Resolved sample. Module 1

Resolved sample. Module 1

Module 1 Chapter 12 28th April 2017

Herta Puls

Herta Puls was born in 1915. She was a radioghrapher/medical technician in Germany and moved to England in 1939. Herta was introduced to embroindery by Constance Howard. She studied embroidery and textile design at Newport College of Art as a part time student.

Herta was awarded first prize and silver medal of the Merchant Taylors' Company for her City and Guilds certificate in Advanced embroidery in 1970. Research for her thesis on 'Applique of the Kuna Indians of Panama' culminated in her first visit to the San Blas Islands in 1970.

Herta had a life long interest in tribal textiles and visited Panama three more times. She taught and lectured widely on cutwork and reverse appliqe and really expanded the western worlds knowledge of the embroidery and life style of the Kuna Indians.

The embroidery of the Kuna Indians is seen on the "molas" which in Dulegaya the Kuna's native language means "shirt" or "clothing".The mola forms part of the traditional dress of the Kuna women.

The mola origionated with Kuna women painting their bodies with natural dyes. Only after Colonization with the Spanish and contact with missionaries did the Kuna transfer their designs to fabric. They began by painting directly on to the fabric and later by using the reverse applique technique we know and use today. The ability to make an outstanding mola is a source of status among the Kuna women. The quality of a good Mola is determined by: 

• The number of layers
• Fineness of stitching
• Evenness and width of cutouts
• Addition of details such as zigzag borders, latticework or embroidery
• General artistic merit of the design and colour combination.                                   

The original mola designs were often based on religious symbols.

Cut work and reverse applique are techniques that are now widely used in the Western world. The fabric used in traditional molas is usually bright and single block. Even the most simple molas require a lot of work and patience. To achieve a good quality applique practice and skill are required and I would say quite a lot of patience!

The above picture is taken from Herta Puls book "The Art of Cutwork and Embroidery". It shows a Kuna woman wearing a mola blouse.

This mola shows an abstract design inspired by paddle steamers.

The top picture above shows a lino print with a drawn and painted surround. This picture reminds me of some of the pictures painted by Kandinsky with a black ribbon line running through.

The bottom picture is an applique picture of a Cuna Shell that is typically found in the Caribbean sea off the coast of Panama.The stitches look so small and I love the curves.

References

Textiles of the Kuna Indians by Herta Puls

The Art of Cutwork and Applique by Herta Puls

Module 1 Chapter 12 cont. 27th April 2017

Vassily Kandinsky 1866-1944

Kandinsky was born in Moscow. His Father was a tea merchant and his Mother a member of the upper middle class in Moscow.
The city of Odessa is where Kandinsky spent his childhood and where he graduated from Grekov Odessa Art School. He studied law and economics at the University of Moscow. He was very successful in his career and only started painting at the age of thirty (1896). In 1896 Kandinsky moved to Munich where he studied at Anton Azbe's private school before moving to Munich Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1921 Kandinsky was invited to teach at the Bauhaus which was at that point situated in the City of Weimar. The painting that I have chosen to write about were painted by Kandinsky during his time at the Bauhaus.

The first painting I have chosen is titled "Blue" and was painted by Kandinsky in 1922. "Blue" is one of a number of lithographs done by Kandinsky at this time. Kandinsky's works often have tiles linked to colour. He associates blue with infinity and said "Blue is the typically heavenly colour....The ultimate feeling it creates is one of rest". There are many crosses in this picture created by intersecting curved and straight lines. The picture takes you on a different journey every time you look at it. There are so many small marking that bring images of sea, surf, sand, fish,boats,masts to mind to name but a few.

The second painting is called "Orange" and was painted by Kandinsky in1923. Orange is compossed mainly of geometric elements. I particularly like the overlap of the shapes giving rise to other shapes such as the cross in the centre. The orange shape creates a diagonal from one side of the lithograph to the other. 

The third painting is called "Violet" and was painted by Kandinsky in 1923. Again this lithograph uses mainly geometric shapes. A lovely cross is formed in the violet circle by the crossing of three slightly curved lines. Many more crosses are formed by the crossing of lines and shapes which results in the formation of more shapes. I like the use of colour and particularly the colours created in the overlaps.

The third painting "Yellow-Red-Blue" was painted in 1925. This painting is 2 metres wide and was the most important painting Kandinsky painted whilst at the Bauhaus. This is a very complex painting with different areas of colour that draw you in to that particular part and what is happening within it. The use of black lines of different widths cross and give many cross shapes. I particularly like the red cross slightly right of centre that is overlaid with other shapes.I like the ribbon line on the right that just seems to fit so well around the other shapes.

Kandinsky was a pioneer in the abstract movement and is credited with being the first artist to create the first purely abstract piece of art.

References

• www.wassily-kandinsky.org
• wikipedia.org
• google images
• Kandinsky A Retrospective by Lampe and Roberts

Maria Helena Vieira de Silva  1908-1992

Vieira de Silva is a Portugese-French abstractionist painter. She began studying drawing and painting seriously at the age of 11 at Academia de Belas-Artes in Lisbon Portugal. During her teenage years Vieira de Silva studied painting, sculpture and engraving. She studied sculpture for a while in Paris but decided in 1929 to focus on painting. By 1930 she was exhibiting paintings in Paris.

Vieira de Silva received the French Governments Grand Prix National des Arts in 1966, the first woman so honoured.



La Gare Inondee  ( The Flooded Station )

I have chosen these two pictures as they are free from copyright. Many of Vieira de Silvas paintings can be viewed on google images.
Many of her paintings follow the same style. Her works tends to be heavily impastoed and overlaid with complex arrangements of small rectangles as above.
( Impasto is a technique used in painting where paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly. Usually thick enough that the brush or painting knife strokes are visible ).
I like the effect that she has achieved using mostly black and white and tints and shades of these colours, with just a few touches of colour. I feel that this painting has a real feel of disintegration towards the top depicting maybe the gathering of flood water. the front and right hand side show growth and suggestion of escape or way out.
Vieira de Silva uses rectangles in a very clever way giving the picture a life like quality. This feeling of disintegration can be seen in many of her paintings.



O Universo Casca de Noz  (The Universe in a Nutshell)

This painting again is painted with many black lines. These lines crossing over gives many cross shapes. There is a feeling of disintegration towards the middle and top right as the lines become much closer together. Other than black and white the colours used have been kept to a minimum. The placing of the colour in relation to the black lines and shapes gives some areas a feeling of calm and other a busy, rushing feel.
Vieira de Silva is considered to be one of the most important Post-war abstract artists although she is not a "pure" abstract painter.

Notes about Module One

Module one hasn't really gone the way I had planned for a variety of reasons. I am glad to be at the stage where I can make a start on my resolved sample and move on to module two. I have made a few notes to myself as to the way forward with the next module.

• Work much more consistently so that the thread isn't lost.
• Remember things don't  need to be perfect and experimentation is good and positive.
• Be more spontaneous....don't think too much just do. Think out of the box.
• Use sketchbook much more....again it doesn't need to be neat tidy or perfect.
• Try things...good things can come from mistakes. 
• Believe in yourself and don't  doubt.
• Working with the same colours has been good but experiment more with dyes to achieve more tints tones and shades.
• Do something no matter how small each day to keep the thread going.
• Keep a note of the time spent and cost of materials used as you go along. Best place for me is in my sketchbook I think.

Module 1 Chapter 12 April 27 2017

Module 1 Chapter 12

This exercise was done using a variety of painted papers cut into different shaped crosses. I have used the dark crosses on the left hand side to show disintegration, some have been cut in to pieces. The crosses on the right are a brighter purple or yellow indicating growth. Some of these brighter crosses go off the edge of the paper to give the feeling of continued growth. I chose the background paper with the yellow centre as I wanted to show that even where there is disintegration there is hope and possibility of growth.

This first fabric sample is a linear sample giving the feeling of disintegration as the crosses get smaller towards the outer edges. There is more machine stitching on the larger cross showing growth and less on the smaller ones.

This second fabric sample shows growth and disintegration by the size of the crosses. A layer of gauze has been placed over the top and machine sewn around the edges of the crosses. The gauze has then been manipulated to give a feeling of disintegration. The purple gauze over the yellow cotton gives a feeling of light shining through. Light could be interpreted as growth.

This is a design made in paper before doing the third paper sample.

This third fabric sample is a background layer of cotton with crosses applied using sponge painting. The top layer is linen and this was used as it is easier to fray and manipulate. The left hand corner shows disintegration by cutting part of the crosses away and fraying the linen. Fraying is very effective but worth remembering that it can be time consuming. This is the sample that i would like to develop further for my resolved sample.

                                                                             This fourth fabric sample shows a hand stitched circle over the cross. The stitches have been left longer on the left hand side and have been snipped giving a feeling of disintegration. I prefer these longer stitches to the shorter ones shown in my last blog. I think they give a better feeling of something disintegrating. These circles will be used over the crosses in the above sample.

I have dyed a selection of fabrics and threads ready for my resolved sample.

Composite sheet.

Pricing and Costing

Everything that I have used in Module 1 has been from my stash of fabric and equipment. I have taken up to date prices from the internet and they are listed below.

• Scrim £38.00 for a 50m roll which works out at 76p per metre
• Aurifil thread 50/2 and 40/2 £8.50 for 1300m reel
• Lumiere paint £5.90 per 70ml pot
• Golden fluid acrylic £6.50 per 30ml pot
• Egyptian Cotton 44'' wide £12.50 per metre
• Sticky back foam. 46p per sheet

Health and Safety notes.

Dyes

• Keep dyes in containers with screw top lids
• Keep in a dry place away fro animals...mine are in a cupboard in utility room
• Should always be clearly labelled
• Prepare away from food area. I use utility room or garage.
• Use damp paper under pots when mixing so that any dust lands on paper and stays there.
• Always wear mask and use barrier cream and gloves to protect hands.
• Wear apron to protect clothing.
• Have a window open if possible
• Store excess or thickened dyes in well labelled screw top containers. Ideally dyes mixed with water should be used within a week but thickened dyes can be kept much longer.

Soldering Iron

• Use in a well ventilated room
• I use an upturned terracota plant pot to put soldering iron in to rest whilst using.
• Turn off as soon as finished using.
• Keep tip clean. I used a small glass pot with steelwool inside.

Paints

• Protect surface with plastic cloth
• Protect clothes with apron
• Wear gloves and/or use barrier cream
• Store in labelled containers/boxes
• Wash brushes/pots etc immediately after use
• Have kitchen roll ready to wipe any spills
• Take note of the manufacturers instructions

Chapter 11. Module 1. 9th March 2017

Paper Experiments

This was great fun experimenting with paper in a variety of ways.

I enjoyed stitching into paper and then immersing in water and rubbing some of the paper away. The sample above was made using copy paper.

This sample was made using a piece of homemade paper. I really like the result. This piece was only in the water for a few seconds as it started to disintegrate very rapidly!

The above samples show a square of paper folded and cut to show further disintegration within each square.

The above samples were created using negative shapes with different paper shapes inside the cross shape to show disintegration.

Module1 Chapter 8 10.02.17

Module 1 Chapter 8 10.02.17                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         First complex sample.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    This sample is a combination of machine and hand stitching to create two crosses with a small negative shaped cross in the middle. The hand stitching was done using a wide fly stitch and the machine stitching is straight stitch. I particularly like the colour when the top layer of fine gauze was placed over the yellow cotton bottom layer.

Second complex sample

This sample has a background of yellow cotton overprinted with crosses using a sponge shape and lumiere fabric paint. A purple gauze cross shape has been bonded on after small rectangles were removed from the arms of the cross. These shapes were then connected with staight stitch using yellow aurifil standed cotton. Small straight stitches were also worked over the ends of the arms. A second cross was then stitched over the top using a variety of different lengths of stitch. This second cross looks more effective when you stand away from it and the central square becomes more obvious along with the shape of the cross.

Third complex sample

This sample has a base layer of gauze followed by a layer of purple cotton. A silk gold cross shape has then been bonded on followed by a second cross shape done in free machine stitching with a variegated purple king tut thread. A double layer of purple net forms the ring shape and this is held in place by gold cotton thread french knots. The centre star was then edged with machine stitching and stuffed from the back of the work. I enjoyed working this sample  and I like the colour combination. I really like the cross with the surrounding circle.

Fourth complex sample

This sample is a yellow cotton background over a piece of gauze. I started this sample with a ring of hand stitching using a hand dyed variegated thread. I then bonded a cross shape from made fabric and this was stitched down on the inner edge with machine stitching. The ends of the arms were stitched with small straight stitches in gold embroidery thread. The centre shape was stitched around and then stuffed from the back. I think this sample is maybe a bit over stuffed causing it to ripple slightly however maybe this adds to the overall look. My New Years resolution was not to take apart or bin things that I don't think are perfect, it wastes time and causes lots of frustration. In December this one would have headed for the bin! I do prefer purple over the violet purple in this sample but I love the thread and I do love dyeing threads.

Fifth complex sample

This sample is a background of commercial silk fabric that has been sponge painted. A light purple cotton cross shape has been bonded on and the ends of the arms stitched with straight stitch. I do like these small stitches over the ends of the arms. A circle of crinkly organza has been laid on top and this has been attached with a circle of gold wire with purple beads added. Finally a smaller cross has been hand stitched in the middle. This has been done with a fine variegated 28 weight thread. Although I enjoyed doing this sample I am not as happy with the colours.

Sixth complex sample

This sample started with a cross shape of painted yellow cotton being bonded between two layers of net. A second smaller cross shape was applied on the top with the small rectangles from the ends of the arms being lined up with the edges of the bigger cross. Hand stitched circles were then put right around the edge. A double layer of 6 strand embroidery thread was then laid on top and this was over stitched with a variegated purple thread. Finally the centre cross has some hand stitching which then gives a negative star shape in the middle. I enjoyed doing this sample and I like the idea of trapping things between layers.

CHAPTER 9

Traditional Reverse Applique

This is a simple cross shape worked in a traditional applique method. Four layers of fabric have been used and the edges have been turned under using an applique needle and a 100 weight silk thread. I enjoyed working  this sample although I found it quite time consuming. I have enjoyed reading about the San Blas islands and love the colours that are seen in the Molas.

Contemporary Applique using machine methods.

Sample One

This sample was worked with the outside shape being stitched first and the fabric being cut away inside the stitching. This was done on each of the three layers of fabric. The yellow fabric being the base layer.

Sample Two

This samle was worked with the inside shape being stitched first and the fabric being cut away outside the stitching. This was done on each of the three layers and therefore much more of the base layer can be seen. I enjoyed working both of these samples.

Multi coloured ripple or contour effect

Sample One

This sample was made of a variety of layers of cotton, gauze and silk. The outline shape was sewn from the back and then work continued from the front. Fabrics were cut away to different layers giving a variety of fabrics visible from the front. I also like the effect created when some of the fabrics are cut away on the outside of the shape.

Sample Two

This sample was worked with six layers or parts of layers. I have cut down to different layers between the stitch lines giving a multi-coloured effect. Again some of the fabric has been cut away on the outside of the shape.

CHAPTER 10

Chenille or slashed reverse applique.

Sample1

This sample was done with 5 layers of fabric and a background fabric. The shape and lcm line markings were worked on the back in tacking first and then stitched by machine. The fabric inside the shape was then slashed/cut with a pair of sharp scissors the sample was rubbed, washed and rubbed again. I am not really liking this sample, maybe it is the colour combination and maybe the lines are a wee bit far apart. Tacking all the lines and measuring was also time consuming. Going much more free and easy on the next one !!

Sample 2

This sample was worked with the same fabrics as above. The shape was tacked and the machine stitched. The lines for slashing were just stitched using the sewing machine foot for a bit of guidance. I really like this sample. the colours look better and the fabric definitely fluffed up more. I couldn't resist adding some hand stitching to the middle.

MELTING

These samples were worked with layers of meltable organza. I like the colours of the second sample although I think I could have made the lines on the outside of the shape a bit stronger...more melting! I found some felt that had been lurking for years and it melted really well. I think it must be kunin felt after doing a bit of research.

I really enjoyed this bit of melting and it's definitely something I would like to go back to. I love the effect of melting crosses into this kunin felt and I like the disintegrating effect in the bottom right hand corner. On to paper experiments for chapter 11.