Weave.

Starting Weave I was looking forward in trying something new as i've never done any weaving before, however it takes SO long to set the weave up, let alone actually weaving…

Table Loom.

Setting up. (This is not a step by step guide.)

1. After picking the thread you want for the 'warp' (the base thread held on tension) you need to do a few calculations to work out how many strands of thread per inch (EPI - Ends Per Inch), then working out for half and then finally overall how many threads you need. After all this has done you need to measure out how much thread you need, for this you'll need to use a device called a 'Warping Frame'.

Warping Frame. 

2. After the thread has been measured out you need to tie it so the thread doesn't get all tangled.

3.  When all of this has been done, its time to think about actually putting it onto the loom.

Making sure to keep the tension you have to slowly unravel the thread and tie it tightly to the loom and wind all of the thread to the loom leaving the excess bit to reach the other end of the loom, by this time if you haven't been driven ad by this long winded process you are about to…

4. Its time to thread the heddles…nearly. First you need to work out the design you want to use as you won't be able to change it later, once its threaded its threaded! When you've decided on the design you then need to make sure that you thread it the correct way which correlates to your design, when thesis worked out you can start to thread it up.

Threaded Loom, threaded through the heddles and the comb and ready to go!…Finally.

Threading the loom is so tedious, especially as I worked with around 180 ends and had to thread them up individually. I really like the whole idea of the loom and think that it defiantly pays off with what you are able to produce and brings out some great effects, but the set up in my view is way to time consuming.

Embroidery.

The second workshop is embroidery. I've done a fair bit of embroidery throughout sixth form and college so I feel a lot more confident in this area than I did with knit. As my theme has further developed I've decided to look more into Taxidermy, with this in mind and wanted to keep my work quite illustrative.

I wanted to focus more on the image of a Stag, as this is one of the classical animals for taxidermy. I wanted to do the majority of my embroidery work by hand, however there are time constraints so I was only limited to have one hand sample.

Hand Stitched sample of a Stags Head. (Variety of different wools used to create the colour tones in the stags hair.)

I thoroughly enjoy embroidery and in my mind its a big contender for what I should specialise in, I just love putting the time and patience into something and getting something good from it, whether its a small image….or a huge tapestry.

Knitting.

This week at uni we started on doing different workshops, which include;

• Knit
• Weave
• Print
• Embroidery
• Multi-media

I started with Knit, having never done knit before i'm a bit apprehensive about how it will turn out and if I will ever get the hang of it. Having been shown previous work I knew that i was going to be in trouble, it all looked SO perfect.

Work from the year before (really like these colours, thinking of sticking to these colours for my colour scheme.)

I wont lie, when I first started to 'cast on' I had NO idea what I was doing, but thankfully after a while I got the hang of it, its like riding a bike. I feel like until i've done a few stitches I wont be confident in experimenting with new designs.

(Yarn, 100% premium acrylic. Charcoal.)

I definitely think that knitting is coming back into style and not just seen as a 'grandma's hobby'. I've only tried it today and I'm hooked! Knitting is NOT a dying art! I would 100% recommend it to anyone, its so easy to pick up and personal I could spend hours doing it.

The New Art Gallery Walsall.

As a Textiles student I try and visit a variety of different galleries and museums, to get a range of influences and techniques that could help develop my own work. I am currently starting a new project and I'm slightly unsure on the topic I want to do it on, after a lot of deliberation I managed to get to the subject of 'The Unknown', this covering a huge range of categories such as; religion, conspiracy theories and death.

Yesterday I visited The New Art Gallery in Walsall, where I saw a few exhibitions:

• Damien Hirst - Artist Rooms
• Jacob Epstein and Damien Hirst - Birth, Death and Religion
• Ged Quinn
• The Farman Ryan Collection and The Epstein Archive

I decided to visit this gallery as the exhibitions on show linked with my topic of choice, plus its the last chance to see the work Damien Hirst, as his exhibitions and his joint exhibition with Jacob Epstein ends on the 27th of October 2013.

'Away from the Flock' (1994). This is one of Damien Hirst's most famous works. When I saw this piece I was blown away, I just thought it was amazing that these real life animals were preserved in such away. Hirst managed to preserve the sheep in formaldehyde-filled containers, he's created a series of dead animals (sheep, cows, sharks, foxes, horses etc) like this and also included some taxidermy work. Sadly however the sheep was the only piece available in the collection. Upon seeing the sheep I would think that taxidermy is another branch that I could use in relation to my topic. I would definitely recommend seeing this exhibition or another exhibition where they display Hirst's work, especially in the dead animal series, this is a piece you NEED to see for yourself to really appreciate and get a real feel for this installation.

Jacob Epstein

Ged Quinn

Ged Quinn

Looking at the work of Ged Quinn, certain elements of his work really fit, seeing elements of conspiracy theories (all seeing eye and the devil) and religious elements. This show I found really interesting because its rare that you come across works which join the elements of a 'classic' painting, with other aspects, which aren't necessarily modern, but combine two very different styles. Quinn's work is so striking, I found that when you look at one of his painting you keep finding new things with the picture. I found this show really thought provoking, in my mind as the paintings are done in a Victorian style, it show a part of that time you forget. Victorians were very superstitious and in paintings you don't see that side and its as if he's pointing out that it was all still there.

I really enjoyed visiting The New Art Gallery, I would definitely recommend people to go and see the exhibitions they have to offer, its only a short walk from the station, plus its free admission. All of the shows on were good and i'd definitely consider to go back to The New Art Gallery Walsall, and I would definitely see something of each artist again, especially Damien Hirst, the only draw back I have is that I wish they would have had more of Hirst's work in relation to the dead animal series as I found them so interesting.

Have you been to any good shows or exhibitions recently? i'd love to hear about it, don't be shy :)