St Monans Art Festival

Framed and ready to be hung on Tuesday for the St Monans Arts Festival 17th-19th September.

2 new pieces of stitching, 1 framed differently and 1 from a previous exhibition.

No Pom Pom or stones...

I also need to produce ANOTHER piece for the Fife Art Exhibition.  This needs to be finished by Friday... 

I have no specific design work to show... its all in my head... 

eek...

Miller Terrace

I've just read through my Miller Terrace design notes... think I might revisit this subject ahead of the St Monans Art Festival Exhibition...

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace

Through Miller Terrace 2008, white calico, 74cm x 15cm

Apologies for the flash but its the best photo of the whole piece.

Some detail (without glass!)...



one of my favourites.

I am still alive

I've been busy!

My exhibition is in less than a month and I have only finished 4 pictures and I'm only happy with 3 of them! Through Miller Terrace is in progress...

I'm torn. My original design idea was to add shadows (and harr!), however I love the back of the piece...

It looks too messy adding stitching on top of this... I'll have to experiment more.

I think I will achieve the panoramic effect (it is over 30" long) but do I want the interest of shadows or the interest of the sketchy threads of the backside?

Mmmmmmmm

I've started what I hope will be a series of 2 Shingle pieces - one black and white, one beige.



I used my flat smooth stones from the beach as inspiration.

To The Windmill has progressed too, but it is still in paper form. I have started tube dyeing my fabric

I've also been knitting for my stitch group. We're selling our wares at the local gala day on 14th June. So far I've done 3 skinny 'ladder' yarn scarfs and 10 stitched cards.

I now have 1 assignment left on my book keeping course...

I'm also considering some new projects... after the first week in July I'll have sooooo much free time!

I'd like to do some kind of colour study/colour wheel of the shingle beach. I got some lovely pink stones and glass there on Wednesday.

After Alphabet:Letters in the Street, I'd like to start Looking Up...

I've also signed up for Sharon B's Studio Journal course...

So... I'll get back to my stitching...

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace (5)

I have decided on the final design after all my indecision.

I have decided to do a panel 4" high, 36" wide using a flipped design of the my original photo/design. Here is a tiny paper representation.

and a larger example


I'm still toying with the idea of colouring the fabric and using freestyle blackwork to add shadows and areas of interests.

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace (4)

I'm working through some ideas for Through Miller Terrace.

The original idea was take the view, create a motif and repeat it in a grid format, adding blackwork patterns to show the shadows on the buildings created by the sun.

I quickly ran into trouble as the motifs were very small (2"x3") and I wasn't enjoying stitching it... and that was before the blackwork!

I played with other layouts but I felt I was losing sight of my original feelings and I was getting abit lost.

My original feelings...

"There is a terrace (actually shown from the front top right on the From the Windmill photo) which has an opening between the houses which reveals the Firth of Forth. Its was my favourite walk/view when we first moved here. To walk through a narrow gap and see the expanse of water (especially when the sun was bright, sky blue and water twinkling) was always uplifting."

I was attracted to the structures of the buildings which you squeeze between to see the expanse of water... should the gap and the squeeze be reflected in the design or contrasted with the expanse of the panoramic view that is through the gap...?


I have now decided on a long narrow piece with individual panels showing the movement of shadows on the buildings through the day. I still like the idea of blackwork, more freestyle than this blackwork...


But how will I transfer the buildings to the fabric - fading ink, tracing paper, dissolvable paper... I didn't enjoy using the last two on my Doodles projects. Could I just draw onto the fabric...

Mmmmmm... some more thought I think....

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace (3)

I've started stitching the grid pattern for this piece but I think its going to be too small to stitch clearly. I want the buildings to be easily identified and so far I just can't get that detail onto the fabric. I thought I was using 28 count evenweave but its actually 32 count and I don't want to go any finer (my poor eyes!) I think the problem lies in transferring the design to the fabric... The drawing looks better which makes me think that I shouldn't bother trying to represent it in stitch...

I will have another go - a more freestyle approach (which suits my style better - if I try and follow a pattern it generally doesn't work out as I get too uptight), however I might not get the crisp graphic/draughtsman style lines I want.

I'm also going to start work on a more abstract composition using the flipped design.

This would be 12" x 8" in size.

I have taken some photos of the view as planned. However there hasn't been much variation in the gloom so far this month, so I may carry this on into March (and April!)

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace (2)

a bit more manipulation...

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace (2)

I have drawn the outlines of the buildings in Through Miller Terrace. I shrunk it to 3" x 2", copied it and used it to make a paper mock up of the finished embroidery.

I'm not entirely happy with the mock up as the lines are too faint (I used pencil) so when I hung it on my wall I can't see the overall pattern created by the lines. And the thick lines I doodled to create the layout are distracting.

I may have to go over the lines, shrink it, copy it and glue it down again...


I should be able to stitch each rectangle and then go back and add the blackwork shadows (or atmosphere) once I have taken my series of photos.

I have looked out some evenweave fabric and I think a Perle 12 for the outlines should work (although it might be too heavy on my 28 count evenweave).

The other way to approach this is to use the outline drawing and make some patterns... which would make a more abstract composition...

Mmmmmm. I'll need to do some stitching and see how it goes...

Exhibition 2008 - Through Miller Terrace (1)

This piece may be too ambitious but I'll give it a go!

There is a terrace (actually shown from the front top right on the From the Windmill photo) which has an opening between the houses which reveals the Firth of Forth. Its was my favourite walk/view when we first moved here. To walk through a narrow gap and see the expanse of water (especially when the sun was bright, sky blue and water twinkling) was always uplifting.

I took this photo when I was researching design ideas for Sharon B's Sumptuous Surfaces class.

Its not very good as the water and sky are not clearly defined! I did like the concrete/brick structures framing the 'patch' of water and combined with the shadows it had potential.

At the moment I'm considering taking this photo everyday in February (or as near to everyday as possible!). If these do not show enough variation in shadow then I'll do the same in March (and again in April). February may be too gloomy.

I then want to use only the outlines of the building and shadows to backstitch 16 small panels (2"x3", I think). I will then add some blackwork to the shadows. All in black!

I want to show the view over time, like a sampler, but keep it graphic in style...


This will end up quite a large piece and I admit that this is being dictated by a frame I already have and want to use. This may be a mistake but hopefully I'll find out early on in the stitching!