Tutor report

Overall Comments (Assignments 4 and 5 submitted together due to postal restrictions)https://connieintextilesacreativeapproach.wordpress.com

Thank you for your submission.Well done for completing your Fourth assignment Connie.I was pleased to read that you feel you have ‘grown as an artist’ during this course; your work continues to be thoughtful and experimental, and your self-reflection and contextual research are significant strong points in your work which have greatly supported your development throughout. 

 (I understand your aim is to go for the Textiles Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. From the work you have shown in this assignment, providing you commit yourself to the course, I believe you have the potential to succeed at assessment.  In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.)   Feedback on assignmentDemonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity.

Student name Connie Kadey Student number 511702

Course/Module Textiles 1: A Creative Approach

Assignment number

Four

Textile structures. (Converting line into area)

You do seem to have enjoyed the paper weaving exercises and the free, experimental approach to weaving Connie.You have submitted an imaginative body of work, and your self-motivation and commitment have been evident throughout.You continue to demonstrate a bold and confident approach to working directly with a varied collection of materials and also with new techniques; I feel that you have made a very promising start with these processes, they do take a huge amount time and of practice, and I understand from your blog that weaving is a new experience for you. For your larger samples, you have been very investigational in your use of weight and color, so this is a great start; i particularly liked the curved wefts, the areas of fringing and the contrast of the thicker yarns.It would be helpful if you have time, to put together an idea development board for your final weave sample; it can be A2 or A3, and would normally include a selection of photographic or drawn research, your color-card, your plan/grid and an element of contextual research/imagery/inspiration to support your idea.

Your final woven sample is well executed, with a very fine finish and even tension; I can see that you wanted to neaten the edges but this is really not necessary at this experimental stage, this, and your other woven samples can simply be attached to white card (a stitch through the card, in each of the top corners, is often the simplest way) this allows the samples to be lifted. Woven samples can also benefit from clever use of the loose end threads; but at this stage, it’s fine just to leave the threads. (Below)

Sketchbooks/photographic researchDemonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity.

You have a large collection of beautiful observational photography now Connie (presented on a thumb-drive) If you are able to, it would be worth either….

A: printing a selection to present as a photographic research/inspiration file, or….

B: adding a small selection to A2 mood boards, or….

C: as some of your photography, particularly the close up imagery, contains beautiful colors, marks and textures, if you can, it would be good to see a few of them mounted separately? Obviously you will have to decide if this is practical due to the postal cost/size limitations.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

https://connieintextilesacreativeapproach.wordpress.comYou are demonstrating a very good knowledge of textiles in practice, and in historical and cultural context. Both your primary and your contextual research notes continue to be very well written and always display clear links to your practical work, well done. You are reflecting critically and writing extensively about your thoughts and experiences ( I did like your recollections about shaking out the bad dreams from your sons ‘dream catcher’…and yes you’re right, I think we ‘did’ make these chord ropes as children, mine were created by tying wool to nails tapped into one end of a wooden cotton spool?!)Your on-line blog is now comprehensive, easy to follow and illustrated very well throughout, with a wide-ranging bibliography.Your interviews with Anna Hergert and Inese Birstins have made an interesting and useful addition to your blog, well done for taking the time to meet both artists in person; primary research is always the most valuable.

Suggested reading/viewing

As you have enjoyed your introduction to experimental weaving techniques, and you say that you ‘strove to maintain tension’, I wondered if you might like to explore the effect of having no edge tension, or deliberately uneven edge tension?!The unusual work on the following page is by Alice Scardetta.

Pointers for the next assignment

At this point, I would normally make suggestions for your next assignment; as your work for assignments four and five were submitted together, this will not now be necessary.Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Well done.

Tutor name Lisa WolfeDate 04/01/16

Next assignment due n/a. Submitted in advance