Bunting

I went wild and created a bunch of bunting for my friends wedding, they requested that the bunting be creative and reflect the personality of the maker. Since there were no material restrictions I've made pieces using painted canvas, carpet, foam, duct tape, blind fabric, pinweaving and denim. I think I've got the crazy bunting niche covered. Below is a selection of the bunting I've produced. 

Ronnie Bear

The prototype of a bear pattern I'm drafting/designing - He's called Ronnie after my dad

Design Decisions

Its little wonder it takes me so long to finish artworks when I start contemplating design decisions such as ribbon composition, I do prefer the angled ribbon layout though...

Produce patterns

More progress, these sugar snap pea pods will be joined by a few more in various media

Produce patterns - progress

Here's a little taster of how the lime is progressing...

Produce Patterns

You may remember this post about a painting I started several years ago and always intended (road to hell etc) to finish yet never quite did. Well I still haven't finished it, but it has dramatically moved on from my last post...

I decided that the undertaking of finishing that big canvas was a little foolish on my part, the painting had past its moment and there were practical reasons to abandon it too.

So instead i've hatched a plan to complete the work in a different way:

Salvaging the sections of the painting I was most happy with (and discarding the remainder) and using them in a series of new mixed media works. 

(featured above are two "in progress" shots of the salvaged sections) 

Denim Bottle Cap

In addition to creating paper based pieces to go inside the bottle caps, I'm exploring using fabric such as this denim. I may also embellish fabrics with embroidery or applique in later experiments. 

Lace Earring organiser

 Tired of scrabbling round my jewellery box for matching pairs I decided to make this to keep my earrings organised

(Approx. 25 x 30cm)

Framed

 Appliqué artificial flowers, mixed textile piece 

(14x14cm)

Teal Teddy

The newest teddy in the collection. 

He's made from teal glazed cotton with hand embroidered seams and eyes (approx. 16cm tall)

Splat Bear Pin Cushion

I made this little splat bear specially for my mother

 (a keen cross-stitcher and fan of my work - naturally) 

He's approx. 3 inches tall. Made with denim and plush fabric.

Denim is great for pin cushions because it gently polishes the pins/needles as they move through the fabric. 

Feeling blue Teddy?

This teddy is one of a kind, made from a pattern I drafted myself and later altered. For some reason he reminds me a little of a clanger (might be because of his nose) 

Mini wall hanging

Measuring approx. 7x17cm, this mini wall hanging is the first in a series of appliqué flower panels. Each panel is created using artificial flowers, embroidery techniques and added embellishments such as beads. The panel sizes vary - some will be the same as this mini panel whilst others will be considerably larger.

Pin Cushion

My new quilted pin cushion, made using tiny samples of upholstery fabric 

Posts of the future

A little peak at some of the things going on in my new studio

Flat packed Teddy Bears

I've had these little bear patterns cut out for a couple weeks, I'll probably get around to cutting some more soon ( part of my plans to finally use some of the denim I've had stored for ages), hopefully I'll get round to making them even sooner - they're just like a flat pack: I have the fabric cut out, teddy bear eyes, stuffing, thread and other such equipment all ready to go... I just have to start sewing them, it's one of those 'never enough hours in the day' situations.

Splat Bears

5 Blue Splat Bears

Before you ask, I call them splat bears because they remind me of paint splats (especially the stereotypical clipart-type paint splats). I make these cute little 3 inch (approx.) teddy bears out of leftover scraps of fabric and stuff them with similarly recycled materials. ( Note: because they are not stuffed with child-safe polyester toy filling they cannot be considered as toys. But this doesn't prevent them from being really cute decorations, keyring attachments etc.) Due to the materials I make them from each bear is unique. Additionally, as you can see, I vary the design from bear to bear: some have ribbons and some will have keyring attachments. Also some splat bears have additional stitching detail ( like the ones on the right) and  I have plans to produce a few splat bears in the future with even more elaborate designs, such as embroidery all over their body and maybe even clothing items (bow ties?).

Canvas Bag

I made this shoulder bag the other day as a gift for my old textiles teacher, its made using a canvas painting I abandoned half finished when I was a student ( at least 5 years ago), I removed it from the stretcher frame, hacked and machined it (complete with lining). In its former state it was a painting which my teacher hated, loathed, despised and ordered to be removed from her sight... looking back I can see her point ( its hardly my best work), though I'm still 'proud' of certain elements and the links to more recent works are fairly obvious: an affinity for the household object in abstracted formats. The happy news is that when I presented the finished article to my old teacher she didn't instantly throw it back at me or aim for the bin, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she secretly quite likes it (though its longterm wearability is questionable - the paint is already showing signs of abuse), plus its helped to re-kindle my interest in another of my old canvases ( a better one) that I now plan to finish painting! (the before and afters photos of which i'll post up soonish)