week 5 - time to focus

Already its week five!! We had a break and returned yesterday, my brain is too full ~ nobodys fault but my own ~ it goes over and over and over even when I should be asleep ~ I know its good to have lots of ideas but sometimes its too much.

I need to focus and so its with a smile on my face that I can say I am focusing!! Hahahahaha I can hear my friends say yehhhh right ~ I am going to try really really hard. My brain does play tricks with me though. So I had to pick a photograph, picture or something that appealed colour wise ~ how hard can that be ~ but for me it was too hard to pick just one. My pictures are from Australia ~ from visiting my son and his wife last year. I had photos of rainbow lorakeets to beautiful seascapes very different but my choice was easy in the end because before we finished last term my tutor suggested we write down words which represented the photo, my words were all about the sea and the sand and the glistening waters and dustiness and muted tones and the heat and so my picture is chosen!!!

this is one of my own photographs, I remember the heat, the glistening water as if a million diamonds were sprinkled on the surface. Empty beaches and a horizon that never ends.
The sun and its warmth and the sound of the waves hitting the shore,
Peaceful calmness happiness.

I have another photograph to show but it belongs to an awesome award winning photographer ~ I have emailed him to ask permission to show it here so keep your fingers crossed that he says yes. His photograph really represents the colours I remember, where mine is too subtle.

Painted papers are the first thing for me to do now ~ I've got to try really hard not to think ahead to how the finished piece will look ~ I must let it evolve through the design process and NOT work backwards. Here are some papers I've made today working with wax crayons, oil pastels, candles, acrylic paint, brusho, inks, brown paper, tracing paper, baking paper, watercolour paper etc etc

My first project is going to be an expandable book I want it to be alive and a real piece of three dimentional art both on the outside and on the inside where it will be filled with treasure from my trip and will grow with each journey I make to Australia in the future.

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My tutor also talked about the history of colour showing us four of her favourite books. One of her favourites, The Craftsmans Handbook Il Libro dell'Arte Cennino D' Andrea Cenninia, a 15th-century handbook, written by a working artist of the day, it reveals the secrets and techniques of the masters in drawing, oil painting, frescos, panel painting, gilding and casting. Things that so many of us take for granted or dont even know about ~ all we have to do is go to the art store to buy our supplies; our tubes of ready made paint in every conceivable colour and medium, canvas already stretched, pads of papers in any weight required, some even available in supermarkets, or we buy numerous books and magazines on techniques or go to weekend workshops where we learn new ideas with soldering irons, tyvek or heatguns. Of course Im at the work shops and I buy the books (too many) and even use the internet but listening to her talk makes me realise how little I really know about Art and the amazing artists that went before us, she is passionate about her subject and a real pleasure to listen to and I think its about time I started reading. My shopping list has started!

Next week we study LINE ~ we are going to draw.

24 September

I'm still studying colour with painted pages, magazine pages and threads, images are from my sketch book. I've spent more time on these at home too as I really want to get to grips with colour theory, I've played around with paint and how it mixes when really wet and then painting different types of papers and weaving them.




photograph from my garden and painted pages

zig zag sampler using a triad of colours.


What an amazing and busy day we had, last day of term and we did shaving foam marbling


and transfer dyed papers.

transfered design onto fabric

I used ready made fabric dyes which are beautiful for colouring paper and give really jewel like colours.

design exercise using dyed paper and painted paper and wallpaper

And finally I've to choose a photograph, picture or postcard with colours I love for the start of our first project we we return after the hols.

Oh yes I've done it!!!

A fabby day all round at college, we dyed in cat litter trays and plastic bags it was awesome, I dont know what I've been scared of all these years. I've had procian dyes at home for probably 5 -6 years so I mixed up some more dye and this morning I dyed a heap more fabric and tomorrow will rinse them out. I love how yesterdays colours have come out and its a brilliant way to help you understand colour theory. I also painted my sketchbooks pages with brusho as they were way too white!!

Yesterday afternoon I did some more stitch samples on the sewing machine and great news for afew weeks time ~ we're going to do some drawing workshops!!!!!

Im also starting to think of inspiration and design now for my first project, Im thinking along the lines of my garden and whats found there, perhaps my little birds will feature, I've some photos of montbrecia; gorgeous bright orange with flashes of yellow and lime and also the ceanothus with its amazing blue blooms that look like lilac flowers and on the ground theres the beautiful purple/grey slate and the old chimney pots Jim collected for me, so many ideas ~ might work on some tomorrow!!

Straight stitch sampler

I'm exploring my machine with this course and going back to basics, its good to do that ~ I do so much free machining these days, its funny going back to the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this simple sample of straight stitches!

I'm not used to sewing straight as you can probably tell, the fabric I painted myself. The threads are a mix of embroidery threads and the thicker ones I put in the bobbin and sewed from the back. There are snippets of sheers too.
Dyeing at class tomorrow!!!!!!!!
Can't wait.

week two

Hues tones and achromatic

This week we did more colour study ~ really great exercises where a picture is used (one with quite a few different colours) and you take the colours and build up a strip picture of torn magazine pages in the quantities they appear in the photo. Then we created the oppositeOf course you are limited by the colours you find in the magazines but it makes you think about colour (the whole purpose),

Another colour study

Here we looked at how colour changes when white, grey, black and an opposite colour is added.

I also saw the computerised sewing machine which has a scanner so cant wait to draw out one of my own designs and scan it and then watch the machine create it, very excited about this!
I also used the collage Bernina a lovely machine to sew with (very solid) to do my stitch samples with.

First day of college - New Student

First day is always a bit nerve racking but we made the journey with plenty of time to spare. Dundee college is an old school and still has the old bike sheds!! On arriving it looks a bit daunting but by the end of the day Id pretty much found my way around and the atmosphere is good. All the subjects taught there are art based and the corridors have the occasional piece of art hanging on the walls. We met the tutor when we arrived and got a cuppa from the canteen!!!!! Then we spent the morning enrolling ~ filling in forms and registering with the library. The class rooms are large high ceilings, huge windows and abit chilly so Im going to have to wrap up for my classes!! there are alot of students in the class all studying at different levels and courses although all are textile based from the beginners embroidery to felt making, levels one to three of patchwork and quilting, levels one to three of embroidery and those doing research and myself doing machine embroidery.

We didnt have alot of time for pratical but managed to fit a little colour excercise in, looking at hues, tones and achromatic, having worked with colour and fabric automatically over many years its funny to start thinking purposefully about it!!

Next week were doing more colour study and then in two weeks were DYEING I have wanted to dye for so long but have never made the step to actually do it for one reason and another. The fabric we dye will be the base for our experimental stitches, so I have a list of things to collect now ~ jars (lots), strong plastic bags, cat litter trays and much more. I cant wait.

I have new sketch books too ~ I love paper and sketch books and the college offers us the chance to buy these and paper at a reduced cost. Next week Im going to but some sheets of watercolour paper ~ yummy!!

So till next week ~ Judy