Unit X - Post 4

Throughout this project I feel my work has begun to develop and reflect me as a practitioner. Not only have I begun to address the weaknesses in my work I feel I am now at a stage to amend and develop my mistakes forcing my project to grow naturally.

Unfortunately I did not collaborate much with others and my main collaboration was with Wallace and Sewell. I believe this was due to a lack of confidence in my work and being apprehensive of another person relying on me. However I do now feel more confidence and more direction so would defiantly consider further collaborations in order to broaden my horizons.

The importance of collaboration was defiantly highlighted for me in the professional lectures. It helped remove some of the uncertainty for me and show clear benefits from surprising outcomes that would have never normally been considered to creating important bonds and links within the industry.  

I feel the most challenging aspect of this unit was making sure you satisfied every client’s needs and demands. I feel I focused too heavily on Wallace and Sewell and that more emphasis on the national trust would have benefited the project and its direction. I also found the time management difficult with only having a 2 week period on the loom. Although this was challenging it did force me to utilise all my time on the loom which will be essential in third year. I also found the initial stages of the development difficult but I believe I addressed the issue and amended my mistakes well in my final 3 samples.

 As I believe I am progressing with my work and becoming more confident with the outcomes I feel my work is at a high 2:2 low 2:1 level. Due to previous marks of 2:2 I hope that my work has showed enough development and is reflected in my grade.  I aim to take this focus forward with me into final year and continue to embrace the project in order to push my grades higher.

 

 

 

Unit X - post 3

The main refinement I made came when analysing my samples. I found even though id explored placement and layout that my samples where to busy and still looked under developed, more like test pieces. I decided as I am a fast weaver and had two day left to create a second warp in order to create 3 final outcomes for the Wallace and Sewell brief. Before weaving I analysed my samples selecting sections that I feel worked well In order to fully develop my outcomes.

 

 

(scans of my test samples)

 

I feel my idea has developed clearly throughout my project with a clear drive and direction throughout. One final samples in particular (shown below) I feel was in particular successful. The sample although has been developed was a strong piece as it creates some much scope for further development. This design in particular would work well in many different contexts. One reason I feel it had been so successful is the use of the breaded fishing wire. The fishing wire was the only fine thread I used and feel added needed highlights and a sense of delicacy. The wire also added structure and a sense of rigidity to the samples which I feel worked really well and added another dimension to the samples.

 

 

(Final sample 1)

The second sample (shown below) I created I feel needed a little more refinement and slightly tweaking. The main reason for this is although the blending was very successful along side the texture although the solid blocks of colour, in particular the purple, I feel was not that strong and the samples would have benefited without. With this said I do feel that the texture and feel of the sample was very successful and was one of my stronger samples.

 

(Final sample 2)

 

In order to complete the project I have thought about various ways I could develop my samples into products. Unfortunately because of the Wallace and Sewell brief running along side the project I became too focused on scarves and neglected to explore the varied options the nation trust could inspire. Once I had realised this although too late to make a product I considered such options as cushions and other soft furnishing for the gift shop. I also considered the option of encasing weave swatches in resin in order to create coasters. I liked the idea of this opposed to a digital transfer as the detail of the weave will not be lost preserving the texture and character of the weaves. 

 

(my samples photographed as scarves before being cut into samples)

 

The items in which I have proposed I feel work well within there context and would fit perfectly into a gift shop at a competitive affordable price. The pieces although very different from the designs found in the gift shop I feel are appealing to the same audience and would sell well for due to there bright but not garish colour pallet. The presentation I feel was a big eye opener to the potential and scope achievable within this project. I believe my boards gave a clear insight into my project and its direction and the allotted 5min time period was a comfortable period of time to express my ideas.  

 

 

Unit X - Post 2

My work is progressing well however I feel I have struggled with a more condensed development period. As we only had two weeks in order to weave I feel this effected the natural development and progression in my sketchbook. As stated in blog post one I was limited to only selecting eight yarns. With the process of selecting theses yarns some problems arose. One main problem was as I used wool for my warp I wanted to continue working with wool or other yarns of a similar thickness, the problems occurred when trying to select wool in a bright colour with enough wool on the cone. Unfortunately with a low availability on bright wool I had to source the wool from a local supplier. Once I had selected my eight yarns I focused mainly on patterns, texture and the layout of my samples.

(My eight yarns)
 

In order to find applicable patterns I drew inspiration from tropical fish and there markings again looking at images in the book FishFace. I then progressed and applied various patterns together exploring what worked well together. I scanned some of my patterns and applied them over images of the tropical fish in the book. I found this helped to get strong designs. As we where able to us Scotweave to design our patterns and download them to our loom, I became more encouraged to produce more complex patterns and designs.  

 

 (Photograph from FishFace with my patterns over the top)

I have paid a lot of focus towards the layout creating weft wrappings to explore proportion in my test samples. Another way I’ve exploring layout is I scanned and printed my samples and used collage in order to explore potential combinations. This made my visualisations for what my final samples would consist of a lot clearer. Although by doing this it is hard to get a true feel of the textures and surfaces created by the different patterns.

 

(weft wrappings and collages)

 

I also visited Whitby for primary research and gathered some interesting pictures of crab baskets that have inspired my patterns. I also feel like the surrounding and Whitby’s strong fishing link inspired my and help generate ideas for my project.

 

 (images from Whitby)

It was highlighted in my tutorial that although I have produced a large amount of samples they still look too much like test and that it is now important for me to analyse my samples and choose key strong sections in order to further develop and reach my potential. Another point highlighted in my tutorial was more drawing in my sketchbook would also help push my work forward and make natural progression and help with the selection. My aim now after tutorial is to scan all of my samples into Photoshop and analyse the strong areas manipulating them to explore there potential. I feel I still have room to push my project forward and more risk taking in my development is important in order to produce a solid product. 

 

 

 

 

 

Unit X - post 1

Were was original advised to by looking at the national trust collection (http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/) in order to find a image to base my project on. It was recommended to choose a painting in order to draw inspiration from the colour. I decided that the painting where to dull so looked at other items for inspiration. After searching trough the website I found numerous images that sparked my interest creating various mood boards in order to see the potential of the images. The two images that I chose to work with was an old fishing net and a old fashioned poster of fish. From this starting point I then looked at my dads fishing collection and began making colour raps to create a warp. I picked a colour pallet that I found most interesting then developed it to create a warp that fit with our Wallace and Sewell brief. I then took out a book from the library called "Fish Face" and analysed the colours and patterns of tropical fish in order to find my weft yarns and suitable pattern. Wallace and Sewell set a clear brief that only 8 weft yarns could be used through out our sample, 2 lights, 2 darks, 2 bright's and 2 others. I decided early on that one of my other yarns would be braided fishing line in order to keep a strong link. With the limited colour pallet this project has pushed me and inspired me to really think about layout and form of my samples.

(mood board created from National trust inspiration)  (Sketch book work choosing a colour pallet)

(photoshop work exploring warp options)

 

(scan of my warp wrapping) 

 

Wallace and Sewell are a weave based company who work both with interior and fashion. This has inspired me to explore all my options as it is a similar path to what I would like to follow. I am primarily interested in interiors and soft furnishing however the ideas of producing a scarf is something I would like to explore more. There work is very strip orientated and is primarily block threaded. I decide to follow a similar route with my weaves as iv never worked with strips and thought it would potentially push my work forward. Wallace and Sewell's work really stands out for me as they have an excellent understanding of colour, scale and pattern, I feel this is depicted in the images below.

 

(Some of Wallace and sewell's pieces)

Ismini Samanidou, another weaver, visited and delivered us a presentation on her work. Ismini works in a polar opposite way to Wallace and sewell as she works by commission and creates bespoke instillations. I found her sense of freedom and over powering drive to explore very inspirational. Although I struggle to work in this manner she has shown the importance to thoroughly explore all optional and that opening one door could potentially open many. From her presentation I really liked a piece of her work she did for a national trust site. This was a wall hanging at Godolphin House, a site specific piece that not only focused on the grounds of the house, fit perfectly with its surroundings in the cellar space she was allocated.

(images from Ismini Saamanidou's Godolphin House wall hangings)

My feedback tutorial went well as I have a clear focus on where I would like my weaves to go. Lesley advised on more sketchbook development in order to really push my weaves forward and develop to a high standard. I Feel like iv begun to find my feet in this project and really understand the development process more.

Mark Laita is a photographer who did a project on fish. I found his work very helpful as his pictures are so crisp and clear and the bright colours pop against the black background.
http://www.marklaita.net/projects/water.html

 

some samples

photoshop

Tried turning some picters into a check to see the potential in my weaves