EXCITING LIFE POST M.A.

How strange it is to be blown 'out there', facing the great wide world and masses of new exciting challenges.

The M.A. journey has been tough, especially the final year.  I chose to explore the making of silk disks from the backs of road tankers.  These were to be large, starting at about 12 ft diameter and were to have silk 'contents' pouring to the ground and cascading over the floor all in one piece of printed silk.  This trail was to be about 20 ft long.  After crashing and corrupting so many files and computers, I realised they had to be smaller - and smaller, which really defeated the object, and something which was to take me a couple of months turned into a mission for the year.  The making was a nightmare, a challenge indeed and I had forgotten the small issue of working within the width of the cloth; there was huge shrinkage in the warp which meant I ended up with ovals and then there was the struggle with sewing a tunnel round a circle!  Such frustration.  Such despair.  Ultimately, the main disk evolved into an Ellsworth Kellyesque simple hanging.  I am working on 'huge' in a different way, having created the 'trails' and I will recreate my 3D pieces.

My favourite piece 'Journey to the Sun', was like a butterfly, something I could neither capture or hold on to.  So when I finally sent the image to the printer, I was delighted with it - but when it came back, it had also suffered from warp shrinkage.  I had to 'sew round its tail' and make a tunnel round the circle for the metal hoop.  It was a nightmare being taut on the warp and loose in the weft and it is definitely a one off.  All future silk pieces will be hangings!!!!  It was created from a sketch of the back of a tanker and I love it, finding it very meditative.  I love the fact that almost everyone sees something different in it; a dandelion clock, a ball of energy, a ball of fire, a monkey on the moon, Autumn with the leaves falling, dancers and Cornwall ('the energy going through the Cornish soil into the centre of the Earth'

I love a sense of humour in my work and some of my final pieces amused me, hangings, where piles of stainless steel tanker backs turned into space ships with little people falling from them, and rusty mild steel ends turned into a tanker sun hanging.

I fought with the digital technology, having not worked with it before the M.A.  I can't wait to work with my new digital Design Collection (mostly from road tanker imagery).  Being greatly influenced by Art Deco, I look forward to creating jackets with matching assessories, and Art Deco inspired decor. The course has opened my vision into 3D, using other skills to complete my work, i.e. metal and wood workers.  I am looking for an opportunity to perfect my sewing skills.

Firstly, I must try to find a gallery to show my Tanker Art.

Thank you to Whale Tankers for their support.  I have laughed so much, chasing road tankers for pictures and talking to drivers about acid, bitumen, flour to make Cornish Pasties, liquid chocolate and other contents, a new world for me to explore.  It has been a great project.  I hope to visit Crossland Tankers, in Burnley soon.  It will be such a long journey.

I must also thank my tutors, Andy Harbert, Katie Bunnell and Dr. Simon Clarke also Di Downs for their constant support and help.

I am now the proud possessor of a Master of Arts Degree.  The sun shines and each day at home, I am inspired by my future missions and reorganising and repainting my studio. 

For now, I am still in a glass box, blinking at my freedom, enjoying the simple things.  I have been home for two days, all very strange after studying for so long and overcoming daily hurdles and the despair when designs just didn't work.  Looking back, I find it hard to believe the stress I put myself under, often working until 3 am.  Now, the Joy I feel is wonderful.  It is amazing to be home with Mel and I feel very, very proud of myself.  The M.A. is a major part of an inspiring ongoing journey.

In its present form, the 'M.A's.in Design' course at Falmouth has been cut from the curriculum and we are the last.  I wish my great group, now completing their 2nd year, all the very best of luck.  See the pictures of our show on Facebook.

MORE DISK RESEARCH

And that was only the beginning!

Continuing with my research into creating large disk hangings, I have since been delighted with the print quality received from The Print Bureau

I had designs printed on the Mimake printer at college and they were not too bad considering there was a large amount of flat black in the images.  I washed these in my studio, being nervous of throwing them into the washing machine, as is done here.  On pressing them, I was horrified to find that a small 26 inch disk design was 26 inches on the weft but only 22 inches on the warp, meaning that in 26 inches, there was a 4 inch shrinkage.  Thus I find myself with oval images.

Creating a tunnel for the hoop around the disks was so difficult.  I managed to break the industrial over locking sewing machine at college.  Ooops!  One problem with the industrial machines is that they are designed to be used in manufacturing workshops and so are fast.  There is no means to stitch slowly so practicing slowly was not an option.  Mr. Weeks serviced my Bernina in 24 hrs, a special favour and Mrs. Weeks, an experienced sewing lady, showed me how to use my own over locker.  So much more controllable.  After considerable practicing, and working very slowly, I eventually managed to sew a tunnel around the disk.  What I hadn't realised was that it had suffered for enormous shrinkage in the warp only.  This meant that the hoop was extremely tight in the warp and loose on the weft.  So very frustrating. 

In my screen printed versions, I may be able to overcome this problem by washing the silk first.  The fabric goes through a finishing process when it is commercially printed or created.  During washing and drying, the fabric shrinks.  It then moves through a machine and the pins on either side grip the fabric and restretch it to the size it should be.  (Thus the pinholes down the sides of furnishing fabric).  Of course, once reprinted and washed, or just washed, it suffers shrinkage again.

'Journey to the Moon'

TANKER DISK HANGINGS

Creating Disk Hangings.


Little did I know the difficulties before me when I decided to create large disk hangings.

The idea was to create disk designs based on the size of the back of a tanker, with designs of the many contents I had discovered on my travels - hazardous waste, oil, flour to make Cornish Pasties, milk, acid, bitumen, and I was delighted to find that tankers carry liquid chocolate – pouring out as a silk design, tumbling to the ground and pooling over the floor. These are now approximately 5 ft across with 3 or 4 m trails.

My first issue was how to create such a large piece. How much space do I have at my show? I decided I had to lower my sights and create smaller pieces than I had initially wanted. But that was the least of my concerns.

My mission was to create the large disk piece and the ‘trail’ all in one print. This was much too large to be screen printed, unless I created the design in sections. Or I could paint the piece. But as I wanted to master digital printing, this seemed to be the most challenging and hopefully successful option.

Firstly, I have been bound by my technical ignorance

The files were enormous. At college, there was a file size maximum of 80 mb.for the digital fabric printer.  Mine were much larger than this. (over 400 mb). To ‘make them fit’, I reduced the resolution and size thinking I could send them as smaller files and that they could be ‘blown up’ in situ. Alas, once reduced the resolution could never be regained. All of my work was wasted. I would have to do it all again.

My computer crashed with the large files. The designs corrupted and became irretrievable. Was I any closer to realising my desire? Despair set in. I felt like giving up. It seemed so simple but was difficult at every stage.

During my 'making' trials I discovered so many difficulties.  It was incredibly hard to simply sew a seam around a circle.  Thankfully Di has shown me how.  I am absolutely sold on the industrial sewing machine.  It is so easy to sew a controlled seam with.  (unlike my Bernina which is so difficult to control).

Eventually, I sent my huge designs, samples really, to The Silk Bureau (who has no size limit), to see what they would do with the designs. I had decided to take a sample slice from the disks but having had so much trouble, I decided to ‘go for it’ and send the complete disks. After all, it was only money!!  The designs were too large for a CD or a DVD.  I managed to clean off a 4GB memory stick and sent that along with a CD of repeat fabric samples.

And still I have not worked out how to get the design for the trail incorporated into the disk design.

Another problem I have had is with my ‘scale’ designs mentioned earlier.  I put a sketch of the back of a tanker through Live Trace, Inked Drawing in Illustrator and attempted to blow that up into a 50 inch disk. The exciting thing for me was that apparently the software reconfigures the image when it is expanded over a certain size. This elusive image seems to revert if I work on it at all. I find this difficult to understand. Surely any image acquired must be stable. The more difficult the image was to hold on to, the more I wanted to print it. Frustrating! So frustrating. Just when I thought I had captured the image it would disappear and revert to an Inked Drawing image. Does this mean that the image I have, the one I want to print is so elusive that it would not normally be seen. Most projects would not want to create a design of such a size. This seems to fit in so well with my project which is all about scale – the scale of the tanker.  I am thinking of an immediate error.  I did not draw a circular line around the design which has a broken edge.  As I will have to add a strip of fabric around the disk, it is going to be difficult for me to establish an absolute circle.

The fabric has been crucial. Which fabric? Any silk is see through. Once I have the actual size of the silk disks, I will have disks made out of iron bar. This seems to fit in really well with the fact that the tankers are made out of steel. I don’t mind the metal showing through the silk disks.

I also have two 6 ft. disks made out of layered ply. These are 5 inches deep. Luckily one disk is divided into two pieces, thus enabling me to print this in two pieces which will fit on to the 54 inch wide fabric. The second disk is over 58 inches wide, too wide for the maximum width fabric. This disk will have to be screen printed and painted on something like cotton sheeting.

Once I have a disk printed with its trail, I then have to face the problem of how to fix the fabric to the hoops. Will the trail pull the disk fabric down if it comes from the centre of the disk? Will they work as art objects?  I thought elastic was excellent.  It allows for easy removal for cleaning.  However, it would not create a beautiful finish to an art work.

Firstly, I must see what the experienced Silk Bureau can do with the images. Once I know that, I can carry on if all is O.K.

MARC QUINN

Marc Quinn  'Iris' series.

In October 2009, Marc Quinn held an exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery in Fifth Avenue.

Each work depicts large renditions of the iris of the human eye, spotted and permeated with bright colours.

He also created the controversial massive marble sculpture of a pregnant Alison Lapper who was born without arms,  placed on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square, London and the 'Sphinx' sculpture of Kate Moss.

These round art works resonate with my tanker disks.  I just love the vibrancy of the rust colour and the blues. 

"These round canvases each depict in gigantic scale, the iris of a human eye - turbulently streaked and spotted, suffused with bright colours, and highly individual.  Although photo-realistic, the disembodied images might equally serve as renditions of whirling interstellar space".

These comments have been made about my tanker disks too.  What I cannot ascertain is whether these are totally painted or whether they are digital images which have been enhanced with paint.

At first I thought these images were concave disks of perspex or glass, but they are canvases.

This series of work has been considered to be 'interstellar', or 'cosmic'.  Since Biblical times, the eyes have been likened to representations of the soul.  Quinn considers the eyes to be "doors of perception"

Bayon Sunbow 67

Quinn said, "They are like a leakage of the vivid interior world of the body to the monochrome world of the skin".

I do not share my husband, Mel's, love of flying.  On one flight on a beautiful sunny evening when there were masses of puffy cumulus clouds (to be avoided) I was almost swayed.  On the clouds was a beautiful round rainbow.  The pilot, Jim, placed our shadow in the centre of it.  It can be stunning up there, especially above the clouds.

The exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery, Fifth Avenue, New York.

http://artobserved.com/go-see-new-york-marc-quinn-iris-at-mary-boone-gallery 28/05/2010.

WHAT IS IT?

Taking a tiny sketch of the back of a tanker, I became interested in scale, in the enormity of the tanker and I wondered what would happen if I increased the size of my sketch considerably.  I took the sketch through various live trace facilities in Illustrator and loved the beauty of the imagery.

This image is a vectored Illustrator image which, frustratingly, I cannot print on silk.  How to maintain the beautiful smooth line is a problem.  In Photoshop (and the image must be a Photoshop tiff to print), the line will pixilate, creating a blur.  I have changed the image to a PDF and converted that to a tiff and it seems reasonably smooth.  We shall see.

  I have created several repeat patterns from the wonderful imagery above.  Unfortunately, they are tiffs or Photoshop files which will not upload onto the blog. 

Creating 4 paper quarters assembled into a 5 ft disk, I wondered about the scale.  How would this piece be viewed from a distance?  What would the viewers  think it is?

I hung the piece in the galleried foyer of our campus at Tremough and created a questionnaire.  The large scale piece created imagery within imagery.  Looking at the hanging, one could see more and more 'secret' images, animals, people etc.

WHAT IS IT?  I had some wonderful replies.

'Man in the moon'.
'Sperm and egg at the moment of conception'.
'A ball of wool'.
'A tree in a hurricane'.
'A dandelion seed head'.
'A burning ball of fire'.
'Eco advert'
'Earth'.
'From a distance, it looks like the trail of something that went in circles really fast, really slow and then found it's place'
'A flower'
'Paint swirls'.
'A long tailed monkey in a crescent moon'.
'A person on a swing above the trees'.

I am really pleased with this response as I love that which becomes something else, something seen in the eye of the viewer.

I then asked

WHAT WOULD YOU SEE ITS END USE AS?

'Art on a wall'.
'Textiles print'. (Several said this)
Decorative piece/ drawing/print/sculpture'.

WHAT IS YOUR AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO THE PIECE?

'I want to look closer'.
'I like it'.
'I want to stand back from it'.
'Butterflies in the stomach feeling.  I love it'.
'Interest and intrigue.  Wanting to know why'?
'Food for thought'.
'Interesting.  Curious.  Makes me wonder what it is'.

There was some discussion about the 'tail'.  Some thought it worked better without.

WITH OR WITHOUT TAIL.

Most said 'with'.  (i.e. stalk of the dandelion, end of ball of wool, string.
'Tail could be a fishing rod.  Dreamworks?  Reminds me of love.  Pretty'.

I found these responses wonderful.  To look at an art work and be drawn into it, to see other imagery within, to want to look and look into a piece, is to me what art is all about.

I had taken this image through Inked Drawing.  I could only arrive at this image by converting the image to a PDF.  However, it would not always happen and I was becoming demented.  I discovered that, when the image is enlarged over a certain size, the software actually reconfigures.  This fits in so well with the concept of the piece, the idea of the scale of the tanker large scale actually creating the change in the imagery.

DISK RESEARCH

I would not have believed that creating disk hangings could be so diffcult.  Firstly, the hoops themselves.

Creating two ply 'hoops' at approximately 150 cms wide and 13 cms deep (previous blog), with the help of my husband gives me the starting point I need.  The difficulty, then, is in how to exactly tension the fabric over the disk so that it looks professional.  Di has suggested a series of pleats.  More sampling needed.

Metal bar, in process.  Again, the problem of fixing the fabric to the disk.  As the tankers are made from metal, I like this idea.  I am hoping to rust the mild steel and seal them, allowing them to show through the silk.

I have ordered fibreglass rod used in kite making to try.  This sounds like the best option because I can create a seam around the circular design and thread the hoop around.

I am sampling with embroidery disks and hoola hoops to create small sample disks

What I am trying to do is to create a disk hanging with a printed design where the disk and the 'trail' are one piece of fabric, the 'trail' being the contents of the tanker.  This sample on cotton jersey is made just using elastic (easy removel for cleaning).  The line of the elastic shows through so I will need to either make the disk a feature or use 2 layers of fabric.  I am working on creating smaller disk hangings where the 'contents' flow to the ground and spread out over the floor.

Creating a seam around a circle is so difficult.  I discovered that I must stitch a border piece of fabric on to the disk first.  Di showed me how to 'notch' the circular piece of fabric, and fit the band of fabric around that, matching the notches.  Matching short lengths between the notches ensures that you keep the tension in both pieces of fabric equal, avoiding puckering.  I was so impressed with using the industrial sewing machine. 

This creates a border 'band' or 'edge'.  My problem with this is that the precision needed to make sure that the seam is exactly on the edge of the disk will be so difficult. Otherwise it will look tacky.

Does the fabric need to be stretchy?  Silk?  (which is what I would like), Does it need to be opaque or translucent?  Does it need to be double or single.

My research is ongoing.

SUCCESS

ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVICE.

A couple of years ago, I was fascinated as I listened to a group of successful business men talking on a T.V. show about what makes them successful. Each one encompassed some indefinable quality. Was it passion, or focus, or a total lack of fear, was it wisdom, knowledge of their market place, or the desire to win. It was all of those qualities and more. Richard Branson's mother brought him up to believe that 'there is no such thing as failure'. He borrowed an enormous amount of money to start his business. When the bank demanded he pay the money back, he acquired a loan from another bank, payed the first bank and carried on. As we know, it paid off.

The business men were asked what advice they would give, in one sentence, to others seeking success.

They said:-

1. Keep it SIMPLE
2. Do what you KNOW
3. Do what affects YOU
4. RIDE ON YOUR FEAR
5. BULLSHIT!
6. Make THEM believe it.
7. Its not good enough to have the ideas - MAKE IT HAPPEN.
8. Whatever you are good at - CARRY ON DOING.

And I carry those around with me.

As I was having my hair done last week, I read the magazine 'Marie Claire'. They have collected 17 powerful women and through the Princes Trust are offering mentorships 'Inspire and Mentor', to a Marie Claire reader, to help them be the best they can be, especially to start a small business.

Best advice:
Leona Lewis, " follow your gut instinct", Simon Cowell.

Elle Macpherson, "Have the courage and willingness to explore different mediums of creativity. Do what you love and love what you do, and drink three litres of water every day"

Karren Brady, Businesswoman and vice chairman of West Ham United on qualities she admires. "Communication and integrity. People who are direct and honest".

Ruth Jones Actress. "Her husband said, 'There is not one cake. There is an endless supply of cake that everyone can eat".

Naomie Harris Actress. Said her inspiration was Dawn French who gave her the £80 for her equity card. "Super talented as well as an incredible human being"

How many times do we hear business people, actresses etc. telling tales of incredible luck, of being in the right place at the right time? Is it luck? Is it drive, determination, will, strength which create successful people. Must we have a passion that becomes an obsession? We mustn't forget skill and knowledge, belief in oneself and considerable research

"Feel the fear and do it Anyway". Susan Jeffers.

THE AWAKENED MIND

'.......Zen Masters teach that to realize the emptiness and interconnectedness of all things, not just with the mind but with one's whole being, is to achieve enlightenment......................'      

'In Zen, enlightenment, or profound inner peace, is not understood as something that we have to work hard to attain. Rather, it is seen as the true character of the awakened mind that is already fully present in each of us.'

'Zen' Selections by Miriam Levering. Duncan Baird Publishers, London. 2000

DISK HANGING RESEARCH

I love the geometry of the back of the tanker. Somehow it connects with my extensive study of 'Zen' and Eastern philosophy. Japanese design, simplicity, space, balance of the asymetric, the journey - where we stay still and the world moves around us. I decided to research the creation of large disk hangings, so similar to the backs of tankers.

Firstly, I contacted a boron drum maker called Danny McCormack in County Cork, Ireland. He was very helpful suggesting that I use thin beech ply, in two or three laminates. He suggested creating a disk template out of chipboard or similar, bending the thin ply around this, glueing each layer, at a different fixing place to give the disk strength and stability. He imagined that the disk size I wanted, i.e. 5 ft. or 6 ft. diameter would need cross struts for hanging and support.

In my studio, Mel made a disk template and I helped him hold, glue and clamp the ply, the disks being 5 inches deep.

Firstly, he created the disk, glueing blocks to make an upright to keep the ply vertical. He then clamped the first piece of ply to the blocks.

Large clamps were used to hold the ply in place round the template.

Layers of ply were glued together and held in place with tiny clamps at regular intervals. The disk would be in three pieces to allow transportation. The lengths of ply were staggered, creating a slot at one end and a 'tongue' at the other for joining. One of the problems was that he used my ancient pva which meant the laminates came apart. Such a shame because of all of the suggestions I have had since, these disks are the most professional.

These two disks will be for wall pieces.

I liked the idea of displaying five or six disk hangings, 5 ft diameter to represent the length of a tanker. (I would have liked a tanker body to hang them in and have just discovered today that panel beater, John, who repaired my car, has just scrapped one. Arrhh!) Researching the creation of free hanging disks which will be seen from both sides has been a nightmare.

Alkathine drainage pipe was suggested. It could be easily joined by inserts of smaller pipe. It twists and will not hang square.

Round metal pipe comes in various thicknesses. Again, it is unstable at that size. Also, it would have to be bent around a template and thus would not be absolutely round.

Also there is copper piping. Bending this is a problem. It needs a spring insert to stop it collapsing.

My favourite is mild steel bar, which I would like to rust and then seal. These would be very heavy and may 'droop' I am told. That wouldn't worry me and I love the idea that these would be made on rollers in the same way as a tanker is made. My worry would be that a child may walk into one or knocked they may spin. It would need two hanging points.

There is square box section. This would be difficult to turn.

a) A piece of aluminium which I put through the rollers.

b) A length of mild steel which I bent in the rollers at college.

c) Metal tube sample.

FIXING THE SILK TO THE DISK.

My main problem for these disks is that they will have to be transportable, which means that they will have to be in sections. Two sections would be sufficient. This means that the fabric will need to be removable. My original wish was they they would be 8 ft. diameter but I realised that, for my show, they will have to be smaller. Silk is 54 inches wide, 4 ft. 6 inches, therefore anything over that size would have a join.

Fixing has been a nightmare, screwing, glueing, etc. The only two I like are, a piece of elastic threaded through the seam and stretched over. (Only suitable for wall pieces) and tiny clamps - similar to hair grips I suppose.

After spending so much time on disk technology, I am finding that I actually love my fabric to drape and flow and am considering hangings, which will allow me to do what I do best, fabric design and it will give me much more freedom with the drape of the fabric.

My research will not be wasted but I must now create the designs for my show.

"THE JOY OF MAKING"

‘Hobby versus Professional, - The Joy of Making’.

It was fortuitous that on Tuesday 23rd March, we had a workshop with Emma Shercliffe. Emma is currently doing a Ph.D in which she is researching “What it means to make today. The Experience of a Maker in the Making”. She also teaches.
Her passion for the tactile qualities of textiles enhanced her sensitivity to the quality of the cloth, the touch and feel of the textures. She also learnt the art of calligraphy which, she felt, related to stitch.
After working with a bespoke tailor and finding it restrictive, she did a degree in Fashion and Textiles in Paris.
Later, she worked selecting the fabric trends for Premier Vision which required a deep understanding of colour, cloth and its qualities.
Realising that her roots were in patchwork and embroidery, she embarked on a mission to discover what had driven her passion, her pleasure in the instinctive and intuitive joys of making.
She worked with various groups, the women of a fishing village who made fishing nets, extending their repertoire into craft pieces and noting that when they worked, they had little connection with outside influences but worked simply to enjoy the pleasure of making, relaxed in the laughter and conversation of the group
At another workshop, she provided strips of fabric which she encouraged the group to write their wishes on and hang the pieces on a ‘Wishing Tree’. Later, the pieces were stitched together as a ‘quilt’.
Working with various Craft Study Groups, she ascertained that their satisfaction came from a multi-sensory experience of the making along with the interaction enjoyed with the rest of the group.

WHY DO WE DESIGN?
This brings us to the question, who are we? Why do we design? Is it just for our own pleasure, i.e. a hobby or is making part of our professional practice, part of producing work for others to enjoy, be it wearable, art for art’s sake, furnishing, etc. items to be sold. Does quality matter? To me quality is everything.

By the very nature of what we do, many of us work in isolation thus missing the interaction with others. In my research, I have found that whilst many artists or designers would enjoy company, they must work alone, as I must.

I had not been enjoying my process of creation on my M.A. feeling so stressed about the whole thing that I just couldn’t function. The previous Saturday, I had decided to go to a mosaic workshop. I left my sketchbook with drawings at home and when I arrived, began to draw sketches for my ‘piece’. I suddenly threw it aside. I wanted no structure, no restriction in my first mosaic.
My utter joy in plunging my hands into drawers of coloured ceramics, boxes of bright tiles, beads etc. selecting my colours to work with, was childlike, eyes wide in wonder. Armed with my clippers, I chopped my brilliant blue tile into tiny fragments, then my scarlet tile, the black, white cut into strips and then the turquoise to be added wherever it felt right. Then, like a child, my fingers sticky with pva, I stuck my pieces down on a ply board, working totally from my intuition. The top brilliant blue area which cascaded down the right side, was to me, healing energy. Dotted with blue glass beads, I began to insert tiny chips of scarlet for physical energy and love. In the centre I created my tree of life, a candle like structure in black and white. Surrounding this with white chips interspersed with turquoise for spiritual energy, I was happy. Each student was immersed in their own piece, but we chatted and laughed together. They were obviously delighted with the results too
Then came the sand, cement and pva mix to rub gently into the crevices – and voila, a mosaic, my first – a joy to behold and the pleasure in the making will stay with the piece.

My love is for printed textiles so why am I not enjoying the challenge? Why did I enjoy the mosaic day so much? There was something childlike in the creation, a huge element of ‘play’ and no pressure to create something of any standard. It was free, joyous, wonderful dotted with fun conversation. I released considerable stress that day.

Does anxiety show in our finished professional work? How important is shared knowledge? Emma also suggests that we must 'do' in order to 'invent' (i.e. the M.A.) We must sample, sample, sample and explore our way of working to achieve the best results.

I have enjoyed my tanker project so much and want my final show to reflect that pleasure, to reflect the extensive research I have put into the 'journey' of the tanker, the drivers, the contents. Much of my stress is in the technical difficulty of making huge disk hangings and in the creation of the disks. How do I attach the fabric to the disks? Should I give up and just do hangings? Some of my pieces are hangings anyway, my proposal at the beginning of my course being to create and explore the creation of large art pieces so I am on target. I am working in flat pattern, on disks where the contents are poured from the centre. For this, I am researching the molecules of the contents to create a flat pattern which trails to the floor.

What is the journey of digital printing? Is there a pleasure in creating, using such a technical process? Of course there is. There is a huge army of textile designers whose pleasure is in creating some sort of digital image which will be transferred to cloth. It would be difficult to create the multi coloured prints with a screen.

I am intending to create my designs by using both traditional screen printing and digital print together. Some disks will represent the tanker body, a row of six but I am worried about these and may revert to the original idea of doing hangings.

However, during a tutorial last week with Gary Alson, he suggested using metal for my disks and I am attempting to source the metal the tanker is made from to create them. i.e. mild steel (I love the rust), or stainless steel (may be too costly for my meagre budget.) Ultimately, it may come down to cost. But these will be heavy too. I am excited that these will be made in the same way as the tanker, on three large rollers which will bend the metal bar into a disk.

So, it’s back to the stress and the determination to solve the problems and create a meaningful show.

DAZZLE CAMOUFLAGE

Dazzle Camouflage was created during the first world war. Rather than camouflage which is traditionally created to blend, to disguise the jeep or tents from the enemy, dazzle camouflage was designed to confuse the U boats. When firing on the ships, the dazzle designs confused their sights so that it was impossible to discern in which direction the boats were going , thus the torpedos often (and hopefully) missed their targets. (More text to come).

These pictures are in black and white but often the dazzle designs used colour.

Small designs were created to place over pictures of the ships, and the ship would be painted in the design as it appeared.

A fabulous example of a ship with optical illusions created to confuse the enemy.

It would be difficult to tell which way this ship was going.

Boxes were designed with geometric patterns and then placed over the template of a ship. I love this idea and would love to try it.

Wow! This one is amazing.

FURTHER DISK HANGING RESEARCH

Looking at creating disk hangings, I am beginning to feel that perhaps this is not a good idea. Bouncing ideas of Mel, we have sampled with pipe insulation, joined by pipe insert. The insulation is too flexible and would not hold the circle at that diameter. (6 ft). The pipe itself may, but a small piece is £7 and I would need probably 4 of those per piece = £28 x 6 = £168 just for pipe which I would have to paint white. If the fabric were for digital printing, silk would be about £15 p m. = about £344 for silk so £512 total. That is not allowing for errors and samples. The pipe may twist too when hanging freely.

6 ft diameter is unstable so I have decided that 5 ft diameter is large enough. At the moment, I am sampling with drainage pipe (free, as we have a lot of it). As I said previously, I may have disks cut in wood, mdf or clear acrylic. The disk hangings are not worth doing if they are not going to be perfect and beautiful.

Alternatively, I am considering a series of hangings instead.

Watch this space.

THE BLACK AND WHITE

There would have to be a tanker sheep!!

And a tanker pig!!

A favourite CB Tanker.

From the CB Tanker I am hoping to create a large floor piece. This is part of the model for it.

This is one of my favourites, a Crosslands Tanker at the Waste and Recycling Show at Paignton. This image (as with all of the images), is untouched by me. The shapes (and everyone sees something different in them) are created because the tanker was under a tree and this is the shadow. I see two old crones with a baby in a cradle - Rosemary's baby?

The shadow of the ladder on the tanker makes an interesting shape. Here I am collecting elements and imagery for my final pieces. I very often work in black and white in my sketchbook, adding colour later.

There is a little blob of scarlet glitter on the end of the 'cigar' in the 'hand'. Can you see the cigar or is it just me??

'You must understand the whole of life,

not just one little part of it

That is why you must read,

That is why you must look at the skies,

That is why you must sing and dance,

and write poems, and suffer,

and understand, for all that is life.'

Jiddu Krishnamurti, philosopher (1895 - 1986).

THE ZEN OF SHEEP 2

My studio is surrounded by small fields in which my 5 pet Exmoor Horn sheep graze. I find watching them, feeding them and interacting with them meditative and relaxing. The lambs are so funny to watch.

Here are some of their 'Zen' wisdoms.

'Train your mind - it is the source of everything'

'Remember that is is easy to point out the mistakes
of others, but difficult to admit one's own.'

'Accept the challenge of higher development

'The road to the experience of ultimate reality
is the practice of meditation'

'It is necessary to gain insight
that life is impermanent'

And I thought this appropriate for our M.A. course;

'There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
That will be the beginning'

and

'Watching a spider at work, I vow with all beings to cherish the web of the Universe:
touch one point and everything moves.'

THE ZEN OF TANKERS

Reading my own blog from the present day back to the very first day on the course, has taught me so much about my 'Self' and what is missing from my work today. I feel inspired. The 'Zen' part of me is essential to my being, to my work and I am looking forward to allowing myself to 'be', just to create from the Soul instead of creating from the mind which is what I have been doing, knowing there was something missing from my mission.

I found my journey into 'Zen' and the 'Road to Enlightenment' totally absorbing. I was merely studying the visual aspects and not the spiritual, or was I? 'Zen' is a philosophy, vast and beautiful. I did not want to study Ikebana, (or Kado), but it was through Kado that I came to understand in a small way the power of the 'Do' as in Ju-do, Aiki-do, etc. or 'The Way'. To 'see' from the 'Soul centre', creating imagery from the Soul centre in meditation became part of my working practice, part of who I am. Seeing the absolute simplicity of shape and space, geometry and colour with black and white is beautiful to me. I see this as part of the mastery of craft in the Eastern cultures. I have merely scratched the surface.

"When you practise za-zen, don't try to stop your thoughts from coming. Ask yourself only this question: 'Which is my own spirit?' " Bassui

Detail from 'Full Moon' by Lui Guosong. Courtesy of Christis's Images.

'Peacefulness' by Zhou Luyun.

"Zen embraces a profound philosophy of self-awakening and freedom from man's egocentric perception of the world"

The nature of 'things' is called emptiness.

'The Way is beyond language,

for in it there is

no yesterday

no tomorrow

no today'

Hsin-hsin Ming

I love some of the philosophies of Zen. Working directly onto the silk in meditation was not just a visual process but something much more meaningful and deep; it meant something to me. I knew I would have to find the 'Zen of Tankers' - a book perhaps??

'Enlightenment comes from practice,

Thus Enlightenment is limitless;

Practice comes from Enlightenment,

Thus practice has no beginning'

Dogan Zenji

All from 'The Origins of Wisdom', Zen Buddhism, by O.B. Duane.

DISK HANGING RESEARCH

Considerable research has gone into creating the disk hangings and I am at a point where I may seriously change course. Does one have to recognise when an aim is just not possible? Or too difficult to achieve? My worry is that I will want the finished hangings to be perfect and that I am wasting time trying to achieve something which is just not working.

As I have mentioned, I contacted a boron drum maker in Ireland to ask how he makes the frame. He suggested 3 layers of ply bent round a template. The 4-5 in deep 5 ft diameter frame appears to be stable and hopefully will take the tension of the fabric when it is stretched over it. This allows me to make two frames to place against a wall. These will not be viewed from both sides so hopefully will work. Although I have done a lot of sampling, I still have to create the designs (which I have felt uninspired to do until the mounting is sorted out).

I have also researched suitable fabrics extensively. It must not be translucent and show the frame. It must be able to maintain tension across the 5 ft. and 6 ft diameter shapes. I think I may have to use two layers of fabric. Trying to find a dense enough stretch fabric is proving a problem. I managed to find stretch linen which I rather like. Just like linen but doesn't crease in the same way. However, I sourced it from a mobile stall (really nice barrow boy from London) and cannot find it elsewhere. I cannot find a thick stretch cotton except cotton jersey which I do not feel is suitable. It would run if cut. So, I have yet to find 'the' fabric for this project.

I was offered a tanker, Genesis, for my show and was so excited about that but when Whale Tankers mentioned insurance, I was worried about the tanker perhaps being gouged or damaged. I feel rather bereft about that. However, I was keen to have a 'tanker footprint' as part of my show. Initially, I was simply going to draw a tanker shape on the floor and hang silk tanker hangings around that. However, I do like the idea of hanging disk hangings length ways, like the body of the tanker represented in silk.

It was thought that 6 hangings would be appropriate, hung about 1m apart to allow visitors to walk between them, each one representing a part of the tanker.

As these will be seen from both sides, I am having problems working out what to make the frames with. I can have them cut in wood or perspex but would this be stable enough to take the tension of the cloth? These would all be 6 ft diameter. Pipe could be used but after tests, we found it twisted and flexed and probably would not hang absolutely square.

Another problem is how to fix the fabric to the frame as it will be visible from both sides?

So - I am just going to have to make some up and see what happens. These I would like to be in silk, translucent but not too see through, so probably georgette or crepe de chine.

If anyone has any ideas about these frames, I would be so pleased to hear them.

After cutting and assembling a 5 ft diameter disk, blocks were placed around the shape so that the ply could be placed around that. This was done in sections and built up until there were three layers of ply glued together in three sections. The sections slot together and are then screwed in place.

I have considerable research to do on these hangings but wonder if it is just too much work when I really just want to be creating silk hangings.

THE ZEN OF SHEEP

Sheep will always feature somewhere in my life, such characters - we all have our little foibles!
More like a distraction from trying to create these large disks. I am having such problems and have spent an inordinate amount of time on it. I can't make anything work. (Research to follow)

Watching sheep is such a relaxing pastime (or is it timewasting?)


'George' and 'Favour' (a friend named that one)

Mum 'Judy' and 'George'. Their horns have suddenly broken through the wool making them look like little devils.

'Favour' waiting for his lamb nuts.

Julie.

Ah well, back to the challenge of the disks.

THINK OF ME

I love coming down to Cornwall for my days at Falmouth campus, to stay in our old dearly loved caravan, conveniently placed on a friends farm very close to college.

Last week, however, I awoke during the night, absolutely frozen, my nose like a strawberry and face painful. Jazzie, our Standard Poodle, was shivering and I noticed beautiful ice patterns on the inside of the caravan windows. I could not move; I was just too cold. (Jazzie now has lovely scarlet fluffy 'jamas' and her own duvet).

Eventually, I sallied forth, wandering into the house to have a shower, and there were those same stunning patterns on my car.

The roof. It was like a mystical jungle scene.

The bonnet reminded me of a scene from a fairy tale where the Ice Queen may appear to claim my frozen Soul.

Even my headlights looked as if they had had an ice perm.

And the windows were works of art.

Each window was different.

Browsing in the library later on, I came across the work of Jennifer Falck Linssen.

'Crest'. Archival cotton paper, hand-carved in Katagami style, aluminium, waxed linen, indigo, paint, varnish, stitching. Photo: Tim Benko.

'Spirit of the Sea' and 'Anew'. As above.

I couldn't help feeling that she had been in my caravan!

Her pieces are a form of 'Katagami', where stencils are cut and used for creating intricate kimono patterns. Linssen uses the stencils themselves to make her sculptural forms. The patterns are all hand cut.





And the paper cutting of Mia Pearlman.
All from 'Surface Design Magazine', 'Creative Exploration of Fiber and Fabric, Fall 2009.