The whole point of producing the research and developing sampling from it, is to explore idea's in relation to the assignment module, in this case it is to start a business on a shoestring.

I have thought of several ideas, most of which would not be practical to attempt within the time frame we have. For example setting up a permanent exhibition space to sell my work as well as the work of others. I have a venue in Buxton, Jack's Barber shop. The shop has ample wall space, suitable for hanging various sized work and has the added advantage of been recently renovated to a high standard. However I would only be able to hang work, there is no free standing exhibition space. This would limit the type of work I would like to display.        

Another idea was to customise the traditional Menorcan sandals, I have been thinking about the prospect of this for some time. I have spent several family holidays in Menorca, and have seen many people including the local population young and old wearing these sandals. Recently I found the same make of sandal in T.K.MAX, and I have to say considerably more expensive than on the island of Menorca. 

my plan was to buy 10 to 15 pairs of ladies and children's sandals in various sizes and paint designs on to them. Initially the sandals would come from the market in either Ciutadella or Mahon (oh a trip to the sun just for sandals!) ladies sizes sell on the Markets place for €12 to €18 per-pair, children's sell for €10 to €15 depending on size. If the enterprise took off I would then  source the makers or a wholesaler of the sandals. 

Initially the sandals would be decorated in summery patterns may be traditionalist floral or stylised floral to suite the British market, if this took off I would move on to commission work meeting the requirements of the customer.

Sadly the first idea of the permanent exhibition space needed more time to develop further. As I planned initially to approach fellow students to start this venture off, I soon realised that they all have the same commitments as I have, meeting the needs of the degree. There are other avenues that could be explored however, I felt that in the time frame we had to complete  exploratory work, then move onto final pieces not to mention the business plan, the best thing would be to develop another idea.

As for the idea of customising Menorcan sandals, well my budget would not allow the trip to Ciutadella especially if the assignment is to create a business on a Shoestring. However this is something I want to develop in the future may be when my husband and I retire!! 

      

This image shows the completed piece. The original has been stretched for display. However I would have liked to present this piece showing the irregular edged as it gives the piece more colour and space. Unfortunately when producing the piece I did not place the image in the centre of the fabric as you can see from the image below I worked right up to the top edge. Stretching the piece has reduced the size and I feel this dramatically alters the feel of the art work.

some time the reverse can be just as interesting than the art work.

The completed piece, if I were to redo this piece I would still use the same process in relation to the comments made earlier about the cutting of the fabric. 

However I think I need to define the centres of the daises to give a stronger contrast. The outline in the top right side flower needs looking at again as well as the shape, having said that the colours on the original do not look as strong as they go in this photograph.

all cutting placing and gluing complete all down to the sewing to bring the shape and tone into the piece. 

Had to give up in the small pieces of fabric for the daises it was getting to fiddly. Resorted to cutting petal sections and grouping then together, I do think this will give the same effect however I'm not sure if it will work on all the flowers, as I feel the smaller pieces of fabric work well on the Gerber (flower with the dark centre)  

building up quite nicely, must remember at this stage not to use to much glue to allow the sewing machine to do it's job. 

this may take some time! however I think using small pieces of fabric allows you to get depth into the shapes

I may have cut to many pieces of fabric! and a little small the grid gives that away. 

my attempt at a water colour, as usual it has turned into a gouache painting I need to put my zinc white under lock and key! also I need to speed up my technique I would not make a good living if I was to rely on my painting skills

Using paper patterns Richard sets out the layers within the appliqué emphasising the background, stems leaves and finally the flowers.

From these patterns Richard chose where to place the varied types and colours of fabrics, starting within the background and moving on through to the top layer of flowers. Using a small amount of PVA to attach the collage to the substrate fabric usually Hessian. Then using a sewing machine with the feed-dog’s down and a darning foot he uses both straight stitch and different widths and length of zig-zag stitches to securely attach all the fabric pieces.

Richard clearly understands colour and the relationship with the different fabrics and treads he uses within all his work. Using contrast threads in some areas as well as metallic threads and fabrics to make an area stand out where needed.

Within my initial sampling based on Richard work, I tried my hand at producing a watercolour based on his style. This was not as successful as I hoped as I found Richards’s style of painting quite hard to emulate. I found myself reverting back to my style of painting which is too realistic compared to Richard paintings. However some small areas of my painting I feel can be used to try and emulate Richard styles of appliqué in free hand embroidery.

I tried to use find a fabric that was as strong and flexible as the Hessian that Richard uses within in his work. After trying small sections of appliqué on Hessian I had. I found it to have a more open weave than the Hessian Richard use within his work. (This I discover by watching a DVD called Picture It In collage and stitch)I found that using two layers of calico glued together with bonder-web stood up to the glued fabric pieces as well as the large amount to stitching required to complete the my work.

I feel the collage of my water colour has work well however in hindsight I would not nave used such small pieces of fabric to make up the shapes within the flowers and the ground. Perhaps using a larger piece of ground fabric and adding small pieces of the greyed green and accent colour would help with time as well as the thickness in the fabrics when collaged together. I did cut larger shapes out for the smaller flowers however this was nearing the end of the college stage before I realised this would have been a better way to go.  

Richard states within the introduction of his book Flowers and Embroidery a step-by-step approach that, “flowers are universally acknowledged to be the most lovely and graceful creatures which nature produced. Because of their beauty we use flowers at the most important moments of our lives, employing them like Ambassadors to communicate all kinds of messages feelings and emotions”.

Initially Richard produces a painting from, in this case an oil painting from the geraniums in his conservatory. Then from the painting Richard produced paper patterns which he sets out all the layers to the appliqué.  

This close up show the random use of zig-zag stitch as well as Richards use of tonal threads.  

A detail of Geraniums

 

Geraniums 1986 

An interesting piece of appliqué and free hand embroidery from Richard Box, as can be seen from this even closer detail clearly showing the complexity of the art work.

For my first attempt to emulate Richards work I tried to reproduce a version of “Primroses and Violets”. Following all the steps set out within his DVD Picture it in collage and stitch I set to work. Initially I did feel that my attempt was quiet crude and misshapen as the zig-zag stitch distorted the small fabric pieces. However I feel that when I added the hand stitch it seemed to come together quite will.

In comparison to Richards Primroses and Violets, I feel that I needed to add smaller stitches in the softer green, blue and pail red as well as adding some smaller hints of the flower colours into the ground to balance the sample out. I also agree with Richard that the technique helps you to produce a very tactile work.

 Primroses and Violets 25cm x 16cm 

Fabric Collage with Machine and Hand Embroidery

By Richard Box

Images of Richards work showing his technique of collage and stitch. Within his work Richard transforms his original oil or water colour paintings from often soft and settle textures to pieces of textiles that are both strong in colour as well as texture and tactile. 

Infect he has states with an article with Myra Coles (top sticker Sewing word circa 1990) were she states, 

“ Richard Box is as colourful a character as his wonderful embroideries which glow and reach out to you, begging you to touch as well as look! Indeed one of the most interesting notices on Richards display read’s PLEASE TOUCH”  

  

Richard actively encourages people to get up close to his work and examine his work in every detail. After having a go at his technique I can see why.      

Silver birches in Autumn 20cm x 30cm 

Fabric Collage with Machine and Hand embroidery

By Richard Box

Silver Birches in Autumn, 20cm x 30cm Acrylic Painting 

by Richard Box.

Richard Box 

NDD ATC DipHistArt AdvDipEd

Painter & Embroiderer, Teacher & Lecturer, Author & Art Historian

Trained at Goldsmiths' School of Art and went on to be 'Senior Lecturer' and finally 'Head of Art' at Avery Hill College of Education. In 1985 he resigned from the position in order to develop his own work.

He is a regular exhibitor and demonstrator at the Knitting and Stitching shows and other craft fairs. He gives talks to textile groups; particularly to branches of the Embroiderers' Guild throughout the country. He runs courses in drawing, painting and his particular system of textile art which combines fabric collage with both machine and hand embroidery. He teaches these at various adult education centres as well as independent organisations.

Wearing another 'hat' altogether he lectures in the history of art to NADFAS (The National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Society).

He has written seven books and made two DVDs about drawing, design, colour and embroidery. Some are still in print and available one way or another.

Although well past the 'official' retirement age, Richard aims to continue to develop his art work as long as he is physically and mentally capable. Furthermore, he aims to continue lecturing and teaching so long as he behaves himself and is still invited.

http://www.richardbox.co.uk/introduction.html

I think that concludes the sampling and development from my research on Claire Heathcote’s work. If there was more time I know I would have looked more in to her more recent work and continued to develop sampling from both her images as well as her technique. However I did enjoy producing samples based on areas of Claire's work as well as the patterns found within some areas of her larger pieces.

The most significant and relevant aspects for me was how clear use the techniques are within her work, with strong use of different threads and patterns. I was drawn to Claire’s use of pattern within her images, allowing me to produce some interesting samples that I feel work well and could in time be developed further. Possibly into a range of surface pattern designs that could be used in areas such as apparel fabrics or gift wrap.

I realise now that it is so hard to stay on track in relation to the assignment brief. So many ideas to develop!

Note to self: - development of ideas no matter how small will be documented in a note book. This will also help with an ageing memory.

Having analysed the work I have produced, I now wonder where it will take me. Most importantly looking in depth at Claire's late work and using her to influence my idea development. I have learnt that you can create some interesting textures with threads and fabric from interesting area of Claire’s work not just from the pieces as a whole.

I do feel that within the sampling I have produced based on Claire’s work I have significantly improved my ability to look at my research and developed sampling from a wide range of starting points. This makes me feel much excitement to develop sampling and ideas in this way within other work. This understanding will be essential to me as a learner because it will help me to be more focused on my needs with the rest of the assignment. The next step is to move on to the next designer and see where that takes me.

One way I was hoping to develop the original laser engraving, was to engrave the image as it appeared on the computer screen before it was transferred to the laser engraving machine. This proved to be quite a difficult thing to do, because as a team we had only produced work that was laser cut which was relatively quick or laser engraved images which took considerably longer to produce a sample. For example my small sample on fabric took 28 minutes to produce. This would prove to be very costly if I were to produce a larger piece. When the laser cuts an image it will go around all the individual shapes cutting them out, this is a relatively quick process. When laser engraving, the laser moves in a side to side action and gradually create the image required taking conceivably more time. I was looking to produce an image that was a continuous line engraved deep enough into a substrate that could be use to produce prints from. After some discussion and experimenting we came up with a compromise which allowed us to produce what you see now. We changed the thickness of the substrate and set the parameters of the laser machine so that the laser did not cut all the way through the substrate. I feel that what you see is quite interesting in terms of the preciseness of the cut giving clean and defined shapes. My intention was to produce print from this image however we need to experiment further as the line need to be thicker and deeper to allow for loss of image from the printing process.

laser cut in thin ply wood the laser was set so it would not cut all the way through the ply wood. i did intend to produce some print from this but on inspection we found that the cut was to fine and would block up very quickly. having said that I do like the dark line on the wood it would be a shame to lose that