Exhibition 2008 - Pebbles

Pebbles 2008, calico, 6"x4"

Look familiar? Its from this design work. Its one of my favourites.

Shingle Study 2

I'm calling these shingle studies but its really all about the shape of the dark grey stones that I found on the beach. Maybe think up a better name for them...

I've finished both. This is the more embellished beige one..


Obviously, it main change as I haven't framed it yet. But I think I'm happy with it...

The designs on the pebbles are inspired by this design work that I did for my first City & Guilds assessment piece - Sky, Sea and Shingle.


In turn these were inspired by a spread in The Art of Looking a Sideways.

I think this a great example of how a good sketchbook and exploration of design ideas will reap rewards far longer than the life span of the original project. I first started the sketchbook in 2004.

I also photographed the back of this piece...


I have finished the Black & White Shingle Study but I don't have a photo yet.

knots, wheels and satin stitch

I will do a separate french knots sample for Take a Stitch Tuesday but I wanted to post my shingle sketchbook (1 of 3 hand stitch sketchbooks for my first C&G assessment piece).

It contains all 3 stitches, creating a thick textured, almost cuddly sketchbook cover.


click on the photo for a closer look.

sketchbooks

Shhhhhh Baby Girl's asleep.

there is a discussion on the City & Guilds Yahoo group re sketchbooks/journals and how people use them. I love this part of City & Guilds and its been a real revelation that I can actually put together a sketchbook (or workbook as I prefer to call it) and refer back to it for inspiration months later.

for each assessment piece I took an A4 ring bound sketchbook and pulled it apart. Then stuck it all back together with fabric, stitching and fibres. I also added a few drawings too.

Some work better than others as a record of the final finished piece (sky sea and sand), others stand alone as resource of techniques (green fields throw) and one in particular is far more interesting than the finished piece (black and white accessory).

My self portrait workbook is a work in progress....

I hope I can carry this on without C&G but I think I will need a topic/subject/end goal to work with!

I've uploaded some more photos of my sky, sea and shingle workbook to Flickr. I really enjoyed looking through this book again. And I'm surprised at how much black and white stuff I did, way back in 2004.

I'll photograph the other books when I get a chance.

Some of my favourite pages...

inspirations from nature - part 4

Blue skies.

inspirations from nature - part 3

Taken by Ian in 2004. Click to enlarge.

I used this photo as inspiration in my first C&G project (sky, sea and sand sketchbooks, 2004) .

These are some photo manipulations I did using this photo.

And a page from my sketchbook showing some patterns.