Evaluation of Origins unit

My first project at university has really opened my eyes to the wide range of possibilities that I can explore in the world of Textiles. I have really enjoyed print, and also exploring my theme of Journeys so thoroughly. In the first few weeks, I was looking everywhere for inspiration, taking my sketchbook on the bus, and walking home with it to make the best observations possible. I think this added a real depth to my work because I had a lot of material to work with, so I could experiment with motifs and ideas, picking and choosing the good ideas to develop onto prints and on the computer. I felt that at this stage in the project, my links between practice and research were very strong and my sketchbook told the story of how I was working. I was also impressed with how I pushed myself to think laterally. For example when I was going down the route of observing litter, I decided that the shape was too ‘ugly’ to put on a print between leaves, but I didn’t want to just neglect this idea as I wanted to explore the connection between litter and nature. Instead I looked at patterns that litter could make, such as the coffee stains of a cup, which then translated into the circles on my screen.

This print was inspired by mushroom patterns (small circles) and coffee cup ring stains (larger circles)

The zigzag lines in the background of this print were created by the jolting movements of the bus

The background pattern for this was also inspired by the pattern on mushrooms 

All of these patterns show lateral thinking and I have enjoyed pushing myself to do this as I haven't done anything like it before.

However, in the later few weeks of the project I unfortunately relaxed with the research, which I was aware of doing, but I didn’t intend to. I ended up being in the print room or the computer room all the time and found it very hard to keep up with primary research when I felt like I was in such a flow with the ideas that I was already working with. I will definitely change my approach next time, to constantly feeding my work with primary research. I also feel as though a constant reference to galleries would have helped. At the start I frequently visited galleries but towards the end I primarily used the Internet as a source of information, rather than going to galleries. After exploring the library more towards the end of the project, I found it really useful, but for the next project I will use this as a constant source of information too, to enrich my study.

For this project I felt as though I played safe with my theme: at the start of the project I was trying to force myself to come up with exciting ideas but I decided that I should stick with what I know for the first project; nature. I am used to using natural form, but next time I'd love to find a way to push myself to produce something more exciting and challenge myself more.

Throughout the project I have tried really hard to balance my studio and workshop time with my work at home. It’s been particularly important for me because I travel into university, so I need to make sure I plan my time wisely, and although at times it's frustrating, I think the routine has really pushed me to achieve to the best of my abilities.