Textiles

The movement of the waves and the patterns in the sand are the focus of my recent textile and mixed media work.  I hope to take photographs of my work in progress and build up this page in the near future, as well as my sources of inspiration.

I am going to add some images and the work they inspire.

I may have taken the images a long time ago, and they may be elsewhere on my site, but they will be ‘new’ in providing stimulus for new work.
February 05, 2019
These photographs were taken in Alnmouth, Northumberland and give me a change of sand and sea palette and pattern for my textile work.  I like the blue/black of the coal dust deposits and the textures.

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May 07, 2020

This is some of the work related to the sea coal theme.  I printed a section of the photograph onto cotton and then built up the textures using applique and stitch.  I printed a larger section onto Zeelon to act as a background.  This is still very much a work in progress.  Other work will be more abstract.

Some of the fabrics are printed, painted, dyed or just stitched.

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January 30, 2022

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Add album
 add new section

Much of my work is standing and sculptural, and so I set myself the challenge of producing a fairly large wall piece.

As well as a series of wall pieces, I am still including 3-D standing work, all inspired by my observations of the sea, the tides and the overlap of sand by the sea.  I am using plastics, water-soluble fabrics, and modern spun-bonded fabrics, which can be stitched and formed, but still love natural fabrics and will include work using muslin and silk.  Some of my work includes twisted and crocheted wires. I use free machine embroidery and some hand stitching.
May 31, 2015
When I started to think of the sea as a source of inspiration, I experimented with mixing images and fabrics in my sketchbook.  There are many more which expanded greatly as time went on.

Ripples in sea and sand reminded me of pin tucks

St Bees sand ripple image, extended and with fabric

Different versions of the same photograph

Shibori dyed fabric with sand image

Mixed images on dyed background

May 15, 2015
This work is inspired by a particular beach in South Island, New Zealand. Surat Bay has golden sands and shelves deeply into the sea.  The work in this album is based on a photograph I took with the sand and sea meeting diagonally, and I love the way the lines of the sand and sea seem to diverge.  I reduced the image to its basic lines and colour and, after much experimentation, decided to use plastics as my main material.   It has undergone several changes and additions, but I am hoping to finish it soon, in 2020.
I started work on the sea on a thick water-soluble film, Romeo, which I intended to dissolve but changed my mind because I like the ripple effect between the stitches.  The colour comes from torn-up plastic bags and free machine embroidery.  I still used plastic for the sand background, but not soluble, as I had decided to zap out any plastic showing between the stitches in just a few places.

Surat Bay New Zealand

SHORELINES

New version with Zeelon

Part of my thread palette

Trial stitching on plastic

Trying standard machine stitches

First experiments

Sand piece put on a different background

Plastic sand and twisted wires

Stitching on water soluble plastic

Thoughts on presentation

Presentation experiments

Presentation ideas

April 09, 2020

Still a work in progress.  I’m trying to decide how to secure the shapes – or should I leave them flexible?  They are worked on Lutradur or Heavy Zeelon, which is more translucent.  Colour was added in a number of ways: transfer painted paper, strips of plastic bags, and free machine embroidery…….

The interesting thing about using transfer paints and dyes is that it is possible to colour the two sides differently.  Because the bottom and top threads are different, there is no ‘right side’.  Because I often like both sides, I have to devise ways of displaying them to show each side.  I also incorporate my covered wires.
Work in progress……….

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Free machine embroidery on painted/transfer printed Lutadur with coloured wires

Work in progress

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Completed wall piece with pebbles and seaweed

A

The whole piece

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May 01, 2018

These smocking patterns remind me of patterns in the sand.  I have only just started experimenting with them and hope to be able to adapt them to a new piece I am thinking about and undertaking experiments to achieve the effects I want.

Other textile techniques make me think of the sea, in particular shibori dyeing and heat-setting textures.
There are some nice patterns in the sand on my SURFACES page.

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The first piece of Canadian Smocking I tried

The second piece - slightly more complicated

The two pieces together

A piece of polyester fabric coloured directly with disperse (Transfer) paints

June 01, 2015

These are images of parts of the Whitehaven sea wall printed on a printable canvas which is a good weight for stitching.  I added a bit of colour in places on one of the images, and it distorted the canvas, which I liked.  I deliberately wet other prints.  I stitched with a little hand stitching to emphasise the lines.

Some of my original images of the wall can be seen on SURFACES – Images page WHITEHAVEN WALLS.
 
I am still adding to this collection. (2020)

I really like this one

Close up on stitching

A vertical slice through the wall

An image cut into 3 Part 1

Long stone split into 3 small pieces

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The first one

I added more stitch to emphasise the browns

A much more golden piece of stone

June 13, 2020

Some of my photographs are enhanced by stitching to emphasise certain aspects.  Some lend themselves to a particular hand stitch.

I have many which I think would lend themselves to this treatment.  I print them on canvas or other fabrics, then stitch them together.
More to follow.

Stitching on a canvas print of a photograph of sand ripples

Sand patterns like blanket stitch

Mull white sands

The printed photograph can be stood as a tube for display.

Sea coal stitching

May 05, 2017

I am experimenting with aluminium wires in my wire weaving using the colours of the sea.  The form is still a spiral, as in my other wire work, although I am using the colours of the sea as inspiration.

I have experimented with one piece, initially thinking of it as a waveform, but it is so organic it has to be a ‘creature’,  incorporating strips of transfer printed Lutradur and stitch. (Images yet to be added)
Another experiment is using a painted background canvas and wrapping wires horizontally to give texture.   This work is still experimental, and I will add a picture shortly.

Aluminium wire experiments

Aluminium wire weaving

I took it into the sunshine in the garden

It escaped into the garden!

February 15, 2013

This work is based on my current inspiration, taken from my many photographs of the edge of the sea and the overlap of water and sand.

I like to combine photographs with stitched and scanned work. Copying layers and using a graduated blending option gives interesting effects.

Pulled thread and drawing combined

Stitch and photograph

Machine pintucks on dyed Lutradur

Pintucks on different fabrics together with a photograph of sand patterns

Stitched plastic and pulled tea-dyed scrim combined and photographed.

Stitch project: Couching with the sea in mind

Stitch project: Couching with the sea in mind

Couched sari silk just slightly swirled

Couched sari silk

June 12, 2015
The torn corrugated card really makes me think of patterns in the sand, and I have had fun tearing the card and exposing layers to reveal the corrugations.  I went on to add some stitches to the card, sometimes to combine with loosely woven fabrics and also to ‘change’ on the computer.  I love some of these changes, and to my eyes, they become pleasing images in their own right.  I know that not everyone will approve!  They do actually take some thought and some skill to achieve the desired effects, although sometimes the results are happy accidents.
I have combined some of the corrugations with my photographs of the edge of the sea.
More images are to be added, and some are to be printed and stitched on again.

Torn corrugated card with stitch before any distortions

Just torn corrugated card

This distortion in photoshop of the corrugations and stitch really reminds me of patterns in the sand

This is the same piece of corrugated card combined with a photograph

Just layers of torn corrugated card

Corrugated card and pulled, tea-dyed scrim

An experiment with scrim and torn corrugated card and a photograph

Photograph, corrugated card and scrim blended together

Scan, more stitch, pintucked fabric, sand pattern photograph, and liquify

Pintucked fabric and stitched corrugated card

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June 25, 2013

I am fascinated by the movement of the waves and keep trying to capture it with my camera – very difficult.

I am using this inspiration in some of my latest mixed media work, principally stitching on clear plastic, translucent and spun-bonded fabrics.  I want to do more work, perhaps a stitched triptych from one of the wave studies.

Big Seas

I love the wave in the centre of the image

Wave studies 1

Trying to capture the movement of the wave

Wave studies 2

Wave studies 2

I love the mist from the spray of the waves

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May 01, 2018

These experimental pieces were worked on some time ago.  I have several more in Lutradur and other fabrics – to be added.

I am hoping to add to the ‘shell collection’ very soon.  A fractured shoulder has slowed down much of this and other sea work.  I hope to complete more in 2020 – my ‘target’.  More is to be added to this section.
Shells were part of my inspiration for work presented at the Mainly Stitch Exhibition ‘Collections‘.

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Kaiteriteri shells New Zealand

COLOURED and STITCHED LUTRADUR

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May 20, 2017
I experimented with these forms with Lutradur, wire, darts and gathers when I was working on spirals, what seems ages ago.  Recently I have been adding interest by decorating the surfaces mainly with hand stitches.  Because the fabric is transparent, it means that both the front and the back of the stitch can be seen.   These are really ‘work in progress’ images rather than finished work.  They remind me of paper nautilus shells, with white on-white and spiral shapes.

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Just gathered

White-on-white

Small spiral with stitch

Looking into a larger spiral form

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Tumblers

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