Module 5, Chapter 1: Texture in Landscape

Point to note as I start this module

For this Module I have set myself a steep challenge- I have decided to try and get it completed by the end of September the latest. Considering most modules so far have taken me the best part of a whole year to do, this on the surface sound impossible! I do however for the first time have the whole of the school summer holidays (school work aside) and I have a strong determination to try and make this work. The main reason for this is that I need to have completed the whole course by the end of Spring 2016 in order to achieve the City and Guilds qualification and there is still module 6 to consider which will need to be completed at the peak of my teaching demands on my time. Here goes....

Module 5: Texture in Landscape- gathering inspiration

To start this module I took my camera outside in and around my garden/local area and got very snap happy at the nature and landscape around me. Afterwards, while looking through literally the hundreds of pictures I took i found myself naturally drawn towards ones that focused on plants and the patterns made with their leaves, twigs and bark however there were other subjects that also looked interesting such as gravel and brick textures. 

Manipulating the images to enhance them

I chose about 25 images that I felt gave an interesting range of implied patterns and textures. Not all of these however displayed much contrast and I found the colour in the photographs to be distracting so I took each image and using Photoshop I turned the photographs into Grey-scale and played with the levels and contrast tools in order to bring out the patterns and textures even more. 

Also using Photoshop I tried various filters to see if I could enhance these patterns and contrasts further. I found the most successful filters to be in the 'sketch' menu- the first being 'Photocopy' and the second 'stamp'. Both these specific filters reduced the image further into black and white contrasts but did so in different ways. Finally I combined each version of each picture chosen as you can see in the following pictures and then selected 14 of these that I felt worked the most successfully overall. 

I intend to keep open minded to the images I will ultimately use- there is a lot of potential to really focus in more narrowly on the images here I have selected at this stage or even to regress back to my earlier photographs and filter experiments that I have chosen to reject at this early stage.

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Module 4: Authentication document

The above image shows my completed authentication form for module 4. Cannot wait to get started on module 5!

Module 4: final paper work

Costs:

Schedule:

Module 4, chapter 12: Study three artists

Module 4, chapter 11: Final piece and evaluations

Evaluation:

How do you feel about the resulting conclusion?

Overall I am very pleased with what I have made as I feel that it is a good composite of my favourite samples and it really challenged me in the making- there were many times I was out of my comfort zone but these pushed me to create a unique piece that held onto the essence of my original ideas but had shown development along the way. I am particularly happy that I made the point of moving away from more predictable shapes and styles for the book type structure. From the very beginning I had thought about making a more traditional folder. As I was modelling out potential ideas in chapter 10 however I reflected on the shapes that stood out as more interesting. All of these were non conventional in terms of what you would expect from a book. I looked back at my initial research- notably the photographs I had taken on the cruise boat- and I could see more rounded shapes inspiring me. There are a few issues with the piece that disappoint me. For example I feel that although the hand embroidered blanket stitching has given more of a finish to the edges, it has not really added much value to to the final piece as a whole. Another issue I had was that the centre column that the pages are secured to kept on collapsing. To combat this I have had to insert rolled up card into the cavity to help support everything. If I had taken this into consideration at an earlier stage I might have come up with a better solution to this as I am not keen on the fact you can see the card when staring into the centre.

Is it fit for purpose? give reasons

The piece had to incorporate an embroidered panel that was at least A4 in size. This panel had to form part of a book like structure based on the theme of 'media'. The focus for embellishment was of lettering and techniques covered included hand/,machine embroidery, drawn thread work and paper making. I had actually created the equivalent of 3 embroidered panels, each with a different embroidered focus and effect. One panel centres around the drawn thread work that has then been embroidered back into. The other main panel has used the lettering style stitching along with hand crafted paper pieces. The third panel has been made into a storage pocket and uses lettering in two differing techniques. The paper used has been made from pulping up discarded media items such as packaging and wrapping paper. The finished piece is both an artistic statement and a fully functional item. My original goal was to create something that could be used to store papers, photos and memories from my cruise. The pages are of a good size to attach photos to. The pocket will store the daily 'cruise compass' information sheets that you get each day of the cruise which are perfect mementos of all the activities. My final piece is not wholly practical however- it cannot be stored flat as a standard photo album or folder and certainly would not be a viable object to take on the cruise with me. I think I might need to look for a round storage box- such as a hat box- in order to keep it in and prevent it getting damaged.

If you were to make it again what changes would you make to the way you designed it and the way you made it?

In terms of the design, I am disappointed with myself in that I got very hung up from the beginning in the idea of making a more traditional folder type structure. I feel that in challenging myself I create something more unique in the latter stages I have learnt so much more and have created a far more interesting piece. I wish that I had done this a lot earlier as maybe my sampling stages and lettering design stages could have taken this idea more into consideration. I also could have made a much greater use of Photoshop to develop my concept. I had a reasonably clear vision in my head but due to time constraints it was more of a case of just get on and make it rather than have the luxury of time to consider the design from every angle before getting started on it. 

In terms of changes to how I made it, the main one I would make would be to take into consideration the 'shrinkage' that can occur when embroidery fabrics. Although my panels all started out the same size and shape by the time I had embellished them they were all different. I then had to think of ways in which to make them work together. My solution was to hand embroider blanket stitch around the edges however if I had more time to plan for this I might have considered other edging solutions that might have been more effective. Another thing - with hindsight- is that the lovely holes created with the drawn thread work have become a little lost as they are backed against a non contrasting fabric. The one area (the window part) where I have overlaid the piece over some of my paper looks so much better- this could have been an effect that I could have exploited a lot more.

The following photographs show my final piece from a variety of angles including close up views. 

4/11/final piece 1: rolled out and secured with a tasseled cord. Note the scale- piece is sat on an A3 sketchbook page.

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4/11/final piece 3: staring through the centre of the piece

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4/11/final piece 5: unsecured and beginning to open up

4/11/final piece 6: opened up

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4/11/final piece 8: view of pocket

4/11/final piece 9: close up of embroidery

4/11/final piece 10: view of pages. Note that some pages have been further worked back into with stitchery

4/11/final piece 11: Other pages- note the fact they are all different in shape and size

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4/11/final piece 14: close up on some of the hand embroidered elements

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4/11/final piece 16: a 'widow' element with hand crafted paper behind

Module 4, chapter 11: composite sheet

The following image is a presentation of my work showing the final piece and the key elements that have inspired it along the way. Note that for some reason Blogger keeps distorting the image as I post it so please ignore the fact it looks a little squished ;)

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Module 4, chapter 11: making my final piece

I am experimenting here in how I present this part of the blog. I kept a kind of visual diary of my making process as I went along and have saved a bit of text with the images to explain what I was doing. Hopefully it will all load ok, please be patient if it takes a little longer than usual to do so....

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Module 4, chapter 11: considering possibilities for surface embellishments

So, I have decided on concept one in terms of shape and style. For the surface embellishments I have considered combining my previous favourite samples together. The following photos show the possible techniques and a very rough mock up on what they could look like on the final piece. I would like some of the patterns and textures to come from stitched letters or stitches that give a similar effect. I would also like to have a scale change and have the word 'cruise' somewhere on the piece in large. maybe this could be something that I could manufacture from my paper? Obviously my final piece is going to be far more intensely detailed than these suggest but they have helped me at least get a feel for colour and pattern combinations. I will also need to consider when making the final book type structure that there will be two visible sides- the one that is seen when it is wrapped up and the one that is seen when it is open. 

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Module 4, chapter 11: concept 2

To contrast with my concept 1 idea I decided to develop further my personal favourite idea from chapter 10. This was where panels were connected with strands of thread created by sewing across the gap with the sewing machine. In order to develop the idea further I added 'pages' to three of the panels I created. 

The following photos show my sample from a range of angles- both open, shut and presented in different formations.

I feel this concept has a lot of positives, such as the range of positions it can be displayed in. I also prefer how this one looks when opened up. My only reservation is that it has the potential to lack the 'wow' factor that the other concept could bring through the shape by being too close to conventional in the style and shape. This could of course be further developed to overcome these issues however my gut feeling at the moment is that concept 1 fits with my theme that little bit more than this one. I could also ensure that concept 1 when opened up has a lot more interest with the embroidery.

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