Kate Jenkins at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery

On a recent trip to London, a friend and I popped into this mini exhibit. Kate Jenkins started off as a fashion designer with knitted items created to compliment her collections. However these proved so popular, she's embraced knitting/crocheting on a full-time basis. The exhibition was really cute, quirky and fun with a small tea shop set up alongside it.

Kawcandraw

Oscar de la Renta F2009

Matthew Williamson F2009

Basso and Brooke F2009

Erdem - Resort 2010

Why Is There A Gender Imbalance In The Study Of Printed Textiles?

I think the phrase "Printed Textiles" immediately has feminine connotations. Throughout history, the general stereotype depicts women as figures that stay at home to care for the family and carry out designated domestic duties. Therefore a degree in 'Printed Textiles' suggests a suitability for females as opposed to males, which is reflected in the obvious gender imbalance. However, the reality of the situation is that the diversity of the course makes it perfectly suitable for males and females alike. The general intention of the course is to produce aesthetically pleasing designs, suitable for an end product, may that be for fashion or interiors.

In terms of subject matter, there is no doubt that in the commercial market, floral prints are highly viable and have been for many years. However, many designers are becoming bored by the relentless theme and there has been an up-surge of quirky, unusual and maybe more 'masculine' designs. A prime example is the design-led manufacturing company Timorous Beasties, formed by Paul Simmons & Alistair McAuley, who produce intellectual, deceptive and sometimes disturbing designs that are aesthetically pleasing and extremely successful. Therefore the view that 'Printed Textiles' is largely suitable for females alone, is a fairly archaic one and I feel that the title is perhaps a little deceptive.

'Iguana' and 'Oriental Orchid'

Laser Cut Papers

Towards the end of this final project, there has been an emphasis upon reworking my drawing style and experimenting with different working methods. To develop this idea, I played with the idea of laser cut papers, eliminating the negative space and leaving behind delicate, lace-like strucures. I was really pleased with the fragility of the finished pieces and felt they leant themselves well to jewellery and so, with the help of a friend spent the morning in the photography studio, placing them in situ. I am really pleased with the outcome and the production of an almost unexpected series of final designs.

Experimental Drawing

Below are a few of my drawings using my 'refreshed' drawing style. They combine both blind and continuous methods of drawing with different densities of mark, helping to enliven the images. My original intention was to produce wallpaper designs for interiors, however I feel that my work is becoming more appropriate for Fashion Prints . I have mocked up a few designs on garments in order to offer a suggestion of how they could be placed, however I intend to develop them further and push them forward through colour experimentation and stitched line drawings to add further irregularity and energy.

Claude Heath

In this final project, I felt as if my drawings had become a little stale and 'safe'. After being recommended to look at the work of Claude Heath (shown below), I was really impressed. His 'blind' experimental approach has resulted in energetic, lively, descriptive drawings. He has undertaken a method in which one hand travels over the given object whilst the other one records the 'journey' on paper, all whilst blindfolded. I have begun to apply a new, 'blind' approach to my own work, layering drawings with different densities of mark and stitch, adding different qualities of line and colour. I now feel like I have begun to make a break through.

Tropical Greenery

These are a few photos that I've taken on my travels that demonstrate the types of plant forms that I find appealing and want to include within my design work for this project.

Artists Books

The image above is a cover of one of my mini tea-bag sized books from the Artists Book project. After deciding to study 'tea' as my Objet Trouvet I looked at various ways of illustrating it, from typography regarding tea connotations to images of the actual tea bags themselves. After using the printing press to attain prints of actual tea bags I was amazed at the clarity of them, and developed a series of different shape/sized tea bags in both singular prints and repeats. It was a simple idea and technique, yet I feel that this project was one of my most successful this year. For the Contemporary Artists' Book Fair held in Leeds, I produced a series of ten miniature books with reduced size prints and a series of larger prints, packaged in A4 printed envelopes.

Whilst browsing the stands at the Book Fair, I purchased a book by Ciara Healy based upon Birds as I was drawn to it due to its bright, canary-yellow cover. The image below is taken from the website http://www.ignition.ie/, from which some of her work can be purchased. I also bought a smaller book called 'Honey Darling's Old Clothes', as the vivid colour of the lobster again caught my eye. Within the book are four progressive images of a pet lobster shown to be growing in size throughout her lifespan. As I discovered through our personal project and with many of the books at the Book Fair, the best ideas are often relatively simple yet when communicated effectively and clearly, make for the best artists books.

Nick Morley

I've recently finished my Print Elective, and whilst doing research for contemporary printmakers, I came across Nick Morley, an illustrator and printmaker based in London. I really like how he effectively and realistically portrays his subjects through print. He works in series', recently producing a quirky collection of prints based upon bearded men.