hand and lock competition

All I can say is Im on a roll. I guess going back to being a secondary school employer has achieved what I had hoped for, a bit of time for me to get my head together. Im glad I didnt return as  a teacher, at least as a teaching assistant I have time on an evening and weekend to enjoy some creative experimentation. Getting back to my title, I am thinking of entering the 2013 Hand and Lock competition. I dodnt expect to get into the second round, but third time lucky or if its 'all things come in 3s' at least I will have a body of work behind me. It could  come in useful if I can afford to do an MA.
If I do enter H and L the section I will be choosing is to combine Tudor England and 1970s rock concert.
I got hold of some original vinyl Ziggy, Roxy music and Marc Bolan LPs,  but no  records unfortunately. Theres something to say about album covers and inner sleeves, nostalgic overload for someone who would have been 3-4yrs at that time. Anyway got a few sketches, took some photos and a bit of research done, in between removing  goldwork  from my fabric.


Im thinking Bowies 'spiders from Mars' merged with the web of deceit  amongst Elizabeth 1st royal court.



Also though web would be a good starting point as they look  like crystal lace work. This image however also has a feel of a cobweb on a ships mast which is another idea I am thinking of going down.



this cobweb could be inspiration for embroidered wings but Bowie style. 





I dont even mind the terrible quality of the phots, I think it adds  inspiration. I might print of this photo and embroider a drawing to see if  things develop further.



have I used the fabric?

The answer is of course yes. However I did have a few problems trying to dye it becasue although the fabric was silk Im not sure if it is a silk mix because there has been some interesting results when removed from the dye bath. Procions didnt work well at all, colour didnt take at all, acids did take but not in the way I had expected, But on a positive note the colours are just what I was wanting for my 39-45 project, which I havent forgotten, but am now back on track with due to mesing around as if I am a student again.


original colour before experimenting with dyes. 




the dye is very subtle




a few samples, subtle but elegant I think and to think I only used four dye baths for the whole collection.




the beautiful red and dark grey were put into the same dye baths as my 2nd hand fabric but the difference in colour take is amazing. This is the best prt of dying fabric. 





I think this has got a Japenese military feel about it, which did help to re-inspire me with my life long project



But thats not all! theres goldwork and beads too.







Found this fabric in a second hand shop, thought even if I dont use the fabric I could use all the gold work and beads, that was a border around the fabric, so since September I have painstakingly sat most evenings and removed each bead and strand of goldwork, and this is why I guess I am able to send a blog. I feel I have completed something and now I ready for my other ventures, but let me show you some of the fabric close up before you see what I have done with it.

my apologies for the terrible photos you know they are not my strong pioint, just wanted to show you the ammount of work that was involved in removing this embellishment. By the way the fabric was 3-4 meters long. The box of goldwork and  tin of glass beads are what I emoved. What a treasure eh.



where have I been/ what have I been up to ?



its amazing what you can do when you play around with ideas.



I know I have been away for a long, long time but things have been pretty hectic. But at last I have finally put together a few print designs. These were taken from my markmaking drawings, some of which I posted on my blog in the Summer. I played around with ideas, mixing things up a bit and hey this is where I am at the minute.



This is my first print of the design. Not bad since I have not done any print since may time. Looking forward to adding some of my embroidery and embellishment magic. Will post result as Im going along.