My Place

I've just completed a collage (the first I've ever done) for my Creative Sketchbook course. We were asked to do a picture that gives a sense of where we live and I decided to use several techniques that are demonstrated during the course. I've used photocopies of parts of the building, both the formal aspect of the entrance, and contrasted it with our personal space on the balcony with flowers. The leaves are to soften the effect but also to reflect my walks in Hyde Park.
This was a fun, mixed media approach, using acrylics, water colour paints and pencils, photocopies and sketching. I'm looking forward to trying this again.

Screen printed cushions

I made these cushions from some fabric I designed on my Textile day course during the summer term. They are based on manhole covers as part of a project on "City Scapes". As I wanted to develop my skills with screen printing I researched textile artists who use it in their work and was struck by the work of Neil Bottle.
The first stage was to paint the fabric with screen printing paints and then apply layers using block prints I made out of floor protectors you put underneath furniture to prevent scratching. That's all the circles and squares you can see. I then applied another layer using the silk screen and created stripes and the large flower type patterns which are actual manhole patterns cut from original photographs. These are drawn onto thin paper which is placed underneath the silk screen and then paint is applied with a scraper. The patterns can be used repetitively across the fabric and are good up to approx five to ten times before the paper starts to disintegrate.
I was thrilled with the results and felt they were begging to be made into cushions -

hey presto!!

Design Matters

I have just completed module 1 from Design Matters TV, devised by Linda and Laura Kemshall. I started this online course as I wanted to develop my sketchbook skills to inform any future textile work as opposed to following a commercial design or pattern. It's also to support a textile course I attend on a weekly basis where we are expected to use and develop a sketchbook as a basis for our designs.....well, as I didn't even know what that really implied I thought I'd better find out. So far, it's a fantastic course and I have learned masses already! I'm now ready to start module 2 but a little taste of what from module 1 where we were encouraged to draw basic objects from our home.