DISTANT STITCH - DIPLOMA

The last image is for interest as it reminds me of Janet Edmonds workshop at summer school last summer. My husband met this artist at a modelling shoot where her husband was the photographer.





The next series of pictures shows some ideas based on the maple tree in my garden in the autumn.

Next I tried to represent images and objects using a variety of media.

The next 3 images are based on a magazine photo which I liked for the shapes and the colours.

I love the next design of the seed heads (not strictly trees!) and found a photo of a teapot with a similar design.

At last I have managed to pick a theme and start! I have chosen trees locally to start with but I may have to expand in the future to include other plants. Whilst dithering I did manage to take some decent photos in the autumn and this winter. I am posting pictures of my sketchbook to start with. Probably too many pages but its taken me a while to get over my inertia and relearn how to use blogger! Hope you like them..

Wallhanging finished!

After talking to Sian at summer school and the theme of 3D work, I took her advice and turned my flat embellished fabric into an undulating distorted shape. This is supposed to echo the idea of a melting glacier hence the gathering lessens as you move to the right. The red fish was cut up to create a red line, then repeated in more soluble lace, then a couched thread, then running stitches in a finer thread. The original bird is large and is oversewn machine embroidery, repeated in a smaller size in running stitch. The third bird is made from soluble lace and sits on the surface of the piece. The close up photos show the detail of hand and machine embroidery and soluble lace which I used to manipulate the fabric and decorate it. I have shown it on a white sheet as neutral background but it hangs using small metal rings at the back threaded with a strong thread. I actually think it would be best mounted on a canvas covered frame but this is supposed to be a "soft" piece. Hope you like it!

Chapter 9 More design ideas

I like the salt and ink effect as a background so I tried two with either stripes or a patchwork of papers. Then I added either red lines or the fish symbol. My favourite is the patchwork background with the fish and the condor shape. This one I photographed without the flash and the colours are truer.

Chapter 7 Further examples of soluble lace

The third uses ribbons and threads trapped between 2 layers of soluble fabric.This was oversewn by overlapping horizontal rows of whipped zigzag, vertical 3-step whipped zigzag rows and then a top layer of normal tension straight stitch with gold in the top.

The second uses a very open grid of straight stitch oversewn with areas of zigzag in white and trailing linking threads.

I have continued making these to represent my drawings. In the first I have made 2 samples to represent a glacier. the smaller sample uses metallic thread in the top, blue thread in the bobbin and a normal tension straight stitch grid. In the larger sample I have changed the top thread to white and tried to create depth and texture with very dense stitching.

Chapter 9 Coloured papers and samples

No 6

No 5

No 4

No 3 - I don't like this!

No 2

No 1

I have reworked the small coloured designs into A3 designs in order to decide which to choose. I made them big as when I added the symbolism the designs looked so crowded in the smaller form. I am going to post these labelled so that Sian can comment. On the whole the blues represent the glaciers and the reds the old order descended from the Incas which is gradually being lost.

I made a number of coloured papers using the colours in my research work. The initial pinks and reds were too bright so I bought some warmer orange/red inks and they work better. I have kept notes in my book so that I can replicate them if necessary.

Chapter 8 Research for conservation theme

No 4

No 3

No 2

No 1

I made some of these up into coloured samples. I have numbered these for reference.

Next I wrote a list of words which I associate with melting glaciers plus some of Sian's suggested words, and translated these into shapes using black paper.

I was born in Peru so I am interested in South America. I decided to investigate the melting of glaciers in in this area. This led me to look at the effect of this on the indiginous population of Peruvian Indians living on Lake Titicaca. These are my notes.