Certificate Module 5 Chapter 8 concluded

This has been a most enjoyable chapter of work and my regained enthusiasm and energy are continuing.

5.8.3  Composite

For my third pair of samples, I chose a photograph of some branches coming out of a tree at right angles to the trees in the background.  The change of scale and tone as well as angle made an interesting contrast.  To represent the faint tree trunks in the background, I pleated white tissue paper and glued it down onto black paper.  While the glue was still wet and the tissue fragile, I used a palette knife to scrape away the tissue to indicate the strong branches in the foreground.  In my first fabric sample, I used the same technique,  pleating white muslin and ironing on Bondaweb to one side.  I then cut out the negative (white) shapes, peeled off the paper backing and placed them on black cotton fabric before ironing them down.  For the second fabric sample I sandwiched wadding between two layers of cotton fabric and machine stitched around the shapes of the tree branches in the foreground.  I then worked parellel lines of close zigzag stitch to represent the lines of the pleated tissue in the collage.  Close up photographs of the two fabric samples are shown below in 5.8.3a and 5.8.3b.

5.8.3a

5.8.3b

For my fourth pair of samples, I chose a picture of a plant which had stems and flowers that made a strong and interesting pattern as seen below in 5.8.4

5.8.4

In the paper collage, I simplified the design.  For the stems I rolled and then flattened some tissue paper.  I cut the leaf shapes out of stiffer paper and glued them all down.  In the first fabric sample I used shadow quilting for some of the stems to indicate that they were behind the others.  For the stems in the foreground I machine couched string on top.  When looking through my stash of fabric for something with which to make the leaf shapes, I found a scrap of brown silk very close in tone and colour to the natural colour of the string.  Although this exercise was meant to be monotone, I couldn't resist this little touch of colour!  I sandwiched two layers of this brown silk with wadding in between and stitched satin stitch around the edge of the leaf shapes with a sewing machine before cutting them out and stitching them on.  I stitched them only at the base so that the leaves would stick out slightly and give an interesting texture both visually and to feel.  In the second fabric sample I tried to get a completely different look and feel.  I used a base of pelmet vilene onto which I stuck the shapes of the plants which I had cut out of self adhesive fab foam.  I then laid a layer of habotai silk on top and hand stitched around the raised shapes.  The flat shapes and smoothness of the silk gives a completely different look and feel from the first sample.  Close ups of  each sample are shown below in 5.8.4a and 5.8.4b.

5.8.4a

5.8.4b

Finally, for my fifth pair of samples, I chose a photograph of branches of a conifer.  In the original photo there were also interesting shapes of silhouetted trees in the background.  

5.8.5

When I had used Photoshop to convert my colour photo to black and white and had played around with the contrast and tone, I found there were some interesting abstract shapes that had appeared and I tried to show these in my textured paper collage.  However, for these fabric samples, I was interested only in the conifer branches.  The branches with their needles came out at different angles and overlapped each other.  I tried to show this in the paper collage by overlapping cut out strips of tracing paper.  In the first fabric sample I was interested in the angles of the needles as they grew from the branches.  I used a technique which I had read about in "Stitch and Structure" by Jean Draper, where she worked hand-stitched whip stitch to raise fabric into a ridge.  I used this on cotton calico using a fairly thin thread.  For the second sample I tried to capture the confusion of overlapping needles in the various layer.  The ridges in the first sample were fairly hard and so, as a contrast, in the second sample, I used a soft string which was composed of several strands.  I stitched short lengths of the string at right angles onto longer pieces of string and then untwisted and unravelled the short lengths.  Close up pictures of both fabric samples are below in 5.8.5a and 5.8.5b.

5.8.5a

5.8.5b