Garsington Meadow

Happy accidents have always been a large part of the process of how I work, a direct result of a combination of a somewhat clumsy disposition and a joy of working impulsively. No matter how I plan for pieces with sketches and designs I always like to leave a little room for interpretation as it's the surprises that occur within working that bring me the most satisfaction.  Working across different disciplines simultaneously is also important to me, as discoveries made with one medium feed another and spark off different ideas.

Above is a watercolour drawing I made in an exploration of layering colours and marks to try and recreate the shifting and kaleidoscopic nature of a field of wildflowers. Using a combination of washes and small marks inspired me to develop the image into embroidery, and to use the opportunity to experiment with dying my threads to create gradients and custom colours.  I wanted to keep some of the delicate layered qualities of the ink washes, and attempt to bring some of that loose, more painterly approach to contrast with the stitches.  Translating the drawing into a textile piece was a pleasing experiment, mostly because of the accidental bleeding of the dyes from the threads into the fabric. Although initially unintentional, I found this mistake to be hugely exciting, the thrilling unpredictability of the dyes running and blending led me to experiment with deliberately sabotaging the threads to see what would happen. There's a pleasing parallel between the watercolour drawing and the process of creating painterly washes from the dyes that I am keen to explore further.

 

 

It was these two pieces that sowed the seed for my risograph print. I wanted the risograph to be different from the initial drawing and work as a piece on it's own, rather than being a reproduction of an original drawing. A total novice in the medium, I decided to try and extend the exploration of bringing influences from painting and used layers of tone in the print to recreate washes of ink.  I also wanted to experiment with colour mixing within the print, and so used just three inks to create the spectrum. I was pleased with how the watercolour marks come across in the print and how brilliant and intense the colours are, though it's nearly impossible to capture in a photograph.  The print is available for sale at Beach London, and is £25 unframed.