The weeks are beginning to fly by at college.. We are in the midst of Material Culture lectures and these are throwing up all sorts of moral dilemmas - can we really save the world - they are very thought provoking and to be honest its a little bit depressing... When you get to your 7th decade and you still cant quite get your ethics together - my latest most immediate dilemma is the cost of printing my final fabric samples... using plastic based synthetic materials would be very seriously cheaper then using organic plant based fibres... but then the dying, producing, manufacturing costs are economically and environmental unsound in both cases and what difference does a few samples make on an already produced cloth...
The textile industry is second only to the oil industry in causing the most environmental damage - its a hard one to reconcile and the changes have to start somewhere and in an ideal world it has to be with today's up and coming designers! There is a definite move towards giving the planet consideration but as always any changes are weighted up with financial and power driven gains in mind - its all about consumerism... I'd like to think I was different but sadly I am constrained by limited capital and very little power!!!!
On a lighter note I had a couple of really good days sitting and warming up my drawing skills doing a few exercises drawing from photographs and then a fab day in the print room doing timed line drawings and then some mark making on paper to subsequently use for a black and white media collage. I used lots of different tools to make marks including the usual pens, brushes, sticks and also a whisk and potato masher. I rolled, stippled, stabbed, scrapped and splattered with Indian ink, procien dyes sharpen pens, I got a lovely spotty texture using a tooth brush both on the paper and my face.... I masked out areas and bleach others and ended up with a collection of interesting, some what messy textured papers ready to cut up for collage. I continued with the theme of mythical creatures and used the wooden dragon for inspiration and also a Terracotta army horse ornament from my China travels for a very quick second piece.
I am never happier then when I am cutting and sticking. Both collages are unfinished and I have the intention of working into them with some colour - probably with thread but I wanted to mull it over the weekend but I'm looking forward to getting back on to it.
I'm really enjoying working in the studio and seeing what other people produce it makes for a very stimulating environment and the talent contained there is inspirational.
The textile industry is second only to the oil industry in causing the most environmental damage - its a hard one to reconcile and the changes have to start somewhere and in an ideal world it has to be with today's up and coming designers! There is a definite move towards giving the planet consideration but as always any changes are weighted up with financial and power driven gains in mind - its all about consumerism... I'd like to think I was different but sadly I am constrained by limited capital and very little power!!!!
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| collage using black and white mark making papers A1 in size (its not the best photo a bit over exposed) |
On a lighter note I had a couple of really good days sitting and warming up my drawing skills doing a few exercises drawing from photographs and then a fab day in the print room doing timed line drawings and then some mark making on paper to subsequently use for a black and white media collage. I used lots of different tools to make marks including the usual pens, brushes, sticks and also a whisk and potato masher. I rolled, stippled, stabbed, scrapped and splattered with Indian ink, procien dyes sharpen pens, I got a lovely spotty texture using a tooth brush both on the paper and my face.... I masked out areas and bleach others and ended up with a collection of interesting, some what messy textured papers ready to cut up for collage. I continued with the theme of mythical creatures and used the wooden dragon for inspiration and also a Terracotta army horse ornament from my China travels for a very quick second piece.
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| A 2 collage - terracotta army horse.. shows more detail of papers used - also ran out of prit stick so secured using masking tape for the time being.. |
I am never happier then when I am cutting and sticking. Both collages are unfinished and I have the intention of working into them with some colour - probably with thread but I wanted to mull it over the weekend but I'm looking forward to getting back on to it.
I'm really enjoying working in the studio and seeing what other people produce it makes for a very stimulating environment and the talent contained there is inspirational.
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