Mr Finch

Mr finch is a textiles artist living and working in Leeds who specialises in textile sculptures of both flora and fauna.

Mr finch started making his pieces after years of exploration over series of different media until he found his forte in sewing and creating sculptural pieces.
My finch is heavily inspired by nature and his surroundings often taking inspiration from creatures found in his local area as sometimes even fairytales. He likes to think of his work as characters from his own story and imagines them coming alive. He often makes some of his pieces very human dressing animals in human cloathes creating similar figures to that of the wind and the willows franchise.

He likes to use found materials and often gets his fabric from vintage stores and charity shops transforming the unwanted into unusual creatures and flora, often focusing on the ethical side of textile art.

Here are a series of links to Mr Finch's website and blog showing his works and his development towards creating his works-
http://www.mister-finch.com
http://mynameisfinch.blogspot.co.uk

Silk Paper

Silk paper is a paper made from silk fivers which are binded together using water and heat. Unlike normal paper this has a fabric like feels as well has having a slight sheen to it. The paper can be used for a variety of processes such as print, batik and even embroidery. Other fibres can also be trapped in  silk paper including cotton and wool. Imagery can all be trapped within the silk divers if they are placed very thinly.

I decided to create my own silk paper which could be used for printing and machine embroidery. 

To create my silk paper I first payed a layers of baking paper on a surface suitable for ironing and sprayed this with a thin mist of water. I then placed small amounts of fibres vertically until I had created the shape and size I wanted the paper to be. After I had laid my first layer I then laid a second and third layer in alternate directions until I felt the paper would be thick enough and sprayed this with a further layer of water. I placed another sheet of baking paper over the top of this.

Once I had placed down all my layers I then ironed the fibers until they fused together and flattened to create paper. I ironed this for some time to remove all the moisture, when making silk paper the water allows a glue like substance which binds the fibers together and so all the moisture has to be removed to ensure the fibers are glued together successfully. 

I created a both plain and decorative silk paper including silk paper with added imagery of insecT's and my own illustrations. I could then add print work to this and machine embroidery of my own illustrations.
Due to the nature of the paper and fibers it would be very difficult to add large amounts of machine stitch as the paper would not be very strong unless a large amount of layers were applied I would also have to take care when printing onto the silk paper as wetting the glue could cause the fibers to become sticky.
When creating the silk paper I had to take care to ensure I did not make it too thick as the fibers would not be able to bind successfully, because of this I would not be able to make thick silk paper.
Health and safety.
- Care must be taken to keep hands away from the hot plate of the iron.
- The iron must not be held in the same place for two long as it will burn the fabric beneath.
- Wires must be placed away from walk ways to ensured there is no tripping hazard.
- The iron must always be switched off after use.
- If there is a frequent use of the silk fibers a mask should be worn to avoid damage to the respiratory system.
- When using a spray bottle and liquid water should not be sprayed near electricity.

Equipment List-
- Iron
- Baking paper
- Carded silk cocoon fibers
- Spray bottle
- Water
- Other fibers (optional)
- Imagery (optional)

Synthetic fabric

Lutradur-
Lutradur is a non-woven fabric made from polyester. Intended for industrial use, it can come in a variety of thicknesses and stiffness; making it good for three dimensional pieces. Lutradur can be painted, dyed, and cut. The fabric does not fray allowing it to be cut into a variety of shapes without damage. It has a very translucent texture in lower weights and can be layered over other fabrics to reveal the layers below.
Here is a sample of Lutradur which I have dyed with Indian inks in autumnal colours, I then hear gunned this piece of fabric to create a broken and decayed texture.

Polyester organza-
Organza is a polyester based fabric with a shiny surface, can be found in most fabric stores. Due to the light weight consistency of the fabric it can be heat gunned to create a textural effect or soldered using a sharp pointed soldering iron which would allow the layers to stick together as well as easily slicing through layers of fabric. The fabric is very translucent allowing it to be placed in layers but is also very hard to stitch as the fabric is very light weight and can get caught in a sewing machine if care is not taken.
Here is a piece of polyester organza which I have tied beads and other objects into and used a steamer to set the beads to reveal a raised texture almost like creeping fungi.

Tyvek-
100% polyester, spun. Can be purchased in several weights, all of which can be moulded when hot and textured with different methods of heat. Like organza it can also be translucent allowing it to be layered with other fabrics. Unlike other synthetic fabrics it will not give off fumes when heated.

Batik

To experiment with different textures and dying techniques for fabric I decided to use batik.

Batik is a resist method of dying fabric. Wax is applied to the fabric in a particular patter or design (this can be free hand or a press mould can be used) when batik dye is applied (proceon, disperse, batik dye) the water based liquid only absorbs into the areas of fabric without wax, resisting the areas that wax has been applied too.

To create my batik pieces I first decided on my designs. My chosen themes for my project are; natural, texture and construction, because of this I chose to do a close up of a moth wing and a drawing of an insect which I have been inspired by previously in my project.
I started with my close up of a moth wing, filling the dropper pen with hot wax (which was previously melted in a special heater) I then used the pen tool to draw out my design. I used a dropper pen with a larger hole for the larger block details and a thinner hole for the small details within the piece. 

Once the wax was dry I used the batik dyes and a paint brush to apply the dye to the appropriate areas. I mixed up several relevant colours and use water to dilute them where needed. 

I used the same technique to create my insect illustration.

Once I had applied the dyes and wax to my pieces I allowed them to dry, once dry it was time to remove the wax. 

To do this I first placed each piece in between several layers of sugar paper (used for it's absorbency) I then used a hot iron to melt the wax, the melted wax would then soak into the sugar paper leaving a clean piece behind. This revealed the white areas where the dye had not taken. 

Equipment list-
- Heated wax pot.
- Parrafin wax
- Batik pen
- Fabric
- Batik Dye
- Paint brush
- Iron
- Sugar paper


HEALTH AND SAFETY:
When creating a batik piece the user must take care when using the hot wax:
- The pens must be wiped after filled with wax to avoid spillages.
- The user must not touch the hot wax or the hot plate itself.
- When moving the wax pot the handles should be used and care must be taken to avoid spilling hot wax.
- The dye used in these samples was non toxic but you must always check to ensure the dye you use is safe. 

- When ironing the hot wax hands must be kept away from the hot plate of the iron and the iron must not be left on the fabric itself dye to risk of burning.

3D open & closed forms

OPEN FORMS-
To create these forms I first made a small ball using white clay. I then placed my thumb into the center of the ball making a bowl shaped form. Using the pinching method I slowly pinched the endges of the form insuring all the edges were the same width. As I pinched the edges of the form it began to change shape I created several different forms using the same technique.
Due to the nature of the clay some of the forms began to collapse as the width of the clay began to thin out. I could have improved this by using a larger amount of clay to create a larger form. I could have allowed my clay to dry out so it would be more sturdy, this would allow me to make the walls of the pinched form thinner.
After I made the basic shape of my forms I then used a series of tools to smooth the edges and give the work a cleaner look. To do this I used a curated metal kidney, rubber kidney and a smooth wooden kidney. These were used to remove the lumps and smooth out the harder edges. This made my pieces look more professional. When using the kidneys, I first used the curated kidney to remove the rough edges and lumps, this allowed the piece to take more shape. I then used the smooth wooden kidney to smooth out the marks created by the metal kidney. Finally I used the rubber kidney to smooth out the piece completely.
My three pieces were very different to each other as I wanted to test the clay's capability with this particular technique.
I could use this technique to make a large pinched form or a series of smaller pieces with various textures and shapes.

 CLOSED FORMS-

To create my closed forms I used the same pinching technique. To make the piece a closed form i made two open forms using the previous technique and attached the two together using a score and slip method. I textured these pieces using 3 different methods; adding pieces, removing and adding texture using sgraffito and pressing objects into the piece.
When adding texture to my pieces I had to allow them dry out to ensure they would still hold their form.
I could use this method to make a series of pinched closed forms with a variety of textures exploring the effects of different materials.
I then glazed my pieces using different types of glaze including copper and iron oxides and coloured glazes.
For firing times see - http://www.staffordinstruments.co.uk/files/clayman_firing_programs_ammended.pdf

After creating my open and closed forms I then made a series of pieces based on natural forms based on my chosen themes; Natural, Construction and Texture which would then be placed together as a final piece of work. I started by sketching a series of different natural forms using pencil to see how they could look as 3D pieces I then chose which ones I felt would look best together and started experimenting with clay to test the structures.
After experimenting with the different types of forms I started by making a closed form in the shape of a poppy seed, for this I added groves and coils to the work to make it look realistic. I also made a second seed pod piece. For this I first made an open bowl shape form and made a flat top and cut shapes to make it more representational of the seed pod I had chose.
After creating my work I allowed it to dry out slightly before I could place them together. I tested the composition of the piece placing them in different positions to ensure the structure would hold.

Equipment List-

• White clay
• Clay knives
• Rolling pin
• Kidneys- Rubber, curated, wood.
• Water

SEE SLIP CAST BOWL POST FOR CERAMICS HEALTH AND SAFETY.

Frottage

I created a series of frottage pieces using collage'd textural objects such as wallpaper scraps, cut card and corrugated paper. I cut basic shapes out of the different textures to give my frottage pieces an abstract feel, I then placed these carefully in interesting compositions to ensure the eye travels around the piece of work. Once I chose my composition I then glued the textures down and allowed them to dry, Once my frottage plates were dry I placed different papers of different thicknesses over the top of my frottage plates and used both pencil and graffite to pick up the different shapes and textures.
Due to the thickness of the papers and the strokes created with the pencil some of the textures were difficult to pick up. I found that using the graffite on printing paper came out the most clear and picked up the most amount of texture.
I then decided to experiment with ink and collage to give my pieces a different feel. I first placed printing paper over the top of my frottage plates and used a roller and relief ink to pick up the textures in a similar method to the pencil and graffite. I first used black ink which gave my work a ghostly feel as some of the frottage pieces appeared smudged or faint. I then decided to try out coloured ink, mixing white with prussian blue I created a pale blue ink which gave my work a softer look. I feel this worked well with my frottage plates and the textures I had created.

After experimenting with ink I also decided to used collage to give an impression of Wassily Kadinskys work. I cut brightly coloured paper into basic shapes and placed them onto white printing paper in a similar composition to my frottage plates. I then used this collage to place over one of my frottage plates, using black ink I then rolled over the ink using a small roller to make my work look similar to Kadinskys.

After creating my frottage pieces I could have used my frottage plates to create more subtle abstract pieces. I could have inked up the plates in the same way you would when creating a relief print, this could have then been used to print onto different backgrounds created using brightly coloured acrylic paint and collage.

Equipment list-

• Scissors
• Circle Cutter
• Coloured card
• Textured card, wallpaper ect.
• Various papers - Printing, newsprint, cartridge
• Relief ink
• Pencil
• Graffite stick

Yumi Okita

Yumi Okita is a textile based artists who creates insect sculptures using a variety of textile materials. She creates very textural sculptures of insects such as moths, using different techniques such as hand and machine embroidery as well as felting, drying fabric and wire construction. She also uses materials such as faux fur, embroidery thread and wire to create her pieces.
Living and working in North-Carolina she creates large scale pieces up to a foot long using all her different techniques constantly exploring the effects of new materials and the textures they will create.
Her pieces are very delicate and fragile which I like very much about her work. I like the quality of her work, as although they are made from textiles they are very realistic.
I could use a similar technique to create my own textile based pieces using my chosen themes; nature, construction and texture. I could combine several specialist fields inluding textiles, print and 3D construction.