Full of Inspiration

At the beginning of the month I had a productive week in the studio creating not one but two new pieces. 

As promised I began to create a piece based around my recent trip to the Isle of Wight. My main source of inspiration was a crab I found on a beach while liking for shells and pebbles. I combined a stitched interpretation of 'Isla' (the crab) with maps, photographs, a quote and more stitch to create a collage of the Isle of Wight. 

The second piece I started was based around a fabric pack I bought back in September. It is a series called 'Nocturne' by Janet Clare for Moda and, as the name suggests, has a predominant navy blue colour as a base. I wanted to contrast the dark blue with bright greens, blues and purples, so a dragonfly struck me as the best insect to represent this idea. 

I now have more work in progress than ever before, I need to concentrate on finishing some of it for an upcoming exhibition. As always, I'll keep you updated with progress. 

Further Development

Last weekend I was in the studio further developing my most recent pieces of work, the ones I spoke about in my last post. 

I have been playing around with some new (to me!) processes. I have included some of my original photographs by printing them onto fabric through my home printer. I was very intrigued to see how they would turn out and how they would incorporate into my work. Overall I am pleased with the outcomes. 

I have extended the photograph with my stitch to blend it into the background. The piece as a whole still needs more work and is not yet finished, but I am pleased with the direction it is heading. 

I have been more subtle with my stitch in this second piece. Again I have extended the photograph with my stitch, but it is far more spread out and new shapes have emerged from its growth. This piece also still need work, it doesn't feel quite finished to me yet. 

I will sit and look at these works in progress for a while and work out what they 'need' to be finished. Meanwhile, I have an idea which is evolving from my recent Isle of Wight trip. As usual, I will keep you posted. 

New Year, New Focus

Over the last couple of months the focus of my work has changed. I have been honing my freehand machine embroidery skills to create more 'drawn' stitch pieces. 

I have also become very concerned with the reuse and recycling of fabric and other ephemera. This has resulted in me becoming very thrifty with fabric scraps. I have patch worked them together to create my canvas before embroidering on top. I am pleased with the current results, but they are still works in progress. 

I dyed some of the fabric myself using natural rusting techniques. This is something else I am looking at doing more of, natural dyes and processes. 

I have also incorporated quotes into my work. This is something I have been hoping to do for a while. I have a keen interest in poetry and I wanted to include something inspirational in my work. I look forward to seeing how they evolve. 

My final focus is to update my blog more often. I look forward to keeping you informed of my work in progress.