Lorenzo Nanni

 Lorenzo Nanni is an Italian Textile graduate living in Paris. His influences include the human body from birth until death as well as flora and fauna.  His handiwork includes such detail that you can repeatedly stare at it and the eye falls on something different each time.

Through the medium of embroidery and embellishment Lorenzo captures organic beauty by using clusters of beads, stitches and sequins which accumulate into sprawling, sculptural forms. He also creates smaller pieces depicting dramatic enlargements of flora and elements of the human body. For me, his works capture the mystical and sometimes dark elements of nature perfectly.

http://www.lorenzonanni.com

Erickson Beamon

Jewellery designer, frequent collaborator with Alexander McQueen. Pushing the boundaries of pearls, crystals and chains creating chandeliers, masks and headpieces. Such a fairy tale element in all of their designs.

                                                              "Dreams are made of this"-
                                                    Jefferson Hack for Dazed and Confused

Texture

 Inspiration for textural drawings and embroidery formation from Tumblr. Built up layers, forming sculptural patterns.

  

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

Marit Fujiwara

 

http://maritfujiwara.com/

Marit graduated from University of London after studying Textile Design and her passion is constructing textiles. Inspired by accidental sculptures such as water-soaked books on pavements and decaying debris, Marit uses fabrics to replicate these shapes often creating new techniques as well as modernising old processes. The results of these processes are stunningly wearable pieces of art.

Alice Gillingham

Alice Gillingham creates textiles based around the beauty of the British countryside and all the animals and creatures within it, creating stories and scenes in her own illustrative style.

Her working style stems from a childhood love for embroidery and investigating ways that these techniques can be developed and combined with other processes such as fabric manipulation and print. Alice often uses found or used materials within her work such as vintage embroideries as she loves the way they add their own story and history to her pieces. The imagery for her work is all hand drawn in her own illustrative style which she then recreates using fabric and stitch making each piece slightly different and giving the animals their own individual characters.

The way the embroidery types intermingle makes this piece really charming and quaint.

Nick Cave Art

Nick Cave is a multi-disciplinary artist crossing the borders of fashion, installation and sculpture. For example with his 'Sound suit' collection he created outfits that express movement within modern dance using noise via textures, therefore offering maximum escapism both for the wearer and the viewer. Mouth wateringly- full of embellishment.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwupTQt9zxY- Interview with Nick Cave

Priscilla Jones....YUMMY!

Priscilla Jones creates beautiful textural artwork in both 2D & 3D using freehand machine stitch to portray movement, paints and material scraps.  Making something now perceived as purposeless useful, once again. The colours and the layers of paint, material and embellishment just make her work look as edible as it's subject matter...









http://www.flickr.com/photos/38187919@N08/with/4039000841/  

Coastal Gallery Hop

I visited some coastal galleries at the weekend.  I enjoyed Bircham Gallery in Holt- they had a Modern British exhibition on, showcasing the likes of Sir Peter Blake and Barbara Rae.

These pieces were my favourites , I am a big fan of collage and mixed media I think it gives the eye something new to look at each time. It is like art especially for ADD brains, always challenging the eye. The Pop Art works of Sir Peter Blake are layered and colourful yet coupled with neutrals do not become brash. I have a passion for using vintage imagery and text within my pieces, I think he has added depth with his use of text taking the narrative further than if it were purely image based. I also appreciate his use of sparkle within these pieces adding glamour and movement to the still imagery

   

Wooden Puzzle Collection- Friendship

 Silkscreen and collage 2013

Sir Peter Blake

                Wooden Puzzle Collection- Landscape

 Silkscreen and Collage 
Sir Peter Blake

'Academy' Sir Peter Blake

Barbara Rae is a highly acclaimed painter and printmaker who creates beautiful and colourful works. Her inspiration comes from the places filled with light yet she rejects the fact that some people refer to her as a landscape painter.

                                                                Repare- 2010 Silkscreen

Rae uses washes of bold colour; merging form, line and hue into each other with dynamic composition, breaking up the picture surface with thrusting lines. The works draw the viewer into the artist's vision, emitting energy and warmth. I love the textures she creates using unusual brushstrokes and creating a sense of movement with her vast colour schemes. It seems that she can't stick to a small colour palette which is how I feel within my own work.

http://www.birchamgallery.co.uk/

I also visited Burnham Deepdale- The Hare and The Hen Gallery. I have previously heard of this shop where the ceramic works of the owner are made and sold and also pieces are sold on behalf of other artists.  I really enjoyed the work of Nicola Hart who paints coastal and wildlife scenes using paint layered onto tatters of paper. If you look closely you can see text and or pattern peeking through from the fur of the animal or a sail on a boat. Simply beautiful. I can see comparisons with my own work, I think using text as texture is really fun to work with.

http://www.deepdalefarm.co.uk/dalegatemarket

Materials

It's the start of the last project of uni life...I am slightly terrified. To ease my panic I've decided to keep busy by heading out to source materials. I decided to buy 4oz wadding because my intention is to make a lamp and a parasol so I don't want the quilting to look too heavy. I also picked up some different weights of plain cotton to experiment with in terms or weights.

My best finds were in a charity shop as usual, some teeny weeny brass chairs and a teapot, some vintage pearls, satin and a pre-embroidered table cloth. I'm excited about what I can use these for...watch this space!

Mister 'Fabulous' Finch

'Storytelling creatures for people who are also a little lost, found and forgotten'…

I absolutely adore the work of the elusive artist who makes under the name of Mister Finch. He creates these mysterious animal characters through fabric sculpture, that seem to come alive under his magical stitching hands. I find his work very emotive, beautiful crying hares, eerie smiling moons, majestic swans. The muted sometimes grubby colours of his art add to the depth of feeling within his pieces. Ink stains in tea and rich jewel colours are included within my favourite pieces, I feel these add to the archaic impression the fabrics give.  His collections have an antique-like preciousness to them.

 I first came across Mister Finch after reading an article in Making magazine, May 2013. This quote has since been imbedded in my own marking during my making processes....

 

...and like Mister Finch I truly believe in magic.

 

 

Mister Finch's inspirations come from nature and he returns to certain ideas again and again.
Flowers, insects and birds, along with fungi regularly make an appearance. 




The artist says of his inspiration 'British folklore is also so beautifully rich in fabulous stories and warnings and never ceases to be at the heart of what I make.  Shape shifting witches, moon gazing hares and a smartly dressed devil ready to invite you to stray from the path.' The fact that narrative is a key theme both during concept development and within materials and processes means that Mister Finch may be interesting to study for my research report.




'Humanizing animals with shoes and clothes is something I’ve always done and I imagine them to come alive at night. Getting dressed and helping an elderly shoemaker or the tired housewife.'

I feel that I can relate to what Mister Finch says about his work. I have always put a story to my work as well as everyday things around me. I can look at an animal in the garden or someone's pet and before I know it, I have a narrative buzzing around my head.



 'It’s a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make.'

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He uses found materials, such as pre-embroidered fabrics and scraps. The story of the fabric seems to translate into the narrative and seem to combine with his own narratives to create the characters back story.

 'Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm. A story sewn in, woven in.  Velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress and a vintage apron become birds and beasts, looking for new owners and adventures to have.' 

The materials seem to speak to him and indicate what they want to be made into, rather that using a pre-conceived idea and then choosing fabrics.






http://www.facebook.com/Makingmagazine

http://www.mister-finch.com/portfolio

http://mynameisfinch.blogspot.co.uk/

NUA Degree Show 2013

I went to look around the degree shows at Norwich Art Uni, panicking that it will be me this time next year! Amazing work from all the students showing how vast creative talent can be.