Nomad - Week Six

In our Nomad project we started preparing backgrounds using heat transfer paints. I had used these before in ACES at the GSA which is a project for helping people get into art. You paint onto paper and then iron it onto fabric and it goes onto the fabric without a raised surface that you would get with pigment dye. I used three of my four colours that I had for my colour palette to create backgrounds using paint brushes and by spatting the paint onto the paper to make a starry background.

Many of the backgrounds I may not use but I can experiment with them. The papers will need time to dry and so I must put them through the heat press next week instead.

I also experimented with using watercolours to colour up backgrounds. This was harder than I thought it would be as the colours have to be pretty concentrated to stick to the fabric and I'm better with subtly using watercolours. In saying that watercolours are one of my favourite mediums and it was nice to be using them.

Next week we are still preparing grounds to work on I think we are a week ahead because this week was supposed to be print design but I finished mine last week.

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

Nomad - Week Five

Most of the class did the same thing I did and used the morning to do their photocopying as we have the morning off on our print days and we work in the afternoon. I arrived early but I suspected (and was right) that everyone would be coming in and the photocopier would be really busy. So instead of wasting money and paper photocopying my drawings a million time I scaled the drawing down to A4 using the photocopier before anyone else arrived and scanned them into the computer.

I then used photoshop and extracted interesting motifs and strips of pattern that I put repeats of onto one piece of paper and printed that one then moved onto the next motif and did again and so on.

So when I left the library and saw the huge line for the photocopier I was really glad I had all the prints I needed. I went to the classroom and taped two pieces of A3 together as I had forgotten my A2 piece of paper. We use A2 as the screens we have here are A2. I cut off a centimetre each side to account for the glue on the screens and started cutting out the printed images and experimenting which how I would put them on the screen.

I would've done this on photoshop but the classroom is in another building from the library so it would mean having to change building every time I wanted to ask a question.

I suppose it's good exercise going back and forth between buildings.

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

The Curator - Week Five

Today was deadline day. I immediately started on my resolved samples that I had yet to do. I used the black organza that I pintucked yesterday and started cutting it into strips that I could use for my samples.

I took some calico and made the brain shape all over that I had for my machine sample on the big scale. I sewed onto the fabric with a grey coloured thread so that you could barely see the stitches. I then machine sewed my highlight colours into the shapes and I then did some handsewn shapes onto black cotton almost the same as my hand embroidery and cut them out and stiched them on as in my first machine embroidery.

This took my most of the day and I was panicking about my second resolved sample when one of the lecturers came over and told me that one of my fabric manipulations looked like a resolved sample but it was too light. I put black organdie over the sample and slashed and frayed selected parts of the sample.

We were then taken down to a lecture from Dundee University where we saw examples of work and were spoken too about the course. I think if we hadn't been on such a strict deadline I probably would have gladly gone but I was a bit reluctant. I did pick up a prospectus. (Reading up on options- always a good idea).

When I came back up I now had to come up with another fabric manipulation to make up for the one which I made a resolved. I still hadn't used the black pintucks so I used them like the watercolour ones I had previously done.

I used the rest of the time finishing off all my samples with hand embroidery and little bits of machine stitch. I only just managed to get everything done before the deadline. The lecturers then decided to give the class another hour due to the lecture from Dundee but I was working at five and so in order not to be late I had to leave at four.

Last week my print lecturer asked if I could talk to her today before I left to discuss what I should photocopy tomorrow.

Well... I  tried to hand my stuff in and the lecturer said I had to label everything. She must have seen how much I was panicking and let me off without labeling it. I did go to see the print lecturer and by the time I got out of college it was 4.25.

Luckily I got to work with about a minute to spare. Whew!

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

The Curator - Week Four

I spent the first class for the Curator this week doing fabric manipulation samples. I woke up that morning with an idea for using pintucks in my brain but it didn't work the same as it did in my head. I spent almost the whole day just making pintucks. I just sat at my table with my headphones on watch Pollyanna on my tablet while making pintucks. Somehow I started with that and then dissolved halfway through the day to singing along to Rocky Horror. I'm still not quite sure how that happened.

For the last two hours of the day I tried to manipulate the pintucks into the coral shape I had in my head but I couldn't seem to get it to look the same. I had this idea that I would fold the pintucks so the sides were together and sew, like a fan shape. I though if I sewed two of these back to back this would form the coral shape. Er... Not quite what happened because the coral wasn't shaped like two back to back fans but I did like the fan shape. I would've went ahead with it but it was too big and bulky where the rest of my samples were small and delicate and intricate.

On Friday we had to do our resolved samples but I still had most of my other samples to finish so I finished my scaled up machine embroidery of the coral and continued with an extra machine embroidery after my lecturer came over and informed me that it was the start of my first resolved sample.

At the same time she told me that I should most definitely continue my fabric manipulations today. She also told me that one of my pintucked pieces of fabric could be considered a sample on it's own.

I set out to manipulate the pin tucks in different ways. I stitched one of my drawings into one of the pintucked fabrics. I couldn't help feeling that there was something not quite right about this one but I couldn't put my finger on it. I might try some hand embroidery to bring it more in line with the other samples

I sewed pintucked strips lengthwise onto black organdie with some straight lines going thorugh the middle holding it in place. I like this sample immensely but I do feel the back looks more interesting than the front. It needs more stripes surrounding the pintucks as the side look just too plain.

Finally I looked at using the pintucks on their side but I could work out how to stand them up but still have them attached to a base. I decided to stitch them down at the edges after twisting them over so that they'd stand up. I inter-weaved them to connect them together and I really like the effect. I almost imagine them as snakes curling around one another. I felt it was too light putting watercoloured white cotton onto light blue cotton. I think I need to put more black into it.

I ended the day by making up some black organdie pintucks so that I can use them over the weekend.

Panic has most definitely set in today. For the end of the project (Wednesday) we have to have eleven samples.

Two Machine Embroidery
Two Hand Embroidery
Four Fabric Manipulations
Three Resolved samples

I still have two resolved to do. One to finish. One hand embroidery to do and Three fabric manipulations to finish. So I'd say I'm definitely panicking.

I'm going to have to do some serious work over the weekend to get them done in time.


Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Information

Nomad - Week Four

Today was Do What You Will day so I stuck to using my Promarkers and ink as I really like that effects. I found some nice marks that I really feel I can print with. I like that big and bold way of working with the promarkers.

I also tried some double layer drawings which I felt worked very well but my lecturer said that they represented more what I could do with print rather than the print itself. i.e. Using multiple layers of sheer fabrics.

I think I know what I want to take forward and photocopy for next week. There are drawings which really leap off the page yelling 'Pick Me! Pick Me!'

Next week we are choosing what goes onto acetate and then gets turned into an A2 screen for printing. This means I have some serious photocopying to do but honestly I think I may just photocopy them down to A4 then scan them in. Pick which parts I want to work with on Photoshop and print them out. Saves a lot of wasted paper and easier than cutting out tons.

I think I may want to make my samples on Photoshop too. I am really quite comfortable with Photoshop.  I really feel that's where I would get my best print ideas from. I can experiment freely and if it doesn't go the way I want it too I can manipulate it or change it quickly. It saves a lot of time. Sometimes photocopying can be useful too though.

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

Nomad - Week Three

  Our drawing task this week was using my personal favourite: Watercolours.

I started by doing a watercolour background with a wash brush and then working into it while it was still wet. The colours ended up bleeding together and created a weird mish mash of colours which was interesting but not exactly what I wanted. I waited until the painting was dry and worked back into it using a smaller brush to put in the finer details

I then started working with a more delicate way of using the watercolours with small detailed strokes with a more concentrated colour which I got some great effects which I feel I can take forward better than my first watercolour. From this I started looking at a colour pallette.

Originally the idea was two colours that I could work from but it ended up being about four.

Next week is just Do as You Will. So I think I may go back to using the ink or the promarkers as I really felt that I got some really good marks from these mediums which are ideal for print. I also think I should do some work at home in order to expand my range of drawings which I can use in the printing process.

Bobbi Jean Shields

Quintessential Designs

The Curator - Week Three

This week was our first week sampling for the Hunterian, the Curator, project. Our first samples are two machine embroidery samples.

I spent all of Wednesday doing my first machine sample. It was based on my drawings of boulder brain coral and strontianite. I started by sewing the brain coral as I like the interesting shape and I thought the differing weights of line would create an interesting aspect to play around with.

The strontianite was added using stitched bondawebbed pieces as I felt when I had placed the coral the rest of the A3 sample was lacking somehow. I felt that the shape of the strontianite could bring together the piece effectively.

Halfway through the day four of us were chosen to speak to the lecturers individually along with a student teacher from the GSA. I spoke first about my project to the group and I really felt that I could talk through my work effectively and I do believe that it has alot to do with keeping this blog.

As I'm writing about my work I really feel that I am remembering my thought processes better and I can really explain my work in a more coherant way.

My lecturers and the student teacher gave their comments about my work. I was told that I should try to make my embroidery not quite as tight and to play around with scale. As my journal pages were different sizes which you probably cant see properly in the photographs, my lecturer who takes us for guidance suggested that I make a fabric book with different sized samples. I'm not sure how I feel about that and for now I think I'll keep them separate till I have them all done but it's something to keep in mind. All of the lecturers agreed that making photocopies of my work and using the photocopies to pay around with scale would be a good idea.

In my free time I managed to take one of the corals and enlarge the scale  and stitch the pattern of the coral onto fabric which had an interesting effect.

On Friday of this week it was Hand Embroidery Day. I really found the concept of today weird as our lecturers are usually telling us that we should be doing hand embroidery at home because they want us to take advantage of our access to the machines.

I wasn't really sure what to do so I started by embroidering some of my drawings onto black cotton. I thought that if I couldn't think of a non literal way to do it then I should use my time wisely and put together a literal sample.

I took me all day to finish the hand embroidery and even then I suspect that I should go in with some colour as I have only been using grey thread in different weights onto black cotton.

So far my samples aren't really forming as a collection. I think that it's because of the hand embroidery. As I have done it in black it doesn't quite fit with the rest of my samples. I think bringing in colour to all my samples will help with this.

Bobbi Jean Shields

Quintessential Designs