Tag Archives: abstraction

Drawing, Threads and Stitching

22 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in Drawings, Embroiderers Guild UK, Exhibitions, Inspirations, Textile Art

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A long overdue post by me, so I thought I’d look at drawings and embroideries  where I sometimes simply take a small aspect of something I’ve seen to translate. I always say that once I start a piece, the threads and machine seem to take over! I close the sketchbook up and then see what happens. Still working on skies, here are a couple of quick on the spot drawings and the work that came from them, with a selection of my threads as well.

Very quick drawing, skies change so quickly
Purple and Amber sky

The very quick drawing on the left helped me start the embroidery, 5in /13cm square. I started with the idea of form and colours, began to stitch and put the sketchbook away.

 

Sicily Remembered 1Drawing Sicily001

I was able to record these mountains in Palermo,and then had to try and remember the skies I had seen. The richness of the sun was my main interest, and the way the colours of the sky changed from pinks to pale yellow and blues. I love all my threads! I always make a limited selection to begin with, then add or subtract others as the stitching develops. I use heavyweight metallic threads, weights 8, 12 and 15, as well as metallic no 40, plus lots of rayon threads, mainly weight 30. Madeira classic no 12 is a huge favourite of mine,  but Wonderfil also make some glorious threads and I love their rayons, weights 8 and 12. I use cotton embroidery threads of course, and woollen/acrylic mixes as well.

Threads.JPG

—and then sometimes I draw simply to record where I am. My sketchbooks are my diaries. I used to make architectural pieces, so maybe I’ll go back to looking at buildings, but I suspect  they would be much more abstract!

Cepeda drawing 2018

My next post will record the development of a piece I am to make for the next touring exhibition of the embroiderers guild called “Home”,  so look out for it although I have only just started it!

 

 

 

 

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!

Daybreak001

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

EPSON scanner image

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

 

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.

2017-09-25 14.42.312017-09-25 14.42.572017-09-25 14.42.24

Art and Textiles from Spain to Scotland

10 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by in Drawings, Embroiderers Guild UK, Inspirations, Spain, stitched textiles, Textile Art

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As always a busy summer schedule included work and play! Our usual month away in Spanish hideaways, wonderful landscapes for inspiration, staying with friends who are like family, was swiftly followed by a flight to Glasgow to teach for the Scottish Region of the Embroiderers Guild on the stunning campus at Stirling University. You can see some of my drawings here, plus examples from the summer school, an amazingly responsive group of students who played and worked hard in equal measure! The first images are from Spain, followed by a selection of work from Stirling summer school.

Sunflowers near Sepulveda, sketch book drawing. I hope to use this and the second drawing as starting points for embroideries this autumn.

 

2017-07-30 10.25.32Carol Naylor drawing

This is the wonderful Posada de San Millan in Sepulveda where we stay with our delightful friend Pilar.

2017-07-29 16.17.17

 

Lavender and sunflowers growing in fields side by side on the tiny road between Santo Domingo de Silos, and Lerma inspired this memory drawing as there was nowhere to stop the car safely!

Lavender an Sunflower001Carol Naylor drawing

 

And now for Scotland. The wonderful campus at Stirling University

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Here are some if the wonderful pieces made by my students. The theme was The Land we Know so nearly all had images from the wonderful landscapes of Scotland. Many of them had only done basic machine embroidery before. It shows what you can achieve in under 4 days. Maybe the late evening wine helped! There were 15 students so I can’t really show all the work here, but I felt so proud of their achievements.

,20170827_172106 By Ruth Blakey, taught by Carol Naylor

20170827_171035by Isobel Shaw, taught by Carol Naylor

20170827_171838by Maureen Griffiths, taught by Carol Naylor

20170827_195234 (1)by Susan Gray, taught by Carol Naylor

I think these give an idea of what is possible if you are brave enough to fly on your sewing machine!

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

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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french-garden-1982001

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!

landscape-abstract-001

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

dolmen-1982001

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.

journey-1-henry-moore001

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!

journey-st-marks-1883001

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!

journey-1-mixed-media002

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

journey-1-france001

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

ArtExpo2015 Milano, Italy

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by in Exhibitions, galleries, Inspirations, stitched textiles, UK textile artists

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My next venture is participating in an international exhibition in Milan that is running alongside the Universal Expo 2015 taking place there this summer. The exhibition is being presented byArtMeet Gallery whho are based in the city and have been running exhibitions, community projects and other ventures. THe show will take place in the Spazzio Progetto, East End Studios and runs from July 3rd- September 30th. http://www.artexpo2015.com. The piece I’m sending is a favourite of mine from my Irish series, called The Mountains of Mourne, so although I’ve shown it in an earlier post, here it is again. As there are only two UK artists showing from those invited. I’m pleased to see textiles taking its place amongst the paintings and sculptures!

C Naylor, Mountains of Mourne

and here’s a stitch detail which shows the way I used metallic gold threads to try and capture the essence of the light catching the land. I’ve used a range of threads, mainly from the Madeira range. 30weight golds are overstitched onto classic rayon no 12 and Burmilana wool/acrylic mix. I’ve also used Natesh Empress rayon and all these were put in the bobbin and done from the reverse before I added the fine lines from the front

Detail MM

My next post will concentrate on  Art in Action in July, an event not to be missed!

Lavender Fields 2015

10 Tuesday Mar 2015

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

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I published a post in 2014 about a series of small textiles I’d made from a visit to local lavender fields in West Sussex, UK. I’ve recently been working on a series of drawings and new pieces for exhibitions and galleries coming up in 2015. Drawing for me is an essential part of the process, allowing me to moderate ideas, record, change and translate. All the drawings are from my sketch book, my current “visual diary”

My textiles are not about imitation, but about experience. Walking through the fields, the heady smells and the rich colour palette provided by the environment was unforgettable, and I hope my work says something about it. My next post will give details of forthcoming exhibitions, venues and times.

Drawing no 1, inktense, pastels pencil, pen

Lavender Drawing001

Drawing no 2 gouache, pastels, pen,

Lav One drawing two002

Drawing no3, inktense, pencil, pastels, pen

Lav One drawing001

Stitched Textiles, threads nos 6/12/15/30 weights by Madeira and Natesh, rayon, cotton and metallic ranges

Textile ” Lavender Panorama” 23cm x34cm

Lavender Panorama

Stitched Textiles, threads nos 6/12/15/30 weights by Madeira and Natesh, rayon, cotton and metallic ranges, with some merino wool fibres added

” Lavender Flow” 21cm x21cm

Lavender flowing

Developing ideas and techniques

04 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Drawings, Inspirations, Processes, stitched textiles

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I’ve recently been re-visiting some of my earlier work and am surprised how much my techniques have developed and changed. Up to around 2004 my work was quite vigorous and gestural, but as my fascination for landscape took over, I began to work more regularly on a less dramatic scale, concentrating on building up line upon line. This allowed me to really draw more with the needle rather than making sweeps of colour. In the images here, you can see how the very heavily textured earlier pieces contrast with the more recent ones. THe first image is a detail from a series I made based on rivers. This was a trial piece for a much larger hanging. (1999)

EPSON scanner image

I used a very loose top tension which was dragged over the heavier threads in the bobbin ( I do most of my work this way!) I’ve spent today repairing and re-working a larger hanging from this series and hope to show it at a later date.

The next image is a hanging called Harbour. One metre in width, it included ideas taken from aerial photography. I was happy with the ebb and flow of the watery section and the overlaid white highlights. I made a companion piece to this which found a new home last year! (2004)

Hanging-Harbour

Finally a more recent piece that shows the way in which I try to now build layers through over stitching with many different threads. This is a detail of a piece I made for a textiles challenge on facebook. I’ll write more about this next time! (2014)

Fading summer light detail