Think of a piece of textile art you admire. Really see it in your mind’s eye. Picture the intricacy of the textures. The complexity of the patterns.
Take a deep breath and dig a little deeper. Reverse engineer the artist’s process. Unpick the stitches used to create those layers of detail.
You might be surprised by what you find.
What at first appears technically complicated, might actually be deceptively simple.
How top textile artists build texture, pattern and line
In this article, six contemporary textile artists discuss how they use embroidery to create texture, pattern and line in their art. Each of them has a highly distinctive visual vocabulary and the ability to surprise the viewers of their work.
Yet they all use a similar, limited pallette of stitches in combination with a few other simple techniques.
They innovate through imagination and invention rather than through a wide range of elaborate processes.
By constantly experimenting and honing their voice, these six practitioners have uncovered very personal ways of speaking through their materials.
In the article Are you a textile technique addict? I argued that to take control of your process and develop a strong artistic identity, you should consider limiting the number of techniques you use.
My hope is that, after reading this article, you’ll feel inspired to put that theory into practice, knowing that the only barrier to innovation is your imagination!
Cas Holmes
Cas Holmes: Blue sky thinking
Cas Holmes: Blue sky thinking
Cas Holmes: Blue sky thinking
Cas Holmes: Blue sky thinking
Extreme stitching
“I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole.” Louise Bourgeois
Cas Holmes: I am often asked if I use machine or hand stitch. In fact, I use both. Machine and hand stitched marks are as different as a charcoal pencil and a fine drawing pen and produce a wide variety of lines.
And you can exploit their differences. Densely worked stitch can provide textural interest. Applied in a more open and gestural way, stitch can give a sense of movement.
The sewing machine can be used as a mechanical ‘mark making tool’ in a process jokingly referred to by a technician at West Dean where I regularly teach, as ‘Extreme Stitching’.
Experimenting with a restricted stitch palette, consisting mostly of straight stitch, with perhaps seed stitch and French knots as extra, does not limit my application to develop line, texture, pattern and movement in a piece.
A stitched line can be used constructionally and visually to both hold cloth together and add additional colour and texture on the surface of a work.
Exploiting marks
I like to work on smaller pieces as I develop bigger projects and it is on these smaller pieces that I will exploit and play with marks.
My drawing and sketches are a constant stimulation and resource. They are not there to be copied but rather as means of reference and reflection.
My recent publication [easyazon_link identifier=”1849942749″ locale=”UK” tag=”wwwtextileart-21″]Stitch Stories (Batsford 2015) contains many references to the application of stitch and I am currently writing my fourth book for Batsford.
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