Visual Research

I have been given a live project brief at uni named 'Cumbria: past and present'. We are working with the Wordsworth trust based in Grasmere. I wanted to base this project on the concept of my past and present (being home- the eden valley), and in particular a significant place to me called Dufton Ghyll, an old quarry, the blown away rock creates a beautiful wood with a stream running through it. I took photos of surface pattern and I came across some really beautiful textures, I photoshopped the images so they all have a monochrome feel with a pink tint, I really like the images, and was inspired by Roy Fleming photography, who is local, his work is really intense and beautiful, and truly captures the drama of the Eden Valley. 

Final Piece for the embroidery project

Drawing near to the end of my embroidery project, I decided to make a skirt for my final piece, the skater skirt epitomises feminism and is a representation of the development of the skirt over the twentieth century, linking to the family tree concept behind my project (using the idea of ancestry and how families have developed over time). I used various embroidery techniques on my skirt including CAD to produce a Venetian building, transfoils to convey the weathered surface pattern I came across in Venice, and machine lines to represent how families lines run parallel. My favourite aspect of the skirt is the handmade roses- I was able to design them freely and I was able to explore many ideas when making them. 

My final exhibition for my project.. hopefully my tutors were impressed!

Venetian Editing

I recently discovered Photoshop for Ipad after my lovely friend Elle introduced me to it, it has some really good features and is pretty easy to use, i have combined some embroidery work and sketchpad pages with some images from Venice to use as Visual Research. I love the combination of sharp images with the textures. 

Rediscovering Venice!

Myself and one of my best friends, Soafi took a short trip to Venice over my Christmas holidays, it was a last minute decision and we had an amazing time revisiting all the sights and taking in all the beautiful architecture, and eating LOTS of pizza and gelato! The trip helped support my current embroidery project, what fascinates me the most about Venice is how it hasn't changed, its like going back in time. I adore the surface patterns you can stumble across on the more secluded parts of the Island, to me they are a less obvious aspect within the beauty of Venice. However, the actual architecture itself is also amazing, Venice's rich and luxurious heritage is definitely reflected in the buildings. My absolute favourite is the very popular Basilica in St Marks Square. We also visited the Guggenheim, It was amazing to actually be stood in front of the likes of Dali and Mondarin's work. I've included a variety of pictures of our trip, enjoy! 

Photos by both myself and Soafi Burns x