Textiles: Surface pattern.

In textiles, we focused on surface pattern and colour, rather than fabric or garments. I liked experimenting with mixed media and texture such as masking tape and stitching, and I liked the methods we used to get interesting patterns. on the first strip of paper, we chose a part of the still life in front of us, and used ink to draw the negative spaces. We then turned the strip upside down, and drew the same part of the still life. I liked this because the ink created very interesting shapes, and they did not match up with the drawing on top. In this piece, I used ink, oil pastel, emulsion paint, chalk pastel, netting and thread. I also sprayed on bleach, to change the colour of the ink.

On my second piece, I was focusing on just one object. I started with a masking tape outline, then turned the paper by 90 degrees and used a chalk pastel to draw the object bigger. I carried on turning the paper around and changing media, And I think this gives a very good effect, capturing the object without just drawing it. I think this worked well because the object I chose had a very patterned texture, so the finished work has very detailed patterns and interesting lines. I think these could both be made into a repeating pattern, to use as something like wall paper or wrapping paper, or a fabric print to use on a garment.

 I then moved on to smaller pieces, and made a collage background from different papers, and part of a photocopy of one of my larger pieces. I then stitched a strip of ink dipped fabric on, using pink stitches. I stitched it so the fabric went from the top to the bottom of the paper, and the stitches went across. I then added more thread, in a wavy line, and some pleated paper.

 After I had done the pink stitching on my first small piece, I noticed the back had some very interesting marks, so I photocopied it and made it the background for my second small piece. I then used parts photocopied from one of my bigger pieces, and stitched onto the background with yellow, green and blue thread. I used all different sized stitches, then glued down the long ends of the thread down.

I really liked the bold stripes on the paper, so I put it with the inside of an envelope, so the large stripes contrast with the small repetitive pattern. I used a strip of fabric going diagonally across, and different stitches on top. I tried to stick to a fairly limited colour palette so it wasn't too over-complicated.