Some Exercises for a Future Project

Doing the Seurat sampler has given me an appetite for cross-over art. When I was stitching Seurat, I was turning a painting into an embroidery. I wondered if a good idea for a project would be one that turned an embroidery into a painting, and studied it for a while. This painting is the result of those tests. It is based on a Japanese embroidery sampler I've been working on, and that is part of a book called The Techniques of Japanese Embroidery, by Shuji Tamura. As my own sampler is not yet complete, here is a picture of the original illustration. As such, this picture is the property of the Japanese Embroidery Centre, and is not a picture of my work!

My own piece, the painting seen at the top of this post, is constructed from layers of acrylic paint, first laid out in lines dispensed by a very fine cake icing nozzle. This layer of the relatively inexpensive white paint is then painted (with a brush) with two layers of metallic gold. Then the pencil lines for the diagonal frame were consulted, the nozzle was loaded with metallic silver, and the diagonals drawn on top of the already raised surface. Once this layer was dry, I added the rows of tiny silver diagonal flicks to mimic the twisted orange silk shown in the original sampler. Finally, I cleaned the nozzle, filled it with copper metallic, and painted on the horizontal bars. When this was dry, I rubbed out the construction lines, and painted the background plain white.

I was very happy with the result, and, wishing to explore further the possibilities of crossing painting and embroidery, did two more sampler exercises: firstly, an idea I'm keeping back for the final project of this course. I'm thinking of doing a project that involves showing the different silhouettes of historical eras and how the clothing of each age changed the outline of the body. This could perhaps involve making some kind of doll or figure that would wear each outfit, the outfits themselves being made of clear stitch-able plastics, such as vinyl tablecloth fabrics. In this way, the silhouette of the person could be compared to the outline lent them by their clothing. I had a little clear vinyl left over from an old sewing project - one that involved machine embroidery. Unfortunately, the vinyl was not suitable for a kind of sewing that meant going over an area of 'fabric' several times and stitching through it - it soon tore. So perhaps a painted 'fabric' sewn together, with a recognisable pattern adapted for each era would be the solution? Here's a sampler of vinyl with some blackwork motifs (this pattern has been in my computer's library for a long time, but sadly I could never attribute it) painted onto it. I was experimenting with oil paint in black, and acrylic in white. Unfortunately, the oils were very difficult to dispense without a good deal of linseed oil added. I will have to work on finding the right ratio, as it is far more durable than acrylic.

Finally for this post, I wondered whether it would be possible to further improve on the first sampler - and somehow create a woven surface on which to paint my 'embroidery'. Sadly, this was not possible - it just wasn't feasible - I would have needed some of the 'threads' to have woven themselves under already laid paint. What I did manage was three kinds of knitted fabric bases.

From the top, they're garter stitch or plain knit, then stockinette, right side, and thirdly stockinette, wrong side. Here are some close-ups, followed by a little garter stitch construction.

I hope I won't come across badly if I say that I don't think I'd want to cover these with embroidery: they're so effective, just as they are.