Pastel Perspective on Architecture- 3rd Year

 

 

This project is primarily influenced by the manipulation of yarns I saw at Handweavers Studio and Gallery that created three-dimensional structures within the weave. The theme for the project is architecture because this lends itself to the types of geometric and structured fabrics I wish to design.  Architectural elements from the city of Leeds, and from my home town on the Isle of Man have provided the inspiration for my textile designs. Leeds provided ideas from modern office buildings and the Victorian quarter. My research includes investigating cultural and historical elements of the architecture.   Isle of Man provided colour inspiration from the local houses, which tend to be presented in a soft and delicate range of colours.

The architecture of Leeds and the Isle of Man has given me a broad range of photographic resources of the three-dimensional structures and the geometric design. In turn these have influenced my drawings for this project, combining the graphic qualities and the softness of the pastel colours.

Using architecture as the theme has given me the opportunity to push my research into many different areas. I have looked at technical processes, yarns, applications, and have been influenced by several textiles designers. Whilst I was on placement at Handweavers I was able to attend a workshop with Ann Richards, experimenting with high twist yarns. This has given me inspiration for my woven designs, combining active yarns with non-active yarns, which creates structured pleats within my weaves both in the warp and weft. This then led me to experiment with mixing unusual yarns together, creating fabrics that will manipulate when water has been applied.