Sharon Johnstone

 After doing some basic oil and water experiments, I wanted to look for some inspiration as to how I could develop my ideas. 

I tried using food colouring to colour the water, but the food colouring didn't add to the effect as the oil also changed to that colour.

I tried swirling the oil to separate the oil into different bubbles, but I found they all joined into one bubble.

I found an artist called Sharon Johnstone, a fine artist who enjoys macrophotography in which she also explores the relationship between oil and water. Her website gave me some tips as to how she creates her work, for example, putting a picture under the glass rather than food colouring, to add some texture to the end photo, and also using washing up liquid to help the oil bubbles stay separate.

www.sjfinearts.com/galleries/oil-water-abstracts

I also found another very interesting blog which inspired some ideas, http://omnivorenz.wordpress.com/tag/oil-and-water/

Some more experiments with oil and water, this time with acrylic paint rather than food colouring.

Oil and Water!

After enjoying the effects of oil resists on my chromatography experiments, I wondered how else I could use oil, water, ink and paper to create some nice results. A case sprung to mind from my contextualising practice research in which I studied the Schmoller Collection of Decorated Papers which included marbled papers. I loved the effect and wanted to try and achieve the same look with oil paints and water. 

I added turpentine to oil paints to make it very liquify, and dropped it into water (as shown above). In some cases I disturbed the oil paints to create different patterns. 

I also explored the idea of having oil on water to see what effects I could achieve. I loved the effect of the bubbles as the water and oil were mixed.

Ontop of one of my marbled papers I drew the patterns of these bubbles with biro.

Ink and Water

As I have found myself, Ink, water and paper can create lovely patterns and colour, but what would happen if I removed the paper? I'd like to explore how ink and water mix, such as in this lovely photo by Lin Van der Heiden.

It would also be great to see how this changed when oil and other resists were added. Marbling is one technique which I could use, putting oil paints on water and placing paper on top so that the floating paint comes off on the paper.

Chromatography resist experiments.

This week I have been experimenting with how I can make my chromatography more interesting. Normal chromatography forms a line of colour at a certain point on the paper, but I want to create  pieces with more colour in the white space. I decided to try out different resists and liquids that I found around the house to see what affect they would have on my experiments. All of these were done with one line of black marker at the bottom, and the results are very different! Here are a few of my favourites.

They all seemed to pull the colour along the page much more, and they created lots of interesting patterns and effects.

Drawing from my Chromatography

After doing so many experiments with chromatography, I wanted to start drawing from them and developing my ideas further. 

This page in my sketchbook consists of two of my chromatography experiments (small) and a bigger representation of the separated colours using gouache.

I then decided to see if I could abstract my work even further by taking some of the line qualities and pattern from these sketchbook pages and translate it into a drawing which doesn't obviously show chromatography.

To expand on my ideas further, I went to the library to gather some books based on chromatography. Many of them contained pictures and graphs so I took them back to the studio to work with. I walked around the table I was working on and picked up all of the 'data' I could find (bits of unused paper that I could relate to what the people around me were doing) and used these as a background. Then I placed ink and water on the different pieces of paper to see how the colours separated. When this was dry I painted on images and text from the chromatography books in ink, to form a collage of different forms of data that I was exposed to.

Ink experiments!

After experimenting with chromatography, my data showed me that black ink contained the most colour, so was most interesting to experiment with. As a development from chromatography I decided to let the ink spread on flat paper with water (rather than suspending it in a bowl of water).

The results were incredible, people thought Id done it with watercolour, not black ink! I have been collecting data based upon the amount of water and ink applied. The example below had a consistent amount of water, but increasing drops of ink, from 1 to 12. I have done a similar example with a consistent amount of ink, and increasing drops of water.

I now need to consider how I can make this data into art work, as well as investigating how colours mix together in different conditions.

Finding a direction for my data!

There is so much data around us, from obvious charts and graphs, to addresses in our address book and the finger prints on our fingers. I really wanted to chose a project theme that would push myself out of my comfort zone, and to give me and the people who view my work, some food for thought. I decided to look at the hidden data within colour, looking at how they mix together, and the colours that different colours are made up of.

I've started the project by looking at a well known method of separating the colours that make up different colours: chromatography. I have recorded the data from different brands of black marker pens and coloured felt tips. Below is a video which I created from taking pictures of my chromatography experiment involving the separation of 5 different coloured felt tips. I took a picture every ten seconds, for ten minutes, to see how the colours separated in various pens.

After doing a very simple experiment I tried to make my data look more interesting, and experiment with mixing colours, and patterns to see what the results were. Here are some of my most interesting results, created using different techniques.

I found it interesting to watch how my patterns and pictures distorted when in water, and I have learnt a lot about chromatography. For example, the more ink you have, the slower the water travels, but when there is no colour in the way, water travels quicker. This is what created the bumps and lumps on the line where the water stopped.

Drawing day 1:

Today we got our brief for the sampling project: Data! So in today's drawing session we concentrated on drawing the natural data found in a tree cross section, as each of the rings show information about each year's growth. 

For the first two exercises we were given strict instructions: we had 30 minutes to complete it in, each band had to be no more than 3mm apart, we had to work on A1 paper and we had to draw concentric rings. I worked on the floor for both of these as well. An additional rule for the first task was that we had to use our left hand and draw it in pencil, without sharpening it as we went. This created data in its self, how HB pencils wear down over time. This was the result, and I really liked the quirky, shaky lines it produced, as I couldn't have produced them with my right hand. It represented a trees cross section well too, and if I had done it with my right hand, it might have been too perfect.

The additional rules for the next drawing were that we could use our correct hands to draw in any soft media, which had to be extended on a garden cane/dowel. Mine was very long which made it hard, but towards the outer layers it was easier because the curves were less harsh. I liked the rippling effect it created, but there were a few slips of the charcoal where I lost control at the top/bottom of the curve. This does add character but it can look messy. When all of these drawings were put together, it was great to see the variation of tone when people used oil bar or graphite.

The only instruction for the last task was to draw directions out of a maze. I decided to use some of the techniques I had learnt by working on the wall, and using my left hand. I used graphite sticks to draw this maze inspired by the drawings we had just done on the tree trunks. I worked from the centre (with a sharp point) to the outside with the graphite getting blunter and showing more of the pitted texture of the wall.

First Cut exhibition!

Today I went to Manchester Art Gallery to see the First Cut exhibition and it completely blew me away! It was by far the most inspiring, intriguing and exciting exhibition I have ever been to! So much of it related to my Journeys project, so it was a shame that I didn't know about the exhibition earlier!

Every single piece in the gallery inspired me for different reasons but Sequel by Nicola Dale was one piece that linked extremely well to my journeys project. It is a felled ten foot oak tree adorned with thousands of individually cut leaves from maps and unwanted reference books. This linked with my journeys project because I concentrated on the nature that I found on my journey, and this piece incorporated both nature and journeys (maps).  When I thought more into the concept, it was also interesting how trees had been cut down to make the paper for the maps, which was being put back onto a tree as leaves for this exhibition, and then was put back into a promotional exhibition book as a printed picture, back on paper.

 

The exhibiton also allowed me to see so many artists which I have used for years as references as inspiration, but I have never had the oportunity to see their artwork before in person. These artists include Sue Blackwell, Rob Ryan, Peter Callesen, Yuken Teruya and Elisabeth Lecourt. Their work has inspired me for so long because of their delicate balance between skill and creativity; they produce art which makes me think and inspires creativity in my own work. Here are some examples of theirs from the exhibition.

Su Blackwell

Peter Callesen

Yuken Teruya

Some pieces in the Gallery inspired me because they were so clever and made you go 'wow'. Some examples are shown below.

Manabu Hangai, Wonder Forest
Using Seaweed raw hemp paper pigment and a range of recycled materials, Hangai created this piece inspired by humans interaction with nature. He created an immersive environment that the public could walk through. I loved how the branches were suspended from the ceiling, so with draughts they span gently, giving a very natural, 'outdoorsy' feel.

Justine Smith, Money Map of the World
For this piece, the artist sourced current issues of bank notes from all over the world and created a very accurate map of the world with them. It isn't like any other map, as it doesn't necessarily represent countries, or political groups, it represent economics. For example, areas of Europe all have the same note yet they are different countries, so it isnt your typical world map.

Andrea Dezsö, Living Inside Tunnel Books
These consisted of hand sew and cut paper tunnel books with interactive LED lights which I thought had a lovely effect with the shadows and light created. They represent small, handmade theatre sets with layers of paper creating three dimensional scenes. I love how such a flat media like paper can create a very 3D image, as lots of artists had done in this exhibition.

Long-Bin Chen, Twist Angel 6!
This is a life sized human figure suspended from the ceiling. The books are strung together with the spines facing up, and the carved surface is underneath. He uses 'valuable' books such as the New York phone book, which are now considered unimportant with the Internet being so readily available, and gives them a new lease of life.

The whole exhibition was so inspiring and its given me lots of inspiration for my next project; its a shame that I couldn't write about more of it! 

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.

The end of my Journey...

Today was the deadline for the Journeys brief. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to grips with print, but I am also so relieved that my first project has finished. Here is my final display, showing my journey through the project. I can't wait to start the next project!

Digital Printing

Concluding the selection of photoshop work I have done over the project, I am sending some of my designs to be digitally printed. After last Thursday's digital session involving creating backgrounds from textured backgrounds and photos, I have really enjoyed developing my designs; before this I felt they were too plain. With the addition of the interesting backgrounds I am hoping that they will form a good set of digitally printed designs.

They are being printed on silk viscose which is smooth and thin. This should compliment my designs well due to the slightly transparent effect it will give, so the colours aren't too bold.

I would like to take the design on the bottom right into the print room and try printing on top of it, but I think that the pigment dyes are too transparent to stand out on the background. I therefore think that the photo and textured backgrounds would be good to take into the print room with the correct dyes, or if they were paler to put the pigment dyes on top of.

Last print room session

After my last day in the print room, I have tied together all of my samples to collect a good body of work. As part of today I tried to fix a few samples which I felt didn't go so well to start with. I still don't think they are fixed but I have experimented to find out what does and doesn't work.

This print was supposed to look like leaves were falling, with the gradient background and the leaves getting bigger towards the bottom. Unfortunately there were quite a few smudges on the print so I added aquaspand leaves to try and distract from this. I think if done well this concept would be effective.

As previously mentioned, this sample didnt work for many reasons, so I  decided to try and add in some darker leaves  to the background. 

This sample was done from half of another sample. After cutting it in half, I painted on a beige pigment dye for the background and added some green leaves to see what effect it would have. I think its added to the print, and I definitely prefer the coloured background to the white one. I also think it represents my colour stripe more as a sample.

 I also started two new prints which are shown below. The left sample was an experiment because I painted reactive dyes directly onto the wet fabric to see what effect it would have. I am happy with the result because I think it represents the colours in an autumn tree which is exactly the effect I wanted, for this print and my whole project. The left print was my first attempt at monoprinting on my exposed screen. As it was my first go, I wasn't too sure what to expect but I did 3 attempts using the same painted screen. The first didn't come out properly, probably because the dye wasn't wet enough or there was too much of it, but the colour that did come out was nice and strong. The next two did come out properly but the colour gradually faded. I love the monoprinting technique and wish I had more time to experiment with it.

I have loved my time in the print room, and I had lots more ideas that I didn't have the chance to develop. This included painting on an open screen because there were none available to paint on, and placing things like doilies, lace and thread under my screen before printing to see what effect it would have on my prints. This would have worked particularly well on my birds due to the density of colour. It also would have linked really well to my sketchbook as some of them were worked into with pattern when I was doing my research.