Paul Smith Exhibition - Design Museum

I recently visited London and wanted to share some of the images from the Paul Smith (Hello My Name Is Paul) exhibition as I thought that it was very interesting to see the processes that his work went through to get to the finished stage. I thought that the exhibition was very inspiring as it showed the thoughts that Paul Smith went through to produce his designs.

I especially loved the part of the exhibition with all of his sketchbooks, mood boards and samples etc as it showed me to industry standard, and also it relates to what I am working on at the moment. 

Collars and Shirts

For this textile project, I am looking at garments and turning them 'inside out'. Cutting away all the fabric to leave only the seams behind. I have only just started so I have a few different starting points that I would like to try but that will come with development and sampling of ideas. I am going to be looking at decay and wearing away, so my garments will start off as a whole and gradually be left with only the collar. It will seem clearer with images. I am going to be using the heat gun as this really makes fabrics looks different and individual but also gives them a great textural effect. I am using wire hangers to hang my garments as I think that this works best for my style of shirts but also the textured effect from the fabric being burnt and melted down. Eventually when I am finished I will be taking my finished garments to a location to shoot them with a textured background. These skeletal structures will really work with old, peeling paint or something similar in the background. Also for part two of the project I will be using all the fabric that I cut away to use in experimentation and to bring the 'outside in'. I am very much looking forward to this project as I think it can be pursued in many different and exciting ways. This is only my starting point but it will be progressed a lot further. 

Before

After

Pattern, Pattern, Pattern

I created surface patterns with a heat press and berries as I showed in an earlier post. Following this I created many colour conversions and various patterns using a photocopier. Here are some of the results. I produced loads but there would be way too many photos to show so here are a few of the prints that I created. 

These prints were all created on the photocopier. I did some repeat patterns and some were just zoomed in to areas of interest on my original patterns. In the end I didn't add any of these prints to my final outcome sheets as they didn't fit with the colour ways of my original heat press prints. I added all these to my sketchbook which will be in a later post, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

I tried many different colour variations and some turned out very well and some didn't but I love experimenting to see what works best for me. 

Lace and Fabric

From the handmade dyed paper, I developed my project like I showed in a previous post but I also used water soluble film to create different pieces. I used wool, fabric, water soluble film and lace to create these textural, interesting creations. These images show the development, and the making of the final pieces. 

I tried to get a lot of layers into these pieces so I used the water soluble film to show that the stitching would be visible on it's own without having to stitch into fabric or paper etc. 

Fashion Garment

From the prints that I produced in Textiles, I made a fashion garment using paper. I scrunched, folded and pleated the paper so that the surface was very textural and interesting. 

I produced separate pieces from the prints and then stitched them all together using the sewing machine. I think that the finished garment looked very textural. I kept all the threads loose as I think that this looked very interesting. Here are some interesting images of the back of the piece. I actually prefer the back of my garment to the front as I think the back looks more interesting and effective with the many threads hanging down. 

I produced a collared piece for my final garment. I created the collar from cardboard and the rest of the piece from paper like the samples above. I stitched all the separate pieces together. I made some with hand stitch and some on the sewing machine.

Handmade Dyed Paper

I created these pieces by making my own paper, and dying it with berries in a heat press. This is where my patterns came from in my previous post! I then stitched the various papers together using straight stitch 

Close up detail of the dye and stitching

As I had to use paper for these, I dyed them all and I think that this really transformed them and made the paper take on a new form. I then developed the project by producing similar structures but using fabric instead of paper. Here are the results!

Heat Press Prints

It's been so long but I'm finally writing another post!! I have been so busy with my work but I would like to share some that I have been producing. I am currently working on my portfolio for University so some of this work may end up in there. I created these prints using berries on a heat press and then stitched into them. I think that the results were very interesting so I stitched into the shapes to add a new layer to it. I am very happy with the results as I think that a very interesting surface pattern was created. I used this in Textiles but added handmade paper and various other papers to it. I think that the bottom image looks a bit like mould which I think is very interesting. I used similar coloured threads to the prints so that it would stand out but also fit into the pattern.

New Designers

Interested in neon colours, patterns, installations, or structures. If so..go and check out www.elizabethjanewinstanley.com for some very inspirational work. She really pushes the boundaries of embroidery by using mixed media and materials that wouldn't normally be classed as textiles/embroidery based. I saw this work at New Designers in London and it really captures your eye. This work is very different to the work that I produce but I think that it is very inspirational, with a lot of creativity and thought of how to be different and create unique pieces of art work. The different pieces of work really show movement in an unusual way which I think is very interesting and different, and in the world of design, creating unique work is the way forward to progressing in my opinion. Also, Elizabeth's work features lighting which I think is very effective and also a new twist on normal lighting designs.I think that the clean lines and geometric shapes really work well with the colours and structures of the work. 

New Designers was a great opportunity for seeing all the Universities together as I now have new options of where I would like to go next year and the courses that would interest me the most. 

Texture Photography

Here are some images that I took about the theme of texture. This then inspired my next set of projects which I will do a later post on but here are some initial images based on texture and different surfaces that I found. I also edited them on photoshop to enhance them further. 

Brick texture 

Peeling paint 

Peeling paint

Peeling paint

Concrete

Tree bark

Poster 

Peeling paint and wood

Door frame with peeling paint and wood

Peeling paint

I think that the different textures have a beauty about them. Surfaces and textures are looked at everyday but I have captured them and think that they are overlooked.