2.1.1. Summer Feedback.

From the feedback, my over all strengths throughout my summer project is my pattern and intricate interlinking drawings. From what I could gather that my weakness is colour, a lot of the comments were to pull more tonal value out of my drawings, relating and developing them more towards  my chosen specialist area. Ideas on how to express them into knit and how to incorporate other techniques in to create the detail and layered effect my drawings have.

Overall concept throughout my sketch book is a gothic architecture feel, something I didn't think It was moving towards. It was agreed that I should choose 'Urban Influences' for my visual research, because of the nature of my summer inspiration.
With all the feed back I have received, I know I definitely need to work on my colour pallet and colour value, And working a developing my imagery with a more readable translation into knit. Using my visual research and taking parts of my summer work with me into knit, I want to develop and even distort my visual research to create something different to take forward to work with.

2.0.02. Summers Inspirations in Places.

Photos taken from Tate.

Tate- Liverpool

I visit the Tate in Liverpool as regularly as I can, to remain mindful of other practitioners, as well as to gather inspiration and ideas which I can take forward into my own work. Recently there was the 'Mondrian' Exhibition and his Studios showing. I found his block colours and confidence in his line drawings inspiring, seeing some of the artwork that was shown gave me self confidence in my own work, how loosely he used expression markings in his line drawings.
Whilst there, as well as Mondrian exhibition, I enjoyed a couple of hours sketching or taking pictures, discovering artists and designers I've not known about. I found myself drawn to the work of Nasreen Mohamedi, finding the work to be quite geometric and symmetrical, which was in some ways  different to works I have previously seen displayed in the Tate. The other artist who stood out for me was Vienna Triptych, I felt the ways in which she and I worked was quite similar, she has used a lot of layers which have different meaning from each other. The Tate is a place where I can always find the inspiration to influence me and my direction of ideas.

Prague

Prague, in many ways has influenced me, with its inspiring architecture and history. I went there with limited knowledge about Prague itself, and came back full of inspiration and photos. The City itself is full of historic beautiful buildings, with extreme detailing in the stone or wood of the architecture, along with paintings which can be found everywhere, on the front of a hotel or the inside of a small church. There is so much to take in, fortunately to date Prague has not been touched by commercialism. Prague, itself is divided up in to districts, which such a change from the norm. 

From the detailing of balcony railings to the shape of a window, down to the ridging of a door frame, everything has been carefully selected and chosen to fit in with the city. 

Taking all this into consideration and reflecting on how they have worked to put the city together is how I feel I want to keep my work ethic continuing throughout the year. Detailed, original, unique, where everything is carefully selected, chosen with empathy and consideration to blend, develop and expand and extenuate every part of the whole.

2.0.01. Summers Influences, Practitioners.

Laura Slater.

One of the reasons that I have chosen Laura as a source of inspriration is her use of pattern, mark making, sequencing and repetition, I have found myself working in this style of expression in past projects. she takes inspiration from the ordinary or mundane and creating some really interesting out of it. Her work from starting with simply a black pen, to mark making followed by sequencing to create different expressions on the page, to eventually adding the colour pallet fascinates me. As this is a way in which, in the past I too have worked. Always needing to find the pattern first to work from then changing up the colours to see what is right for the result. I feel she and I work in very much similar ways because of this. 

From the way in which we both utilise mark making , through to my expression in knit or embroidery

which I feel is rather simpler because of the single  lines or brush strokes, Translation from drawing to technique seems more readable. 

 Maison Martin Margiela 

 I still am not quite sure how Margiela has created the garment, There are several ways I can think of; this the reason why I am so drawn to the piece, It's such a bizarre fashion; the fact that I can't figure out if the pattern is embroidered on or actually knitted, and that it confuses me, it makes me look and think more about techniques that could have been included into the making of the garment.  I wonder  if I was to go down this avenue of creation could I do it? Eventually,  could this be me?

I know that my creative career is steering towards fashion, specifically because of pieces like this, creating something so strange, so different and it being accepted for what it is, Couture playing a huge role in this and bringing techniques together that you never thought would work as one but lie so well together. Wanting to see things that I have designed/made being appreciated by the consumer, and worn in their own way.

Margiela has made me realise that I could find my own niche, bringing together several different  techniques, techniques I enjoy techniques I think are applicable, to create something beautiful and different. Creating a piece which will cause some people question and be confused as to how it was made, to wonder which technique was used, pushing techniques and methods to the limit, and therefore creating something uniquely different.

William De Morgan

The detail and precision which has gone into De Morgans tiles is so amazing and intricate, working with repetition, scale and in some circumstances creating a narrative. The development of beautiful formations of descriptive narratives of a flower growing and changing. Keeping the inspiration the same but depicting various growing periods of its life. Growing and developing my research whilst still focussing on the same subject, is a similar way to how I grow and plan my sketch book of ideas. De Morgans tiles are detailed and bold, making known as to what the subject is, but having pattern throughout, I'd like to think that we work in similar ways when comparing our work I feel my work is  also highly detailed and encrusted with pattern, and having the boldness to stand out. With  De Morgan, myself and many other artists, planning and precision plays a major factor in our work, to this end many De Morgans tiles and my pieces become very time consuming and detailed, therefore I feel we are very similar designers, although in such very different fields.

Throughout the process of the summer I found Pinterest to be a huge influence to me in finding more information on these artists, on Pinterest boards.

Photos are not my own, they are taken from Google.