More Work in Progress

Today I finished the middle section depicting the river delta in the Turpan Depression.  This was a really difficult section to complete because it interlinks with the section below.  Whichever section I worked first was going to present difficulties as there are important landmarks in each section that help to proportion the work (I hope that makes sense!).

Here's how the whole thing is looking (more or less).  It's a very large piece and I am having difficult fitting all of it into one photograph.

Here's another attempt to capture the whole thing.  Click on the picture and you'll see a larger version.

Photographed from the right edge you can see a bit more detail and how the middle section fits with the top sections.

Detail of the right side of the work.  It was surprisingly difficult to work those meandering lines so that they looked random and natural.  Some worked better than others!

Interest is maintained by using various shades of relatively neutral colours.

This photo details the left one third of the work.  The brown sections will make more sense when the bottom portion is completed.

This photo shows the open weave texture of the whisper silk.

The line of black stitching near the top will be removed.  It was stitched to hold the whisper silk in place.  Even so, this fine, open weave silk fabric just wanted to fray at the slightest touch!

I probably won't have much time for stitching over the next two weeks leading up to my first solo show as my time will be taken up with distributing invitations and other organisational matters.  I'll post more about that as happenings arise.

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New Work in Progress

This week I started on a new work and it is large and ambitious!  The dimensions are 70 cm x 48 cm.  That might not sound all that large, but when nearly the entire surface needs to be covered in stitches it starts to seem very daunting.  My source image is a satellite photograph of the Turpan Depression, a mountainous region spanning from Tadjikistan to China.  The image inspired me because of the fabulous textures and contrasts.

(Remember to click on the photos if you want to see larger images).

Dyeing the ground fabric was a challenge.  I usually have no trouble matching my dye colours to my original conception, but somehow, every colour I mixed came out brighter than what I wanted.  In the end I decided to go with what I had.  I figured if these are the colours that my brain wants to use, then I should just go with it. When it came to dyeing my threads I was able to achieve colours closer to my original conception.  I think the contrast of the muted colours of the threads against the brighter colours of the ground fabric will make the work more vibrant.

The central area is crucial to the cohesion of the whole piece so I began by laying down the whisper silk.  I then embroidered a couple of small areas just to mark out the proportions I would be working with later.

I then started stitching the area representing the highest mountain peaks that lie above the snow line.  I knew that if I could make this work then I was going to be able to pull the work off as a whole.  I started by stitching in the mountain ridges using long armed palestrina stitch.  I then defined the valleys with lines of stem stitch.  The intervening areas were worked in fern stitch and oriented so as to give the impression of a descent into a valley.

This is a close up of the palestrina stitch showing the lovely ridge of knots that is characteristic of this stitch.

Yesterday I added the snow capped mountain regions.  I wanted it to be well contrasted with the areas surrounding it, so I worked it in short sections of closed feather stitch.  The bold geometry of the white stitching works well against the more organic red area.

Today I will finish the white area by stitching in brown thread between the white sections.  This will make it a little less stark and link it to the next section

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Artists' Retreat at St Helens

I have just returned from a week away at St Helens on Tasmania's north east coast.  Once a year I and my two textile artist friends Carolyn and Jane take a week away so that we can immerse ourselves in all things art and textiles.  We are fortunate to have access to a house at St Helens which is perfect for our activities, including an enclosed patio that makes a wonderful "wet" area.

During my book making workshop the week before I had painted some papers with acrylic paints and so spent my week away working on some embroidered works on paper.

I have been wanting to do some work based on images from Ernst Haeckel's Art Forms in Nature.  Both the works depict the forms of marine protozoa.  It is fitting as much of my work is based on the minute and microscopic, the hidden world without and within.  I thought these would be quick to finish, but they were far more labour intensive than I had anticipated.

I have showed some "work in progress" shots on the second work I created.

Here is the image drawn and traced and clamped to the paper waiting to have holes punched using a book maker's awl.

Light weight fusible interfacing was ironed onto the back of the paper to prevent tearing between the holes which had to be placed quite close together to achieve the curved outlines.  This photo shows the reverse side of the paper with the images punched out in tiny holes.

As you can see it is more difficult to clearly see the punched out image on the front side.

I originally worked the outline in a light blue, only to find, after seven hours of stitching that the completed form was almost impossible to see.

I then went over it in a thicker yellow thread  and that made all the difference.  Fortunately it only took five hours to go over the blue!

The finished work.

I also made some  beaded jewellery while away, but that will be for another blog entry.

Meanwhile, Carolyn and Jane were having an equally productive time.

Jane was experimenting with making lovely gossamer felted scarves.

This scarf was nuno felted onto whisper silk using wool and silk tops.

Tissue silk felted with wool roving.

I loved Jane's felted stole so much I commissioned one for myself.

Fine merino wool felted onto paj silk with silk tops and wool thread added for texture.  This second photo is much closer to the real colour.

Carolyn started off the week with some ecoprinting.

First Carolyn painted the leaves with egg yolk.

The leaves being placed on the T shirt.

After cooking the T shirt in an old iron pot the leaves transferred beautifully with a lovely purple/black border imparted by the iron.

The parts of the T shirt that were on the outside of the bundle received most of the iron colouring.

Equally successful was the printing on a rayon/silk velvet scarf.

After working with the natural dyes Carolyn had a hankering for colour.  

Saris washed and flapping their gorgeous colours on the line.

The pink sari was used as a base for her nuno felted bag.

Not quite finished (the handles are pinned on).  Carolyn ran out of fleece after the first side was felted and so had to dye more fleece.  As a result the bag has two different sides.

Close up of the sari fabric felted onto the handle ends for decoration. 

Finally, Carolyn dyed some fabrics for an artwork depicting patterns in rock.

I adore these colours....

...and in glorious close up.

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