Nostel Priory

I decided to visit a stately home as I needed more visual research to work from, so I decided to visit Nostel Priory as I knew they have an extensive collection of Chippendale furniture which was popular in mid- eighteenth century. This visit was very useful as I took many photos of fabrics and furnishings, detailing on every day objects in the home. I will now draw and work designs from these.

Special Collections

I decided to visit Special Collections in the university library to help me start off my visual research as I felt I already have a lot of Contextual references to get me started. I found a few interesting book covers and a book on the history of wallpaper which was quite interesting. There was also lots of books of drawings of the Gods and cherubs, depicting Greek mythology. There was also some old books on lace that I managed to take some photos of, and some photos of work by Raphael.

Concept Artists

I found the work of Giles Miller Studio on the Elle Decoration website and liked how varied their surface designs are, for interiors using different materials mostly created into wall tiles.

I also found a lot of interesting pattern designers on 'The Rug Company' website, showing work from designers of all genres of the art industry. One artist I liked was the graphic work of Alexandra Champalimaud, using her experiences with commissions in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America she was inspired to create her collection of prints for The Rug Company.

I think the work that The Designers Guild has done for the rug company is particularly relatable to my project as they appear to be inspired by flock wallpaper designs, traditionally in stately homes.

I also like the designs of Helen Amy Murray because of her inspiration from nature, I also do this a lot. I like her use of relief, I would like to work more with this in the future.

Concept Ideas

• traditional
• decadency
• classic
• British
• vintage
• lace
• Greek
• dilapidated
• torn
• natural
• fragile layers
• ornament
• Roman
• trim
• mesh/ net
• delicacy 
• detail
• artefacts
• light
• shadows
• traditions
• stately
• statues

Elle Decoration Design Awards- Best Wall Covering

I started looking at winners of the Best Wall Covering category in the Elle Decoration Awards as I thought this would give me some good visual research that is innovative and recent. One of the artists that I liked was Linda Florence, who is inspired by wallpaper that evolves over time becoming more beautiful with wear and tear, artefacts so her work has the same basic idea as mine. I like that her work combines traditional and modern techniques to create her patterns. I also like how sophisticated and modern her patterns look, yet they are inspired by the aged.

Sugar pattern using stencils

Scratch card wallpaper 

Another artist I liked was Laur Meyrieux, who uses fine art images in her work. I like how bold her work is, yet how simple and feminine it is. 

'Wallpaper' by Lachlan Blackley

One certain artist that really stood out to me in Wallpaper magazine was Susan Bradley, who creates innovative interior and exterior wallpaper using a distinctive graphic quality. I like her use of varied materials which I like to experiment with in my own work.

Textiles Now

I found a lot of interesting artists in the book 'Textiles Now' by Drusilla Cole, who use different ways and styles of printing. One of the more well known designers from the book is Ptolemy Mann who creates woven panels of colour and geometric forms for interior spaces. Her work is based solely on the blending of colour and shapes, inspired by the colour theory of Bauhaus where colours vibrate and become three dimensional when next to each other.

I was also interested in the dye work of India Flint, who is interested in recycling using natural dying and natural fibres combined with her extensive knowledge of dye techniques. The colours from these techniques are so natural yet bold, like she has extracted every last bit of colour from her natural material (eg: fruit or vegetable) into the fabric. The textures are also incredible and create a real depth to her work.

I also like the playfulness of Zakee Shariff's work, her colours and shapes, bold and confident. I also like that her work is also so diverse, ranging from fine art to publishing, and styling to interiors.

Fashion Research

Mary Katrantzou-

• ethereal stories
• sophisticated 
• architectural
• dramatic
• hourglass
• accentuating
• eye-popping brights

Erdem-

• controlled and feminine 
• sophisticated
• mix of power and gentleness
• appliqué
• tweed
• overlay

Initiating research

As I didn't have a clear idea for my concept I decided I needed to do a lot of research to help me decide. I started researching the main areas of

• fashion
• wallpaper
• lace
• interiors
• pattern

I started my research in the library looking at different books on these topics. One artist that I was instantly interested in was Angel Chang, who's work appears to be just normal fashion clothing apart from a few quite extraordinary changes!

This piece was inspired by the artist Bob Ross, a glow in the dark jacket in case you ever got lost searching for the landscapes Bob Ross paints. Glow in the dark fabric usually looks cheap and not like an expensive one off jacket at all.

This dress was inspired by the women spies in World War 2, this dress would have inabled them to walk around with the map on their body, when the fabric is warmed up by the body heat of the woman the print of the map becomes visible. This was made possible with heat sensitive ink.
   
One print designer that I liked was Hanna Werning, her prints are inspired by nature and seem to have a friendly feel to them because of the bold shapes and warm colours. But their is a child like simplicity to her work which I don't want with mine, I want my work to feel more sophisticated.

I also really like the work of Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons who are the founders of company Timorous Beasties. I like there combination of old and new designs with there use of colour with grey tones, mimicking old fashioned wall papers and fabrics.

Intentions Project

For the beginning of this new project, we were set a task to create our own concept for a project, to help us do this we needed to break down how we work and what we are interested in. I used my summer mood boards to help me do this, I knew before I even started looking that I wanted to do the digital print workshop as I have recently become very interested in photoshop and the different effects I am able to create, I wanted to study this further, but I was unsure whether my work would be for fashion or interiors.

     I noticed from my mood boards that I am interested in layering and different surfaces, my work is very tactile, but yet I am now wanting to put this traditionally 3D quality into something 2D, so my tutor told me to look at the work of Norma Stasnakova. So leading from this I thought about things that are dilapidated or torn. I also noticed that I take inspiration from old textiles processes such as embroidery and lace.