2 - Ideas Development

Development From Research



I have referred back to my photographs of Formby, experimented with changing the colours to fit in with my colour palette, and then from those I started to paint. I painted using both acrylic and oil paints, with the oil paints giving a better result overall. I have tried to take both qualities from the photographs and a more abstract approach similar to the works of Barbara Rae who's work I looked at to start with. 

 

From my paintings, I developed my weaving structures. Using a combination of hand drawn structures and the use of Scotweave, I interpreted the paintings and photographs into patterns, while still thinking about whether they would fit in with the interiors range at Wallace#Sewell.

I was inspired by markings in the sand, the shapes of the sand dunes, lines in the driftwood and the blended colours within the sea. I created some wave like structures, a mixture of warp and weft floats to represent the linear patterns in the sand and wood, and used weft figuring to interpret shapes.

 

Sampling Results

After what felt like a wobbly start, I believe that the final samples for Wallace#Sewell are successful, the colours are not what I am used to working with, but it has pushed me and now I actually feel more open to stepping outside my comfort zone. I was also really inspired by meeting Ismini Samanidou, her approach to work is so refreshing. I found it interesting to learn how she doesn't box herself in to one particular area and is always open to new ideas and collaboration, I now feel an urge to try a similar approach myself.

 

In my samples, my favourite pieces turned out to be those with floats and satin/sateen structures, the blocks of colour that these create is something I will be keen to take further in the warp that I have just begun to weave. Different to the Wallace#Sewell brief, there is no restrictions to which yarns and colours I am able to use, this leaves room for a more experimental approach. As my colour palette is currently a lot more muted than it was for the Wallace#Sewell part, I aim to bring in flashes of other colours to bring out the stripes in the warp.

 

New Ideas

When looking at the National Trust online shops, I noticed that the range of scarves is aimed at women. This suggests that women are the target market, however in a gift shop situation, items can be bought as gifts for family and friends. Therefore I believe that a more unisex range would be beneficial and could sell really well. Even though for now I am focusing on scarves, my ideas may be able to translate into products such as blankets or rugs too.

Feedback

At the Interim Crit, it was suggested that my boards needed more text to explain my ideas which I completely agree with and will address this when it comes to making my final boards. As I am essentially working towards two projects, a very specific range for Wallace#Sewell and a more subtle range for the National Trust, combining both of these on my boards made it difficult to navigate around my ideas. I will be solving this problem by making separate sets of boards when it comes to presentation.