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.

Realisation Journal - Week of 25 January

25 January 2010

I handed in my concept development today and am pretty pleased with it. I should have done more sampling and design development but, considering my erratic moods of late and the resulting book, I think the final product was damned impressive. I have a tutorial tomorrow and am not quite sure what I'll have to do, but am quite confident that I'll sort it out.


26 January 2010

I had a good tutorial this morning. I'm getting more focused than I have been in the past. I need to sit down and make a more precise time plan for this project. I think I will focus mainly on one segment of project at a time. I need to do some major drawing and sampling in the time I have allotted. I got a book on lace and a few books on leather decoration at the library today and also printed out some of my photos on A3 to work with. I found one layered leather ball from an otherwise very amusingly naff 60s leatherworking book that I photocopied. The layered effect is very interesting. I did a bit of drawing, taking my inspiration mainly from my photos and trying different ways of interpreting shapes from them.

Right now I am thinking of having needlework motifs that are linked together. Tomorrow I will see how some of my ideas work out.

























27 January 2010

I didn't go into uni this morning for class and normally I would feel guilty, but due to jet lag my sleep patterns are really wonky. So I don't feel too bad for catching up on sleep, especially with all the anxiety issues I've been dealing with lately. I'm afraid that if I don't let my sleep sort of regulate itself out that I'll get myself back into a state of nauseous panic and derail myself again and my support system is not here.
In any event, I did do some more drawings today and I feel I am slowly getting somewhere. The plan is to get up earlier tomorrow and do some sampling...maybe do a little tonight. I just ant to try and replicate some of my drawings in actual materials and see what happens. The idea in my head right now is to create some interesting motifs and then I'll later look at ways of joining them. At some point I guess I am looking at creating my own textile, but every time I think about what it eventually needs to be I feel as if my head is going to explode. So I think the best way of tackling this situation is to work on the design and sampling instages and merge them together as I go along.