AS Coursework; Light Observational Drawings

After focusing on artists such as Bruce Munro and Sophie Hedderwick, I decided to look at the way light could be used to manipulate an image, and how the contrast of light and darkness created shadows and reflections. 

Taking inspiration from the way my artists work, I took my own experimental photographs of everyday items such as a shoe and a chair, and draped them in fairy lights to make them almost seem to glow. I then made experimental drawings from these, in both pencil drawings and water colour quick media experiments, focusing on colour, light, shadows and shape.

AS Coursework; Light Experiments

Extending on this idea of using actual light in my work, I created some textile media experiments, and then tested all of these, threading fairy lights underneath the textile experiments and also through, seeing how they would reflect the light or glow. 

Some media’s I used included batik, print, felt and weave, and I liked the way the light both shone through the materials, and lit up some of the fabric prints too. One of my favorites was the Angelina threads, I liked the sparkle effect they gave off and the way they reflected light off the piece. 

AS Coursework; Molar Stars Refinement

After looking at the stain glass windows that Harry Clarke produced, I decided to refine the molar work pieces I had created in his style. I used a star shape as this had been a main focal point in my photographs and drawings, and then created molar work stars with different layers of felt, batik and Angelina fibers. 

I then refined these again to make them smaller and have different patterns on them, and then these were used in my final design ideas. 

AS Coursework; Light Design Ideas

I used all of the artist’s inspiration, my photographs and drawings, and also the experiments I did with the lights to inspire my final design ideas. I thought of quite a few and finally chose to create a tutu skirt, incorporating the molar work stars I had made. 

However after making it, the piece didn't look right to me, and I wanted to start again but be more free with my work, so I cut up the skirt and redesigned the piece into a dress, using the panels for a corset top and creating a puffball skirt like the shapes seen in Bruce Munro’s work.

AS Coursework; Lights Final Piece

My second final piece was a lot more complex that my first, with more techniques being used such as a bit of pattern cutting, papier-mâché and working with wax, and a bigger piece was created. 

 I used the panels off the skirt of my old tutu to create a corset like top, coating the panels in papier-mâché before tearing them to give it an illuminated effect. I used tissue to stuff a puffball skirt I created, and used fairy lights both inside the ball and on top of the corset to light of the piece, incorporating my inspiration from the artist research I had carried out.

AS Exam; Carol Law Conklin Artist Research

For my AS Exam project, my theme was Earth and one artists I focused on was Carol Law Conklin, a batik artist who works with trees and nature. I experimented with batik, inspired by her pieces and also photos that I took myself in the forest, and used these for inspiration. 

I tried other media to get the same earthy effects, making a molar work tree branch inspired by my photos, and a felt copy of a post with mushrooms growing off it. The earthy brown colours and free flow of experimentation inspired my final design ideas.

AS Exam; Artist Copy and Earth Experiements

Carrying on from my Earth theme and work inspired by Carol Law Conklin, I decided to experiment looking at different types of media to create tree patterns and pieces. Firstly, I used felt to create an actual tree shape, stuffing it to make it 3D, and then couching different wool and thread onto it, as well as embellishment. 

I used ink to create a mono-print piece of tree outlines, an also dye fabric and ink draw over the top of the dyed pieces. I printed a tree pattern onto more coloured ink pieces, and then couched over the top of these.

AS Exam; Carolyn Saxby Artist Research

Another artist I looked at was Carolyn Saxby, as she looks at beaches and the water side of Earth and Nature. She works very freely and with a lot of blue colours, so I created a molar work with layers of batik, felt and other fabrics to represent the rock pools and pebbles I had photographed. 

I then embellished this with couching, beads and wax bubbles, and this inspired my pebbles that I incorporated on my final piece. 

AS Exam; Pebble Observational Drawings

After my research on Carolyn Saxby, I went out and photographed rock pools, streams, and other water forms and rocks. From these I did some experimental observational drawings, using pencil crayons, sketching, ink and water colours. 

I looked at the colours of the blues, browns, and greens, and the shapes that the body of pebbles created. These were then inspiration for my textile inspirations where I could translate my colour and shape observations.

AS Exam; Further Earth Experiments

Other textile experiments I completed when thinking about refining my previous pieces into design ideas included a lot of couching onto batik and tie dye pieces, looking at the textures and lines I captured in my photographs of the undergrowth and vines on tree branches. I looked at using plaster of Paris to coat little experiments I created looking at layers and textures, and then peeled it away to embellish with beads. 

I also looked at making felt pebbles and embellishing these, and creating batik drawing of the pebble textures, all of which inspired my final piece.