Part 4 Research point Linda Bellinger

My brief says that I should choose two internationally known textile artists whose work I find particularly inspiring.  There are so many I might choose but the first one I really want to look at I've found it hard to get information for.  I'm not even sure if she has an international reputation; if not she should have.  My information is taken from  a Tom Bates interview at  www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk 

My artists name is Linda Bellinger and the way she describes herself is "Fine Art Textile Artist".   Bates, who interviewed Linda in 2007 said that Linda is "set to take the art world by storm with her virtual one-woman Arts and Crafts Movement".  She has exhibited locally and nationally to acclaim.

I used Linda's work in earlier in the course Elements: Art Through Textilesbecause I liked it so much.  With the knowledge I now have I feel I understand it much more.

Linda lives and works among the beautiful landscape of Derbyshire and takes the inspiration for her works from it.  She is excited about the visual impact of the changing seasons "and the power of colour, texture and form evolving from man's interaction with and imposition on the land".

Linda begins her work with a sketchbook and camera recording details of colour, shape and form and she goes through exactly the same processes as I do.  She looks at texture in her mix of fabric and threads so that she can express the ideas evoked by her preparation work.   Linda prefers to use upholstery calico as her stitch surface because it handles well.  This is important because she doesn't use an embroidery frame.  Linda never draws straight onto fabric but prefers to use "loose abstract colour first and draw onto the colour using felt pens, colour sticks, brushes and paint".  The shapes evolve as she stitches focal points.  Linda uses either silk or cotton thread depending on the effect she is wanting to create.

The result is an impressionistic image that is colourful and evocative of the Derbyshire countryside.
The essence of the work I so much admire is that Linda uses "fine art techniques which travel into textiles... lifting them out of the domestic female domain...to create elements of landscape".

I know the Derbyshire countryside well and Linda's work captures everything elemental I would want to capture if I had the skill.  I love it.

Because I found it so hard to get images from the web Linda has kindly offered to send me some on a CD.  I'm very grateful for this help and will post some as soon as I can - they are impressive.

Here's a taster I managed to find

Hollow rocks detail

Hollow rocks detail

Can't find a name, sorry

23rd May 2013

True to her word Linda sent me a selection of her images and has given me the OK to use them.  There's a selection below.  I'll title them tomorrow.

www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk 

Part 4 Research point

The textile artist

I have looked at the work of many textile artists and found that the majority have turned to textiles after training in another field of art.  Some have spent a career in teaching and only been able to give themselves fully to their own art in retirement.  It is interesting to look at the different labels that people involved in textiles use to describe themselves and what they do.  There are three labels being used; the designer-maker, the crafts person and the textile artist.

Designer-maker 

This is a fairly new term developed (I conclude) to accommodate the crossover between the crafts person and the artist.  The term describes a  person who designs and makes small quantities and usually markets their work as an independent trader or maybe in a small co-operative.  Gale and Kaur (2002) tell us that the term designer-maker 

helps to highlight the often complex relationship between designing, making and manufacturing in very small...businesses based around one or two creative makers.

A designer maker sees the making of an item as only one part of a broader process and not always the most important one.  A designer-maker may easily decide to use bought in components or use out sourcing to get the job done.  Third party involvement is often because if the design is popular  the volume of work is impossible for one person to fulfil.

Crafts person

Traditionally crafts people retain complete control over the small amount of work they produce; from design to marketing.  The vision and idealism of the maker may be such that any sort of industrial component or contracting out of work is philosophically impossible. There is a hands on attitude that gives the product a cache and status that machine made items don't have.  The emotional commitment of the maker has a value.

Because the crafts person has a large element of choice in what they work on they may explore a whole range of textiles in an experimental way and explore cultural issues and trends (Gale and Kaur, 2002) in a way that creates a personal and expressive style.

Gale and Kaur note the confusion that surrounds the different terms.  They quote Miglena Kazaski who considers herself an crafts person but who uses outworkers to fulfil her orders.  They justify this by saying that her trade can continue to be "craft" because her outworkers use hand techniques rather than industrialised methods.

This all gets very muddy when you consider that artists we now hold with great reverence employed third parties to do some of the work particularly on huge tasks like frescoes.

The textile artist

This part of Gale and Kaur's work is quite provocative and reflects the uncertainties around the definitions we are referring to.  Bearing in mind they were writing over a decade ago (and things move on) it is interesting to note that they say that textile artists "may well experience difficulties of creative identity and status because textile art is as yet an uncertain definition of practice".

The term "textile art" is usually applied to that which seems to have grown from quite lowly origins like weaving and tapestry and therefore has a functional element to it.  This makes me think of the Fijian print I used as a springboard for my own work (Project 4 Stage 2 Ex 1). The fabric was printed with minimal equipment and very rudimentary dyes and has an undoubted functional use. This, according to Gale and Kaur, and me,  is art.

Probably because of this definition the fine art world have found it hard to recognise the value of textile art. Gale and Kaur acknowledge the "friction between the world of fine art and the world of crafts people".  There seems to be a real element of snobbishness and elitism that is getting in the way.  I find this very sad and I would like to think things are changing.  

Conclusion

Gale and Kaur tell us that

The textile craftsperson easily crosses over and shares camp with both the textile designer-maker and the textile artist, yet the designer-maker and the artist hardly ever cross paths.

I'm not sure that is entirely true. Go to any craft fair and examples of all these definitions can be found.  As I've thought about this  whilst writing and I realise how very distinguishable they are.  I can think of stallholders who have clearly "bought in" some of their components and others who have so much emotional involvement you just know that if you didn't buy they would be relieved.

I think the nearer one gets to the emotional content of the work the more one can be considered an artist no matter what the discipline.  I have always responded to textile art positively because I have felt some understanding of the techniques involved.  More recently, as my knowledge has widened, my awareness of the expertise and techniques involved has made me even more convinced that textiles   
have always offered a real contribution to the art world.  The cultural elitism from the fine art establishment has done a lot of damage to the perceived "humble" textile creator.



Gale C. and Kaur J. 2002, The Textile Book, Berg, Oxford

Fusing fabric

I've been keen to try fusing fabric for some time and now that I've completed Part 3 I feel I have a bit of time. This can be accommodated as "surface structures" I'm sure.

My soldering iron has several "nibs" so I tried most of them.  I gathered various bits and pieces to help with drawing lines and I used acrylic felt topped with 3 layers of organza.

I followed the instructions in Fusing Fabric by Margaret Beale.  I made a range of possible marks on paper then did similar ones on my fabric.  I was warned in the text that holding the soldering iron would be the major challenge but I found it comfortable.  At first it was tricky to get the right pressure on the soldering iron and once or twice I almost went through the felt but I was fairly pleased with the result.

Towards the end I was able to get quite fine marks that didn't go through all the layers.  I'll look forward to trying another project soon.

This work is taken from Fusing Fabric p 24 and is an exercise in scoring fine lines. At first is used a small item as a ruler and got indifferent results but when I tried a standard metal ruler things were better.  I found that yesterdays work helped and I didn''t go through the fabric much which is surprising because it's only layers of organza.

This one is from p22 and deals with making eyelets.  It is on felt and I found no trouble in burning right through!  I tried various shapes and was pleased with the result.  These are both quite pretty samples even though they were just a bit of practice.

I've also tried fusing plastic bags using my iron with varying results.  This is another job that needs a lot of experimentation to get it right.  For the first two examples there was no thought of design just the task of getting things to stick

Too hot but some interesting textures and colours

Less wrinkles and interesting marks in the middle which was two sorts of plastic meeting

On the last one I placed the pieces much more carefully and was rewarded with something that was worth stitching into.  I laid pink background then wavy lines of black and white.  Over the top I put a paler pink. Throughout this I had lots of problems with static; the pieces were attracted to my fingers and were really tricky to place.

I used the marks left by the fusing to stitch on or round

The last task I've set myself in this fusing project is to make some beads.  I used Gwen Hedley's Surfaces for Stitch for my instructions and it looked straightforward enough.  How wrong can you be?  I needed at least two pairs of hands and thread that didn't disintegrate when it got hot.  Nevertheless I made a few beads with various degrees of success but the frustration quotient was high.  I've ordered some more specialist thread that is supposed to stand distressing.  I'll be trying again when it arrives.

I've enjoyed this little diversion.  It gives me another way to use fabrics and the combination of fusing and stitch opens up a whole new range of possibilities.  Eventually I'll master the beads as well!

I did some research last night and found other ways to do the beads without metallic thread so this morning I had a try.  What a difference.

First I used the instructions from Carolyn Saxby.  There was no winding of thread and therefore it was much less frustrating.

I also followed a youtube video that feathered the edge of a single triangular piece of tyvek.

There was no discernible difference in the way they performed although I found the heat gun I have borrowed seemed to offer  a variable performance probably as a thermostat kicked in and out.

I put small beads on wire on two of the beads and wound silver metallic thread on the third after it was heated.  In spite of being easier I also think they are more effective than yesterdays work.  Maybe with better thread I'll change my mind.

PS  My 5 year old grand daughter loved making her beads.

Beal, M.    2005,  Fusing fabric.  Batsford, London
carolynsaxby.blogspot.com
Hedley, G. 2004, Surfaces for Stitch. Batsford, London
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi4OJU9o_sk

Assignment 3

Assignment 3

Reflective commentary

It's the most silly thing but I've just realised what a sample is. A sample is the opportunity to demonstrate new skills just as the girls used to in their samplers.  In my last feedback my tutor told me that my work does not have to be a completed piece and that advice has only just slipped into place.  It is like being given a bit of freedom, quite liberating.  I also had problems with the definition of drawing until it was pointed out to me just how wide the scope is.

I don't really want to repeat what I said in my reflections after the completion of Project 6 but of course everything I said is still true.

Talking with Emma and Jan in their workshop was a real treat and having my sewing machine and my skill overhauled was just a bonus.  With a bit of luck I'll now be able to use my machine for free embroidery at a whim not just when I'm feeling able to cope with the frustration.

I've really enjoyed this part of the course and I think in part that's to do with me feeling some confidence in the techniques if not the end product.  One day soon I will master the art of Bondaweb - it's a logic thing.

I've tried my soldering iron for the first time and I'm going to have to lighten my touch a bit but I guess that's experience.

As I've said before I'm excited by everything I've been trying.  I've recently incorporated some see through applique into birthday cards. I can see that these new ways of using old skills will combine very well with other things I've been doing like dying and stitching and printing

I could quite happily have stuck with Collete Wolff and worked my way through the entire book.  It will be a tremendous resource as time goes on.

As I've said in previous reflections I'm learning lots about myself as well.  I'm becoming more adventurous in what I approach and less bothered about making mistakes.  I am starting to use ideas inspired by, but not copied from other works both of mine and others. I'm prepared to get lost (which is something I've always found hard to do) and find where I am again. I think this is because I have a structure to work within that isn't prescriptive.

I've always been shy of playing my piano for others so it's surprising that I'm not diffident about showing my textile work to other people.  That's something to think about.

I am, quite literally, learning something new every day and loving it.

My Theme Book

My Theme book is starting to take on a life of it's own. Actually starting was quite difficult so doing a cover based on a previous picture was a good thing to do. I've taken fruit as my theme but the title may well have to change as I seem to be pretty involved with citrus just now. Ideas seem to be flooding in at the moment and I'm excited about it. The idea of a Theme book  frightened me 6 months ago but having learnt so much I no longer feel that way.  I may have a few wobbles here and there but I'm untroubled by it.

My exploration of circles has given me the opportunity to re-look at things I've done earlier in the course and try some new things like image transfer with Bondaweb.  I feel as though I've been set free from the (necessary) direction the course gives and been allowed to swim by myself, albeit with armbands.

I'm particularly pleased that I've been able to develop my own work list and not feel bereft of ideas. I don't always have a plan but suddenly something crops up and just seems to take off.  For example the circular slashed work in fabric manipulation went on to become a sample that allowed me the opportunity to use Bondaweb for image transfer.

At the moment I'm enjoying playing around with ideas and have not thought hard about my final piece. I want to make something I'm proud of and feel OK about displaying but I don't want to produce something that only plays to my strengths (whatever they are).  I want to use some of my new skills and be creative even if it's a real challenge. I'm not worried about it at the moment because I'm finding that ideas just seem to turn up.

Assessment criteria points

Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills

Part 2 has been about stitching and I'm comfortable with that so I think I've coped OK with the techniques.

The application of those techniques has been new and demanded that stitch is combined  with new skills that I am less confident of.

I find that I'm less likely to copy an image and more likely to take a visual risk with what I observe. A example of this is the Sample for Project 6.

I  feel that composition sometimes lets me down.

Quality of Outcome

I've a store of new skills from which to select I am trying to apply them in context.

I am trying to be organised about both my work and presentation.

I have a go at everything I have materials for even if I start off thinking it's not for me. I'm sometimes surprised.

My excitement seems to come through in my work sometimes.

Demonstration of Creativity

I'm feeling more confident and taking some risks to develop my own ideas.

I'm enjoying letting an idea run almost on it's own.  An example is my Theme book.

I need to be more patient.  I want to run before I can walk.

I'm constantly surprised at what I can do.

Context

I have bought several new books and become totally absorbed in the possibilities.

I need to go to some more exhibitions.

I am placing value on  my work.

I'm trying hard with my sketchbook.  I feel I understand it better.

I find it hard to identify my strength and weaknesses.

Multi media rooks

This lovely photo is of a 30 feet tall ash tree at the bottom of our garden.  This year the rooks are once again busy building and raising their babies.  They must know I'm doing a textiles course because they've gone multi media with their nest building material.  The white plastic flaps in the wind and must make a real racket up close.

Theme book Research project

Fruit in art

I saw this picture in The Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/mar/26/fabrice-hyber-baltic

It's by Fabrice Hyber who has an exhibition at Baltic, Gateshead until 30th June.

The review is somewhat less than complimentary

Standing among it all is a life sized man made of fruit and veg, like an Arcimbolda painting come to life.  I guess the point is that we are what we eat.  The whole thing is tripe, really, as unoriginal as it is indigestible.

Whatever your opinion it made me smile and wonder what other artists used fruit in their work.

I recalled seeing people represented as fruit a long time ago and did a Google search.. The artist I remembered was Guiseppe Arcimboldo 1527 - 1593.  He was born in Milan and his father was an artist who  worked in the Duomo.  He was commissioned to design stained glass windows and draw the cartoon for the tapestry of the Virgin Mary which still hangs in the Como Cathedral.  He is best known for creating portraits heads made of such objects as fruits, vegetables,flowers, fish and books.   

He arranged these objects in such a way that they made a recognisable likeness of the sitter.

Vortumnus (Vertumno)
http://www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org

The image below has a duel purpose.  It can be viewed one way as a bowl of fruit and reversed to be a portrait.

Vaso reversible
http://www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org

These are surreal at a time when the surreal artists were years and years away. Whilst he was lauded by his contemporaries Arcimbolda sank from view until Dali took an interest.  Artists such as Shigeo Fukuda have been influenced by Arcimboldo's style.

I'm afraid the work isn't to my taste, in fact I find it quite horrible, but I have to admire the skill involved and the mastery of the double meaning.

Completely different is Carravagio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit (1593).  Carravagio was interested in painting exactly what he saw, warts and all.  Professor Jules Janick of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture has analysed the contents of the basket and was even able to identify infestations and fungal infections on the fruit.

Carravagio (1593)
Boy with a Basket of Fruit
http://www.famous-artists.net

Carravagios' luscious fruit

Watercolour artist Ann Abgott also uses fruit in her work.  I looked at her work earlier in the course because I liked the way she mingles her colours.

Pear by Ann Abgott

Plums by Ann Abgott

From the textile point of view William Morris is something of a hero of mine.  The whole Arts and Crafts Movement is a style I love and there are times in my life when I've pushed the boat out so that I can have a William Morris print.

The most famous design is probably The Strawberry Thief which was inspired by Morris watching  thrushes stealing his fruit.

Strawberry thief

This design used to be known as Pomegranate but is now Fruit. It was designed in 1864 and shows peaches, oranges, lemons and pomegranates arranged in a tile format.  It was designed as wallpaper but has now been adapted to tapestry and embroidered silk as well.

Fruit

http://www.william-morris.co.uk
www.annabgott.com
www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org/biography.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_with_a_Basket_of_Fruit

The Bodging Project

The Bodging Project:
Before, During, After

The Harley Gallery, 27 March - 2 June 2013

I can do no better than take the information prepared by the Harley Gallery Staff and present it in it's entirety.  The photos are mine.

Look up 'bodge' in the Oxford English Dictionary and you'll find that the word is 'an altered form of botch', dates back to about the year 1500, and means 'to patch or mend clumsily'. Skip forward four hundred years and you'll find the highly-skilled itinerant chair-makers who worked in the beech woods of Buckinghamshire described as 'bodgers'. Either way, it's an interesting word with conflicting meanings. This has served the project well because what we've really been engaged with here is walking the line between craftsmanship and art-school improvisation.

Chris Eckersley

In 2010 and 2012 two groups of designers went to a woodland workshop in Herefordshire and placed themselves outside their comfort zone of drawing boards, computer-aided design, and electrified workshops. Armed with only simple sketches, traditional green woodworking tools, and a time frame of six days they set about an archaeological inquiry into context, process and design.

'Before, During, After' features ten selected designers, their work prior to the experiment, the results from the woodland, and the effects it had on their practice. The show in the main gallery is broken down into these three distinct areas. The results of an experimental workshop carried out by some of the group for the chair-makers Lloyd Loom of Spalding is shown is the upper gallery. 

Gareth Neal & Chris Eckersley

Before: Individual Practice.

Design and craft practice has been a highly discussed topic over the last twenty years, trying to pigeon-hole furniture designers in one discipline. The difference between craft and design has often been the education received and the working environment these skills were learnt within. Studio practice created designers and workshop practice created craftsmen. Surely one should inform the other? The ten selected designers were chosen to highlight this diversity and demonstrate the variety of thinking and breadth of approach prior to going on the project. 

Gareth Neal

Examples of "before" work

During: All Together Now.

The Windsor chair is an exemplary example of accumulated knowledge, its design and process of construction handed from one maker to the next. The chair is not a styled object, it has evolved to be as strong, make-able, and comfortable as possible using cheap materials that were to hand, so any rethink of the design needs to remember to start with all these tested solutions. So designers - throw away the Computer! Craftsman - put down the power tools and forget about the Industrial Revolution, press the 'refresh' button and Make, Do and Think... You have six days! 

William Warren & Gareth Neal

"During"

After: What did we take away?

Having spent six days in the woods everyone changed! Appreciation of materials was renewed and ideas of production in relation to locality were identified. New versions from trusted forms and techniques went into production. Experiments into carbon emissions were undertaken. Manufacturing companies reconsidered their practices. Friendships were forged and working contexts reconsidered. Most importantly, good working practices were critically rethought and reappraised, with the importance of process and design working hand in hand. 

Gareth Neal

"After"

One piece that particularly caught my eye was by

"During"
Stefano Santilli 2012
Ash, chestnut and found hedgerow materials

"After"
Stefano Santilli 2012
Ash, chestnut and found hedgerow materials

And other lovely things....

Amos Marchant
Upside down children's chair
American walnut

Chris Eckersley
Devon bench, 2012
English ash and Scottish elm

And the quirky....

There are some pieces that I've got muddled with who made which item so I'll be going back to sort it out very soon.

The Elves and the Chairmakers

The Harley Gallery, 27 March - 2 June 2013helped themselves to components and experimented with the signature weave to make new designs. Ov

On a weekend in early June 2012, 5 designers visited the closed Lloyd Loom factory in Spalding, Lincolnshire. While the assembly workers were away, the designers used their machinery, er 2 days, 13 new concepts were developed and these pieces were left in the factory showroom for the staff to find on Monday morning.

The ideas behind this exercise was to skip the long drawn out process that normally comes with developing new designs for big established names and to ensure that all the new concepts generated would be almost production ready.

The prototype 'sketches' that came out of the weekend opened a enthusiastic dialogue with Lloyd Loom and several pieces were selected to be taken forward for further development. The resulting production items are to be launched later this year and added to the Lloyd Loom range.

William Warren

(I didn't take a picture of the bar stool for some unknown reason)

Exhibitors

Amos Marchant

Carl Clerkin

Chris Eckersley

Clifford Leo Harris

Dave Green

Gareth Neal

Gitta Gschwendtner

Jon Harrison

Koji Katsuragi

Liam Hopkins

Rory Dodd

Sarah Kay

Simon Maidment

Stefano Santilli

Valentina Gonzales Wohlers

William Warren

There was a sample of the material used in the making of Lloyd Loom furniture.  In my photo you can see clearly the wire passing through the warp of twisted paper tubes the furniture is made of.

As ever the Harley has presented this exhibition superbly.  There are activities for children and the Bodgers will be at the Open Workshop event in May.  Guess who's going?