Optical Illusion with Embroidery

The third exercise of the year in my Creative Embroidery Course had me quite out of my comfort zone. The theme was creating optical illusions with stitch and transparent quilting. Not being a quilter, I had no idea what transparent quilting is and found it difficult to find any instruction online.
So on with the challenge of drawing and cutting up the images to create an optical illusion. This part of the exercise went well, and I was amazed at the illusions created by using such simple shapes.

So hard to believe that the same sized shape is retained in the cut up collages!

Then the rest of the exercise was all guess work. I got the part of cutting the pieces out of felt and placing them between two pieces of organza correct. I now realise after receiving feedback from my assessor that I should have quilted along each of the felt pieces to keep them in place between the organza. I did something far more creative! Well that's what my very gracious assessor said! I thought it was very sweet of her to say that...

It was also suggested that instead of using a patterned fabric as a background, a plain white would have distracted less. I think that decision to use a babushka fabric is indicative of my confused state of mind while I did this embroidery . I should know "less is more". Having put a place of white paper behind the work really does improve it. Although the feedback was not entirely positive, I really enjoyed the optical illusion exercise and learnt a lot more this month than before - and that is what doing this course is really about!

Comments

Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

May I Present Mrs Chalumeau...

Finally Mrs Chalumeau takes a bow …She is a Pearly Queen … 695 buttons on the doll and 10 on the journal.(I think – could be more). I would like to thank Paula from Antiques and Collectables here in Hamilton, Newcastle and Raku Buttons ETSY seller for supplying me with about 500 of the vintage mother of pearl buttons, and the rest I had in my stash. I think they look great on my pearly queen, but I am truly tired of sewing on buttons. It made me think however, how many buttons must be on the elaborate clothes of the real pearly Kings and Queens! I drew my inspiration from the lovely lady pictured here, and the following description from Wikipedia. ... A Pearly King ( feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional Cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometimes representing much of a family's wealth. .... This doll is all cloth – a little different from most of my other dolls which generally h

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog