In week one we really began just looking at the basics of colour. I really enjoyed this as I have learnt things about colour that I never knew before. I always believed there was only three primary colour when in fact there are six, there are two kind of yellow, two kinds of red and two kinds off blue. When we did our colour strips using the six primary colours this really brought out how many different colour possibilities there are and how different the purples are when you add one of the blues or reds. We then went on to colour matching which was really fun. David sent me a link to this colour matching game which I really enjoyed. One particular part I enjoyed in the first week was when we painted squares of colours exactly the same but when we placed them over different colours you saw different undertones and then that colour didn’t look the same anymore.
In the second week I focused on mixing colours and creating different colours with the primary colours. I created a lot of different greens and blues. I did add some white and black just to make things a little lighter or darker rather than keep mixing. I was really disappointed to see that the pages that I had painted had one missing but I wasn’t too upset as it was more about creating and mixing colours and seeing what variations I could get out of them. After that I really started looking into artist and designers that could inspire me. I came across Nike Savvas who creates these beautiful geometric sculptures that look like they have been made with thread. I did buy some embroidery hoops and had a play with different threads on the Thursday. I started looking at different shades of colours and introducing them all together in a embroidery piece.
The third week I was away in New York but I did take the opportunity to go and see the MoMa and The Met which I did see some rather interesting piece of art that made me think about what I am currently doing. It made me think about doing something more 3D rather than 2D. I started looking into kinetic sculptures and came across an artist called Nils Volker who did this wonderful installation with these toy spheres that I actually had as a child. This sparked some really goof memories for me and i got thinking about how I used to make Pom Poms when I was a child. I thought about creating a piece like this so I set on to create these. Which was very nostalgic for me and really enjoyed making. after speaking with David we agreed that it wasn’t possible to make an impact with a couple hundred rather than a couple thousand. That’s when David introduced me to an artist called Tony Cragg who does these wonderful piece using objects he has found and creating a collage with them. I looked at just focusing on one colour and trying to find different materials that could be used again. I really enjoyed looking through the cage of recycling as I am very big on being environmentally friendly and recycling as much as possible. I found such a variety of different coloured fabrics that I could use and create a piece with.
In week four I have just continued to experiment with the fabrics laying the fabrics in different ways and forms. After talking to David he suggested maybe adding objects onto the top of the fabrics to create contrast at first I wasn’t sure about this but once I started adding little objects to the piece I really started to enjoy adding different things onto the fabrics. I cut out strips of different bold coloured card and created lines going through the fabrics which created this wonderful contrast of the soft organic fabrics against the hardness of the cards. I really enjoyed experimenting and just exploring in the end I lost the view of a final piece and wanted to create many different ideas.
Overall I have really enjoyed exploring colour more. I never really concentrate on colour but it’s so amazing the science behind colour. It’s a lot more technical than I once thought. I have been able to go out of my comfort zone and not always looking for that final piece and worrying but to just experiment and by documenting this I have been able to create a video final piece of me just having fun and exploring.
Olivia Cope Textiles Blog 