The architecture of a fibre is like that of the DNA this shows reflective and experiential process in tension,
Just produced a book which is an inspirational story of how creativity can help you rise above the everday problems of life. Attached is a picture of my front cover, my story is told through my hats. www.2QT.co.uk/blog or www.toneredgar.com go to the about page to purchase the book.
Hi everyone,
Just thought I would drop in to show you some images of my completed net work.
You can read more about “Black Velvet, Dark Night” on my website at http://www.peterlsmith.com.au/html/netwurks.html .
After the meeting today I thought some more about the material culture of our textile work: the specific tools we have and the way in which we use them.
What do they reveal about our values and attitudes? Are they part of the construction of personal identity? Certainly some of my tools are very personal items. Some are survivors from the past, and exhibit their previous owner’s care for things hard come by. Through their patina of use they provide a model of authentic experience that connects me to other textile workers.
As a tapestry weaver, I now use a frame loom that I made so that it could be dismantled for travelling to a course in Italy with Lynne Curran. That frame continues now to be the one I use as for me it is invested with knowledge gained through Lynne’s teaching. Through Lynne’s generosity I acquired an historic vertical loom, once used by Lynne herself and before that by Sax Shaw, one time director of the Edinburgh Tapestry Company. I had not known Sax’s work, but researching his career as an artist has brought me into contact with a body of work and a philosophy of working that has informed my own developing sensibility of what it is to be a weaver. Warping it up became an act of continuity and connection. Learning its codes and language provided essential tools for thought about tapestry weaving and how it has been practised.
I have been exploring the idea of a metaphorical net that Jesus talks about in the Bible:
Rather than a net to catch fish, as some of the disciples were previously used to doing in their occupation, they are starting a new life teaching about Jesus and spreading the message that God’s son had arrived as a man to save the world. As they hauled in their nets full of fish, now they will draw people towards God. This will create a new metaphorical net of Christians, joined together, spreading the news of Jesus.
It is this idea of a net of humans that i am exploring, within my work. The photos i have included are early design developments of my work.
My response to the theme of networks came as a result of exploring a dictionary definition of the word network, as a ‘SYSTEM OF INTERCONNECTED LINES, a pattern or system that looks like a series of branching or interconnected lines’ (Bloomsbury Concise English Dictionary 2nd ed., Rooney, ed. 2005, p.973). This has prompted me to view networks as visual compositions, exploring these within the natural world.
My work aims to reveal the beautiful structures and patterns within these natural networks which are no less elaborate, complex or detailed than their technologically networked counterparts.
During the making process and the method of display that I have been considering, I have also begun to explore the ‘networks’ that the method of construction and stitching forms within the work also, allowing these to be revealed by displaying them in front of a natural light source.
Inspiration sources: Botanical structures and patterns in nature.
Concertina paper lace
I am experimenting with some more ideas to necklace and in particular the lace from Elizabethan times. The images above explore the construction concepts of lace (usually they were folded in a figure eight pattern) and shape of the ruffle. I like the idea of turning these paper lace drawings into small books or wearable paper art…..
check out my blog for more images http://kate-ward-design.blogspot.com/2010/06/paper-lace.html
Safety Nets………..I was intrigued by the Norwegian government’s seed vault in Svalbard within the Arctic circle. This botanical safety net protects millions of seeds as a genetic resource.
Many people and organisations are striving to protect endangered habitats and species and it seemed appropriate in this, the year of biodiversity, to explore this theme.
These human safety nets have to be robust but they are also invisible…..how then to explore them through a textile medium?
At the moment I am working with ideas from drawn thread embroidery………….the drawn threads weaken the structure of the fabric(as we do when we destroy plant habitats) then we manipulate it. Beautiful heirloom samples show meticulous neatness and a new strength to the structure. The samples show a course diverse weave with hemp and wool, a rust stained and a leaf stamped organic cotton.
I am not sure where this is taking me yet but I am enjoying the journey.
In these samples I was thinking about the concept of making a 2D work that references “Nets”, rather than a 3D work that is actually a net.
In relation to the context of my work, I am constantly drawn to the environment for inspiration. I have been looking at patterns on bark in particular. In these samples I have worked with images of bark pattern. The patterns in tree bark can be like a camouflage pattern, or can become a net of pattern over a tree.
The embroidery creates a net over the bark; while the cutting and collage technique creates a net over the screen-printed paper, through which the printed paper can be viewed.
In this piece I wanted to use the clear plastic to create some sort of a grid, or net.
I really like how the plastic captures and refracts light and casts shadows even though the light passes through it. The plastic was originally a case for a product, so I wanted to use it as a template for an architectural structure. But in order to do that, I needed to deconstruct the plastic, by cutting away pieces, and then reconstructing it by weaving the pieces into place. From that point, it really became about the process of putting it together, as it really demanded that it be done strategically, or it just kept falling apart and flopping over.
