Level Four Evaluation

I am still in shock that my first year at university is now coming to an end. I feel as though I have developed both as a person, and in terms of working. Studying Textiles in Practice has provided me with the teaching and equiptment to expand my textile knowledge, and to also try new skills/ techniques that I have never had chance to pursue in my earlier studies. Coming straight from a-level grades felt a tad daunting at first- especially as a majority of the other textiles members had taken a year to study at foundation level. It did make me feel as though I didn't have some of the key skills that I needed to have when coming into a degree course- such as setting up my own exhibitions and having limited tutorial/ contact times, however I feel that this challenge has been a huge learning curve showing I am extremely passionate about textiles to carry on, even at times that I felt completely out of my depth.

This year I have specialised in embroidery and construct. I have always had a passion for machine stitch, and am very much interested in textures and patterns created through embellishments/ hand stitching. I feel that I really didn't achieve as much as I could have done. I think this is down to the over-whelming change from moving to the big city, and literally being thrown in at the deep end, managing work, social time and looking after myself. For my second textile world, I was persuaded into construct- as both Nigel and Kate felt that my embroidery work would incorporate well into construct. I had never tried knit/ weave- and both were very much enjoyed- my goal for the year was to learn how to knit by hand, a skill that I had failed so many times down to be an awkward lefty- however Lesley managed to break this curse and I am now using this method as ofter as possible.

I am disappointed that I was not able to learn some of the skills in other worlds- print especially, as this was the option that I desperately wanted to learn. I am always inspired by the likes of William Morris so be able to replicate work alike to his, I will need to learn new skills. I am really hoping that next year I will be allowed to learn how to work in the print rooms and also the use of photoshop, be it even for a quick induction to learn the absolute basics, as the processes fascinate me, and I would then be able to experiment with different combinations of worlds. As well as our two textile worlds, I have had an interesting experience for our third term, collaboration of Unit X. I feel as though this term I stepped away from my usual style, which left me feeling a little lost, however by the middle of the term I regained my style and felt much happier.

In terms of specialising, from the beginning I felt as though the only option for me was embroidery, as it really has been my main passion. With this said, I now feel as though I have learnt a lot of exciting skills, and don't want to specialise too soon with learning more about them. I am definitely interested in continuing the techniques of embellishments and textures into my work, and I'm sure that this will lead me to a specific pathway in time.

Unit X Evaluation

Unit X has been....interesting to say the least. From our first meeting in Hilton House, up to our exhibition last night, it is clear that Unit X has definitely been the most controversial term this year. 

When we started Unit X, and were put into our collaborative groups along side film and media studies (FMS) and fashion (FAS), there was already an instant negativity from a majority of the FMS students, who all felt as though their practice was wrongly placed for this term. Upon meeting the group that I was collaborating with, it was comforting to discover that I already knew most of the members, so I felt from the offset that I was going to enjoy our eight weeks together.

Unit X felt as though we were being forced to drop all of our previous teachings, in order to create and learn something completely new- which made me feel really out of my own depth. However, as the weeks progressed, and we began to change our idea to a more textiles based project- I felt safe again, and like I knew what I was doing, and that we weren't in fact just wasting time.

There seems to have been a severe lack of organisation during the weeks of this unit, most of the time relying on the 'Chinese whispers' system- as there has been no other way of finding out about events such as tutorials- this was made clear a few times when Rebecca had received emails from fashion tutors regarding tutorials that none of the rest of us in the group knew about. I feel that the TIP tutors have definitely been the most supportive, understanding and helpful during this whole unit- I felt as though if we had any queries they were the only people that we were able to contact. We had no connection from any FMS tutors- be this because there were none, or the message was never passed on, I'm not sure.

In terms of working together through the research weeks, I feel that we jelled really well as a group. We were getting to know about one another, both university and social related. Our research was kept around the idea of the Victorian era- a broad topic, but one that we all stuck to. When discussing our work together, there were clear links and ideas forming from the offset, which made our final output seem achievable. A flaw to our collaborating came down to when we were going to start making the final piece- as FMS students don't have to work to the same process at FAS and TIP do - research, development, sampling, final output, etc- they felt that at some points we were moving too slowly in our development, and seemed to want to rush. This did lead to a few tiffs, about leaving our processes too late in the unit, and worry that the pieces would not be finished in time.

Collaborations. I feel that TIP and FAS were able to work well together, as they are similar practices. It was just a matter of attempting to create a final output that would be able to showcase our skills. Rebecca made it quite clear from the beginning that she did not want to make a garment, as she felt too under pressure being the only person with any idea how to go about this process. As far as our final piece goes, made by TIP and FAS students, we were able to successfully create a wall installation that showed all of our individual methods and techniques, that still merged together perfectly. 

In terms of roles within the group, I honestly feel that 90% of the time I was the person that took control. I feel as though it was my duty to keep up to date with the meetings of the groups- keeping in touch with every member via text, phone calls and Facebook almost everyday, progression of the pieces- deciding on the final piece that we ran with in the end, and also sorting out alternative methods when things within our group became heated. This said, the TIP students were the most helpful, due to the fact that three quarters of us were in that practice. We all stuck together on our ideas and bounce off one another to achieve a successful outcome.

I have enjoyed working within a group for the first time, it has been an overall very positive experience, and a massive learning curve within my learning. I feel that the amount of work that I did was poor at the beginning of the unit, as I was more focused in research, rather than design/ development, however this changed as we all settled on an idea, and stuck with it. I would like to work within a group again, as it is something that is most certainly going to happen within the working world. I have grown bonds with other faculty members, not only TIP, and shall look forward to continuing to learn about their practices in the future.

Unit X Exhibition

And so, finally the night of our collaboration.... Earlier this morning myself and Emily went back to the venue in order to hang the last few pieces of art up onto the walls, and to check that all was in order for tonight. 

Our exhibition night, I feel, was a huge success- I was impressed with the overall turnout when I arrived at the venue, at least fifty people including other members of the School of Art, tutors, friends and family- all there to support our exhibition, which really did mean a lot to us all. It was wonderful to see the other group's work finally up in the venue- as they set up a lot later than we did, leaving it all to the very last minute. The atmosphere in the pub was relaxing and sociable, with all members having a drink in their hand, appearing to admire the art work, and to be taking in the warm vibes. 

I feel that our piece worked well in it's setting, the colours stood out on the black back drop, and all of the pieces linked well together. It will be a shame when it comes to taking down the pieces.

Exhibition Set-Up

Tuesday, the day before our exhibition opening- We met as a group at The Bay Horse, eager to install our work. After emailing both Ali and Adriano the night before, I was told that we were unable to take down any of the work that was already on the wall as it had to stay in situ, meaning that we were going to put our work up on the back wall of the pub. Firstly, we organised our samples roughly on the floor - now with 36 beautiful textiles pieces, and decided which should be raised onto canvas.

We worked well as a team, each playing helpful roles to the production of the installation. We were able to construct our wall piece in no time at all, only leaving spaces for the canvas pieces- as we found that we needed to buy some larger pins for these items to attach onto the wall with. Myself and Emily volunteered to go back tomorrow morning before the exhibition, just to pin the remaining few pieces up, and to make sure that the presentation of work was acceptable for the opening. 

I am looking forward to the opening of the event tomorrow night- it will be a nice way to end our first year. It also means that we'll be able to have a look at other work produced by the School of Art.

Unit X Tutorial

After a weekend of sample-making, and preparing for the bust week ahead, we were up early Monday morning for our final tutorial- this time with Nichola. In an email received on Saturday night, it was made clear that any work that we wanted to exhibit needed to be shown to Nichola on Monday, otherwise it would not be allowed in the exhibition. The thought of this dawned on me- afraid incase our new idea wasn't up to scratch- which ended in an almost sleepless weekend, trying so hard to perfect my pieces.

Luckily we all pulled it off, attending the tutorial with thirty samples in hand between the textiles and fashion students, and four mixed media squares from the film and media students, which were going to make for a very lovely piece of collaborative artwork. We lay all of our pieces out on the table, and I have to say, I felt extremely proud by the amount of work that we had been able to achieve over the two days.

The feedback that was given to us suggested that the fabric samples jelled well together, however Nichola wasn't sure about the flat mixed media pieces, due to the lack of them in comparison to fabric samples, and the problem that they looked too flat. Instead she had the idea that we should make these prints into free postcards to hand out at the event, so that the audience would be able to take something away with them. This was taken as a good idea, and everyone agreed that it would be a nice touch for our exhibition.

In terms of set up, we spoke about how we should exhibit our pieces, with Nichola suggest that the pieces should definitely be kept together as a large collection. We spoke about our idea to raise some of squares, to give a little more depth to the presentation, and although some of the group were unsure about this idea, Nichola agreed that it would be an interesting and successful concept. There was still the problem of where we were going to put such a big piece. From visiting the pub, it was clear that most of the wall were already occupied by artists selling their work, however, we were going to see if we could have a few of the pieces taken down for the two days. If this wasn't allowed- we remembered a black wall in the corner- which I think will highlight our lighter fabrics. From our first visit, a few of the group members had suggested hanging the pieces in a window cabinet- however after seeing the amount of samples that we had- that idea was automatically ruled out- we would've been using our samples as curtains!

This was definitely our best feedback to date- our final thing to do was to check that we had enough samples, by arranging them in a way that we thought would work. We decided that we needed three or four more samples, just to finish off the piece- so myself and Emily volunteered to do these tonight- before installing our piece tomorrow.

Samples, Samples, Samples

This weekend all I have been doing is making samples, samples and more samples for our exhibition, which scarily, is in three nights!! I feel that the samples I have uploaded onto my blog are the strongest of my batch. In each piece I have used the colour scheme set from our initial research into the Victorian period - red, gold, blue, black and white-, the use of photographs taken around the city, embellishments, and finally the idea of restriction- shown through the use of wiring and mesh. The pieces contain both hand, and machine stitch, and I feel that they are strong enough to show our theme. I am really looking forward to seeing everybody else's work tomorrow, and finalising our installation ideas.

Artist Research: Claire A Baker

Another artist that I have been looking at for ideas as to how to incorporate embellishments into my samples is Claire A. Baker. She uses a soft palette of colours, giving her pieces a vintage feel- with her aim of the pieces to give a nostalgic edge. In her write up, it says that she gains inspiration from old photographs, both her own, and those collected, vintage items and old buildings.

I think the thing that caught my eye with Claire's work is the clever way that she features photographs in her textiles pieces- and they fit, because of her stitch work and embellishment. This is how I feel our samples should look, and therefore I shall be attempting to merge my photographs into my pieces with stitch and use of embellishment materials, such as lace and beading. 

Claire A. Baker: http://claireabaker.co.uk/index.html

Unit X Promotion

After speaking to Julie and Nichola earlier in the week, we were reminded of the importance of advertisement- after all we wanted to showcase our work to as many people as possible. The two ideas that we decided upon were a Facebook event and posters. I created the 'Dress the City' event, and was able to add all of the group members- meaning that we were able to invite our individual friends/ family into the group. We had a great response to the event, with many people accepting the invitation. 

As well as this, Nicole created a batch of smart looking posters, for us to pin around the Northern Quarter, and in the School of Art- this way allowing like-minded artistic people to have the opportunity to join in with our celebrations. We gave some copies to the Bay Horse, so that they were able to put them into the window- advertising the event. As our group name suggests, we did rebel in some of the places we stuck the posters- in folders, over door handles and continually across several lockers- this way people would take interest, and hopefully engage. 

Now that these two methods of communication- as well as word of mouth- have been initiated, all we can do is wait and see what impact this has had to the event.

Unit X Tutorial

This morning we had a tutorial with fashion tutor Susan, who wanted to make sure that we were all doing ok and were on track for the rest of the week. Those of us that had bought some samples with us, showed Susan, and as a group we explained our reasonings behind the pieces. As we hadn't been in touch with any tutors since our change in final piece ideas, we were all a bit nervous incase she didn't like our ideas, however she seemed to really like the concept, however correctly pointed out- why stop at nine samples, why not create a wall full of our pieces, in different kinds of mixed media, for example our photography, collages and drawings. This seems like a fantastic idea, the bigger amount the better, I feel. 

Here is a photograph of the first batch of samples produced by Emily, Rebecca and myself. I feel that they all work really well together- we seem to all have the same style and way of working, which helps with the overall feel for the piece. Jess and Rachael had also started their pieces, however the change in plans for the day meant that they hadn't bought them to the tutorial.

Susan also asked us how we were thinking of having our samples placed, and where. We told her that we were going to a meeting later in the week at The Bay Horse, in order to discuss these ideas with Ali, the creative director at the pub. We had quite a few ideas floating around about the presentation of the pieces- be it the samples all joined together as a patchwork quilt, to being suspended around the pub. We really needed to have a look at the space that we had before making this decision. For our first ideas, we had thought about placing the textile pieces in frames, however when it came to buying these, it proved difficult to find the shape/ depth of frame that we had been hoping for. Instead, Rebecca, Emily, Jess and myself had purchased nine canvases, as we thought that that could be an interesting way to bring some depth into the pieces- using a 3D look. 

The last point that was made in the tutorial was how Nicole and Sarah were finding the whole Unit X experience, and how they were contributing to the overall collaborative piece, which admittedly is very much textiles based. Jess had the best idea, offering the idea of the film students to design posters/ leaflets for the event, something that the girls happily accepted. As well as this, Susan suggested they could create some of the samples for the overall piece- not necessarily using stitch. The range of medias would look interesting, and bring together the message of collaboration.

Overall I think that the tutorial was a huge success, and seemed to help the group in the organisation that is going to be needed for the coming week. Our final piece sounded strong and meant that everybody would be participating equally in the output. Later on in the evening, Nicole poster a photograph of her samples, which in my opinion was very nice- collages of the old vs. new theme found in manchester, with the added connection of the restrictive lace. 

Task: Photograph the City

Now that we have decided to run with the idea of creating textiles samples, presenting colour schemes and embellishments from the Victorian era, with photographs of the city of Manchester- both old and new- we needed to get our acts together, and get cracking with taking our photographs. Our final output pieces were now being centred around a textiles theme- this was being done because nobody else voiced their opinions as to a final output, and we were running out of time, which did mean that as a textiles student, I wasn't pushing my creativity as far as it could have been. Nicole pointed out that she  was being taken out of her comfort zone, unable to participate in the textiles pieces, however Rachael suggested that the rest of the group would be able to teach her simple parts that could be done, if she wasn't wanting to use a sewing machine- which was taken happily and positively. As well as the embroidering side, we decided that photographing the city, and incorporating our photographs into the pieces would be a good plan- as it meant exploring a material that we don't usually use in our own practice, and it gave a stronger link to the ideas behind our dressing the city brief. It also meant that the film and media students were able to have their input into the final pieces.

Emily created a very beautiful sample of work, which she shared with us that morning- it held all of our ideas perfectly- bar the idea of photographs, as this was something that was discussed after the making of the piece. I feel that myself and Emily have a very similar style, meaning that we will be able to help one another out with ideas, if we get stuck.

We decided it would be best to split into two groups, that way we'd be able to get things done much quicker. Emily, Jess and myself decided to go and take photographs, as it would be nice to have a wider range of photographs to use, with Sarah and Nicole deciding to come with us. Rebeca and Rachael stayed at the art school in order to do some extra research. Walking around the city, the five of us were able to communicate well, pointing our interesting photographic opportunities, and also bond after our disagreements the previous day. 

When taking my photographs, I tried to capture the colour scheme that we intended on using from the start, along with the old and new aspects of Manchester. 

Final Output? No.

Our initial plan for today seemed secure- we were to walk through the city, stopping wherever we seemed fit the interpretation of 'restriction', and, following our newly addressed brief- we were going to dress the city with our bought materials and embellishments. Plans did have to change a little though, as we were called into a very last minute minute to discuss our venue choice. The venue was to be used by ourselves, and another group- that seemed to have contrasting ideas to ourselves. Their brief revolved around colour, where as ours had a much more vintage theme, and having been to the Bay Horse the previous day, we felt that ours would fit the venue style better.

 So after the quick meeting our initial plans started, and we began to walk the city...

I came across a piece of rusty metal, punctured with holes. The colours seemed to fit with our Victorian theme, so I began to create a knitted structure for the piece- creating the idea of restriction through wrappings, and knotting- and also showing our take on yarn-bombing. As well, other members of the group looked at placing their samples in different places close by- drain pipes, broken wood, door frames etc..

After taking a couple of picture, we all knew that it just wasn't working, and with the sun blazing down, it wasn't long until we found ourselves in a very heated argument, with all textiles students disagreeing that this was a good idea after all. It just wasn't possible, or clever for seven of us to be standing around in public spaces, sewing hundreds of sequins onto our  fabrics/ mesh, without any of us actually knowing what the final pieces were going to look like, and some members of the group standing around doing nothing to help with the supposed "collaborative contribution". I suggested that we urgently needed to go back to the drawing board, especially, as bought to our attention in yesterday's presentation feedback- there is less than two weeks left of Unit X(!). 

So back to the student union we went- it was obvious that the heated arguing had caused tension between our group members. Nobody was willing to break the ice, or agree on anything- with the Film and Media girls exclaiming that they weren't being marked on the final output so it didn't really matter what the rest of us wanted to do. This really upset the rest of the group, Jess and myself especially, as this unit is about collaboration and helping one another- be it marked, or not. Lack of communication wasn't helping nor getting us anywhere further- so I felt it was time to take a bit of control and offer my suggestion. I still wanted the message to involve the city of Manchester old vs. new and the colours and embellishments found in the Victorian period- it was just a matter of how. 

Thinking back to my practice- textiles- I suggested that we created samples that represented these ideas- nine textiles pieces, framed and installed at the Bay Horse. Thankfully EVERYONE agreed that this would be a good idea- though rightfully Jess, Emily and myself still needed to think of a way of incorporating the whole 'old vs new city' into the pieces- and the idea of photographs was mentioned. We were to take photographs of the city, places that represented the industrial side of the city back in the day, with newer modern buildings, such as the art school. The nice thing about this was that coincidently it meant we were able to photograph buildings that linked beautifully into our colour schemes. A picture found on pinterest when I began research ideas into textiles pieces was this (below), as it seemed to use the same kinds of materials that we had bought from the wholesalers- I would not be copying this- as it is wrong to do so- I would rather create something off my own back. I think what drew me to the photograph was it's use of a ripped up border, which could be used to determine the use of the photographs I am taking tomorrow. 

So that was that. Everyone said that they wanted to run with this as a solid idea- so we planned to meet to take the photographs and start the sampling the next day. I hope that the conflict can be resolved sharpish because we really don't have time for lack of co-operation from some of the group.

Artist Research: Eline Le Callennec

When looking into the use of embroidery, I came across the embellishment and print designer, Eline Le Callennec. She graduated in France with a 1st Textiles (Ba) Hons degree, focusing her work on the embellishments found particularly on fabrics/ garments. In the about section of her website, it explains that her embellishments are crafted all by hand- using her built up collection of ribbons, lace, fabrics and many other materials, through-out her life journey. 

 I am absolutely blown away by Eline Le Callennec's standards of working. Her website also states that she takes inspiration from the everyday- so this would include colour, texture, the sights that she sees in her everyday life etc.  I love Callennec's use of details, something that I have grown to love since being in the textiles' world of embroidery. When I am sewing, I love to include little details- for example buttons, or use of hand stitch somewhere in the pieces. 

Eline Le Callennec: http://www.elinelc.co.uk

I feel that Eline Le Callennec's work is perfect in fitting into my brief at the moment, as research into Victorian dress shows that embellishments were found on the clothes, of the people that could afford them. Extra lace, cloth, and use of beading would show the classes of society, with many only dreaming of owning such luxurious garments. 

I am wanting to adapt Callennec's use of embellishment, into a way fit for this 'object' that we are attempting to produce collaboratively. As we are looking at restriction, I feel that the use of wire and mesh will be appropriate- both materials give a rough, unadaptable shape- Using these thoughts, I will try to knit with wire, that way I will (hopefully) be creating something quite exquisite from a material deemed unfit for purpose. As well as this, I am playing around with heavy embellishments of sequins and buttons, and seeing if the idea works well with my pieces. I think that the use of layering up lace is quite a nice way of showing heavy embellishments.

examples of sketchbook work on embellishments