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







Wednesday, February 22, 2012

the bad times.....(creatively that is)



I really had to share this with you.....bad times? watch the video and it will become clear...an old sketchbook, 2004..... a forgotten part of my journey to where I am now. I came across this last night after not having looked at it for years. I am glad I reacquainted myself with it....despite the negatives. I have another, similar one. Do you think you could bear to see that one too? Let me know.




external link




12 comments:

Elizabeth said...

This piece of work has a very negativ energy for you. As for me, I like your sketchbook, the way you went about it and tried to make the most of a place that shouldn't exist.

Very nice video!

Rosa said...

Karen, I so like this sketchbook and I have no problem associating it with you.
The colors are all very delicate, not hard or harsh in any way. There are lots of texture and lots of various and different kinds of shapes.
Had you not told the story behind it in the video I would never had guessed this sketchbook was about your impressions/expression of a bad/worn-out part of Manchester where people live.

I see delicacy, soft colors and lots of variation - just as in all your white work.
Very, very good video:-)

deanna7trees said...

i love that first image. i think we all go through periods where what we produce is not pleasing to us but i think we must go through these phases to get where we want to be. enjoyed the video and would love to see the next one.

Mosaic Magpie said...

Even though you do not care for this work.... I can see your current work having had influence from this. The pleating to reference the bars. There was one section that brought to mind your pockets. Even though that heavy dense fabric is not you....you are in those ideas.

silk said...

I love your sketchbook videos, mainly because they reveal the process of how you work through your visual ideas. I'm always glad to see another one posted.

barbara l. hale said...

It's interesting to see this sketchbook. Your work really is very different now. I do like the deconstructed letters and your brick interpretations. But I think I understand your feelings about having to do this work. And I love the lightness of what you do now. Very uplifting.

Jane S. said...

This is a fascinating piece of video. Yes, at first glance I find it surprising that it is something you had made, but upon looking at it again, I can see you in that work. The pleating and folding, the hints of letters, the structure of the designs -- they look different because of the colors and materials used, but I can see how they evolved into what you are doing now.

I love this sketchbook, seriously love it...but I didn't have to live through the making of it, either! It was a negative experience for you but it served you well overall.

Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Doreen G said...

I love how you have interpreted the things in the photos Karen and like the others I see where you are now in what you did here.When I look at the first pieces of free machine embroidery that I did I am horrified.We all have to start somewhere though.

Jane said...

I found this fascinating to see how your work has developed. This may not have been what you enjoyed, but you can see where the pleats and pintucks have come from, and the love of letters and words.

sharon young said...

Thank you for sharing your sketch book with us, it's a very brave thing to do when you have such a strong feeling of dislike for what you had to produce.
I know just how you feel from my college days and suffered the agonies of this sort of module too.
But like the others I can see how your current work has developed from this journey as does most student's work, it's part of the learning curve.
I hope we see more :-)

Anonymous said...

It can be fascinating to look back on early work, but in my recent experience it only makes me bad tempered, so I don't do it any more!

Liza said...

I love it when you go through your sketchbooks as it generates so many ideas and helps me see how to develop my own work - thank you