Realisation Journal - Monday 17 May

I have been quite bad at updating this. I have made notes in my diary, but procrastinated entering it in here, which misses the point.

I didn't manage to get too much done over holiday, as originally planned. I wanted to work on Illustrator in the States, but I got a new computer and I couldn't install the software. So I did the fabric mock-ups and cut lots of little motifs out of paper.

When I got back to the UK I used the paper bits to mock up my work. The ones I decided to scrap (click to make them bigger; they won't upload any larger):




The ones I will make:




I got a disability passport the other day, which helps. I went for a blood test a couple weeks ago and I may have a thyroid condition (which would explain a lot), but the receptionist was confused. I will hopefully find out tomorrow. Anything to not be so tired all the time.

I sat down tonight and made another action plan. I'm really good at making plans, but it's really getting down to the wire and I need to pull my finger out.

Tonight I worked on my brand logo in Photoshop. I decided it should display handcraft whilst in print form so I adapted an old cross stitch monogram. I was originally going to write out 'Karactere' as the logo, but now I am just going with the letter 'K'. On printed documents it will look like cross stitch, but on my tags (well, the tag on the collar/cape) it will be stitched. Theoretically it could be mass produced, but for the sake of the uni project being a one-time deal, I am going to stitch it up myself. To bind the edges I will do a blanket stitch to match the tag fabric as I usually do when I do projects on canvas. I will use very fine gauge canvas so the tag isn't huge and because it is more a fabric than a heavy canvas; it's meant for petit-point and looks impressive when stitched up. Really it's the same technique as simple cross stitch, just smaller. Should take an hour, if that.




I will finish most of my Illustrator work tomorrow, though I am going to try and do it at Saint Martin's. Their computers are crappier than the ones at LCF, but they aren't so bright that they give me a headache. My eyes can only stand a half-hour at JPS, whereas I can work for several hours at CSM and not even notice.

Realisation Journal - Tuesday 13 April

I have not updated this in awhile...obviously. I've been trying to do some work on my holiday, but it is less convenient to do work here than I had previously thought it would be. I have done some mocking up of the cape on a borrowed dress form, but my pattern is sized incorrectly, even though I did some meticulous maths (or so I thought) to get the neck opening sized properly. For some reason, I can get 7 motifs to fit together at a normal person's neck size, but it's tight over the arms and doesn't quite drape right.




If I were to piece all 12 motifs together it would be more suited as a clown collar for an elephant. So I am going to remeasure the neck on my form and resize my pattern. The cape will become more of a capelet, but I think it will still look lovely...and maybe even a bit more modern because of that. I do not want to alter my basic motif because I believe that if I added more design to the bottom to make it longer it would be just too much going on. And if I try and change the proportions of my motifs it will just get way too complicated to match everything up when the pieces are attached together.

I really do not have enough time - or resources - here in the U.S. to mock up anymore, so I plan to tackle finishing the mock ups next week. I will also sample with my materials, as well, and finish my initial range plan and specs for Wednesday. I can't really finish them until my design is final.

I am sure about my materials: Alchemy 'Silken Straw' doubled up to attach the pieces and attached to the jump rings and chain on the jewellery, closed jump rings and chain from Rio Grande Jewellery Supply, leather from Tempesti (which is probably by the door to my flat as we speak) and two different tweeds from Dashing Tweeds. I bought some beeswax for my leather edges a few weeks ago and I have sandpaper at my flat.

So next week's agenda: finish mocking up, finish sampling and finish basic range plan and specs in Photoshop. And I need to get on the laser cutter to finish testing for settings on my new leather and the tweed, and talk to Ann Meacher about a disability passport because I am too behind not to.

Realisation Journal - Monday 8 March

Today was relatively productive. I didn't get up as early as I would have liked, despite my best efforts, but I got just about everything done that I had planned to do. I got some sample veg tan for sampling and for the laser cutter on Friday and some yarn for joining the pieces. I am almost done with my drawing except for a few details that I just couldn't get right today. Tomorrow I will finish them and work on Illustrator in tracing them after my GP appointment in the morning. I hope that will help the sleep issues get sorted because I've tried my damndest to sort it out on my own and am getting so frustrated that nothing is seeming to work.

Realisation Journal - Friday 5 March

This week wasn't very productive. I am going in next week for a blood test because I want to get my thyroid checked. I feel like I've tried everything to get my sleep dealt with and I still can't seem to wake up. I've barely accomplished anything and I am just racking up more and more stress...and it may not be something I can change with different routines. So when I see my GP next week I'll see what can be done to sort it out...and what I need to change. Something does, because I'm effing up my work by not doing much and just depressing myself. Better to try and be positive and productive in sorting it out (as it's wrecking my life) than to just let it keep on getting worse.
That said, I did reserve four blocks of laser cutting time - two next Friday (so I have time to tweak my Illustrator rendering - and two on the Tuesday afterward. Hopefully I can get the technical bits sorted okay before holiday so I can just come back to my materials (which will hopefully be here by then) and cut them out and put everything together. Even though my design looks super complicated, the construction is actually quite deceptively simple. If it works. Next week it is imperative that I actually go in to uni and finish sampling and do some mocking-up. Tomorrow I am going to add the details to my master drawing and possibly start the Illustrator rendering on Sunday.

Realisation Journal - 1 and 2 March

Monday, 1 March 2010

I didn't sleep all day today. I got to my appointment early and got everything on my to-do list completed. It's now 1:30 and I am going to bed in about 15 minutes. Not bad.


Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Today I didn't go to class, even though I got up a bit earlier and had my stuff all ready to walk out the door. Instead I went to Saint Martin's and enlarged my designs and design templates on the photocopier. I need an accurate rendering of my design so the pieces fit together perfectly when they are cut out on the laser cutter. The leaves need to be about 1cm apart from the pieces they are joined to. I did a better rendering today and plan to make adjustments at home via White-Out (Tipex in British?), computer and pen. Then I am going to trace it onto tracing paper and add the detail for etching, leaf edges and eyelet tabs to my tracing. I have to blog for a few minutes tonight, too (which I am doing now, of course - this is all transferred from my diary), and input some data into Word for Hand & Lock.
This new plan I made the other day is far more organised than last week and I've been so much more productive; a better feeling.
...
I was supposed to go to work tomorrow, but I postponed it until Friday so I can catch up on sampling and mock-up development at uni tomorrow. I would like to have completed a lot more by surgeries on Thursday.

Realisation Journal - Week of 8 February

8 February 2010

Today has pretty much sucked. I am sleeping an insane amount of hours like a hibernating bear. I slept through two alarm clocks, and therefore missed my tutorial. Then it was too late to run any of the errands or do anything else I intended to do. I will have time to cook dinner for once and maybe eating more home-cooked meals (and more veg) will improve my situation a little. Who bloody knows.


11 February 2010

I think I am getting somewhere. I actually didn't do much today, but I fixed my action plan and have sorted out tomorrow, which will mostly be dedicated to Hand and Lock. I have formulated a plan which should allow me to do both my uni work and the competition. I can do the bulk of the embroidery after hand-in, anyway. Tomorrow I am going to go to Hand and Lock to persuade them to let me photograph a jacket they are restoring. Hopefully they will oblige. Then I am going to the National Army Museum to take photos and perhaps find a book on uniforms (it seems per their website that they have an extensive selection for sale). And then - if I have time - I plan to go and view the textile collection at the V&A. After that I plan to do some drawings for my uni project at Bar Italia.
I've tried to break everything down into smaller parts to ensure I cover everything for both projects, but also to ensure that I don't overwhelm myself with a massive daily to-do list. That becomes counterproductive and leads to me feeling that I haven't accomplished anything.
Tutorial helped, too. And I got a 2.1 this term! Not bad!


15 February 2010
Had a more productive day today. Went to the Army Museum to look at uniforms for Hand and Lock. I found a few things similar to what I was thinking. I also got some drawings done for uni. I like the more nature-based forms. They are sort of geometric in their planned-out order, but much more interesting and somehow more modern, without me having to compromise my style. I intend to work on them a bit more tomorrow before going to uni to work on Wednesday.


16 February 2010
My sleep schedule is a bit better and most of it is plain willpower in maintaining a routine. It is the key thing I need to manage in order to accomplish anything to do with uni, Hand and Lock and everything else in my life. I cannot function without seven - but ideally eight - hours of sleep. So I must go to bed early enough to get that and still make appointments or do anything the next day. I must also go to bed within an hour of the same time every night or I will seriously screw things up.
Anyway, today I meant to go to the V&A, but decided to go and do drawings instead. It's proved mildly fruitful. I still like the natural themes better. I need to hone them down to simpler forms and try different leaf patterns, perhaps on A3 as development sheets. I was going to go into uni tomorrow, but I think I'll do the V&A and some development sheets tomorrow so I'll have a clear vision for Thursday. I also wanted to get photos of Waterhouse's church screen to work with. I remember loving it before I knew who did it - or even who Waterhouse was, so maybe it will further inform my designs.

Realisation Journal - Week of 1 February

2 February 2010

Yesterday and today have been mostly pointless. I don't know why I feel so unmotivated, but I need to find a way to snap out of it. Per usual, I think it is linked to wonky sleep patterns which I need to sort out.
I did get a little sampling done last night. I like the layering effect and the interwoven stuff and the idea of suspending rings with thread. If the pieces are pre-cut/stamped/whatever it will be fairly quick work to put together. Jane's right in the fact that I an accustomed to anal-retentive fiddling with samples, but I think that until I get the basic shapes and patterns established that I must be that way a little bit. I obviously need to buy some yarn and do some draping on the stand, but I am not ready for that yet. I also need to find more stained glass imagery to figure out how all this is to link together. I also think that on the jewellery one of the layers could be pre-drilled metal with the top layer blanket-stitched on.


4 February 2010

I didn't go to class today, which was very bad form. I tried to make up for it by trying to fit motifs together on paper. It's not really working and it is making me feel as though I should have paid more attention in geometry class. Nothing fits together and I am getting a bit bored with all the repetition, anyway. I intend to find more images of Victorian Gothic windows and maybe develop a more interesting pattern. I wish I could have taken photos in the Liberal Club last night, But I am quite sure that my fellow company would have killed me on the spot. The tilework - and the original interior in general - was marvelous and I never thought I'd actually find myself actually inside a Victorian gentleman's club...and especially not one designed by Alfred Waterhouse. It was absolutely stunning. And it's odd to think that just a few decades before that Churchill and H.G. Wells probably sat before that very smoking room fireplace having a cigar. Very cool, indeed.


7 February 2010

I wasn't very good about going to class this past week, but I have gotten quite a few drawings done. I was having serious issues fitting motifs together in a circle in any remotely pleasing way, but after getting a couple books from the library - one on Gothic revival architecture and one on Waterhouse's tiles for the Natural History Museum - I got some great ideas and it's starting to come together.