Reflection on Feedback Assignment Two

The feedback I received from my Tutor for Assignment Two was very positive and has given me more confidence to take forward into my next Assignment.

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

My tutor has realised that I do worry whether I am doing the right or wrong thing and wondering what people will think if I get it wrong  She has reassured me that the work for this assignment has aesthetic value and that it has shown a willingness to innovate and take some risks.  She has suggested that I be playful in what I do and enjoy the freedom and not worry whether it is right or wrong or acceptable.  This has certainly put my mind at rest and I am going to do my best to enjoy the moment and see what comes out of my playing.

It has been suggested that as I struggled with the wrapping of the bear I could have written what I thought at each stage of wrapping and not just as a final outcome.  I will take this suggestion into my future work and note down my thoughts as I work.

Sketchbooks
Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

I have tended to draw the whole of a sample and my tutor has suggested that I draw a small section by using a viewfinder and investigate in more detail.  Also she suggested drawing the samples from unusual angles.  I don't know why but I have just drawn the samples from one angle and had not thought of looking at them from different angles.  This of course will give me more scope in my drawing.

Research
Context, reflective thinking, critical, analysis

My tutor has recommended that I use a wider range of sources.  She has suggested that if I am unsure where to start i look at the Textiles Pinterest pages where staff and students can share inspiration.  I shall do this when I begin my next assignment.  I do look at artist's websites, books and magazines but think that I should say more about this in my learning blog.  My tutor recommended looking at TV programmes and social media.   I am already looking at videos on YouTube for my next assignment and intend to log more fully in my learning blog.  

When I did my reflection on this assignment I did feel that I had been repetitive and my tutor mentioned this.  This was because I found it unclear in the course materials and wrote under each exercise heading and then wrote the outcomes under another heading.  My tutor brought to my attention that this could lead to confusion at assessment. I see that I need to organise these differently.  My tutor has advised me to put each image of a sample alongside a sketch of it and the written analysis of both with it.  I am going back into those sections of my learning log and reorganising them as recommended.

Pointers for next assignment

I find the pointers for the next assignment extremely helpful and like how they reiterate how I can continue to develop.  I will keep referring to these pointers when working on my next assignment.

• Continue to be brave in sample making by being playful and taking risks.
• Develop how I draw my samples using a viewfinder and looking for interesting angles.
• Research more widely.
• Organise learning log a little better. Ensure sample, drawing of sample and analysis of both are seen together. 

Project 2 Joining and Wrapping Stage 4 Sorting

I like the sample above because of the different textures between the materials.  I like the effect the sharp hard lavender stalks give against the paper and in contrast to the delicacy and softness of the materials they are joining.  I think I could develop this further by exploring different items to join the materials and explore changes in scale.

The sample above works well because of the texture of the two fabrics and the colours I have chosen.  I like the different colours used to paint the silk noil againt the block colour of the felt.  When joined the frayed edge helps blend the two together.  I also like the ridges the running stitch has made because of the difference in weight of the fabrics.

I used felt again in the sample above with lutrador which is much thinner and lighter than the felt.  When sewn together ridges formed but larger this time because of the thread and size of the stitches used.  The thread is torn silk fabric.  

 

The sample above is I think interesting because the stitching is done in a brighter colour than the colours of the other materials.  The small pieces that are joined in the gaps by stitching are attractive because of the texture and have a jewel like quality.  As they are tiny they ask for closer inspection. 

Part 2 Joining and Wrapping Reflection

I have struggled with this part of the course.  I found it difficult to keep motivated.  This was partly because of everything else going on in my life at the same time as I needed to do this part of the course.  When I was able to prioritise the course I enjoyed certain aspects of it and found other parts hard going.

When recording the exercises and outcomes on my learning blog I found that I was repeating myself in explanations and photographs.  I am unsure as to whether I have understood some of the instructions accurately.  For example in Project 2 Wrapping I recorded my outcomes but felt that I had already covered this in my blog by describing each stage of my sampling under separate posts for each exercise.  I found this frustrating but having thought about it I wonder if this is maybe a good thing making me think more about the way the exercises have worked.

I feel I used a wide variety of materials to work the exercises in both projects.  I was unsure about working the exercises in Project 2 Wrapping.  I felt uncomfortable with parts of these exercises but can see that perhaps this is what I have needed to push me. 

Looking at the samples I have completed for this Assignment I can actually see where I felt at ease and was ready to experiment more.  I think this can be seen in the joining exercises which I enjoyed more than the wrapping.  I understand that there are going to be parts of the course that I find difficult or do not particularly like.  However, as I worked I have found I am widening my knowledge of others’ work and can see and accept the reasons for a piece of work, whereas in the past I may have dismissed it.

I feel easier about my sketchbook work during this Assignment.  I do not have the same feeling of trepidation as previously when going to work in my sketchbook.

Below are points I think I need to work on.

·         When researching look further and deeper than the recommendations.

·         More sketchbook work.  Use more varied materials and techniques e.g. collage.

·         Continue to experiment and do not worry what is right or wrong.  Just try.

Project 2 Wrapping Recording outcomes

I have put photographs and explanations for the samples from each exercise under different posts each with the relevant exercise heading. 

I began by wrapping the wooden spoon freely with chenille thread leaving arts of the spoon showing. I then wrapped areas more densely in parts. 

Next I wrapped the spoon with strips of silk fabric again leaving space between the wrapping fabric.  I then wrapped it more densely along the handle.

I then used sari thread and paper thread to wrap tightly and densely along the spoon.  The sari thread changes of colour make bands of colour especially on the spoon head.  The tight dense wrapping gives the spoon a very tactile surface and the shine of the silk contrasts well against the matt of the paper thread.

I next wrapped with pieces of braid I had made from torn strips of fabric.  This gave a heavier looking surface.  

I decided to wrap the spoon with thick strips of scrim.  I then wrapped this first with paper thread which I pulled tightly so that the twists of the scrim stood out.  Next I wrapped the scrim with ribbon which I did with an even tension.  The purple ribbon stands out against the scrim I think because of the contrast of its colour against the colour of the scrim.  

I then wrapped the wooden spoon with a silk cap covering it all over and wrapped this with jewellery making wire.  I chose the colour of the wire so that it would stand out against the orange silk.  I wrapped quite tightly so that the fibres would stand out to make a tactile surface.  This works well I think because the wire is thin and easily manipulated against the thick softness of the fibres.  

Lastly, I wrapped the spoon with knitting yarn finishing the edge along the head of the spoon with very loose buttonhole stitch.  This does not show up very well unless looked at very closely where the yarn loops along one of the edges. Around the handle I wrapped with strips of wool slip knotting them onto the handle with the addition of strips of orange coloured scrim.  These were slip knotted onto the handle.  The orange scrim stands out well against the yarn because of the contrasting colours and the weave of the fabric as against the twist of the yarn.

For this exercise I decided to wrap a mug with different materials and threads.  The threads enabled me to change the tension whilst wrapping but I found this harder to do with the pipe cleaners.  I like the tissue and chenille thread wrapping because the tissue paper give the piece a delicate look although it is actually hard and quite heavy.

The wrapping with scrim and ratstail thread has been successful I think because I have been able to retain the shape as I did with the tissue paper but it has a lovely surface texture.  I think I wrapped the thread in a better way than the chenille thread because the crossing of the thread has given different sized sections of the scrim from tiny squares to larger ones in the middle.  I think this piece asks to be picked up and touched because of the softness of the scrim. The contrast of the thread against the scrim makes this softness stand out.

I wrapped the mug with kitchen roll that I had used to wipe paintbrushes.  The paper was not as manageable as the tissue paper and scrim.  This did not allow me to hold the shape of the mug as much.  Wrapping the kitchen roll with pipe cleaners was difficult because they would not stay in place.  It became easier once I had a few pieces of the pipecleaners attached to each other.  I am not as pleased with this wrapping.  I do not think it is attractive although the pipecleaners have made an interesting pattern.  This is mainly because of the way I had to fix them together so that the paper would not become undone rather than me actually thinking where to place them.  Perhaps this has been a success then in that it was more intuitive.

I began by wrapping an ornament with strips of torn silk fabric.  I tried to wrap as freely as I could but found myself trying to neaten everything as it just looked like a jumble of fabric.  I felt uncomfortable with this way of working.  I tried sewing across the gaps I had made with thread.  I didn't find this successful.  I do not think the thread adds to the piece and actually preferred it without.

In the course book it suggested that an object with protrusions was used so I decided to wrap a small teddy bear that had been made many years ago for me by a friend.  I met this friend at college so we have known each other for a very long time and although we live at other ends of the country we are in touch at least once a week and our friendship means an awful lot to me.  Therefore anything made for me by my friend also means a lot to me.  I began wrapping this bear with some trepidation.  I had read about Judith Scott's work and how she wrapped objects that had meaning only to her.  I thought of this as I wrapped the bear.

The first wrapping was with torn muslin.  I used two colours rather than one so that there would be more interest and perhaps this would detract from the shape slightly.  Not sure this worked.  However I carried on and began to wrap with gimp in another colour that was brighter and stood out well.  I wrapped this densely in parts and more freely in others.  This gave areas of interest with the bright gimp against the muslin.

The bear still just looked like a bear wrapped in fabric and thread.  I then wrapped with trapunto wool.  This began to change the shape and my bear was becoming hidden.  Again I liked areas of the wrapping because of the patterns it had made.  I was becoming more free with the wrapping but still felt uncomfortable that I was hiding away something I cherished.

Next I covered it with strips of left over cotton wadding.  I added a small plastic pot to one side to add to the shape. To keep these together I then wrapped with cotton thread.  I pulled this quite tight as I wrapped.  It was changing shape.  I wrapped sari silk thread in places and then did weaving in areas with the silk thread to make interesting sections.  Then I wrapped with thread.  Where threads crossed one another I knotted pieces of sari silk thread arond them leaving the ends free.  This started to add texture to the piece.  I needed to do something else to it.  I decided to stitch on some of the areas between the threads and used silk thread to stitch cretan stitch and running stitch to make points of interest.

I left the wrapped bear for a few days and kept coming back to it to see if I needed or wanted to added anything more.  I felt I didn't.  I still felt uncomfortable with it thought knowing that this wrapped shape was hiding an item that meant something to me.  I had to unwrap it.  All the while I did this exercise I thought of Judith Scott and wondered how she felt when working on her pieces.  I wondered if she needed to hide the things that meant something to her and perhaps these things were not treasured as my bear is.  I had wondered how and when she knew she was finished with a piece.  I think this is something that is very hard to explain for anyone.  I realised this when I just knew I had gone far enough and could not and did not want to add anymore.

I did feel I needed to wrap something else and chose a fir cone I had collected.  I wrapped it with strips of muslin in two colours.  I wrapped it with cotton thread.  I did not want to add to this because I liked the way the cotton thread gathered together in places and the spaces left had different appearances depending on how tightly I pulled the cotton.  I liked the small raised areas where the cotton is pulled very tightly. This is because of the feel of those areas when I rub my fingers over them.  I also like the feel of the piece as a whole because of the lightness of its weight and its shape.  It can be moved around in my hands easily.

                                                 

• Did you feel comfortable with the exercises?

I felt the most comfortable with the straight wrapping exercise (exercise 1).  I think this was because I had more control over this.  I felt comfortable with wrapping with materials and threads (exercise 2) althought not as much as the first exercise.  I think this was because I was not in control as much and although I tried hard I could not see a satisfactory outcome to the exercise for me.  

I was uncomfortable doing exercise 3 especially when I was wrapping the bear.  I think this was because I was hiding something I treasured and it did not feel right somehow to me.  I have thought hard about this and have found it very hard to explain.  The only thing I can say is that when I wrapped the pine cone, for which I had no particular attachment other than it was something I had collected because I found it interesting, I did not feel as uncomfortable.  

• Were there particular materials and techniques you enjoyed working with?

I enjoyed working exercise 1 where I wrapped the wooden spoon.  I liked the control of this and the finished textures from each of the wrapped materials particularly the sari silk thread.

• How did your various materials respond to the two techniques?

I think the materials I chose to work with worked well as a whole.  Some were not easy to manipulate for example the pipe cleaners around the kitchen roll that was wrapped around the mug.  

• Were you able to achieve interesting textures and colours in your samples?

As I am writing this it has occurred to me that these questions are supposed to be applied to the joining exercises and not just the wrapping ones.  I am therefore going to answer with thought to both the joining and wrapping exercises.  

I think the most successful use of materials was in my joining exercises.  I was able to use very different textured materials along side one another for example silk paper and lutrador with dried lavender sticks.  Colour is something I think about first and foremost when working my samples.  It is something that first attracts me to a piece of work.  Texture is next and I think that I have been able to achieve some interesting textures and colour combinations.  I think the sample where I used painted tissue paper applied to Tyvek in the joining exercises made a very interesting colour and texture combination.

• Which outcomes were successful?  Which were less so - and why?

I think in Project 1 Joining the overlapping edges were the most successful because I was able to uses different textured materials that could be joined together with success.  I think the curved edges exercise was less successful as I found it more difficult.  I think this was because of the choice of materials I made.

In Project 2 wrapping I think the wooden spoon wrappings were the most successful.  I felt in control of the wrapping with this exercise and liked the effect this gave with regard to texture and colour.  The most unsuccessful was the uneven wrapping exercise where I wrapped the ornament, bear and pine cone.  I think this was because I felt uncomfortable with this exercise and could not feel settled enough to experiment more.

• What are your thoughts on the artists, designers and makers you've researched in Part Two?

I enjoyed researching for this section of the course and in particular the work of Pippa Andrews.  I particularly like the vessels that are made using basket making methods and have an outer shell of felt part way up them. 

I found researching Judith Scott very interesting.  I find her work intriguing although it is not to my taste.  I think the intrigue in her pieces partly comes from the background story of her life and when and how she began her art work.  I think it was a very sad but amazing story.

• How did the research you carried out inform your own work?

I think that in particular the information and work I found about Judith Scott had an influence on the way I looked at and worked on the samples in exercise 3 of the wrapping exercises.  It made me think more about what effect working the sample was having on me.  It made me think about how I know when a piece is finished.  I know these were samples and can be carried on into future work but often it is hard to know when enough is enough with even a sample.  I found that I have a gut feeling and want to learn to listen to this more.

Project 2 Wrapping Exercise 3 Uneven wrapping

I began by wrapping an ornament with strips of torn silk fabric.  I tried to wrap as freely as I could but found myself trying to neaten everything as it just looked like a jumble of fabric.  I felt uncomfortable with this way of working.  I tried sewing across the gaps I had made with thread.  I didn't find this successful.  I do not think the thread adds to the piece and actually preferred it without.

In the course book it suggested that an object with protrusions was used so I decided to wrap a small teddy bear that had been made many years ago for me by a friend.  I met this friend at college so we have known each other for a very long time and although we live at other ends of the country we are in touch at least once a week and our friendship means an awful lot to me.  Therefore anything made for me by my friend also means a lot to me.  I began wrapping this bear with some trepidation.  I had read about Judith Scott's work and how she wrapped objects that had meaning only to her.  I thought of this as I wrapped the bear.

The first wrapping was with torn muslin.  I used two colours rather than one so that there would be more interest and perhaps this would detract from the shape slightly.  Not sure this worked.  However I carried on and began to wrap with gimp in another colour that was brighter and stood out well.  I wrapped this densely in parts and more freely in others.  This gave areas of interest with the bright gimp against the muslin.

The bear still just looked like a bear wrapped in fabric and thread.  I then wrapped with trapunto wool.  This began to change the shape and my bear was becoming hidden.  Again I liked areas of the wrapping because of the patterns it had made.  I was becoming more free with the wrapping but still felt uncomfortable that I was hiding away something I cherished.

Next I covered it with strips of left over cotton wadding.  I added a small plastic pot to one side to add to the shape. To keep these together I then wrapped with cotton thread.  I pulled this quite tight as I wrapped.  It was changing shape.  I wrapped sari silk thread in places and then did weaving in areas with the silk thread to make interesting sections.  Then I wrapped with thread.  Where threads crossed one another I knotted pieces of sari silk thread arond them leaving the ends free.  This started to add texture to the piece.  I needed to do something else to it.  I decided to stitch on some of the areas between the threads and used silk thread to stitch cretan stitch and running stitch to make points of interest.

I left the wrapped bear for a few days and kept coming back to it to see if I needed or wanted to added anything more.  I felt I didn't.  I still felt uncomfortable with it thought knowing that this wrapped shape was hiding an item that meant something to me.  I had to unwrap it.  All the while I did this exercise I thought of Judith Scott and wondered how she felt when working on her pieces.  I wondered if she needed to hide the things that meant something to her and perhaps these things were not treasured as my bear is.  I had wondered how and when she knew she was finished with a piece.  I think this is something that is very hard to explain for anyone.  I realised this when I just knew I had gone far enough and could not and did not want to add anymore.

I did feel I needed to wrap something else and chose a fir cone I had collected.  I wrapped it with strips of muslin in two colours.  I wrapped it with cotton thread.  I did not want to add to this because I liked the way the cotton thread gathered together in places and the spaces left had different appearances depending on how tightly I pulled the cotton.  I liked the small raised areas where the cotton is pulled very tightly. This is because of the feel of those areas when I rub my fingers over them.  I also like the feel of the piece as a whole because of the lightness of its weight and its shape.  It can be moved around in my hands easily.

Ornament wrapped with strips of silk fabric

 Close up above with hand sewing added

 Bear wrapped with muslin

 Muslin and gimp

 Close up 

 Close up

 Wrapped with trapunto wool

 Cotton wadding and cotton thread

 Silk sari thread areas woven

 Close up of woven area

 More thread

 Stitching with silk thread added to areas/cretan stitch/running stitch

 Close up

 Close up

 Finished wrapping

 Close up

 Another view of finished wrapping

 Close up

 Close up

 Pine cone wrapped with strips of muslin

 Wrapped tightly with cotton thread

 More cotton thread wrapped tightly

 Close up

 Close up

Project 2 Wrapping Exercise 1 Straight wrapping with threads

I began by wrapping the wooden spoon freely with chenille thread leaving arts of the spoon showing. I then wrapped areas more densely in parts.  

Next I wrapped the spoon with strips of silk fabric again leaving space between the wrapping fabric.  I then wrapped it more densely along the handle.

I then used sari thread and paper thread to wrap tightly and densely along the spoon.  The sari thread changes of colour make bands of colour especially on the spoon head.  The tight dense wrapping gives the spoon a very tactile surface and the shine of the silk contrasts well against the matt of the paper thread.

I next wrapped with pieces of braid I had made from torn strips of fabric.  This gave a heavier looking surface.  

I decided to wrap the spoon with thick strips of scrim.  I then wrapped this first with paper thread which I pulled tightly so that the twists of the scrim stood out.  Next I wrapped the scrim with ribbon which I did with an even tension.  The purple ribbon stands out against the scrim I think because of the contrast of its colour against the colour of the scrim.  

I then wrapped the wooden spoon with a silk cap covering it all over and wrapped this with jewellery making wire.  I chose the colour of the wire so that it would stand out against the orange silk.  I wrapped quite tightly so that the fibres would stand out to make a tactile surface.  This works well I think because the wire is thin and easily manipulated against the thick softness of the fibres.  

Lastly, I wrapped the spoon with knitting yarn finishing the edge along the head of the spoon with very loose buttonhole stitch.  This does not show up very well unless looked at very closely where the yarn loops along one of the edges. Around the handle I wrapped with strips of wool slip knotting them onto the handle with the addition of strips of orange coloured scrim.  These were slip knotted onto the handle.  The orange scrim stands out well against the yarn because of the contrasting colours and the weave of the fabric as against the twist of the yarn.

Wrapped with space dyed chenille thread

Back view of above

Wrapping with strips of torn silk fabric

Back view of above

Some of materials used to wrap wooden spoon

Silk cap/scrim/chenille thread/torn silk/silk sari thread

Wrapped tightly with silk sari thread

Wrapped tightly with silk sari thread and paper thread

Back view of above

Wrapped with braids made from strips of torn fabric

Back view of above

Close up of braid wrapping

Close up of braid wrapping

Wrapped with dyed scrim 

Wrapped with dyed scrim and paper thread

Wrapped with dyed scrim and ribbon

Close up of section of above

Wrapped with silk cap and wire

Close up of section of above

Wrapped with wool and strips of torn scrim

Close up of section of above