Parcel From Nicola

This again, is a late post. I am finding it rather frustrating that the day-to-day is getting in the way of our project so I have taken great advantage of a free evening to catch up; Nicola's final parcel has proven very exciting. I have been eager to experiment!

I was very pleased that Nicola included materials that I have no experience in working with at all as yet, for example the hematite beads and pearls. Both are typically associated with jewellery as opposed to textiles, so it will be interesting for me to apply my skills in reworking them. The ring blanks too, will be interesting for me to play with; having no concept of 'building' a ring from bands such as these, I am hoping that my novice will introduce a new (and successful?!) use for them.

Nicola also provided interesting textile items, such that I am more familiar and confident in working with, though I will say, have prompted me to more consideration of my methods;

Mens' collars: I like the idea of working with this more rigid, masculine shape as I feel that I have subconsciously approached the project thus far, with solely females in mind, favouring looser shapes and softer fabrics. It will  be very interesting to see how rust might 'move' against a heavily starched surface.  I am currently pondering how I might best embellish and/or print designs onto these. It will be a great task to work with these in contrast to the beautiful, and extremely feminine vintage lace collar that Nicola also included. Having received them both in the same parcel, I am now able to consider the real difference in treatment they will require if I am to get the most from them.

 Pink Basque: I agree with Nicola entirely in that, upon first receiving this item, it did not seem to fit within our colour scheme but in considering the direction of our project now, it is a welcome addition to our palette and has wide scope for use. I can see too, it being useful as an embellished garment or in being 'stripped back', using parts of it to form other pieces.

Pins: I love that they are gold! For the most part, any pins that I have worked with in rusting experiments before, have been silver. I expect that this will prove fruitful in expanding our colour palette. Nicola is right in her comments considering shape and draping - I think their size and weight alone will provide us with a strong collection of experiments.

Large Brass Chains: I can only dream of the beautiful prints we can create with these - I want to experiment ALOT with scale here, repeats and layers. I can envision these working well alongside other items (mostly chains!) that Nicola has sent me in the past.

I am off to edit photographs (these will be posted VERY soon) and develop some sketches. Nicola has provided me with a wealth of inspiration in this package and I want to do it justice. It is worth noting as well that I absolutely love the box that the parcel arrived in (the collar case); the fact that this is a purpose built casing being used to house its intended contents as well as 'new' found members is a lovely notion when considering the ethos of Reworked.

Final Parcel for Sara.

So I have finally gotten round to completing the final parcel I will send to Sara as part of Re-worked, in order to move onto the next stage of the project. Sara and I had previously decided that we would show the contents of the parcel we would be sending online so that we could form initial ideas from viewing the items and perhaps changing ideas when getting into contact with them. This will allow us to voice the initial ideas as well as those that will come from interaction and closer inspection. We thought that we would share our ideas for the use of the items we were sending in order to compare them to the others initial reactions.

  

1. Box of men's vintage collars.

I came across the idea of men's collars early on when researching items to send to Sara when I was looking into buying vintage jewellery boxes. They instantly struck me as something I thought Sara would like as I think she tends to play around with androgynous styles. I like that they can act as a blank canvas for attaching something that has been "re-worked" to: I see them almost as a blank shank or necklace that needs further adornment. I think they would make great supports for textiles to hang from in a poncho-style or something chains and necklace style pieces could be attached to. Alternatively they could be pieces within themselves. The box they came from is also a fantastic piece with a crumbly surface that has been leaving little trails of powder everywhere: maybe this could be incorporated into a piece?

2. Large brass chains.

The idea of playing around with chains has also been circling around for a while, although I had originally thought of silver. However, after playing with wrapping nuts and bolts and larger objects, I thought it would be better to play around with larger chains as it leaves more room for play. I had noticed a lot of my blog posts contained sentences along the lines of "I like this idea but think it would work better on a larger scale." so I thought I would start off with large chains. Sara could possibly wrap these with threads or ribbon etc but I also thought that it would be interesting to see how she uses these on the body as these, for me, definately fall into the "jewellery" category. They also have the brass finish that left such interesting "prints" with the washers on felt so she could also incorporate that idea with them. A lot of scope for play I feel.

3. Vintage lace collar.

This collar was accidentally missed out of a previous parcel and I still feel it has a lot of relevance to Re-worked. It could act in a similar manner to the men's vintage collars but with a feminine edge - something that can be used to play around with soft/tough clashes. I like the shape of it - it could be attached to the body in a number of ways meaning it doesn't actually have to be used as a collar at all. I like the very antique look and colour: a lot of items used on Re-worked have been either white or orange with rust so I like that other shades are being introduced. 

4. Pins

These small pins will provide a lot of scope to experiment. One thing I immediately associate with fashion and textile is how they will be draped on the body and the shapes they create, so I thought that the pins could be used for working with textiles produced in the project. As well as helping us create pieces, I think these pins could be used as pieces themselves: clustered together and rusted, used to brand material and creating growth-like constructions within materials. Again, I like the play on them being almost jewellery-like: small metal objects so I am interested to see how Sara uses them.

5. Ring Blanks.

I liked the idea of using jewellery findings as a fun way of introducing embellishment to materials and also a fun and easy introduction to jewellery supplies for Sara. I personally don't use ring blanks such as these for my own work, as my shanks etc are hand created and silver, but I love them as a tongue-in-cheek take on introducing jewellery into the project. I think that, branded, these would make great shapes and silhouettes on textiles, sewn on, they will make great embellishments and also lend themselves to the rusting process. Again, because there is a lot of them, there is scope for play with these. They are very cheap so will be a great start for adding jewellery into experiments. The idea of "clusters" and "collections" is becoming apparent in a lot of the experiments for Re-worked so I think these will be interpreted fantastically.

6. Hematite beads.

I have wanted to give Sara some beads for a while now as they are, again, a small introduction to materials associated with the jewellery profession and they can also be sewn onto clothing as embellishment within textiles. I had struggled to think of stones that would lend themselves nicely to Re-worked when I came across the idea of using hematite. I've used hematite in work before but it was only when researching the properties of some stones that I read that hematite can actually rust. I've not tested this theory out so I thought I'd let Sara try it for herself and see if she can work her rusty-magic on the beads. As we have started introducing metals such as brass, I thought the steel like appearance would fit it nicely in the project. Again, I like the idea of them clustered together or used in structures within a textile piece.

7. Freshwater pearls.

Another bead that came into my attention quite a while ago was the humble freshwater pearl. I did an experiment on my personal blog, after reading that pearls dissolve in vinegar, to see the effect it would have on some garish pink pearls I'd bought, being not quite aware of the colour. The vinegar dissolved several layers of the pearls, reducing the pink dye, turning them into a softer pink version albeit with a less shiny surface. Because of the use of vinegar with rusting, I thought Sara would enjoy mixing these pearls into the process and seeing if she can combine them nicely. I use a lot of pearls in my own work so thought it would be nice for Sara to use them too. They can be used as embellishment and I thought the irregular shape will produce some interesting results. I like that these pearls have a destructive process all of their own and seeing if they can be worked into our project.

8. Vintage corset/bustier. 

This corset was actually sent to Sara a long time ago, when we were first discussing Re-worked. We swapped some initial ideas and items to get a feel for this project and we disregarded this item because it was pink and we didn't think it fitted in with Re-worked. However, on second inspection, I think this could be a great "canvas" piece for which Sara could attach items too, as well as be re-worked itself. I want to introduce some more colours into Re-worked and don't want to scrap an item just because of it's colour. The hook and eyes at the back are also of particular interest to me and I thought that even if Sara decides this item isn't suitable then it would be interesting to strip it down and use the hook and eyes from it: showing any item could have a potential use, even if it is just a small element. I hope Sara enjoys the items and am very eager to hear her initial reactions.

Latest Playthings...

Here are some of the materials Nicola has recently sent me. I am playing around with a few ideas - how to rust/affect each of them, composition, end use etc. Nicola has a great eye for delicate, lovely things...

Apologies for the darkness of the last pictures. I feel when edited, that they do not correctly represent the true colours of the handkerchiefs... They are beautifully fragile, so I am taking care in considering how to use them. I wonder who 'R' and 'E' are!?!

Will post some sketches soon! 

Parcel & Contents

Letters / packages from Sara.

The accompanying letter with contents.

A vintage collar that really appeals to my personal taste.

Sheets of wool.

Brass washers.

I really enjoyed the contents of the latest parcel I received from Sara as I felt they were really in par with the direction of the experiments I have been doing for Re-worked. Sara & myself both agreed that the sheets of natural cream wool instantly lend themselves perfectly to branding techniques, something I particularly want to use the brass washers for. Included in the parcel was a piece of wool shaped almost like a shoulder pad that I found really interesting - hopefully Sara has more or similar? I think they would be amazing layered up - very dramatic. Also part of the parcel was a bag of butterfly clips - another perfectly suited - easily found item that will be easy to work into experiments and the overall look / feel of Re-worked. 

One item I instantly fell for was the vintage lace collar. This item is the sort of thing I first had in mind for the project and the sort of thing that falls into the "soft" category - in need of some destructive processes to bring it back to life. I think that it's a perfect base to create a piece from. It also reminds me a lot of the sort of vintage items I searched for use in my degree show project Vanity Series 2010. While in my personal project I played on the idea of "feminine" by creating intrinsically "pretty" items, I am looking forward to taking this element away from most items - making them beautiful in an alternative way.

I am also excited to say that Re-worked will be expanding to Aberdeen! In our initial proposal Sara & I specifically identified that this project would expand over two cities (Inverness & Dundee), highlighting that collaborations can take place by different means i.e our blog and posting items and ideas so to add a new city into this equation, as I will be moving there on Sunday, is just another exciting turn. 

Myself & Sara also have a few more steps planned for the course of Re-worked. We hope that once I am moved in and have set up my work area that we can have mini workshops in each other's discipline: Sara learning a few metalwork techniques & myself learning some basic textile approaches. We also hope to have a day or two rummaging around some local vintage shops and recycling centre and I would love to take Sara, at a later date, to Baird's in Glasgow to hand pick some silver wires / chains etc to use.

Swapped Materials & Results

Bundle of fabrics. 

Mainly natural materials & neutral colours.

Small laser-cut felt circles.

The contents of the 1st parcel I received from Sara were a bit of a surprise in a way as I hadn't expected to deal with so much fabric so early on. It felt a little like being thrown in the deep end as at first I was clueless as to how to even begin experimenting with them. However I suppose this can be likened to first working with silver in the jewellery department: the idea that any attempt to heat or shape the metal was somehow ruining it, destroying the preciousness. 

I love the colours of the materials that I have been sent: creams, beiges and natural tans as the resulting brilliant oranges of branding or rusting will show up beautifully on them. The girly strips of lace are similar to some I have used in my own personal work so I am eager to use them in a new way and experiment. A few ideas for certain fabrics popped into my mind immediately upon seeing them so I will post the results of these ideas realised soon.

The material I am most excited about is the felt circles as they reminded me of the results of the experiments I conducted using tacs (see below) and I feel they have so much potential uses.

Two tacs removed to reveal rusted pattern.

All tacs removed - rusted print revealed.

Reverse of handkerchief.

I am very pleased with the results of my mini-experiments with the handkerchiefs and tacs. I think the print looks quite professional - a mixture of soft and tough - and think this is a pattern I would like to repeat on different fabrics to compare results.

Parcel #1

For our first swap, Nicola has sent me a selection of lovely vintage finds:

Apart from being a find in itself, (beautiful weathered textures, worn packaging), I find this set instantly provides a strong platform for experimentation. Larger, (size B as the label says!), than the conventional hooks and eyes that you will typically find used in high street garments at the moment,could be interesting in terms of scale, composition and imagery e.g. the fastenings themselves might act as the main focus of any final pieces (links, chains etc.), work as larger scale abstracted prints by way of Nicola's branding technique or induced rust against natural, quality fabrics...Lots of scope for play...

Nicola has sent too, a second set of hooks and eyes. I like that these are very different from the first set which are already well rusted, quoted on the back as being, 'Finest Hard Steel Wire: Extra Japanned'. I like the phrasing of this product description. Having researched the term, I have found that, to have a 'japanned' exterior (derived from the tough, glazed finish typical of traditional Japanese pottery), means to have a heavily laquered finish similar to enamel paint and is meant to prevent rusting and any weakening of the metal. This degree of protection is interesting and will no doubt encourage further technical exploration of the juxtaposition between preciousness and neglect.

Brace fastenings. I think photographed as this little family they are beautiful. It might be interesting to expose each to a different destructive/emulative process to characterise different elements of mistreatment?

I love the spot of rust on the top left edge of the tape.

These clasps are also interesting objects in themselves. I find the contrasting textures and edges particularly inspiring - the teeth against the bound edge of the tape...

I wonder if it will be possible to make rusty or embossed prints of serated edging in an attempt to gain some control over our rather organic printing methods?

 

I think that the colour palette of these ribbons and tapes, in conjunction with the harsher textures of worn metals, will act as a pertinent reminder of fragility.

I am eager to experiment with the different textures of the ribbons Nicola has sourced - satins and velvets will produce some very interesting prints and create new 'affected' textures as a result of any rusting, branding or embellishment.

Suspender clips. I like that these, as objects, are static. Again, these will help in retaining control.

 

Pearl wire rings. I associate these wholly with Nicola's personal design work. They are so delicate and reflective, it was interesting to see Nicola abuse them so in her experiments with branding. I think it will be interesting to see how they emerge once stripped back, (I have a couple pickling currently).

So far, I'm having fun experimenting with compostition. I like the simplicity of building upon the obvious characteristics of the materials Nicola has sent me, (as above) and hope to play around with repetition and 'interrupted patterns' this week.