End of this blog

This blog will now come to an end and be replaced by a new one which will unite my practice now that my degree is almost at an end (just the dissertation to do). Thank you for reading it and please see new blog which will start after the school holidays are over and I have finished clearing out my loft - a project put on hold for the last 4 years!

http://julieheaton.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/new-blog/

I am very excited because my embroidered drawing of The Bristol 2 Litre Engine will soon be in the September / October issue of Embroidery. I am also going to London tomorrow to take one of my prints to the Bristol car Showroom on Kensington High Street. I am hoping to sell giclee prints of the embroidered drawing which are half the size of the original engine and printed on fine art paper. Tonight I anxiously signed the first copy and hopefully more to follow. 

After visiting the show rooms I am going to the Imperial War Museum to research my next piece of work. I am interested in the lives of women in the First World War - someone who was widowed but not because her husband died a hero, but perhaps because he was a pacifist or a conscientious objector. I hope to find an object or photograph that will represent her story - one that I can draw in thread. 

The last few hours

Another day at Dartmouth Avenue preparing for our assessment and then the degree show. Today  Sophia helped me to nervously place my piece of perspex with the mounted embroidered engine into the plinth. It looked great; I am really pleased with the decision to make a plinth and the perspex added to the effect by allowing the light through to show the delicate threads. 

Just a few finishing touches to sketchbooks tonight and then finished. 

Plinths painted and wrapped (back one for engine)

My space at uni for the exam and the degree show

Placing the wooden battons on top of the perspex in the plinth

Back tomorrow to uncover work and make sure everything is ok.

Plinth or frame

Just a short update on presentation of the work. The plinth is being made thanks to the help of Steve, the technician at Dartmouth Avenue that we just couldn't do without. The fit is now good after a mad dash last week  to wood work before they closed because two of the pieces of wood were too big. Thank fully, another patient technician, Stuart, let me route the edges of the wood before he turned off the power in woodwork. 

This week I have three days left to make some items in plastics for Textiles and sand, fill and paint two plinths. It is very exciting but I will be pleased when it is all over and I can enjoy some time with the boys. 

I have also ordered a frame from Meltone Gallery. It is very large - 90cm square and 6cm deep. It will be white and contain a pice of perspex in the centre onto which I will attach the embroidery and I will use this after the degree show ready to enter the Jerwood Drawing Prize. 

The final decision on presentation of work

The degree show is getting nearer and as of yet my work remains in a plastic wallet underneath my wardrobe! The big question - what to do with it?

As the Bristol 2 litre engine is embroidered there are several important issues I have to consider. First, it is a textile and will be subject to  dust, grease from finger prints (if touched), ultraviolet light and moisture. Cleaning once dirty will be difficult and fading caused by UV rays will be impossible to restore. 

Here are some images of work I have seen in exhibitions and online websites -

Anna Glasbrook, simple perspex frames, no space between layers

From Drawn 2013, work set back on mount board in wooden frame

Photographed at Cirencester New Brewery Arts Centre. textiles presented in a metal frame

From a London art gallery, 3d textile image in a perspex frame.

Amanda McCavour, machine embroidered drawings suspended on monofilament.

I have  emailed Amanda McCavour again  to ask if she used anything to stiffen her work before hanging it as mine is fairly soft and flexible. Very kindly, Amanda replied and stated that she did use starch to stiffen the work. Her work is hung and left open, the large drawings show their weak structure as the threads can be seen without anything obscuring the work. Also there is the play of life size object verses drawing which is strengthen through the absence of a frame.

I have visited several framing shops to try and decide how best to move forward. But now I  have two requirements, one the degree show and then an entry into the Jerwood Drawing Prize.  The Framing Workshop on Walcot Street were very helpful and encouraging about the drawing and suggested a perspex frame. This would be my first choice because the work will be unaffected by the frame - there would be a lot of space around the drawing as well as keeping it free from dirt and moisture. But it will be very expensive and not easily transportable for the Jerwood Drawing Prize because it would be hard to protect from scratches as the work needs to be easily viewed by the panel and not fully wrapped. 

The Framing Workshop, Walcot Street.

The second option is a wooden, white box frame with a piece of perspex in middle on which I can invisibly attach the drawing. The frame will be large and the drawing will appear to float. Museum glass will go on the front to protect the work from UV rays and reduce glare from light. I did consider metal but that is too similar to the metal engine and deflects from the feminine angle. 

Meltone Gallery, Bath

So, I will order the frame for Jerwood and Art in Action, but for the for the degree show I have decided to make a plinth out of MDF.  The structure will be slightly larger than the dimensions of the real engine with the top left open and the work presented on a slope / angle. I do not want to add starch to my degree piece as I haven't got enough time to experiment so I will add a piece of perspex to the top of the plinth with a space between it and the MDF giving the appearance of a floating, suspended drawing enabling light to show through the layers and enhance the stitches - I need these to be obvious - I need to demonstrate an argument between male and female gender by questioning the idea of feminine stitch with a man made metal machine as a way of reflecting on the capabilities of women and the quiet, yet subversive nature of my work. Work that shows how hard I will strive to be perfect after the loss of my husband, but  what matters is the way I learn from how I solved the issues that arose during this endeavour and how I use this knowledge for my next project in art and in life.

Presenting the work

I had a crit at uni today where we discussed the degree show. I know that a frame may distract from the stitch and that perhaps this might not be the way forward but I was taken a little by surprise at my tutor's very strong opinion - "Do not frame this work". But also, not to worry about making further work, this will be enough for my show as long as it is well presented. Perhaps good advice but also quite daunting - 67.5 cm square drawing made just from thread, displayed with minimal interference.

So, I have emailed Amanda McCavour to ask her advice. I will also see the fine art tutor at uni and discuss with textile tutors. During the Easter holidays I will try and get to some exhibitions so that I can gather ideas about display and presentation.

Here are some images of the final piece 

The Bristol, 2014

What happened next

Well the engine has had its backing removed and it wasn't quite as I expected. Carefully the work was pinned to the loft foam boards and then gently washed under running water. 

Cold water gently ran over the boards for about 2 minutes. I then couldn't quite decide how to dry it - flat, on an angle or against the radiator? Did I need slow steady drying  or fast so that the glue dried without running away?  I chose to leave it to dry on a low angle in my sunny dining room. And the next day I looked and was disappointed - it was dark and had lost a lot of it's definition - all my hard work with colour selection and shading appeared to be lost but the shape had remained. There weren't any holes - it was fairly solid - no organic form as had been expected, perhaps another disappointment. Usually impatient, I decided that this time I really had to wait and think before I started taking the pins out.  

After two days away at work, I made the decision to try and wash the engine again. Perhaps it was dark because I had left too much glue in it. But it was quite firm and if I re- washed it I would lose this strength and then have a potential problem with framing. Again, a short wash of about 1  minute and  then left to dry overnight. I was relieved to see that it was slightly lighter but it still wasn't showing every detail. Was I aiming too high, would I get that detail back?

And the final wash, well that has to be it. The colour is now near perfect but I have lost a bit of the strength in the structure and framing is now going to be tricky. The plan is to have a test frame made as used in my previous pieces of work, but instead of using monofilament to suspend the work, it is going to need a piece of perspex or glass to support it in the middle of the frame. But I must make sure that there is a lot of space because I don't want the frame to distract from the delicate stitch.  

Below is some audio of the conversation that occurred during the pinning of the work to the loft board.

Exciting morning

Today I am in the process of removing the backing from my work. My lovely friend Marta came over and helped me pin the engine to loft foam board. My mum had bought me one tin   of stainless steel pins and we soon realised that another two were required. I whizzed up to the local fabric shop to buy more and had the most exciting conversation with the lady who served me - she commented that I was the second person asking for stainless steel pins (required so that they won't rust whilst the work drys) and asked what I was doing - I explained the work and she proudly announced that she owned two 'Bristol' cars and that to buy an engine such as the one I had just copied would cost £25,000 - and then asked if I could bring in an image of my work when finished. What a small world!

With three tins of pins the work was pulled flat and pinned well concentrating on the more isolated parts and any areas where a lot of stitches had been used so that it would not balloon. Once happy that it was secured we took the boards outside and then using a hose pipe we carefully washed away the backing. The whole process was filmed and this is now loading onto the computer whilst I post on my blog. The work is drying in the dining room and as of yet I do not know if more fabric glue needs to be removed. I will post some photos of the work with the pins in but have decided to not include full pictures until nearer my degree show. This work is finished ahead of time but that is at the detriment of textiles - instead of working on the two projects concurrently I have done one at a time and feel it is too early to reveal the final piece. I also need to think very carefully about how the work is displayed. First it must dry and only then will I know how successful it has been.

Here are some photos of the back of the work

And here are some macro images of areas with pins in ready for backing to be washed away

I will add some more images and comments on how removal of backing goes in a few weeks but I must make a start on my textile project work.

Here is the link  for my textiles blog  julieheaton-textiles.blogspot.co.uk

The last hoop to complete

I am about to complete the final hoop of the thread drawing. I am very excited yet also very nervous as I just don't know what will really happen when the backing is removed next week.  Expectations are high as I have been predicted a very good grade in my third year formative assessment but what will happen if I am not happy after the backing is removed? But I know that the biggest concern is how this lack of control, which is the final stage of the endeavour to make a perfect piece of art, will make me feel? How it will answer my question as I seek to understand the need to be perfect.

The Bristol, the final hoop, Feb 20th

I have purchased two foam loft insulating boards as recommended by Amanada McCavour. I plan to fully pin the drawing to this board to help stabilise the work as the backing is removed and the threads become alive. I will photograph the work first and then film the removal of the backing so that the process is recorded. I am hopeful that it will be ok although, if previous pieces of work are anything to go by a period of adjustment will be required after the transformation from a piece of embroidery into a full scale thread drawing. 

Next will be the issue of framing: my tutors are very keen that I carefully consider this to ensure the drawing shows it's full potential and meaning.

Amanda McCavour

I was so excited today when I found an email from Amanda McCavour waiting in my inbox. saying how she was excited about my project and that she too loved the contrast between thread and metal and the  interesting relationship it provides.

McCavour agreed with my idea about how the  process of using water soluble fabric and thread allows for an element of chance and loss of control as the backing is removed. To this she added that white or clear threads can be stitched across the  dissolvable fabric before starting work to strengthen and reduce some of this movement, maybe something I can try next time. This was done on her large pieces like the living room and the self portraits.

McCavour suggested dissolving large pieces between plexi glass or as I had wondered, pinned onto foam board and then submerged in a bath and then left to dry in place. 

I am hoping to have the sewing finished by the end of the week if I can find enough time because it is half term, I have two tutorials at uni and my brother and his family are coming to stay. So whilst this is now reaching an exciting point, I am quite nervous. 

Nearing completion

I have worked so hard this week to get the embroidered drawing near to completion.I had a quick trip to Bath to buy more thread only to find an important colour was out of stock - I felt so anxious as I  needed to work hard to keep on track with my degree work time table. We eventually found a dark grey thread at the bottom of the 'Marathon' thread rack and whilst not quite the correct shade, I was sure I could make it work. Here  is the latest image

The Bristol, Feb 16th, 2014

and here are some pictures of the work in progress

Whilst in The Sewing Studio, Bath, where I have been purchasing all threads and fabrics for this work I asked for some advice re removing the dissolvable solufleece backing fabric. I have done this before on small scale works but I am anxious about doing this with such a large piece of work. I will only get one go at this and it will not be correctable. I did email Amanda McCavour via her website but I have not had a reply. So, after discussion with Lyn (Sewing Studio) and taking on board previous project experience I think the plan is to find a large piece of foam board that will fit the thread drawing, pin the image to the board and gently use a shower to wash away just enough fabric so that it is not visible on the surface but leaves enough glue behind to hold the threads in place. Whilst I am expecting some movement in the image, I would like to minimise this as much as possible.

The latest image of 'The Bristol'

Here is the latest image of 'The Bristol' - a lot of work this week and feeling quite hopeful now that I will finish as I have done most of the complicated and detailed parts except for the clutch and some lettering to be done on the plates. I still think that three weeks are needed but to make the other degree work manageable it really needs to be finished in two weeks - not sure if that is possible but will keep going.

The Bristol, Feb 10th, 2014

As part of my formative assessment at uni I needed to write 500 words about my practice and what is driving this work - I thought it could be useful to add this to my blog

My studio practice has developed out of  a desire to question the need for perfection in art and life. Last year I read a quote by Henri Moore suggesting that ‘great art is not perfect’ and set me on the path to try and find out just how perfect I needed to be.

In my art I am a perfectionist, I am stubborn and determined but this makes me very worried about the results and this is because I see art as a metaphor for life - a life where I am trying to make sense of my world and how others see me. When I am drawing with my sewing machine I will change the colours for just two stitches - but are those two perfecting stitches making my work sterile as Longhurst suggests (On Perfection, an artists symposium)? Instead, should I embrace chance happenings, accidents and imperfections which might open up a new way of thinking?

I know I need to make a piece of work that I feel pushes my creative abilities, one that proves I can produce work of a high standard but equally it must help me to understand the need for perfection I like to draw with my sewing machine and there are a few artists who have inspired this choice of medium and method. Firstly, Naseem Darbey, a textile based artist who makes 2D and 3D instillations out of thread by direct observation, i.e, no preliminary sketches on the fabric. My first drawings on calico were made in this manner - I was unable to correct any mistakes, they became part of the work. This was enjoyable and helped me to relax - I am scared of drawing on paper but  thread, fabric and my sewing machine could work. From the early drawings I moved on to making 3D sculptures from thread and dissolvable fabric and whilst this was an exciting technique I realised that both their form (car components) and grey colour was too obvious and that a greater statement could be made if made the pieces more feminine through colour and obvious threads/ textiles, because I was now making a subversive statement: it was not only was a question of perfection, it was also about gender and hierarchies of practice.

There was now just one obvious choice - the most masculine of images - a car engine. Inspired by Anne Wilson who makes complicated and detailed drawing from thread - black lace as a metaphor for exploring the worlds integrated and entangled networks in her topology studies - I was going to use weak threads obsessively and compulsively locked together to make a full sized technical  drawing of a car engine. I also need the work to about more than embroidery - embroidery would suggests perfection and beauty: I want my work to question these qualities and also recognise the conflict between and female and male identity. In an endeavour to do this I have gone for a full scale engine as inspired by Amanda McCavour’s large scale instillations which question the impermanence of the physical world.

To help answer the questions of gender I have looked at Rosemary  Trockel, a leading German artist whose work has included knitted paintings of swasticas and playboy bunnies. I plan to read further ‘The Subversive Stitch -  Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine’ (Rosika Partker).

My engine must be completed so that the final stage can push my question to it’s full potential - what will happen to my meticulously drawn engine when the structure it is built on is removed?

Here are some images of the artists work as discussed above 

Naseem Darbey
If your Heart is not Nailed to Cliffe Hall,2010

Naseem Darbey
From the same residency at Cliffe Castle Museum

Anne Wilson
'Topologies' 2010

Anne Wilson

Amanda McCavour
'Living Room'

Whilst adding these images to my blog I came across this new piece of work by Amanda McCavour. This thread drawing was completed during an artist residency program in Dawson City, Yukon through the Klondikre Institute of Art and Culture: McCavour stayed for 6 weeks in  a Canadian gold rush town. 

Amanda McCavour

During the residency McCavour translated a heavy iron steam pump into thread rendering it delicate and ghostly. This was as a response to the 'phantom view" of the pumps documented in the corresponding manuals which translated the steam pumps into transparent parts to enable an understanding of their construction.

The Bristol at the end of January

Here is the latest image from my free machine embroidered drawing of the Bristol. I am just over half way but I have calculated only 4 available weeks left out of my time table of work to complete for the degree show. Every spare minute is used to work.

The Bristol, Feb. 2nd

My work is currently being assessed in uni - formative assessment - feed back in two weeks. When I get my sketchbook back i will update this blog with information about the artist who are influencing this project and my current practice.

Nearly half way

I think I am nearly half way through my free machine drawing - it is very addictive and I just can't manage to get any other uni work done - although I am thinking and planning textile ideas in my head.

Here are some more images, first a close up of the embroidered drawing with the work in progress

The Bristol, 16th Jan

and two more...

The Bristol, 20th Jan

The Bristol, 22nd Jan

During this process several people, including my tutor at uni, have suggested not finishing the drawing and to perhaps to make a second piece based on the blue lines - i.e. a line drawing that might come straight from a car maintenance manual.  But I really want to complete the Bristol Straight 6 because that is part of my challenge. Can I work fast enough and how will a large piece respond when I get it wet to remove the dissolvable fabric? Will I be able to complete this stage or will I be too concerned about the potential loss of structure and accuracy? I don't think I would be able to answer these questions if it was not  a completed drawing. 

During the making of the engine I spend a lot of time wondering why I am achieving such a sense of satisfaction in drawing a masculine object. I know part of it is the enormity of the challenge but also it is about my feelings of myself - my determination but also my insecurities as I have tried to manage my unexpected roles - all  will be reflected  when the water washes away the structure and I have to decide how I feel about the end result.  But it is not just about my ability to manage the roles that once belonged to a man - it is also about the strengths of others who have also been left to manage in an environment that they had not planned - having to take on roles that  were not expected from life.  This quote from  'The Subversive Stitch, embroidery and the making of the feminine (Parker, R. 1996)  possibly reflects this 

"The embroiderer sees a positive reflection of herself in her work and, importantly, in the reception of her work by others"

Some thoughts on my work...

Here is the latest picture of my free machine embroidered, straight 6, Bristol car engine. The work is very labour intensive and rather scary - 

First, will I manage to get the work finished in time - I think at least another 8 weeks will be needed. I have 19 weeks until hand in of all my degree work but I also need to prepare  for two 15 minute presentations, plus my textile project which has been parked at the moment (although it is constantly being considered in my head). But not only is there the time constraints, there is also the issue of will it work ? Potentially the removal of the dissolvable fabric will show any gaps and flaws in my technique such as overworked stitching that might expand and distort the shape, loss of detail as the stitches separate if there are too many weak spots and finally  the removal process will be difficult  to manage on such a large scale - many reasons for my restless nights.

The Bristol, Jan 13

Whilst I draw with my sewing machine there I am beginning to see another angle to my work and believe that I may be making a rather subversive statement! I was widowed and left to manage as both mother and father for my two boys. My work has been all about my need to be perfect and how I coped if there were any elements of failure in my endeavours to manage all the family needs. But - I am also demonstrating my feminine role - I am making a male image in delicate feminine embroidery - there is an issuer of gender and hierarchies in my practice which I love. There is something very powerful hiding in my stitches and a lot to be proved. I need to explore this further...

The Bristol - an exciting start

I have not posted recently due to the Christmas holidays and my enthusiasm to draw and do little else - i.e. update sketch book or blog. 

Whilst I normally draw from direct observation and make no preliminary marks on the dissolvable fabric, I have decided to break with this and trace the dominant lines of the Bristol engine. I know I am questioning the need for art to be perfect and by tracing it it may seem that I am not allowing the natural freedom encouraged in my previous works. For such a large, diagrammatic piece to work, there must be an element of accuracy in the design. However, the element of chance and distortion will still occur when I remove the dissolvable fabric - weaknesses will show, overstitching will bulk and the edges may expand. This feels rather scary because after hours of careful and controlled  working, the piece will then be subject to a random and free act which will turn the drawing into an organic image that may or may not work.

To trace the image of the Bristol engine  I broke it down into 9  manageable pieces to allow me to work on one part at a time. 

Here is the work so far -

Image traced onto solufleece

At the machine...

I have worked fairly constantly over the past three weeks and think about a quarter  of this free machine embroidered drawing has been completed. I will post more images soon.