gems in the Barcelona landscape and a beautiful source of inspiration for many creatives. The mosaics and crazy forms created from Gaudi's imagination, although archetectural in design, I can see the same elements being translated into embroidery.

Inside of La Sagrada Familia

Mosaic in Park Guell, Gaudi

view from Park Guell

While we were there the Festa Major de Gracia was in full swing, a celebration of Catalan culture. The neighbourhood of Gracia deck the streets with handmade decorations as each block competes for best decor. This was an amazing to see first-hand and has definitely given me many ideas to carry through in my work in Level 5. The DIY nature of the decor and bold colours are just tantalising.

street decorations

As a part of the festival, it is a Catalan tradition to partake in a Correfoc or 'Fire Run' in which groups of 'diablos' chase revelers through the streets with sparklers and firecrackers. Its a chance for the locals to 'dance with the devil'; the bright lights, smoke, and authentic costumes were greatly inspiring. I am interested in exploring this experience further in my work as I think it would be exciting to translate photos and sketches from this night in my work.

diablo at the correfoc

Correfoc/ Fire Run