Unit X Blog Post One

R E S E A R C H

The beginning of Unit X has been extremely busy and the end of week three has come around very quickly. Unit X has been surprising, when we began with the speed dating task in week one, it really opened my eyes up to what the unit was about and it was both exciting and nerve racking. The self initiated collaborative task, allowed me to think about what it was that I wanted to collaborate on, as well as what I could offer to other people. I surprised myself by being able to explain (within just a few minutes) what my skills were and how they could be adapted/transferred to collaborate within another language of design.(e.g. 3D Design)

Unfortunately, it was a bit frustrating at the beginning of the unit, as being a weaver, I had to go straight onto the loom as the looms are on a strict timetable. Because of this, even though I wanted to collaborate directly with a 3D student, I knew it would be very difficult to achieve this for at least the first three weeks of Unit X. Due to the weaving weeks being so intense, it has lead to very little research and no time at all for collaboration apart from a few conversations. However, despite these small set backs, I am still looking forward to the possibility of collaborating further into the project. I have two ideas, firstly to collaborate on a project with a 3D student, and secondly to collaborate with the other weavers, as we are all in a similar position.

Due to our very tight timetable, I went to visit Tatton Park the day before the trip. I found it useful to get a feel for the place, and to do some market research in the shop. Initially, I didn't find the trip very inspiring as I usually like to take inspiration from bright colours, architecture,
, culture and urban landscapes. So in terms of inspiration; I felt slightly out of my comfort zone, but that is what Unit X is about after all. To begin sampling I selected a colour palette to enable me to design my warp. I was feeling a bit lost with choosing my colours as it was so early on in the project and I had  done so little research, and so on a whim I researched 'National Trust Colours' and I found a collaboration between the National Trust and Fired Earth; a paint company. The palette compromises 36 subtle and timeless colours, and has been inspired by revisiting the organic earth shades of the past. From these shades, I selected a few that I liked and chose to use silk as it is a natural fibre.

From Left to Right: Paint from the Fired Earth Collection.  Warp Colours. Weft colour palette. 

The key influences to my work so far have been the colour palette and some of the images I have been focusing on in order to design the patterns on my brocade. I have taken inspiration from a book by a photographer who takes close up shots of the Japanese Gardens at Tatton Park. From the photographs, I have then done some small drawings and managed to explore these drawings using Scot weave. In terms of context, I am aiming to create samples to produce something which could be sold in the National Trust shop or on the 'Handmade in Britain' website. I am passionate about hand crafting here in the UK so I think that is the direction I will go in now, and in the future where possible.

Woven interpretation of the Japanese Gardens and architecture owned by the National Trust 

Now that I have finished my time on the loom, I am going to continue with my inspiration from my samples and the Japanese garden and work collaboratively in various ways to develop these further. As mentioned above, I would like to possibly collaborate on a 3D project, and as well as this collaborate with a small group of weavers. As we have mostly used similar inspiration for the project, we are intending to look at other sources of inspiration from Japan and craft them here in Britain. The samples I have produced and the research so far, have lead me to think about craft and its importance and has made me determined to continue hand making. Due to this, we have collectively decided to learn a few new skills over the course of the unit which relate to our practice and which will enable us develop our work further. These skills will include crafts such as temari weaving, weaving off of a loom, passamenterie, tassel making and possibly japanese book binding. These skills will all come in useful in the future of my practice, as they are very hands on and may expand my knowledge of weaving and different techniques and processes.

Passamenterie corded necklace. Temari Japanese Weaving. Woven Jewellery- Possible collaboration with a 3D student