Textile Project research

Textiles project

Ideas based on previous work

 I have always been interested in cataloguing, recording, and collating the flora and fauna of my land in East Clare. I am lucky enough to have four acres of land in a secluded part of East Clare close to the Galway border. The four acres contains a mix of indigenous trees, wild flowers , and native wildlife. Over the last twenty years I have documented, drawn and collected different plants and animals that I have found on my land, I also have a fine collection of birds nest!

View from my house overlooking bog land at the bottom of my land

Brief

Using textiles as a medium create an artwork based on the flora and fauna of Derainey.

My Ideas

1.       Create a map of Derainey using silkscreen printing and possible over lays using acetate

2.       Use symbols or silhouettes to show various flora and fauna of Derainey, printed using stencils on to fabric

3.       Use canvas and print on both sides of material to create a map, folded as a traditional map

4.       Depict the images of flora and fauna as if they are in an old photographic album

5.       Produce a batik based on images created for mapping

 Title

Mapping my Garden

Research for textile project

Maps:

Ordinance survey map of East Clare, Walking maps of East Clare, Lettering styles of old maps, Old maps, Map Legends, signs and symbols, Map folds

Walking map of East Clare

Map folds

Map folds

Map symbols / legend

Photograph albums:

 Old photograph albums

Lettering used on old photographic albums

 Animal & bird footprints:

Fox, Badger, Rat, Fallow deer, Cat, Dog, Heron, Crow

 Moth & butterfly silhouettes:

Materials:

Canvas, hessian, coloured canvas

Stencils

Black acrylic paint

Embroidery thread

Watercolour pencils

Fabric pens

Silk

Batik tools

Dylon dies

Paintbrushes

Needle

Sponge

Silk screen frame

 Images from other textile artists

Creativity in Education – what does this mean?

“The roots of a creative society are in basic education. The sheer volume of facts to be digested by the students of today leaves little time for a deeper interrogation of their moral worth. The result has been a generation of technicians rather than visionaries, each one taking a career rather than an idea seriously. The answer must be reform in our educational methods so that students are encouraged to ask about “know-why” as well as “know-how”. Once the arts are restored to a more central role in educational institutions, there could be a tremendous unleashing of creative energy in other disciplines too.”
Source: On Arts: Creative New Zealand. Michael D. Higgins, the former Irish Minister for Arts, Culture and Gaeltacht

 “All our futures: Creativity, culture and education”, the UK National Advisory Committees report [DfEE, 1999] defines creativity as:

 “First, they [the characteristics of creativity] always involve thinking or behaving imaginatively. Second, overall this imaginative activity is purposeful: that is, it is directed to achieving an objective. Third, these processes must generate something original. Fourth, the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective.”

 The following quote, from one of the teachers involved in the project, adds to the UK definition.

 “Although most people might look for signs of creativity in the appearance of the bulletin boards, student made projects, centres and displays in the classroom, I feel the truly creative classroom goes way beyond what can be seen with the eyes. It is a place where bodies and minds actively pursue new knowledge. Having a creative classroom means that the teacher takes risks on a daily basis and encourages his/her students to do the same.”

Source: Pann Baltz quoted in Creativity in the Classroom: An exploration.

 Why should we bother?

 • Our school system is a thinly disguised conspiracy to quash creativity.

• We are at an inflection point. We seem to be re-inventing everything – except the school system, which should [in theory] underpin, even leads, the rest.

• The main crisis in schools today is irrelevance.

• Our educational thinking is concerned with; ‘what is’. It is not good at designing ‘what can be’.

 The above from Tom Peter’s book Re-imagine. Peter’s is very critical of our present ways of educating and although focused on American education his comments could relate to most education systems across the world.

Peter’s vision:

- a school system that recognizes that learning is natural, that a love of learning is normal, and that real learning is passionate learning - a school curriculum that values questions above answers, creativity above fact regurgitation, individuality above uniformity and excellence above standardized performance - a society that respects its teachers and principals, pays them well, and grants them the autonomy to do their job as the creative individuals they are, and for the creative individuals in their charge.

 Is this a vision that you could buy into?

 Robert Fritz comments that “The most important developments in civilization have come through the creative process, but ironically, most people have not been taught to be creative.”

Source: Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance, 1994.

 Is it important to our futures that creativity be taught?

What place should creativity have in our education systems?

Should we teach creatively or teach for creativity?

 “By providing rich and varied contexts for pupils to acquire, develop and apply a broad range of knowledge, understanding and skills, the curriculum should enable pupils to think creatively and critically, to solve problems and to make a difference for the better. It should give them the opportunity to become creative, innovative, enterprising, and capable of leadership to equip them for their future lives as workers and citizens. It should enable pupils to respond positively to opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities, to manage risk and cope with change and adversity.”

Source: UK National Curriculum Handbook [p 11-12]:

Creative students lead richer lives and, in the longer term, make a valuable contribution to society. Surely those are reasons enough to bother.

History and Techniques of printmaking

I have come across this site http://robinurton.com/history/printmaking.htm it covers a brief history and printing techniques. This could be a useful hand out when delivering a printmaking project. 

Relief Printmaking

A relief print is an image created by a printmaking process where protruding surface faces of the matrix (printing plate or block) are inked; recessed areas are ink free. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper. A printing-press may not be needed as the back of the paper can be rubbed or pressed by hand with a simple tool such as a brayer or roller.
The matrix in relief printing is classically created by starting with a flat original surface, and then removing (e.g., by carving) away areas intended to print white. The remaining areas of the original surface receive the ink.
The relief family of techniques includes woodcut, metalcut, wood engraving, relief etching, linocut, and some types of collography.
Traditional text printing with movable type is also a relief technique. This meant that woodcuts were much easier to use as book illustrations, as they could be printed together with the text. Intaglio illustrations, such as engravings, had to be printed separately.
Relief printing is one of the traditional families of printmaking techniques, along with the intaglio and planographic families. Modern developments have created other types.
In intaglio, the recessed areas are the printed areas. The whole matrix is inked, and the ink then wiped away from the surface, so that it remains only in the recesses. Much greater pressure is then needed to force the paper into the channels containing the ink, and a high-pressure press will normally be required. Intaglio techniques include engraving, etching, and drypoint.
With planographic techniques, such as lithography, the entire surface of the matrix is flat, and some areas are treated to create the print image.
Normally relief and intaglio techniques can only be mixed with others of the same family in the same work.

The basic concept of relief printing. A is the block or matrix; B is the paper; the thick black lines are the inked areas. (The thickness of the ink is greatly exaggerated for illustration.)

Information provided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_print

Art History resources

Scheme of work - observational black and white drawings of natural objects, small to big

If you follow this link you will be able to down load the complete scheme of work

https://acrobat.com/#d=VEOy3uwlfXhBFcbkZ0KXBw

Lino cut Printing

Lino Printmaking

Preliminary work for lino cut

Materials: I bought two types of lino to test out the difference; one was a flexi lino and the other a grey stiff lino (mostly used in schools). I made several marks and cuts in each and although I found the flexi lino more malleable, I choose to go with the standard lino used in schools, so I would have the same experience as the students and gain valuable knowledge of the material as I cut.

Preliminary research:
I have spent a number of years drawing plants and flowers, so it seemed natural for me to produce a piece of work based on flowers.

I started my research by looking at the ways Japanese printmakers treated flowers and insects in their work. I like the line, shape, and design qualities used in many images produced by Japanese printmakers around this time (1670).

Japanese prints

Mikaeri Bijin – Women looking back by Hishikawa Moronobu ,1618 – July 25, 1694) was a Japanese painter and printmaker known for his advancement of the ukiyo-e woodcut style starting in the 1670s.

Utamaro-Rice-Locust-Red-Dragonfly-Pinks-Chinese-Bell-Flowers-1788
Dimensions: 705x986, Utamaro Kitagawa
URL: http://artmight.com/Artists/Utamaro-Kitagawa/utamaro-rice-locust-red-dragonfly-pinks-chinese-bell-flowers-199378p.html

Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro , Style: Ukiyo-e , Technique: woodblock print , Gallery: Cragside

Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro , Style: Ukiyo-e , Technique: woodblock print
I also looked at the way they treated flowers on clothing.

Notes on Artist: ArtistUtamaro produced over two thousand prints during his working career, along with a number of paintings, surimono, as well as many illustrated books, including over thirty shunga books, albums, and related publications. Among his best known works are the series Ten Studies in Female Physiognomy; A Collection of Reigning Beauties; Great Love Themes of Classical Poetry (sometimes called Women in Love containing individual prints such as Revealed Love and Pensive Love); and Twelve Hours in the Pleasure Quarters.

He alone, of his contemporary ukiyo-e artists, achieved a national reputation during his lifetime. His sensuous female beauties generally are considered the finest and most evocative bijinga in all of ukiyo-e. He succeeded in capturing subtle aspects of personality and transient moods of women of all classes, ages, and circumstances. His reputation has remained undiminished since; his work is known worldwide, and he is generally regarded as one of the half-dozen greatest ukiyo-e artists of all time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utamaro

William Morris

Detail of a watercolour design for the Little Flower carpet showing a portion of the central medallion, by William Morris
William Morris has a great sense of design and crafts man ship in his work and these images inspired me to produce a decorative lino print.

Design for Windrush printed textile, 1881–83

Preliminary drawings

A quick black and white drawing in pencil to highlight the shape of the flower carved on the door.
This shape on the Armada door at the Clare Museum reminds me of passionflowers, stimulating the desire in me to simplify organic objects, when you take information away, what is left and can it represent the image just as well?

Armada Door (above)- The carving of a cornucopia is reputed to have been washed ashore at Spanish Point following the sinking of an Armada ship. Clare Museum

I focused the preliminary drawings on shape, design, and simplification of flower shapes.

Cutting the board with a metal ruler and Stanley knife to mount the lino on to, to create a safe working environment for lino cutting

Ironing the back of the lino through news print to make it easier to cut smooth lines at an even depth. I did this several times during the cutting process.

I drew the image on to the block free hand and the picture above shows me starting to cut into the lino block. I was interested in creating patterns with the cut away shapes I was creating on the lino block and made a conscious effort to make the cut out sections part of the overall design. From previous experience, I know that some of the cut away lines show up on the finished print and I wanted to make sure they were in keeping with the overall pattern. I received a number of comments from students “your lines are so even”, “ I like the flow of the cut away lines”, regarding this so I feel that I achieved this successfully.

Keeping safe and turning the lino block around to cut away from me!

Lino mounted to the board with card placed on the board to register the paper for second and third colours. I specifically spaced the card registration blocks so I would get a centred print when using A3 paper

I mixed three colours (red, blue & black) to get the red I wanted to use

Inking up the block using a cut out mount to prevent ink getting onto the board

Rubbing the back of the paper with a wooden spoon to lift the ink from the lino onto the paper

Checking to see if the ink is being lifted of the lino block by the rubbing

I left the cut out mount on the board when I washed the ink of the lino before I changed colours. I found this was a very successful way of reducing the amount of water getting on to the card board. I will use this method when I teach.

Finished prints in one colour

Second colour applied to prints

I enjoyed the process of drawing the image, cutting the block, and printing more than I imagined I would have at the start. Next time I would spend more time concentrating on breaking the block down to make three-colour prints. I did do two colour prints but it did not highlight the flowers or the stems. Although the print works, very well as a one colour print.