Category Archives: Processes

From Sunrise to Sunset

19 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by in Drawings, Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art, UK textile artists

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I am indebted to a good friend for this title which she suggested when we were talking about forthcoming exhibitions this week, so thank you to Myfanwy Hart, as it has inspired a new blog post! I have been very involved in the natural world for some years, and increasingly found myself emphasising colours and forms in the skies. Some of these are very detailed, others show simplified shapes of colour and stitch. I’ve put more information with the images that follow.

Firstly, if you don’t know Myfanwys blog site then take a look at https://crochetalongwithme.blog/author/nuvofelt/ with loads of lovely colour!

So here are some images where sunrise and early morning skies played a part in the work. The first image is very recent and uses memories of the South Downs where I live in the UK. It’s followed by two other locally based pieces. Finally I don’t write a lot as I hope the images speak for themselves but your thoughts are always welcome!

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Daybreak 2018

On the left, Silver Lining, a windy morning, and on the right a bright sunny winter morning at Petworth, which I’ve shown before here. The blue-grey palette of Silver Lining contrasts strongly with the rich morning late mid-winter sky on the right. They are followed by “A Quiet Summers Evening” where memories of travelling through France and the UK combined to produce a palette of golds and blues, as I tried to echo the sky colours in the fields below.

 

A Quiet summers evening

Sunset from Lanzarote, with the night sky gathering and darkening from behind the distinctive mountains there, and a softer Sussex sunset of gentle pinks

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Fading summer light detail

And finally a piece from 2017 where the sunset has faded away giving way to the night. You can see more of these on my earlier post called Skyscapes.

C Naylor, Skyscape Nightfall

 

Skies 2018

11 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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I’ve started this year by continuing last year’s theme of skyscapes. My obsession and passion for colour is especially indulged by autumn and winter skies, the latter somehow always the richest and most varied due to the sun’s  low position. I’ve also shown a few of the skies that I found inspiring, always fleeting, impossible to “draw” unless you are a Turner or Constable! I record these rapidly changing vistas by putting down words, quick sketches and by memory, and then the threads and stitches take over. They are all 5 in (13 cm) square and double mounted to 12 ins (30cm) square. I am always interested in what visitors to my blog think, so do comment if you would like to.

 

On the left, the stitched piece, and the quick drawing on the right, Costa Teguise sunset. I start with a drawing then put it away, never trying to copy. Below two night skies from the UK, “As Night Falls” on the left, and “Wintry Sky” on the right, this week’s work.

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The magic of sea, sunrise and sunset. I havent really looked at using the sea very often although it does feature in some of my work, maybe I’ll do more—

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And finally, these four all found new homes after my last exhibitions in 2017.

Exhibitions, looking back at 2017

26 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art, UK textile artists

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Preparing for, and selecting pieces for exhibitions is a time consuming task, and although I’ve done this many times it doesn’t necessarily get any easier! In 2017 I made work for, or sent work, to venues that were very different. Walford Mill in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, is a fabulous venue that always has an amazingly eclectic selection of artworks from small and delightful, to the thought provoking and dramatic. I was asked to send 3 pieces to Textile Textures from April to June, and was lucky enough to have this piece, “Poppies Beneath The Downs” featured on all the publicity. It didn’t come home!

Carol Naylor, Poppies beneath the Downs UK copy

I also made work for an exhibition with a local group of contemporary artists called ARTel, on the theme of Transience. I worked on the idea of sky, and the fleeting moments of colour that we see at different times of thEPSON MFP imagee year. I exhibited a series of six pieces, only 5 inches square, but mounted an framed to 12 inch squares, intimate, densely stitched, with rich overlapping lines of embroidery. Showing with artists who worked in paint, print, clay and photography was a very worthwhile and challenging experience.

Carol Naylor, Skyscape-sunset

Recently I held a joint exhibition with my painter husband Albert at the local  Oxmarket arts centre, Paintings, drawings and textiles that combined to give what we hoped was a rich and diverse experience. Some images follow.

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Skyscapes, preparing new ideas

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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Working towards a new exhibition is always challenging. I recently joined a group of  contemporary artists called Artel, all of us based in, or near the city of Chichester in the UK. The theme is Transience. This started a train of thought that began with my passion for the natural world. One of the most transient aspects for me is the sky. Skies change as you look at them, colours and cloud formations drift, move, merge, disappear. The light changes constantly, and the winds create rhythmic patterns that dance and swirl, offering endless possibilities that are perfect for abstracting and experimenting.

Capturing moments in time like this with a sewing machine is not easy. Over a period of months I made notes or quick sketches that were no more than a series of hasty lines. I took photos to help me remember colours, although these were soon ignored as ideas began to form. I NEVER work directly from a photo but use them as aides-memoire. Here are some pieces. They are small compared to my usual works, between 4-6 inches square, (10-16 cms) but who knows, maybe they will lead onto larger pieces later this year.

The first image is from a sunset, and the second a late afternoon sky

Carol Naylor, Skyscape-sunset

Little Skyscape Carol Naylor

This is a drawing/collage from my sketchbook. It has helped me make decisions, although it’s not been used as a direct starting point as I had intended to make a much larger piece, but a broken wrist got in the way!

Transiense drawing001 copy

and finally an explosion of gold and blues influenced by the collage above- I think I like it best so far! Your comments would be interesting and helpful.

Carol Naylor, skyscape, early evening

The Colour Red-poppies and memories 1

06 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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I find red one of the most difficult colours to work with, and tend to add it into a piece of work to provide richness, splashes of colours, and to represent flowers such as poppies without trying to “copy” a flower. In this post you will see some of the landscape that has inspired me, and I explain some more stitch techniques. Sizes given are always for the actual embroidery and dont include mounts, or framing.

This poppy field in France was the start of what became a gentle obsession, looking for glimpses of scarlet amongst the corn, grasses and wheat in France, England and Italy. This post looks at French and English imagery

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I made a series of works where I used photos to jog my memory, and then drew directly onto my base canvas having put the photos away. The following piece is one that I felt worked well. I used cable stitch from the reverse side for much of the work (explained in my last post, From Drawings to a Stitched Landscape) and then put a heavy red woollen Burmilana/lana no 12 in the bobbin, loosened the bobbin case screw horribly(!) tightened my top thread, a normal no 30, and stitching on  the correct side of the canvas the top thread whipped the red thread through. If you try this be prepared to scream and shout a lot as threads do sometimes break! Its called “Glimpses of Scarlet and Gold” 21 x 28cm approx and was based on fields on France.

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In the first smaller piece the red contrasts with the softer colours of cornfields as this is from my local landscape, The South Downs 14cm x 18cm approx embroidery size. The second one is smaller still, 10cm x 13cm, and is called “Poppies Ablaze”. Here I went back to cable stitch couching the heavy red from the back, then turning to the front and wandering across the red freely with greens and golds to get a feel of intensity broken by line

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poppies-ablaze-cropped

In my next post I’ll look at reds used in other landscapes from Italy and Spain and a private commission where “red” was requested!

 

From drawings to a stitched landscape

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, Spain, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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I have recorded here some of the stages of my most recent embroidery, completed this week, and would welcome your comments. The drawing was done in central Spain near Covarrubias last summer. I have shown some of the stitching as it develops, explaining the processes that resulted in this final piece, a Spanish landscape that contrasts strongly with my gentler South Downs pieces.

Here is the drawing, A4, pencil, pastels, watercolour pencils, and pen.

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The planning stage with mainly Madeira threads, Natesh and Wonderfil added later

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I draw a few main lines directly onto the painters canvas, stitch them in and then turn to the back as most of the work is done with cable stitch. This technique means putting threads that are too heavy to go through the eye of the needle on the bobbin. I stitch on the reverse side of the canvas, couching down the heavy threads to give long, uninterrupted lines of threads- the next image shows me workimg from the back. The top thread colour is important as it affects the bobbin thread adding new  colours to the piece eg the bright red is couching down a heavy metallic copper underneath.

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I have to keep turning to the front, shown next, to make sure I’m happy with what I’m doing, but as the bobbin runs out every 3 minutes I get plenty of opportunity to correct any errors and add any fine details. You can see below that the fabric starts to move and undulate. I “go with the flow” in the hope I can control the final results!

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-and here it is, 24cm x 35cm approx. The drawing is  only ever a guide, as once I start stitching, the thought processes and techniques take over. I never try to copy my sketches, but aim to translate and interpret. Hope you found this useful and interesting!

–looking-towards-clunia-final

 

Sketchbooks, the 90s

15 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in Drawings, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, Spain, Textile Art

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My first entry for 2017 and it’s a look at my sketchbooks in the 90s. All the drawings here are from 1991-92 and there’s quite a change of direction. I started looking at architecture and architectural features, so here are drawings from France and Spain. I also show two embroideries that evolved from the drawings.

Carol Naylor Beach Umbrellas 1993

Beach Umbrellas, Costa Brava.( machine embroidery onto muslin) The embroidery came after making about six drawings. The first, which is the delicate pencil drawing below, was made in situ on the beach. Then I made several others, extracting shapes and lines until I felt I was ready to stitch. The final piece in no way copies my drawings but I hope shows the developing ideas

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beach Umbrella sketch 3

I visited France on a field trip with students, Chartres and the Matisse chapel at Vence were just two venues. Here are some designs I did after looking at Matisse’s amazing windows.( the on site sketches are difficult to show here) I eventually did a series of embroideries based on stained glass but with my own take! So you see. I didnt always makw landscapes! Art evolves all the time– The embroidery below was onto calico that I painted and then stitched.

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Sketchbooks revisited, the 80s part 2

28 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, Textile Art

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Some more drawings from my 1980s sketchbooks to look at, from a garden in France to a student field trip to Munich via Garmisch Partenkirchen. I  did not always draw with end products in mind, but to record where I was, what I was thinking and so on. Many pages are too messy or sketchy to put here, but I’ve found a few that show my journey They are shown in chronological order . Next post-the 90s! The first drawing was made in a garden in Cesson, France 1982. One of my followers might recognise the venue!

All drawings approx 20cm x 18cm French garden 1982 Detail followed by full page .

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The alps at Garmisch in 1986 and yes it was cold drawing outside so it was done very quickly!

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Fruit bowl 1985, pencil and coloured pencils, drawing what’s in front of whilst the TV was on

fruit-bowl-001

This is a pastel drawing from 1989. I was looking at landscapes and playing with potential ideas for embroidery. I did work  up a series, but only have a couple on old fashioned slides!

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In 1989 we seemed to keep coming across standing stones, dolmens, rocky formations on our travels, so lots of drawings did lead to a series of works in handmade pulp with additional stitch and fibres. Here’s a drawing and one of the final pieces which I made for an exhibition in 1990. The drawing uses pastel and a tippex pen

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carol-naylor-1988-dolmen

see you in the 90s next time!

Sketchbooks revisited, the80s

06 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Drawings, Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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With over 35 years of sketchbooks in my studio I decided to look back to see what I was doing at various times during my career. It has been somewhat revelatory! I drew differently, often more boldly, without holding back, used a wider variety of media, and  frequently explored ideas that I thought I could use with my students. Back in the 80s with a fulltime lecturing post and a young family, I did make my own work, and had several exhibitions in the south of England, but I have no real record of those in visual terms. Do take a look at my drawings and ideas from the 1980s. You might be as surprised as I was!

This is from 1986. I photocopied some images, including pieces by Henry Moore, cut fragments up, pasted them down, then drew freely from them, inventing a surreal landscape. It was an exercise I did quite often, I found several in different books during this decade. I did quite a lot of mono printing and also batik at this time.

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Here’s a more formal drawing from 1983 and its one of the few drawings I remember doing. On a field trip with students to Florence and Venice, on a cold, rainy March day, I sat in the Duomo in St Marks Square, and drew what was in front of me. You can see the date in the bottom lefthand corner. Its bolder and more direct compared to my current architectural studies and stays in the memory far longer than a photo!

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The following mixed media piece shows me playing with pastels and pencils, thinking about land and sea in an abstract way. Its dated 1986. I did a lot of papermaking at this time, and this would have been part of my thought processes. I rather like it!

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We spent several years as a family on a gite in France in Brittany. Here’s a drawing I’d totally forgotten, of the lake at Le Lendu. 1987 Pencil, pen and pastel

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and finally, from my 1989 sketchbook, an abstracted drawing from a friend’s garden using pastels. Now I’m thinking I need to look at these again and start stitching from them! More to follow in my next post–

journey-garden-89

www.textileartist.org

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by in Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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The owners of this terrific website have started producing ebooks for sale. This is such a good idea, bringing the world of contemporary textiles to a wide audience at very affordable prices. I am delighted to say that I have a chapter in their most recent book, A Response to Landscape. This includes some fabulous work by other artists so well worth taking a look. I’ve now created a new PAGE here on my blog called http://www.textileartist.org which has links to several books including the aforementioned one. Do take a look.

In the meantime here are some of the images of mine that you can see. I talk about the way in which landscape has been a major influence on my life and my work. Both these images are based on the South Downs where I live. A summers day catching glimpses of poppies in the distance, and the Downs near Goodwood, which I see as soon as I start to travel north out of my home town Chichester

CN Where poppies bloom

downs near Goodwood