During the year, I have mainly focused my work around nature, mainly inspired by artists such as William Morris, Ernst Haeckel and Marianne North. I started off with etchings, and then moving onto textiles with embroidery and fashion, and also work on repeated patterns.
Etchings
With etching, I started off experimenting with different techniques such as soft ground, hard ground, and chine-collé, I found that hard ground etching helped me to achieve the level of detail which I like, so I continued with this technique with the rest of my etchings during the course. After creating a few observational etchings, I started to create new patterns which I would then turn into repeated patterns, for things such as fabrics and wallpaper. I found this aspect challenging, as it was difficult to work out how to repeat the etchings with the printing press.
Embroidery
I decided I wanted to take my artwork more towards fabrics and fashion, so I printed my etchings onto linen and then embroidered and beaded over the top. I also wanted to use this as a way of adding colour into my work, rather than just having monochrome prints. One of the outcomes of the course was making an embroidered headscarf, from a repeat pattern I had previously made, inspired by Japanese landscapes. Originally I was planning on creating new fabric prints from my etchings, however this wouldn’t have been possible due to the circumstances.
During the year, I have mainly focused my work around nature, mainly inspired by artists such as William Morris, Ernst Haeckel and Marianne North. I started off with etchings, and then moving onto textiles with embroidery and fashion, and also work on repeated patterns.
Etchings
With etching, I started off experimenting with different techniques such as soft ground, hard ground, and chine-collé, I found that hard ground etching helped me to achieve the level of detail which I like, so I continued with this technique with the rest of my etchings during the course. After creating a few observational etchings, I started to create new patterns which I would then turn into repeated patterns, for things such as fabrics and wallpaper. I found this aspect challenging, as it was difficult to work out how to repeat the etchings with the printing press.
Embroidery
I decided I wanted to take my artwork more towards fabrics and fashion, so I printed my etchings onto linen and then embroidered and beaded over the top. I also wanted to use this as a way of adding colour into my work, rather than just having monochrome prints. One of the outcomes of the course was making an embroidered headscarf, from a repeat pattern I had previously made, inspired by Japanese landscapes. Originally I was planning on creating new fabric prints from my etchings, however this wouldn’t have been possible due to the circumstances.