Monday, 31 January 2011
Life's a blur
Why is it when you make optimistic,firm decisions life has a habit of biting you in the bum? Well I've been well and truly bitten on a personal front which has caused home life to be sent into free fall over the last month but as I say its personal and not to be discussed here-I'm just explaining my absence from blogging.
Of course personal upsets couldn't have come at a more inopportune time but I am still plowing on with the work come what may.
Since Christmas I have created a piece of embellished fabric over 15ft long which has been under the machine 3 times to achieve the required effect. I have stitched all the text onto this 'pathway' by hand and then distressed and embedded it using the embellisher so it appears like the random and discarded thoughts that passed through my consciousness during the many walks I took through the woods. the next stage -which I have embarked on- is to hand stitch the whole path with texture representing the seasons that the journeys have taken from the first shoots of spring through burgeoning summer and a glorious autumn to the soft decay of winter.
Meanwhile I am starting to create the backgrounds on the 6ft panels (again this takes at least 3 passes under the machine to create the right layers and textures). I have finished the Spring panel which is ready for hand stitching and started the summer one. The main problem I have is good enough light to enable me to select the right colours of fibres and fabrics so I am limited to the hours I can work on that to mid-day as it has been so gloomy.
On top of this there is extra sketching that JC have asked me to do and all the paperwork that is required to be kept up -sketchbooks,journal and the endless forms they keep sending.Plus we, my fellow graduates, are trying to organise our exhibition from different parts of the globe so we are in e-mail overload. Plus we are still expected to keep up our contact with what is occurring in the art world in general - fortunately I have a couple of great friends in fellow students Helen and Marian who make sure I get to see at least some of the exhibitions and since Christmas I have been to Eastwing nine at the Courtauld and the Designer Craftsmen at the Mall Galleries and I'm off to see the Chinese robes exhibition at V&A next week all being well and I'm really looking forward to the break. So a normal day at the moment goes- get up and do some chores, paperwork etc... 3-4 hours on the embellisher until the light goes, more chores, cook dinner, 3-4 hours hand stitching, bed.
Finally there is real life to cope with- family issues,everyday living (the usual cooking washing cleaning etc...)
Meanwhile I've still got Material Girls to organise (the exhibition of work we were invited to do for the Jersey Textile Showcase must be packed up and sent next week) and some other work delivered to the visual arts centre for another exhibition. I am also trying to get everyone progressing on the next exhibition we are orgainsing with our Canadian colleagues.
Actually I'm making myself feel ill reading this and if it wasn't for the fact that I can use my blog towards my written work I don't think I would be writing it at the moment. So until the next update its back to the embellisher.
Of course personal upsets couldn't have come at a more inopportune time but I am still plowing on with the work come what may.
Since Christmas I have created a piece of embellished fabric over 15ft long which has been under the machine 3 times to achieve the required effect. I have stitched all the text onto this 'pathway' by hand and then distressed and embedded it using the embellisher so it appears like the random and discarded thoughts that passed through my consciousness during the many walks I took through the woods. the next stage -which I have embarked on- is to hand stitch the whole path with texture representing the seasons that the journeys have taken from the first shoots of spring through burgeoning summer and a glorious autumn to the soft decay of winter.
Meanwhile I am starting to create the backgrounds on the 6ft panels (again this takes at least 3 passes under the machine to create the right layers and textures). I have finished the Spring panel which is ready for hand stitching and started the summer one. The main problem I have is good enough light to enable me to select the right colours of fibres and fabrics so I am limited to the hours I can work on that to mid-day as it has been so gloomy.
On top of this there is extra sketching that JC have asked me to do and all the paperwork that is required to be kept up -sketchbooks,journal and the endless forms they keep sending.Plus we, my fellow graduates, are trying to organise our exhibition from different parts of the globe so we are in e-mail overload. Plus we are still expected to keep up our contact with what is occurring in the art world in general - fortunately I have a couple of great friends in fellow students Helen and Marian who make sure I get to see at least some of the exhibitions and since Christmas I have been to Eastwing nine at the Courtauld and the Designer Craftsmen at the Mall Galleries and I'm off to see the Chinese robes exhibition at V&A next week all being well and I'm really looking forward to the break. So a normal day at the moment goes- get up and do some chores, paperwork etc... 3-4 hours on the embellisher until the light goes, more chores, cook dinner, 3-4 hours hand stitching, bed.
Finally there is real life to cope with- family issues,everyday living (the usual cooking washing cleaning etc...)
Meanwhile I've still got Material Girls to organise (the exhibition of work we were invited to do for the Jersey Textile Showcase must be packed up and sent next week) and some other work delivered to the visual arts centre for another exhibition. I am also trying to get everyone progressing on the next exhibition we are orgainsing with our Canadian colleagues.
Actually I'm making myself feel ill reading this and if it wasn't for the fact that I can use my blog towards my written work I don't think I would be writing it at the moment. So until the next update its back to the embellisher.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Happy New Decade!
Whoopee! Christmas is over at long last.The decorations are down and tomorrow I get my house back as Martin goes back to work and Kirsty starts her first nursing placement.Although we have a tiny close family we do have quite a few peripheral ones plus friends and I worked out that over the 'holiday period' I have entertained, cooked and generally run around after over 30 people. Invitations for me to be waited on or even made a coffee -0! can anyone wonder why I am not a Christmas fan?
OK enough moaning. This year I have decided to try and moan less and also not let myself be 'put upon' any more, no more Mrs. martyr.
When I wasn't cooking, massaging egos,cleaning, washing up, etc... (probably like every other mother/wife on the planet) I did manage to get a start on my fabric for my final piece and yesterday I finished producing 5 metres of needle felt (which has to have at least 3 complete passes under the machine to combine the various layers of different fibres). The old back is a bit stiff as I think it has taken about 24 hours in total but at least I can actually start the embroidery now, which is quite exciting.I'm really proud of my 12 needle Babylock Embellisher- everyone kept saying you need access to an industrial one to produce such lengths-well you don't. Lets hope it is up to the other 4 panels it will have to produce by the end.
So now its all systems go for 2011 and I can't wait.
OK enough moaning. This year I have decided to try and moan less and also not let myself be 'put upon' any more, no more Mrs. martyr.
When I wasn't cooking, massaging egos,cleaning, washing up, etc... (probably like every other mother/wife on the planet) I did manage to get a start on my fabric for my final piece and yesterday I finished producing 5 metres of needle felt (which has to have at least 3 complete passes under the machine to combine the various layers of different fibres). The old back is a bit stiff as I think it has taken about 24 hours in total but at least I can actually start the embroidery now, which is quite exciting.I'm really proud of my 12 needle Babylock Embellisher- everyone kept saying you need access to an industrial one to produce such lengths-well you don't. Lets hope it is up to the other 4 panels it will have to produce by the end.
So now its all systems go for 2011 and I can't wait.
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