Growth and disintegration iii Resolved samples

Considering a resolved piece, or as Sian encourages 'maybe make two or three to choose from', my thoughts on shapes for the final piece started. I felt that making disintegrating patterns over a piece may be portrayed by the piece itself effecting that process.  

I played with my coloured paper pieces and joined my 10cm squares in a variety of combinations. I felt that this would prove a more manageable method than attempting a larger piece and would be a comfortable building block technique.

Ref 31 a                                                                                                          Ref 31 b

Ref 31 c                                                                                                              Ref 31 d

I was soon to realise that the complexity of presenting the samples was mind boggling and threw aside two of the four shapes I was experimenting with and honed in on two, 31a and 31 b which I felt would be effective and easy to complete.

Having honed down to two shapes I used composite sheets to incorporate the themes I wanted to get across and fabric colours that I wanted to use for interpretation. Initially I had the idea of trying to incorporate perspective, as show by Kandinsky, into the designs but realised that the 3D potential of the joined templates would suffice after some abortive attempts at trying to replicate Angela Madden's achievements in 'Pieceful quilts'.  I had also taken existing samples from previous chapters and manipulated them on the computer design programme , Gimp, to see if the results could be used... while inspiring the task of interpreting seemed too daunting. Photos of rosebay willow herbs, heather burning marks on the landscape, lichen, moss and rust where included on my composite boards to provide inspiration.

Ref 32a                                                    Ref 32b 

For Sample 32 I revisited the idea of stars and crosses as a combined design theme as in Chapter 3.

                                                       Ref33 a                                          Ref 33b

Ref 33c

For Sample 33 I revisited classic cross shape and experimented with celtic designs shapes.

Then the fun started! Experimenting with paper to see how the plan would map out, honing away too many grandiose ideas and getting down to final shapes that I wanted to use and considering how I could incorporate methods that had been used over the modules.     Initially I had the idea of trying to incorporate perspective, as show by Kandinsky, into the designs but realised that the 3D potential of the joined templates would suffice after several abortive attempts at trying to replicate Angela Madden's achievements in 'Pieceful quilts'.The fact that the shapes gave me the opportunity to fill two sides of the templates was not a decision built for speed!

Ref 34 a                                                                  Ref 34 b

Ref 34 c                                                                        Ref 34 d 

There were a multitude of stages and rejects but here are the final samples.

The first one is Starburst inspired by images used in Chapter 3 and Sian's encouragement to try more layers for chenille sample. Beads and stitching are used to convey openings and new growth as much as disintegration:

                                                                                     Ref 35 a                                                        

                                                                                       Ref 35 b

                                                                                                   Ref 35 c

Ref 35d

                                                                                                         Ref 35 e

 Ref 35 f

                                                                                                       Ref 35g                                                           

The second sample is 'From Wood to Stone' inspired by the Celtic Cross and hill of crosses from my original Chapter 1.  The fact that Easter was approaching influenced me. I realised we had come from autumn, and its influences on my choice of colours at the start of the modules for Chapter 1, through winter and into an early spring. Beads and stitching are used to convey openings and new growth as much as disintegration. The green and red wooden cross 'inside' of the box was kept as a complete piece rather than cutting it into individual templates.

Ref 36 a                                      Ref 36b

Ref 36c                                                     Ref 36d

                                                                    Ref 36 e                                                          Ref 36 f

                                                                         Ref 36 g                                                             Ref 36 h
The final samples took me far longer to complete than I had anticipated and am unsure as to whether I have actually stayed within or completed the brief satisfactorily!  The fact that I have 'animated' templates is interesting but the lines between disintegration and growth are somewhat lost in the multitude of images.  It has been a lesson in teaching me that I should really try and keep ideas simple.  Interlaced insertion stitches were used on both samples to allow the templates to fold into final shapes.