Bibliography of resources used…

Books…

• Cole, D (2008). Textiles Now. London: Laurence King Publishing.

• Hamilton, J. Oman, C, Charles (1982). Wallpapers- A history and illustrated catalogue of the collection in the V&A museum. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd.

• Saunders, G (2002). Wallpaper In Interior Decoration. London: V&A publications.

• Hoskins, L (1994). The Papered Wall- The history, patterns & techniques of wallpaper. London: Thames & Hudson.
• Victoria and Albert Museum, 1988. V&A Thirties Floral Fabrics. Great Britain: Webb & Bower Publishers Ltd.

• Abrahams, C (2009). Wallpaper- The Ultimate Guide. London: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

•  Hanaor, C (2006). The Cutting Edge Of Wallpaper. London: Black Dog Publishing.

Websites…

• http://www.clairecolesdesign.co.uk/
• http://interactivewallpaper.co.uk/
• http://www.wikipedia.org/
• http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/
• http://www.vam.ac.uk/
• http://www.william-morris.co.uk/

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Two final floral wallpaper designs…

The image below shows the first of my two final floral designs to go into my wallpaper range. This design has been created through mixed media involving, sourcing, cutting, acrylic paint, oil pastel and free hand machine embroidery stitch. If you look closely at the design you can see contraceptive pill packaging disguised within the composition. Some of the steps taken to produce this piece can be seen earlier in my blog. Personally this piece is my favourite out of the six designs, something that I would love to have the opportunity produce in a larger quantity or roll.

Below shows the second of the two floral designs which has been created similarly to the design above. This design uses a different colour palette to create a wallpaper that can be displayed within the same wallpaper range whilst showcasing the differences in effect you can create from my techniques and therefore appeal to a larger audience. If you look closely at this design you can see hidden condom wrapper disguised as flower petals or leafs. The reasoning behind these symbols being placed within my work can be seen earlier in my blog.

Two final female silhouette wallpaper designs…

The below image shows one of two completed final designs for my female silhouettes to go into my wallpaper range. I love this final design and I am extremely happy with the outcome, it was fiddly to make but feel it was well worth the effort. Note this design incorporates both female silhouettes and floral patterns, keeping the designs flowing and in keeping with each other throughout the full wallpaper range. Looking closer at this wallpaper you can see both the syringes and scalpols which add a deeper, hidden meaning to my work. Research and experimentation supporting these aspects can be seen earlier in my blog.

Below shows my second final design for my female silhouette wallpaper. This design was created similarly to the above however presented on the reverse and without incorporating a floral pattern. The silhouettes were stitched alike to above ontop of photographs however the paper was then reversed to reveal a more simplistic and monochrome design. The silhouettes have been repeated within the sample in greater quantity as they appear in a smaller scale to above. You can also not the symbols of syringe and scalpol presented again on this design. Although I am least happy with the final design out of the six i have produced I feel that if i had time to produce the same design again i could create it a lot more successfully. I believe this design adds a more simplistic and perhaps easy to please design which may be liked by a larger audience due to its monochrome, dainty, easy on the eye appearance.

Two underwear final mounted wallpaper samples…

Below shows my two completed underwear wallpaper designs. These designs have been mounted onto A2 card ready for hand-in. The images below shows my vertical design:

Beneath is a photograph of my second underwear wallpaper design, this design would be hung horizontally.

I am extremely pleased with my designs and feel they would successfully create the desired effect when displayed within an interior space. They are beautiful and cheeky with yet a deeper meaning hidden within them.

Method used to create female silhouette designs…

Below shows some of the steps towards creating my female silhouette wallpaper designs. The image below demonstrates how I produce the silhouette itself onto my work. This is done by firstly printing out the preferred images of the model ( shown taken earlier in my blog ) these images are then positioned and stuck lightly to the piece. Using free hand machine embroidery the contours and detailing of each silhouette is then stitched over, remembering that all marks made using the sewing machine will be seen once the paper is torn away ( the photograph is used as a kind of guide to stitch on top of).  Below shows one of the silhouettes after it has been stitched onto and the beginnings of me tearing away the unwanted paper around the image.

The image below shows me working on the sewing machine using an embroidery foot to effectively draw with the stitches and movement that I make. This particular image shows me working on top of the flowers which were cut from an old vintage bed sheet. The stitch is used to both fix with the flowers in the appropriate place as well as shade and add detail to the design. Many different coloured threads are used to ensure the stitch compliments each design .

The image below demonstrates a zoomed in capture showcasing one of the finished silhouettes and flowers. As you can see a lot of the paper has been torn away to leave a beautiful vintage effect.

Below shows the final stage, adding the symbols/ objects onto my work, the research and explanation behind this is shown earlier in the blog.

Above shows a syringe that has been added into my work to represent woman and plastic surgery. The syringe represents the pressure they feel to look a certain way within society today.

Above shows a scalpol that I have incorporated into my work, these symbols have all been produced using machine embroidery stitch.

Continued step by step to creating my vertical underwear wallpaper…

Below shows the continuation of my vertical  underwear wallpaper design. The image below shows me using acrylics to paint on top of the already printed and positioned underwear composition. This adds colour, detail and depth to my designs, one step towards the intricate mixed media designs I wish to create.Below shows a rough image of my horizontal wallpaper whilst it is currently also being worked on in acrylics.

The image below shows me adding both lace and ribbon overlay as well as small red roses to my work. This was done to create both a tactile and 3.d effect.

The wallpaper samples is then heavily stitched onto using free hand machine embroidery in a variety of appropriate colours. A zoomed in example of this is shown below.

On the image above you can also note the symbol I have added to my work taken from my previous research earlier in this blog. This particular symbol represents feminists and can be seen throughout my two underwear wallpaper samples when viewing the final images. Placement of these symbols is more and less obvious within different areas of the design.

Using photoshop to edit & create final compositions for my underwear designs…

Below shows my underwear designs made previously scanned into the computer and enlarged on photoshop to the appropriate size for my wallpaper samples. These images were then printed onto A2 boards with the appropriate size white border. I chose to have the images printed in matte finish as I plan to work on top of them once they are printed out. 

The above image is composed horizontally as i felt with my previous experimentation this would compliment one of my underwear wallpaper designs.

The above image is composed vertically alike to a normal wallpaper composition, using zoomed in sections of my previous design to create a repetitive yet unusual design with three layers of underwear hanging from the washing line.

Although at first these scanned images were meant to be purely used to work on top of, I feel they have worked really well & demonstrate successfully how my designs could be produced on mass to a larger target market.

Experimentation for underwear designs working on calico…

Below shows some of my experimentation for my underwear wallpaper designs. I have created both single bra compositions which focus more on detail and long strips of bras hanging on a washing line, playing with different scales throughout.

These designs have all been created on calico as I knew this would be the most versatile and hard wearing material to work on, I also had alot more calico to hand as well as it being cheaper to buy and therefore great to experiment on. However when I create my final designs I hope to be able to work on top of wallpaper as my base rather than calico unless i need a more stable base for my designs.Firstly I painted the background to a desired colour that compliments my designs and fits in with the other pieces within my wallpaper range, I did this using acrylics. I then worked from my previous photographs of underwear to create my compositions onto the calico. The bras were then painted using acrylics as well as the shadows added. 

Appropriate coloured fabrics and lace were then added onto of the already painted bras to create the esired effect. These were first glued roughly in place and then stitched down on the sewing machine. Free hand machine embroidery was also added to add detail and give effect. Lastly small buttons were added for a finishing touch.

I am really pleased with how these experiments have turned out and hope to reproduce similar ones for my final designs playing around with different compositions. However I feel the only thing that lets these designs down is the placement of the buttons, I feel that if I use buttons at all in my final designs I need to place them in a way that ensures my designs look like wallpaper rather than a picture. Something that i am aware that some of these images look like.

Experimenting with objects & stitch on calico…

Below I have experimented with a variety of objects which could be used singularly within my wallpaper designs. They have been printed out in colour and stitched onto calico altogether  in one long strip to simply see how they would look once stitched onto areas of my work.In reality the these objects would appear alot smaller and more discreet when included on my designs, however I have worked in this size for efficiency at this stage. I am pleased with the result so far and can’t wait to see how they look within my wallpaper range.

Grayson Perry…his way of working

Grayson Perry (born 1960, Chelmsford) is an English artist, known mainly for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing. Perry’s vases have classical forms and are decorated in bright colours, depicting subjects at odds with their attractive appearance. There is a strong autobiographical element in his work, in which images of Perry as “Claire”, his female alter-ego, often appear.

Perry challenges the idea, implicit in the craft tradition, that pottery is merely decorative or utilitarian and cannot express ideas. Much of Perry’s work contains sexually explicit content. Some of his sexual imagery has been described as “obscene sadomasochistic sex scenes”. He also has a reputation for depicting child abuse and yet there are no works depicting sexual child abuse although works that strongly hint at this. In other work he juxtaposes decorative clichés like flowers with weapons and war. Perry combines various techniques as a “guerrilla tactic”, using the approachable medium of pottery to provoke thought.

As you can see from the image above, Perrys work look beautiful and aesthetic from afare however there is a much deeper, more sinister meaning shown within his work when you get up close to study it. Although the meaning behind the work is not the subject area i wish to represent within my own work, his method is exactly how i wish to work. However my designs will appear alot more discreet and highly aesthetic in appearance, just like a real woman.