Before we began our task for this workshop, we had to create a mood board based around our chosen colour palette. From the start I wanted a bright and colourful colour scheme as I felt it would let me work with a range of tones and combinations. The images I chose for my mood board are a combination of geometric images and images where the colours blend into each other, both soft and harsh.

After completing this mood board, I felt that I wasn’t portraying the mood and feeling as best as I could so I created a second quick mood board to try to. I combined images that are of things that interest me with other modern images to try and convey bright, fun atmosphere within the mood board. I found this a lot harder than I originally thought as I struggled to find images that showed what I was trying to portray.

Research:

Textile Designer:

A textile designer’s job is to produce sketches, designs, and samples for presentation to customers. For my research, I am focusing on the work of Marilyn Kern Textile Designs, Inc. It is a New York established, award-winning studio as well as agents to printmakers worldwide. They provide textile design and surface patterns to influential manufacturers and textile companies in the industry. Some of the services they provide include embroidery, digital printing, and colourways. Before this research, I wasn’t aware of this occupation and found it interesting how important of a role they play within the industry.

Textile Artist:

For my textile artist research, I am exploring the work of Karen Dodd. Her work stood out to me due to the fact that her work looks like living things and not necessary textiles. She works predominantly with the natural world, which is clearly visible when looking at her work. Dodd uses textile, print making and collage. Her work usually involves large scale drawings and woven, bound, and stitched textile forms. In Dodd’s most recent work, her main focus has been open spaces, like the dark, the winter and husk and hollows. I found this interesting as it is a subject matter often overlooked by other artists but holds a lot of potential. Her recent exhibitions include Our Earth, Kunsthuis Gallery, Yorkshire in 2018 and Fifty Bees 4, Group Show, Black Swan Arts, Frome in 2020.

Fashion Designer:

For not having a lot of knowledge in regard to the fashion world, Alexander McQueen has always been a name I recognised. McQueen (1969-2010) was a London-based, English fashion designer who was the head of the Louis Vuitton Givenchy fashion line, before starting his own. While working for theatrical costume designers Angels and Bermans, he discovered his dramatic style which he would later become iconic for in his independent work. I really like how he breaks barriers within his work and designs of the ‘normal’ fashion. In particular, his dresses always hold a shock factor, a good one, and the audience never knows what’s going to come down the catwalk.