For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Saturday, January 10, 2009

and now for something completely different...

Well I said I wanted to post something different at the weekend and here we are! This is all to do with my plan, remember my plan? Do you also remember a while back I said I wanted to turn my blog into a book? The plan and the book are connected. After lots of feedback and info from you good people I have realised that BLURB is a no go. It doesn't support Blogger and transferring my blog to another host would not be so easy if I want to keep my archives intact. So we have LULU, thanks Camilla, not a site for blog books as such but a pretty handy site all the same where you can upload your pics, (and text too if you want) into books of all shapes and sizes. Then I began to think about all the work I have under beds, on top of cupboards etc, I know it's there but I am never quite sure what is there, how much inspiration is hidden or how much rubbish needs to be thrown away.
So I have been rummaging, crawling under beds, scavangeing off the top of wardrobes etc etc. And this is what I was looking for...... I want to preserve my work, all my work, in book form starting with the very beginning, my design work from University. I have spent all day taking hundreds of photos and I am not exaggerating I mean hundreds. I got so confused changing my pictures to 72dpi for the blog then 300dpi for the book, back and forth back and forth, I thought my brain was going to explode. I lost goodness knows how many, copied tons of them by accident, my hard drive is going to object, stamp it's feet and go home soon I'm sure! Anyway this is a tiny selection of what I took today, depending on the feedback I get there are hundreds more where these came from. I will try and talk you through them,
the first two are from my very first week at university (2003), an exercise on examining the structure and weave of fabric in paint. Boy did this sketchbook page bring back memories.
then we did quite a bit of this, same module about four weeks later. I absolutely loved doing this. The tutor hung a make shift washing line in the studio and draped different types of cloth over it, table linen, shawls that kind of thing. First we had to draw it and then the best bit, paint it onto fabric embellishing with stitch if we wanted to.





The next two pictures are the same task approached in a totally different way, a more abstract freer piece of couching and machine embroidery.



And then a sketchbook page, collage and water colour. These images are photos of photos, my daughter has the original sketchbook but I think they have photographed quite well considerering. Again this is from 2003, a module called 'plant drawing'. In the second picture those round things are buttons.....yes I know it was plant drawing.......I call it artistic licence!!





Please let me know what you think of all this stuff, I have loads more I want to share if you want to see it. I think the book will probably take about four weeks to put together, for me to get online and download everything, check the layout, think of text etc, I am really excited about it.
Now for swaddling band one.....I promise I will show the finished piece in my next post. Here it is though after I had lined it with my silk section, ready to be put together properly, for seams and fastenings to be added.




Thinking about preserving my work had me thinking and panicking about flickr. Without paying for a pro account you have limited storage which I had gone way over. That meant all my pics were suspended unprotected and vulnerable in cyber space and it had me in a cold sweat! So I bit the bullet and signed up for a pro account, now I can play all day creating sets and collections, it's great. Pop over and have a look if you have the time. Take a look here aswell, lovely words about me! It makes me go all warm inside!

16 comments:

Guzzisue said...

more please !!!

jude said...

there is an ooze of energy here karen. wow.

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

I think it's great to document all your work Karen.
It takes us on a journey, seeing how you have developed your work.
Also by blogging, it displays it all together as one big exhibition.
I can feel your excitement!
Lovely.x

Art4Sol said...

This is quite the undertaking.I would definitely love to see more and I don't mind reading detailed info if you want to explain more of the process, if not that's ok, the photos are very clear.
Thanks soo much.
Darlene

Jane said...

Can't wait to see the fastenings you choose for the band.
I think a book would be fascinating. It's so interesting seeing the creative journey you have been on

Diane Cransac said...

As ever, I stand in awe of your talent. I would absolutely LOVE to take a fiber course. I think it would just open whole new areas to explore. I really thrived when I took fine arts classes and found that the daily classes and ordered exercises kept me in line and pushed me to create and continue to create. Now to do that with fabric...that would be heaven.
I encourage you to continue on in your endeavors. I find it all very interesting and I'm sure many others do also! Good luck with those #$@! pictures ^^

Anonymous said...

You amaze me every time!

jennyflowerblue said...

I am blown away by the freedom of these images, The blooming branch particularly appeals to me. I would love to see more of this, although I do find your level of accomplishment almost itimidating!

Gina said...

It is all amazing Karen - so yes please... more! It's a lovely idea to preserve it all together.

Ulla said...

Definitely a good idea to put it all together! You must have had a good light day, the pictures are amazing and so is your work.

Katy Swift said...

As always your enthusiasm is infectious! It sounds like yo've been having fun. Will check out the pictures.

Lookig at your uni work is great. Is this what I have to look forward to?!

Threadspider said...

Your images are clear as well as inspiring and I take my hat off to your energy levels in getting this much done already.Great stuff Karen. More!

Victoria said...

More baby, more!
Bring it on, I could eat it up... fantastically intriguing!

Camilla said...

OOh i'm impressed, and now wanting to do something similar with all my old sketchbooks- but I must get things done first and not get distracted into scanning things and making books. I'm looking forward to seeing how the finished book turns out.

Jacky said...

This is exciting Karen... I love the collage (I love it all, but that one especially)!!! Please share more with us.

lusitano epiphany said...

More please, these are so beautiful! I love looking at them and would love to see others.