Exercise 1.5 Explore collage as a drawing technique. I’ve never made a collage, so found this exercise a bit daunting. However, once I got going I loved the technique. This is definitely something to which I will return at a later stage. Handkerchief I spent some time chasing a piece of paper with adjoining circles, … More Collage and Creases

Exercise 1.8 Portray your visual source through your own self-directed drawing approach. Purpose/Outcome The over-arching purpose my approach will be to create a floral design for wallpaper or furnishing fabric. This roots the task in textile design considerations. Methodology My overall approach is: * to gain familiarity with my subject by producing drawings of the … More Portraying by Drawing

Exercise 1.6 Represent the fine detail of the items from the Archive selection. Handkerchief I wanted to capture the intricate weave of the bobbin lace. As I had seen that each thread was made of hundreds of individual fibres, I sought a way to express this. I started by trialling a couple of toothbrushes with … More Detail and Definition

Exercise 1.3 Generate a folio of mark-making, drawing and visual response to the Archive selection. In each case, I’ve started with a drawing of the overall morphology of the item. The quote from our workbook from Frederick Frank, “I learned that what I have not drawn, I have not seen” really rang true as I … More Making Marks

Research Why are floral/leaf motifs so important, dominant or recurring in this artist’s work? Zoffany was founded in 1983 for the meticulous restoration of historic wallpapers from mere fragments for Temple Newsam House in Yorkshire (John Sandoe Books, 2017). The company has gone on to collect an archive of 17th and 18th century designs which … More Zoffany

Substance Materials The centre of the handkerchief is a lightweight cream/white coloured habutai-like silk. It has slight slubbing. One direction of the weave is more pronounced than the other. Microscopic examination: Silk reference. Handkerchief fabric. The threads of the knitted/crocheted lace edge are shiny and cream coloured. Each thread is made of many individual fibres. … More Substance and Story: Handkerchief

Exercise 1.1 Identify an archive and select three textile pieces to observe. As we are still in COVID-19 lockdown, I decided to use items from an old trunk that came from my husband’s paternal grandmother. The trunk was full of textiles, and many of the items were wrapped in newspaper dating from 1929, 1936 an … More The Archive

Substance Materials There is no maker’s label on the article. The body of the collar is either a cotton or linen voile, with a very fine, open weave that renders it semi-transparent. Close up of voile. Microscopic examination of the fibre shows that piece is made of cotton. The fibres show the characteristic twist of … More Substance and Story: Collar

Substance Materials There is no maker’s label on the article. The bed jacket is cream cotton voile, with a very fine, open weave that renders it semi-transparent. Microscopic examination of the fibre shows that piece is made of cotton. The fibres show the characteristic twist of cotton. Cotton reference. Jacket fibre. The threads of the … More Substance and Story: Bed Jacket

Definitions A definition of textiles in the broadest sense: A textile is a material made of fibres. Micro-structure: fibres The first pre-requisite of my definition requires that a textile be made of fibres. Fibres is meant to encompass small threads or elongated pieces of any material. This can range from the traditional sources of fibre: … More What are textiles?