Inspiration Strikes....

I was doing some research into designers and artists and inspiration strook when i found these images of Alexandra McQueens Spring/Summer 2011 collection, the 3-D manipulated garments are gorgeous. They are so well matched to the project i'm doing now, these pieces are so inspirational.

I love how delicate these shoes are, they are so cute and work so well within the rest of the collection. The illustrations on the left hand image are really nice too, they are so delicate and deciptive, i hope to portray my drawings of insects in this style of illustration.

As well as Alexandra McQueen's collection above I found this really lovely work by a Surface Pattern Designer called Laura Costello who's based in Leeds, (http://www.lauracostello.co.uk/index.html) her work on her website is so fine and handcrafted. The Sumptuosa collection featured on her website is really, really beautiful.

Surface Design for Fashion

Well, I haven't blogged in a while, but it's been a pretty hectic few weeks, sooo, I've started my new project which is Surface Design for Fashion and I've picked a trend for Autumn/Winter 2012/2013 which is all about nature infused with a dark twist ! So I'm really excited as this is something so different to the type of stuff I usually do, but I love a challenge, so fingers crossed it turns out to be lovely !!! I'm half way through the drawing stages and have really surprised myself with some of the work I've produced so hopefully when they're taking into embroidery for fashion fabrics they'll look just as good :)




So here are some photos, that I took at Nature's World, this is one of the first places I went to start getting primary research, it was really useful as the amount of things they have there is unreal.

Indigo Exhibition

So with the furnishing project with Trend Bible nearly finished, only a week left to go now, so it's all a bit hectic to say the least, but exciting at the same time, to see your designs come alive ! I'm going to Paris in February and am really excited, as we are going to visit the trade show Indigo, which hopefully if my work is picked for our next project, Surface Design for Fashion Fabrics, I'll be exhibiting at eek exciting ..

I love, love, love embroidery, I've got so much patience for it it's unreal, so this opportunity is a great one and here's some embroidery work, which hopefully may get taken along too.

This piece was initially drawn from some vintage crockery and then the drawing was translated into hand embroidery, I like hand embroidery much more than machine, as it gives a fine, delicate detail that looks really hand rendered and looked after.  

 

This drawing was drawn when we went over to Hartlepool Marina to draw for the day, it's a drawing of the Old Customs, Victoria Terrace. I've done this piece with a mixture of hand and machine embroidery and it's turned out really well. I think it's got a real graphic edge to it and is something i haven't really tried before but I've found a whole new love for drawing and stitching buildings.

This is a mixture of experimentive drawings, which were done using mono printing, transfer using screen wash, carbon paper and sketchy studies all of foliage and florals. I've transferred this using again, both hand and machine embroidery as well as applique and reverse applique. I feel that one of my strengths is embroidery and i only hope to further and better them throughout second year, I can't wait !!

Second Year !

So I'm well into my first project of second year, which is Surface Design for Interiors, which involves designing and printing a furnishing fabric design using colour separations. This project is linked with the forecasting company Trend Bible and is an excellent opportunity,  it's all top secret at the mo so I'll post pictures when it's all finished. I'm really excited to start printing and get some of the ideas buzzing around my head onto fabric and hopefully produce some lovely, lovely work !

But here's some pictures of some oldies from the last project of first year, which was Introductory Surface Design for both Interior and Fashion.

So this is a snippet from some of my design development sheets for the furnishing fabrics part of the project, of which the designs were inspired from the initial brief being inspired by the Rococo period.

And this is the final printed furnishing length, which I was so nervous about printing, because my first stint in the print room, gave me mixed feeling about print, so many things went wrong, but so many right too. However, i actually really enjoyed this and was so pleased with the final outcome ! It really shocked me that I could print this and have found a new love for Printing. I've just learned about colour separations so hopefully, this next week of printing will be very very good, fingers crossed anyway...

I'm absolutely in love with Claire Coles work (http://www.clairecolesdesign.co.uk/), some of her embroidery is nothing other than beautiful ! Her pieces for Ted Baker are gorgeous. I'm really inspired !!! I love the mix of papers and stitch, it's so simple it's genius !! The delicate stitches are so fine, you can see the skill in all of her pieces, I also love the contemporary twist she puts on florals and prints.

Isn't it gorgeous ......

My Very First Post !

I'm really excited about starting this blog and hope to use this as a place to show my inspirations, ideas and get my current work out there, hopefully you'll enjoy it, so I suppose I better start :)