Braiding in the Rain or "Stop String Being Boring".

Wednesday 15th August - "Braids from The Past: As long as people have made string, they have plied, knotted and braided it to make it longer, stronger or just more decorative! Join this workshop to learn some ancient skills that you can use at home. 2 different sessions.  Braids from prehistory: Ply Stone Age cord, make a Bronze Age plait and braid the leather bracelet found on an Iron Age bog body. 2pm - 4pm: More fun with two: Make a Viking whipcord and an Early Medieval loop braid fit for a queen - but make sure you bring a friend!"

What an invite - well, you never know when a bog body bracelet will be needed, so in pouring summer rain, my grandmother, mother and I wandered off this week to a St Fagan's to find the workshop.

By the time we tracked down Louise Mumford, Conservator, Department of Archaeology (National Museum of Wales), we were drenched, not good as my Mum melts in the rain. The good news was that we had Louise all to ourselves for a master class in braids and textiles.

I was able to make a twisted ply cord from nettle stems and flax and braided a leather bracelet which has loads of possibilities for other textile projects.  Louise gave a fascinating overview of ancient textiles, tablet weaving, fingerloop braids, japanese kumihimo braids, American native indian finger weaving and was also able to show us artifacts used in bronze and iron ages to create textiles.

I'm going to put my name down as a volunteer for the museum and find out how I can help show techniques to visitors in future.

Elephant rampages at St Fagans...

TOP NEWS! There was chaos earlier as a large elephant rampaged through the grounds of St Fagans historic castle and gardens.... Fearing the worst we watched him walk past the glass houses and narrowly missing the herbaceaous borders as he went to munch on a nearby tree.

Only kidding, here's my latest knitted toy animal made from an Alan Dart pattern... The picture backgrounds here are the start of my final a-level textile research for projects when I go back to school. Looks like I'll be working on more flowers :0)

Does this make me a Spinster? (The Wheel goes so fast the photos are blurred...)

After seeing the Woollen Mill on Friday,  today I've put to use a dusty old spinning wheel which has been hiding in the corner of our dining room, and have been trying my hand at traditional yarn making.  This has been fun to do.  I'm not sure if I like the uneven texture and slubs - this will depend on the end product.

St Fagans Museum Woollen Mill - oldest working Spinning Jack

I love exploring St Fagan's Folk Museum and always find something new to look at.  Today, the Woollen Mill was spinning.  As Dewi Jones explained to us, the only thing he doen't do is shear the sheep!  I love the blends and patterns of colours produced by the traditional production methods.

The following is taken from the Museum's web site:-

This building is typical of the many small factories which were found throughout Wales where farmers brought their wool to be processed into cloth for their own use. The mill was built in 1760, but was extended to accommodate new machinery in the 19th century and continued in production until 1947. It was moved to the museum in 1949.
All the processes of wool production are undertaken under one roof, from dyeing the fleece to finishing the fabric. There are two handlooms, dating from the mid-18th century, which were converted to flying shuttle shortly afterwards. The spinning jack, probably the only one in its kind still working, was made by John Davies of Llanbrynmair in about 1830 and the carding engines were purchased second-hand at the same time from a mill in Yorkshire. The internal water wheel, which powers all of the machinery, is located on the ground floor, next to the hammers of the fulling stocks.
The mill continues to produce traditional shoulder shawls and Welsh carthenni or blankets, which are often to be seen stretched on the tenter frame outside. The water that is used to power the water wheel is pumped from the pool below, built in 1904 as a swimming pool for the Earl of Plymouth and his family.

A little inspiration goes a long way...

Earlier this week I was looking at fashion videos on youtube and stumbled apon a channel that did marble nails. The technique seemed so simple that I decided to try it out myself- 2 hours later and I had myself a pair to show.

If you'd like to try it out yourself here's the video I used:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9A_9FH7e-A

Art open day...

21^st June – Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School – A’ Level Art Exhibition 2012.  All my efforts for the past year have been proudly displayed for public critical acclaim! My Pineapple endeavours have finally seen the light of day.  I hope everyone enjoyed them. Well done to everyone else who took art and textiles this year, I loved seeing the variety and range of works that have been created.

Bath Spa University...

Bath  Spa University Open Day 9^th June 2012.  Very inspiring talk by the Head of Bath School of Art and Design, Pradeep Sharma BA (Cantab) MA (Cantab)MA – he explained that art students are particularly brave, in his opinion, as their work only exists to be displayed  for all to see, open to critical discussion and interpretation.  The web has removed the old fashioned idea of the artist working alone in a garret as all work can be published immediately.  It is a direct result of Mr Sharmas’ comments that I present my web pages – please let me know what you think and if you like this, please share this with your friends.

These lions with knitted crowns at the entrance to the university highly amused me!

Work experience...

June 2012 – Work experience week.  Wow – I’ve just spent a week in textile heaven at Marigold Theatrical Costumiers http://www.marigoldcostumes.co.uk  where they supply clothes for stage, television and fancy dress. With 95,000 costumes in stock,  I was thrown into the deep end with real professionals.  On day one making these Stomachers for a production of  Les Miserables. First lesson learnt was to hang your scissors around your neck on a ribbon or they get lost for ever (critical when you can only use left handed scissors).  The week went really quickly, and I’ve discovered that Marigold hold a vintage textiles and haberdashery sale every Saturday 11 – 1pm, so no shortage of  wonderful fabrics for recycling and remaking in future – some of it acquired from the BBC’s costume making department.  Thank you to Sue, Laura and all the staff in Marigold for making my stay so memorable.

Felting experiments...

I was given a book on needle felted animals for my birthday this year – here are my first attempts.  I’ve spiked my leg and broken the needle, but haven’t been put off yet.

Mouseys...

Exams are over, I’m free…..  For a bit of fun, I’ve knitted this cute grey mouse.  Mum wouldn’t let me sew the eyes on until the mouse was finished – I didn’t realise soft toys had feelings.

My pet pineapple...

Finally artistic inspiration and breakthrough comes in the shape of a pineapple.  I have lived, breathed, and then ate pineapple in the lead up to the exam.  I loved photographing and enlarging different sections of the fruit to allow the true beauty of the pineapple to be revealed. Pineapples are everywhere  in our community, and represent a symbol of ‘Welcome’. I have explored mixed media, using my photographs as the base to develop textile work,  beadwork, weaving, shibbori, devore, felt work, machine and hand embroidery, knitting, crochet, and my latest love, machine embellishing which creates such a rich, jewel effect in vibrant colours.  This is definitely something I want to explore further in my textile work. 

I am yet to get my results but hope I have done well due to all the work I did on this piece through out my easter holidays.

Look out for my cupcake logo for Lucy Annis Wood .   in these pics, capital A for the Cake, W for the fondant icing and L for the cake case look out Vivienne Westwood and Coco Chanel.

Funny thing is that as each piece came together, it ended up being named   - Look out for “Kitchen Sink Pineapple and  “Crushed Pineapple” “Inside Outside”

The art A-level maze...

AS Level 2012 exam study.  Lots and lots of false starts with this project – having chosen ‘Contextual Influences’, I got waylaid by logos and meanings, branding and marketing which the exam question  seemed to be asking for.  Still trying to lean towards jewellery – this piece is ‘From cocoa powder to final article’ in knitting, embellished with angellina fibres and embroidery, topped with a half eaten felt Bournville biscuit ring.

Yet another cardi...

This is my latest cardigan, knitted as part of an individual investigation for my Welsh Baccalaureate qualification to improve my knitting skills.  This caused a stir in school as I spent spare time in the school library and common areas making my cardigan.  There was so much interest that a group of friends joined me at lunchtimes and  formed a knitting club with the blessing of our Textile teacher.

AS level 2011 Art endorsed Textiles – lots of work early this year into wedding trousseau inspired by the idea of Victorian bridal bottom drawers.  I’ve explored patchwork, knitting with coloured twine (and yes, making a 3d basket to hold all my artistic creations), jewellery making, laser cutting cutlery shapes, hand and machine embroidery to represent ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’. A stylised embroidered letter, with only the words “Dearest, remember, perfect dress, proud, always , loving Mam” surprised me with the emotions which it created in viewers, the first time I saw people engage with my art.

Drawing birds in Cardiff Museum with a tormenting brother – at least they didn’t fly out of the glass cages.

The finished result...

This is a close-up of some of the jewellery I made for my trousseau box, they were all made out of modelling clay, plastic pegs from a back draw and wire.

My next invention...

My next project was a red and black crepe wool short military style jacket with gold buttons – the buttons nearly cost as much as the wool and made me start thinking about making my own in future from modelling clay.

The cardi itself my nan helped me create on her knitting machine program where she makes her own patterns, this allowed me to make a cardi that fitted me properly and didn't leave me with a huge baggy sack due to my small "5,2 frame.

Pin cushion presents...

Hand made Christmas’s and birthday presents for my mum for the last few years – can you guess which are the earliest experiments? 

Gcse course work and exam pieces...

I’ve always preferred 3d pieces to traditional art- drawing and painting. During GCSE,  I started exploring wire work people shapes and particularly enjoyed making this modelling clay carousel based on photographs of my school friends dancing around the Maypole and the little model of me sitting on the floor texting a message on my phone.  Didn’t enjoy papemache work much, and a head and shoulders study of my little brother asleep was a disaster – he looked more like the ‘Big Friendly Giant’ with massive ears – my art teacher took one look and suggested I lost it!

 

This is the front page of my year 11 coursework sketchbook, I was absolutely fascinated by flowers and still am- when ever I get stuck on a project I can't help but come back to them!







This print was part of my flower sketchbook, this was one of the first times I'd printed so I think I managed the task pretty well.

My teacher suggested an after school felting class. Following the flower theme, it seemed obvious to try and recreate a felted rose. After a lot of rolling and puffing, with sleeves pushed up, getting hotter and hotter (and that was just me, not the wet wool fibres), I finally came home triumphant with a felted square and a rose design.




 I enjoyed felting so much, that I made a further 12 flower felted squares at home and used them to create an embellished shoulder bag as a final course work piece. I was thrilled that the fibres could be tamed to give really close likenesses to the original photographed flowers. 

I still remember the endless hours it seemed to take to roll each of the felt shapes out- by the end of the night my arms were dead!

This textiles related work was completed during my first year of art gcse, I love to look back through my sketchbooks now and again and see how my skills have developed whilst I was so unaware of my future obsession with textiles.

  

  

  

This is my final art gcse piece- a pastel drawing of my brother in his room looking into a mirror globe. 

For my exam sketchbook I decided to follow the topic 'people and places', I felt inspired by this topic and spent time looking at people in different environments from parks to doctors surgery.

After experimenting with all the possibilities I could work with, I focused on the mediums of wire work and mirror globes as I was interested by their shape, form and as far as mirror globes went the way they distorted everything.

My first cardi...

It’s all very well making summer tops, but in Wales, it rains a lot of the time, and I now needed to think about keeping warm. My grandmother is a fanatical hand and machine knitter, and she found me a ball of purple wool and a pattern to make my first stocking stitch cardigan.  I can’t remember how many times I undid and re knitted sections to make sure the tension was correct and to sort out dropped stitches.

  Finally, I got to sew it up and add buttons, and couldn’t wait to wear it out to a friend’s birthday party – imagine how disappointed I was to find that despite measuring tension, and knitting to the pattern, my lovely new cardigan was too big – should have made a smaller size.  Mum to the rescue – She came up with the idea of a half belt to gather the back of the cardi and turn it into a jacket – success – everyone loved it and never knew that it wasn’t planned all along.

Hankie tops...

Summer holidays 2010, I asked for material and proper patterns for my birthday present, and made these two handkerchief edged tops.  I learnt how difficult it is to top stitch ribbon and fit zips.  Pretty and dainty, nobody else in the world has tops like these, and they were still economical to make.

Rug Ragging...

I saw these kits and had to try them out; this cat cushion was my first try and then I wanted to go bigger and so went for a wall hanging! It took me ages as in 6 months on and off to complete so  I’m not in a hurry to do another just yet– seems a pity to walk on it after all that work.

I love the ease of knotting wool to create fringed rugs.  These rug kit pictures showed me how easy it is to blend colours and create images.

PJ revival...

And now I’m off – I wanted to replace much loved PJ’s and couldn’t get shorts in the middle of winter.  There was only one answer – make my own, and here’s the result – I was very proud of this, for a first attempt – loved choosing the materials from Treforest Textiles factory shop

My first dress making experience...

2010, I persuaded my mum to help me make a dress without a pattern, and from materials found in a bottom drawer.  The white top of this dress was an old sheet.  We cut out basic shapes and then adjusted them to my body with tucks, darts and alterations as we went.