A snippet of a work in progress. I’m working this piece with split stitches in purple and silver thread.
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Posts Tagged ‘Textiles’
0
Purple Embroidery
Purple Embroidery
Tags: Art, Sewing, Textiles, Work in Progress
Posted in Blog, Work In Progress | No Comments »
0
Plush Horse’s Head
Plush Horse’s Head
I’ve had the needle and thread out again; as my first hobby horse approaches completion I have started work on this plush alternative which is more in keeping with hobby horses as children’s toys.
Rather than draw out a lovely pattern to make this head I opted for a patchwork affair which really was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. The intended outcome was to produce something that was more akin to a Frankenstein’s monster type creation with asymmetrical seams and the stitches on display rather than an idealised vision of a unicorn.
There’s a long way to go but I’m quite happy with the progress so far.
I’ve had the needle and thread out again; as my first hobby horse approaches completion I have started work on this plush alternative which is more in keeping with hobby horses as children’s toys.
Rather than draw out a lovely pattern to make this head I opted for a patchwork affair which really was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. The intended outcome was to produce something that was more akin to a Frankenstein’s monster type creation with asymmetrical seams and the stitches on display rather than an idealised vision of a unicorn.
There’s a long way to go but I’m quite happy with the progress so far.
Tags: Art, Sewing, Stitch, Textiles, Work in Progress
Posted in Blog, Work In Progress | No Comments »
2
Takashi Iwasaki’s Embroideries
Takashi Iwasaki’s Embroideries
I found these wonderful embroideries by Takashi Iwasaki on the Oh, What a World, what a world blog last week. I think my own embroideries are a way off this level at the moment but it’s provided plenty of inspiration.
I hadn’t yet considered working on black fabric though it would seem to be the obvious next step though given the recent white on black drawings I’ve been creating. I’m wary of simply embroidering the drawings as they are to create a piece of textile wall art. This may be a point from which to start as I try to develop my embroidery skills but the process of simply replicating the drawings in stitch feels rather futile as an end in itself.
You can find a lot more wonderful work by Iwasaki on his website: www.takashiiwasaki.info
I found these wonderful embroideries by Takashi Iwasaki on the Oh, What a World, what a world blog last week. I think my own embroideries are a way off this level at the moment but it’s provided plenty of inspiration.
I hadn’t yet considered working on black fabric though it would seem to be the obvious next step though given the recent white on black drawings I’ve been creating. I’m wary of simply embroidering the drawings as they are to create a piece of textile wall art. This may be a point from which to start as I try to develop my embroidery skills but the process of simply replicating the drawings in stitch feels rather futile as an end in itself.
You can find a lot more wonderful work by Iwasaki on his website: www.takashiiwasaki.info
Tags: Art, Craft, Inspiration, Sewing, Stitch, Textiles
Posted in Blog | 2 Comments »
0
Celtic Knot Emroidery
Celtic Knot Emroidery
Over the Christmas week I got to work on a new piece of work. It’s my most ambitious embroidery to date; at least in terms of scale. I completed these two hand embroidered Celtic knotted circles over the course of the last couple of days and I’m now in the progress of marking out the rest of the fabric.
Over the Christmas week I got to work on a new piece of work. It’s my most ambitious embroidery to date; at least in terms of scale. I completed these two hand embroidered Celtic knotted circles over the course of the last couple of days and I’m now in the progress of marking out the rest of the fabric.
Tags: Art, Sewing, Stitch, Textiles, Work in Progress
Posted in Blog, Work In Progress | No Comments »
0
Big Pimpin’
Big Pimpin’
This is a random item. Following a digital disembodied conversation with one of my Twitter followers it was suggested I should make a ‘Hot Water Bottle Pimp’ badge for them.
Having been dabbling in a little embroidery lately this was actually a good opportunity to try out a different approach to the split stitch line drawings I’ve been producing. I’m quite pleased with how the stitches turned out so I might try and transfer this over to my Unicorn-Porn embroideries.
Admittedly this has turned out more like a fairy sized cushion than a badge despite the big pin on the back. With hindsight this piece would probably have worked better as a flat wall hanging since my finishing was a little slap-dashed.
This is a random item. Following a digital disembodied conversation with one of my Twitter followers it was suggested I should make a ‘Hot Water Bottle Pimp’ badge for them.
Having been dabbling in a little embroidery lately this was actually a good opportunity to try out a different approach to the split stitch line drawings I’ve been producing. I’m quite pleased with how the stitches turned out so I might try and transfer this over to my Unicorn-Porn embroideries.
Admittedly this has turned out more like a fairy sized cushion than a badge despite the big pin on the back. With hindsight this piece would probably have worked better as a flat wall hanging since my finishing was a little slap-dashed.
Tags: Art, Craft, Stitch, Textiles
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
11
Shewolf T-Shirt Giveaway
Shewolf T-Shirt Giveaway
Having written the names of all those lovely people who entered onto some lurid green scraps of paper last night. I put all the entrants names in my upturned woolly hat for the red one to draw out a name at random and I can now announce that the winner is…..Cat_2802.
Click the picture above to view more images
Drum roll please… I’ve just printed up my first ever batch of t-shirts and in a way of a celebration, and because I’m over excitable, I thought I’d offer up one shirt for FREE to a lucky follower, friend, fan, fiend, or farmyard animal.
This is a limited edition run of just 50 shirts which have all been screen-printed by my own fair, and purple, hands. The design has been printed with black pigment and then heat-pressed with some lovely shiny silver foil (as you can see pictured above).
The sexy Shewolf design is taken from the series of hand drawn Bestial Drawings that I’ve been working on over the last twelve months or so.
To be in with a chance of winning one of these shiny new shirts you’ll need to leave a wonderfully exuberant comment below or retweet one of the millions of tweets that I’m likely to post to Twitter in the next few days. Alternatively you can post a direct link to this article in a tweet. If you’re posting directly on Twitter be sure to mention me (@Spike_Dennis) so that I don’t miss your tweet.
The deadline is 23.59 (GMT) on Sunday 4 December 2011. I’ll put all of your names in a big wintery woolly hat and pick a winner sometime on Monday morning.
if you don’t win this giveaway don’t fret as the shirts will be available to buy from my Spikeworld shop from Monday next week in small, medium and large sizes. This is a limited edition print run of just 50 shirts so be sure to snap one up quickly; when they’re gone, they’re gone!
Terms & Conditions: There are none. I shall be as fair and honest as I possibly can be but I reserve the right to make things up as I go along.
Having written the names of all those lovely people who entered onto some lurid green scraps of paper last night. I put all the entrants names in my upturned woolly hat for the red one to draw out a name at random and I can now announce that the winner is…..Cat_2802.
Click the picture above to view more images
Drum roll please… I’ve just printed up my first ever batch of t-shirts and in a way of a celebration, and because I’m over excitable, I thought I’d offer up one shirt for FREE to a lucky follower, friend, fan, fiend, or farmyard animal.
This is a limited edition run of just 50 shirts which have all been screen-printed by my own fair, and purple, hands. The design has been printed with black pigment and then heat-pressed with some lovely shiny silver foil (as you can see pictured above).
The sexy Shewolf design is taken from the series of hand drawn Bestial Drawings that I’ve been working on over the last twelve months or so.
To be in with a chance of winning one of these shiny new shirts you’ll need to leave a wonderfully exuberant comment below or retweet one of the millions of tweets that I’m likely to post to Twitter in the next few days. Alternatively you can post a direct link to this article in a tweet. If you’re posting directly on Twitter be sure to mention me (@Spike_Dennis) so that I don’t miss your tweet.
The deadline is 23.59 (GMT) on Sunday 4 December 2011. I’ll put all of your names in a big wintery woolly hat and pick a winner sometime on Monday morning.
if you don’t win this giveaway don’t fret as the shirts will be available to buy from my Spikeworld shop from Monday next week in small, medium and large sizes. This is a limited edition print run of just 50 shirts so be sure to snap one up quickly; when they’re gone, they’re gone!
Terms & Conditions: There are none. I shall be as fair and honest as I possibly can be but I reserve the right to make things up as I go along.
Tags: Design, Handmade, Print, Textiles
Posted in Blog, News Feed | 11 Comments »
0
Human Hair Embroidered Portraits
Human Hair Embroidered Portraits
These portraits by Columbian artist Zaira Pulido are all constructed with the hair of the sitter. The portraits themselves don’t do much for me but I do like the idea of embroidering with hair.
Although I’ve been working with embroidery a lot lately I hadn’t really given much consideration to using anything but cotton threads. Having used synthetic hair in my work on previous occasions I’d be interested to find out how the introduction of hair, synthetic or otherwise, would impact upon the work if at all.
I’ve already secured some horse hair from a colleague so watch this space.
These portraits by Columbian artist Zaira Pulido are all constructed with the hair of the sitter. The portraits themselves don’t do much for me but I do like the idea of embroidering with hair.
Although I’ve been working with embroidery a lot lately I hadn’t really given much consideration to using anything but cotton threads. Having used synthetic hair in my work on previous occasions I’d be interested to find out how the introduction of hair, synthetic or otherwise, would impact upon the work if at all.
I’ve already secured some horse hair from a colleague so watch this space.
Tags: Art, Grotesque, Sewing, Textiles
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
0
Kaunas Textile Biennial: Part 2
Kaunas Textile Biennial: Part 2
After a ridiculously busy month or so these blog posts about my adventures in Lithuania have been a long time coming but here’s part two for your delectation:
During the Kaunas Biennial the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery is playing host to the competitive exhibition of textile art. The exhibition features work by a number of well known artists working across a a wide breadth of contemporary textile practices. There were far too many fantastic works on display for me to cover them all so I’ve just picked out a few of my highlights here.
The main gallery downstairs had been dedicated to this exhibition and a large number of works were on display throughout the museum scattered amongst the permanent collection. Of particular interest to me were the embroideries by Virginie Rochetti and Nina Bondeson.
Virginie Rochetti is a French artist who had produced a large machine embroidered work exploring the violence that she feels is prevalent within modern society. I was particularly drawn in to her work by the text which the artist had produced to accompany the work as I drew a number of comparisons between her approach to her practice and my own work. Rochetti, however, talks about it much more eloquently than I ever could though:
Embroidery is a a repetitive activity that can drive one wild. A fantasy of total control over a fleeting and soft material.Soft and delicious. A fantasy of sensuality at the prick of a needle point.
The Swedish artist, Nina Bondeson, exhibited a series of embroideries which document the loose narrative of imaginary characters that she has created such as the dog Hyperion and his master, the self taught linguistic researcher, Jeremy Adagio. Although I have dipped into the world of embroidery myself recently I’m no expert, but I would guess that Bondeson’s work, unlike Rochetti’s, were hand, rather than machine embroidered. Her three dimensional embroidered dog was particularly interesting. Rather than embroidering the character, Bondeson created a three dimensional version of her charcter which she embellished with embroidered references to the narratives she had dreamed up for him.
Both of these artists provided me with plenty of inspiration for my own work with regard to the embroideries that I’ve been undertaking recently.
Also on display in the main gallery was work by the British artist Alice Kettle. Despite being an admirer of Kettle’s work I had not had the chance to see it in the flesh until now. This piece is a stitched portrait of the Kilkenny sorceress Alice Kyteler. The test tubes shown in front of the work represent ‘the alchemy of thread and the beginning of the magic of making’.
Kettle’s work was certainly one of the most striking works on display at the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery and is quite something to behold as it is so tactile and sumptuous. The magic of Kettle’s making was almost positively palpable.
One of the most striking works on display was the installation entitled Lure from the Red Thread Legend series by Chinese-American artist Beili Liu.
The ancient Chinese legend of the red thread tells that when children are born, invisible red threads connect them to the ones whom they are fated to be with. Over the years of their lives they come closer and eventually find each other, overcoming the distance, cultural, and social divides, between them.
This installation of thousands of spiralled coils of red thread appeared very delicate. Each coil was pierced by a sewing needle connecting it to one of the other coils within the installation beautifully illustrating the old Chinese legend.
These are just some of my personal highlights from the exhibition at the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery but there a few links to the websites of the artists mentioned above as well as some of the other exhibitors below. The Biennial actually continues until the 4 December so if you do find yourself in that particular part of Eastern Europe in coming weeks then you’ve still time to see all of this wonderful work.
Interesting and Useful Links:
Nina Bondeson (Sweden): http://ramverk.se/vardagsbilder/nina/
Kristina Cyziute (Lithuania): http://kristatex.ten.lt
Amelie Brisson-Darveau (Canada): www.ameliebd.com
Ainsley Hillard (UK): www.ainsleyhillard.com
Tonje Hoydahl Sorli: www.tonjesorli.com
Alice Kettle (UK): www.alicekettle.com
Beili Liu (China/USA): www.beililiu.com
Katya Oicherman (Israel): www.oicherman.com
Virginie Rochetti (France): http://v.rochetti.blog.free.fr
Tilleke Schwarz (The Netherlands): www.tillekeschwarz.com
After a ridiculously busy month or so these blog posts about my adventures in Lithuania have been a long time coming but here’s part two for your delectation:
During the Kaunas Biennial the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery is playing host to the competitive exhibition of textile art. The exhibition features work by a number of well known artists working across a a wide breadth of contemporary textile practices. There were far too many fantastic works on display for me to cover them all so I’ve just picked out a few of my highlights here.
The main gallery downstairs had been dedicated to this exhibition and a large number of works were on display throughout the museum scattered amongst the permanent collection. Of particular interest to me were the embroideries by Virginie Rochetti and Nina Bondeson.
Virginie Rochetti is a French artist who had produced a large machine embroidered work exploring the violence that she feels is prevalent within modern society. I was particularly drawn in to her work by the text which the artist had produced to accompany the work as I drew a number of comparisons between her approach to her practice and my own work. Rochetti, however, talks about it much more eloquently than I ever could though:
Embroidery is a a repetitive activity that can drive one wild. A fantasy of total control over a fleeting and soft material.Soft and delicious. A fantasy of sensuality at the prick of a needle point.
The Swedish artist, Nina Bondeson, exhibited a series of embroideries which document the loose narrative of imaginary characters that she has created such as the dog Hyperion and his master, the self taught linguistic researcher, Jeremy Adagio. Although I have dipped into the world of embroidery myself recently I’m no expert, but I would guess that Bondeson’s work, unlike Rochetti’s, were hand, rather than machine embroidered. Her three dimensional embroidered dog was particularly interesting. Rather than embroidering the character, Bondeson created a three dimensional version of her charcter which she embellished with embroidered references to the narratives she had dreamed up for him.
Both of these artists provided me with plenty of inspiration for my own work with regard to the embroideries that I’ve been undertaking recently.
Also on display in the main gallery was work by the British artist Alice Kettle. Despite being an admirer of Kettle’s work I had not had the chance to see it in the flesh until now. This piece is a stitched portrait of the Kilkenny sorceress Alice Kyteler. The test tubes shown in front of the work represent ‘the alchemy of thread and the beginning of the magic of making’.
Kettle’s work was certainly one of the most striking works on display at the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery and is quite something to behold as it is so tactile and sumptuous. The magic of Kettle’s making was almost positively palpable.
One of the most striking works on display was the installation entitled Lure from the Red Thread Legend series by Chinese-American artist Beili Liu.
The ancient Chinese legend of the red thread tells that when children are born, invisible red threads connect them to the ones whom they are fated to be with. Over the years of their lives they come closer and eventually find each other, overcoming the distance, cultural, and social divides, between them.
This installation of thousands of spiralled coils of red thread appeared very delicate. Each coil was pierced by a sewing needle connecting it to one of the other coils within the installation beautifully illustrating the old Chinese legend.
These are just some of my personal highlights from the exhibition at the M. Žilinskas Art Gallery but there a few links to the websites of the artists mentioned above as well as some of the other exhibitors below. The Biennial actually continues until the 4 December so if you do find yourself in that particular part of Eastern Europe in coming weeks then you’ve still time to see all of this wonderful work.
Interesting and Useful Links:
Nina Bondeson (Sweden): http://ramverk.se/vardagsbilder/nina/
Kristina Cyziute (Lithuania): http://kristatex.ten.lt
Amelie Brisson-Darveau (Canada): www.ameliebd.com
Ainsley Hillard (UK): www.ainsleyhillard.com
Tonje Hoydahl Sorli: www.tonjesorli.com
Alice Kettle (UK): www.alicekettle.com
Beili Liu (China/USA): www.beililiu.com
Katya Oicherman (Israel): www.oicherman.com
Virginie Rochetti (France): http://v.rochetti.blog.free.fr
Tilleke Schwarz (The Netherlands): www.tillekeschwarz.com
Tags: Art, Exhibition, Fine Art, Inspiration, Sewing, Stitch, Textiles
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
1
Liddy Jacobs’ Plush Sculptures
Liddy Jacobs’ Plush Sculptures
Lidy Jacobs is the Dutch creator of these plush sculptures. It seems I’m not the only one fascinated by sexualised human-animal hybrid creatures
Despite my fondness for making plush toys and dolls I can’t believe that it hadn’t even crossed my mind to make a plush Unicorn sculpture. I’d be slightly wary making one now having seen these sculptures by Jacobs. I’ll have to give it some serious consideration though since there a lot of links between the materials/form and my current interests.
Lidy Jacobs is the Dutch creator of these plush sculptures. It seems I’m not the only one fascinated by sexualised human-animal hybrid creatures
Despite my fondness for making plush toys and dolls I can’t believe that it hadn’t even crossed my mind to make a plush Unicorn sculpture. I’d be slightly wary making one now having seen these sculptures by Jacobs. I’ll have to give it some serious consideration though since there a lot of links between the materials/form and my current interests.
Tags: Art, Artists, Fine Art, Sculpture, Textiles
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »
1
Aldo Lanzini
Aldo Lanzini
I love these knitted/textile masks by Aldo Lanzini. There’s a slightly grotesque feeling about them which somehow reminds me of the crew on board the Flying Dutchman.
I was also drawing to these works after having started making masks of my own earlier this year. However, after a little technical hiccup with the materials I was using these works, which are currently still in progress, have taken on a new lease of life. That’s not to say that I won’t go back to the idea of making masks later; I certainly feel inspired to do so after stumbling across these works.
You can find out more about Lanzini’s work on his website: www.aldolanzini.eu. Be warned that it is as weird and wonderful as the work contained within it.
I love these knitted/textile masks by Aldo Lanzini. There’s a slightly grotesque feeling about them which somehow reminds me of the crew on board the Flying Dutchman.
I was also drawing to these works after having started making masks of my own earlier this year. However, after a little technical hiccup with the materials I was using these works, which are currently still in progress, have taken on a new lease of life. That’s not to say that I won’t go back to the idea of making masks later; I certainly feel inspired to do so after stumbling across these works.
You can find out more about Lanzini’s work on his website: www.aldolanzini.eu. Be warned that it is as weird and wonderful as the work contained within it.
Tags: Art, Inspiration, Textiles
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »
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