Why Textiles Arts? - Part 2: Highschool

Part 2 of my exploration into the how I became into textiles... (the epic continues)

At highschool my two favourite subjects were Art and Home Economics. Of course I also chose some sensible subjects to give me options for University as I didn't really see how I could persue a career in art without being a 'struggling artist' and that didn't really appeal.

I loved Home Economics and whizzed through the sewing projects with ease – I had no problems with the sewing machines as they were Elna's just like Mum's. It was a similar story when we did knitting. My Nan had taught each of us to knit and we would sit beside her as shew flew through one jumper after the next and try to knit like she could. In Home Ec I ended up doing two projects because I finished the first one too quickly and had nothing to do in class (I was so keen I was knitting at home too).

I've always been interested in art and art materials. I used to dream of owning an arts supply shop so that I can be surrounded by all those wonderful paints and pencils and colour. A friend of the family gave me a box of watercolour pencils when I was in primary school and I remember treasuring them - sharpening them with a knife so that the colour lasted as long as possible.

Whilst I enjoyed art at school I do recall struggling with it as I had a teacher who was more interested in abstract art than realism as I was. Here is a sculpture that I did with wire and wax. It's modelled on my little brother – not so little anymore at 6 foot something – whilst he was laying on the floor watching television after school one day.

I recall two highschool assignments that now seem significant to my love of textiles. One was an art assignment where we chose and artist and had to critique their work. I chose Annemieke Mein. I don't know how I discovered her work but I do know that I've loved it ever since. I remember pouring over the book The Art of Annemieke Mein in awe and thinking how wonderful it would be to be able to create images such as those with a sewing machine - and now I create my own images with sewing machine. I now find it interesting that I was allowed to choose Annemieke as my artist considering that until recently, the Gippsland Art Gallery in Sale "The Sale Art Gallery has previously refused to show Ms Mein's work, claiming it was craft not art" (see here)

The other assignment that keeps coming back to me was for chemistry where we studied a chemical reaction and I chose Indigo dyeing - Indigoferra Tinctora. I don't remember anything of this assignment and had completely forgotten about it until last week when I was reading India Flint's book Ecocolour and the section on Indigo. I think it's interesting that now I'm interested in dyeing and back in highschool I chose to do an assignment on that subject. Dyeing hadn't really featured in my life since then, but the linnk is interesting nonetheless.

Next weekend, Part 3: Uni and beyond...

And because this post is a bit light on with pictures, here are a few more pictures showing Mum developing our art interests as kids.... Fingerpainting....

And finally, this is me hanging upside down at aged 4. It seems I was a little monkey when I was a kid. (absolutely no textile or art refernce here at all).

Studio Journals

I've been thinking of doing another Joggles online class called Studio Journals: A Designer's Workhorse, with Sharon Boggon from In a minute ago.

I have lots of sketchbooks around. Each one has a few pages used and then the rest is blank. I collect images and make sketches on scraps of paper that are scattered throughout my work room. If only I could put the two together. I have a fear of 'getting it wrong' which I know is nonsence as the sketchbooks are for my use only but nevertheless that is the problem. I hope that this course might give me some ideas on how to make better use of my sketchbooks and to get the ideas floating around my head, down on paper so that I don't loose them and so that I can start to figure out how to turn the idea into textiles.

What's my style?...

Nicky over at Creative Force Online recently posed the question, "What's your style?"

This is something that I've struggled with of late and I think that finally, after creating the works for my exhibtion, that I may have answered this question.

In answering this question, I've been thinking more about the 'type' of work that I do and that I'd like to put my name to, than 'how' I work. For me the question is more "'when people think of Sophie Lanham the textile artsist, what do they think?"

I don't want to put myself and my art into a 'pidgeon-hole' and leave it there. I know that I will continue to grow and develop and find new techniques and styles that I'm interested in, but I need a direction in which to start. As you will notice from reading my blog that I am interested in all things textile and want to try everything. I've had a go at a lot of things (felting, knitting, dyeing, quilting, and the list goes on), and have piles of books on other topics that I'd like to try too (journalling, natural dyeing, spinning and more). I don't want to stop trying new things, as I think that this can only help to further develop my style by allowing me to discover new skills or techniques and eliminating those that I don't enjoy.

So what is 'my style'?

• Natural environment: I tend to base a lot of my work on the natural environment. Trees, leaves, flowers, landscapes and seascapes all feature heavily in my work. Australian landscapes and flora and fauna have always been a focus but I don't restrict myself to this.
• Uniqueness: I want to spend my time and my creative energy on something that is not like what everyone else is doing.
• The viewer needs to take a second look: I like that when people look at my work they ask " how did she do that", "is that fabric or thread?"...
• Realism: I've always struggled to do abstract work. When I was doing art at school I had a teacher who liked abstract and I could never quite get my head around it. I think that I like the viewer to understand what it is that I'm trying to show or say. This is not to say that I don't enjoy some abstract work, but it is something that I think is best left to others (until such time as I work out "how")

My current work, which I think is the direction I am heading at the moment, is machine embroidered scenes, built up in layers to create a visual depth (or 3 dimensional image). With this work, I can use my sewing machine to create realistic landscapes or scenes that resembles a painting but that still has textile qualities. But most importantly viewers of my work wonder - how is that done? People recognise that it is a textile peice and can see that threads and fabrics have been used but are often not sure how it holds up (stands) like it does or how the stitches stay together as there doesn't appear to be any fabric. This is the style of work that I'm currently developing.