I collected a lot of pictures searching through old magazines and especially calendars ( I am glad that I kept them!!!). Also I have taken lots of photographs of flowers and seeds and seed pods. I have been working on my drawing and for the most part, the eraser has not been used. Again, many of my photographs have light and dark areas.
Page 1 These flowers show regular patterns in the round.
Page 2 More flowers with regular leaves and then a cabbage with leaves spreading out from the center. The leaves also show irregular patterns with the veins.
Page 3 The flowing petals of the yellow flower could be a model for the tassel in Chapter 5. I like the crinkling edges of the violet primula flower along with the regularity of the petals. The pleated seed pods (?) have an interesting texture to them.
Page 4 The columbine on the left could be another example for the Tassel. The spikey aspect of the thistle is interesting and shows possibilities for machine embroidery.
Page 5 This page shows a variety of seed pods. The top drawing is the attachment end of a fir cone (not a fire cone)!!! I am allowing so many of my garden flowers to go to seed. I am enjoying what appears and I am taking lots and lots of photographs.
Page 6 Tree trunks are an inspirations for stitching along with weathered rocks and dried up mud!!!
Page 7 Many man made structures display regular patterns . I also like the irregular pattern of the stone building.
Page 8 More man made patterns. I like the row of stylized frogs.
Page 9 There are so many patterns found in fabrics, wall papers, native art. The two smallest pieces are half and full drop repeats!!
Page 10 These are three pieces of Chinese embroidery. The two on the left are regular repeats while the one on the right is irregular.
Page 11 Close up of the pieces above. The centre block on the right piece shows rotational symmetry.
Page 12 This Thai batik cushion shows mirror image blocks in the centre of the four squares. There are also very interesting repeat patterns between the blocks.
Page 13 Another example of symmetry ….. somewhat more complicated.
Page 14 More examples of irregular and regular patterns (rotational and mirror images).
Page 15 For the stamp, I chose a single geranium flower illustrated on page 10 of Chapter 1 (Module 2) I exploded the individual pieces and left out the centre bit, as this made the stamp too big. I also flipped the top bit 90 degrees. I cut out the pieces on soft sculpt. I did get somewhat confused in how the pieces should lay so I numbered them and used double scotch (cello) tape to attach the drawing to the soft sculpt. Worked like a charm. I painted the cardboard with gesso so that there would be no warping. The stamp (actual size below) did get a lot of use. (The top image is the drawing that I used and the second one has the centre bit).
For the stencil, I chose the tulip on the same page as the single geranium. I cut out the pattern on used x-ray film (again in my stash!!) My stencil looked more like a bug rather than a tulip!!! I also feel that it is not a very balanced design.
Stamp stencil
Page 16
For examples of stamping and stenciling I used some painted papers that I had created when I was doing a colour course. Many times I had just rubbed the paper over the tray of paints and some of the results are below. I then tried to coordinate some of the stamped images with the background. I use liquid Golden acrylic paints throughout this exercise. I did keep track of the colours I used.
This represents sliding /translational symmetry. I just noticed from your description that I should have the distance between the prints the same size as the original image…. I did not do that!!!
Page 17
This piece represents spot repeats.
Page 18
On this page shows half drop repeats. (I had trouble with printing the yellow paint and so I tried to do some painting over top…. not very successful!)
Page 19
Half drop repeats closer together.
Page 20
For this piece, I used hand made paper with some leaf images. I block printed using rotational symmetry.
Page 21
Stenciling!! I had such trouble in trying to stencil. I was using a somewhat dry brush and I had to do a lot of touchups!!! Then I looked stenciling up on the internet on how to improve my skill. I finally succeeded for the bottom images. I used a small sponge (like a makeup sponge) and a clamp to squeeze the edges together to make a nice rounded surface. I also made sure that the sponge was dry. This was so much easier than a brush. I was trying to portray mirror images. The bottom third of the piece works!!! The rest is questionable.
Page 22
Fabric - transfer painted poly cotton over printed by rotating the transfer paper to give a mottled effect. Paints used were violet, green and blue.
Stenciled the piece with transparent Setacolor fabric paints using Oriental Red and Parma Violet. I rotated the stencil to 180 degrees for a vertical mirror image.
Block printed over top using the stamp in rotational pattern. I stamped the piece with Lumiere acrylic fabric metallic paint - The colour I used was Metallic Olive Green #562.
Stabilizer - felt
Threads – Aurifil cotton thread 40 weight – colours violet (#4225) and red violet (#2535)
- Wonderfil – gold metallic colour # 8858
- Bobbin thread – used the red violet Aurifil thread.
I decided to stitch around all the block prints. I used two threads in the needle with gold being the constant. I stitched a few of the prints with the lighter red violet colour. The rest were with the violet.
The block print on the left definitly looks out of place. I should have possible put another print near to the top to balance the piece. Basically I liked the piece!!!
Page 23
The Final piece for this chapter!!!
The stamp that I used for the piece. I chose the flower in the centre. I painted the flower with a transfer paint (I used violet and some black). The violet was too bright for what I wanted to accomplish). Below is the stamped piece of paper ready to be transferred to the already painted fabric. I didn’t think that there were enough stamped images so I cut out one of the images and added 4 more. Some I made lighter in colour and some darker for a different effect. I should have taken a picture of the stamped piece of bridal satin before I started stitching!
Page 24
For my stitching, I chose a single marigold. The petal shapes were similar to the stamp I used. Also the center was somewhat the same.
I found some pictures on the internet for inspiration which I printed out in black and white.
Page 25
My drawing.
Page 26
The end result.
Fabric – I chose a transfer painted piece on bridal satin. The piece is bright with yellow and blue paints coming together in places to make green. The colour of the block print came out as a dark shade of violet. I would have preferred a bit lighter colour and should have experimented some more.
Stabilizer – As the bridal satin puckers quite a bit when stitched, I used a piece of tear away between the felt and the satin. It worked quite well.
Threads – Aurifil cotton thread – violet colour #4225 (same for the bobbin).
I double stitched all the flowers.
When I had finished, I wondered whether I should not have done fewer stampings!! Also the photograph reflections distort the piece!! However, I still like the end result!!!
