Beauty is the first test.

I went to a great exhibition this week in the R-Space Gallery in Lisburn. The exhibition combines mathematics and textiles  and featured work by Michael Brennand-Wood, Suresh Dutt, Janice Gunner, Lesley Halliwell, Lucy McMullen, Janette Matthews, Peter Randall Page, Ann Sutton and Laura Thomas. Amazing textiles in a beautiful space.

http://pumphousegallery.org.uk/exhibitions/beauty-is-the-first-test

http://www.rspaceatthelinenrooms.org.uk/


'Thee x five' by Laura Thomas



Maelstrom by Lucy McMullan

Ikat wefts

We decided to ikat dye and discharge some weft yarn that we could then insert when weaving. We tried some printing on top of the fabrics after they were woven. Below are a few examples of the results. They are quite rudimentary compared to real warp weft ikat from Asia however, it was definitely an experiment worth trying.

 

Warp Prints in Fashion

 



 

The Design Museum in London recently recieved a fashion donation from Lady Ritblat, one of the items that caught my eye was this Emanuel Ungaro silk dress from 1986.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/01/29/design-museum-receives-fashion-collection-donation-from-lady-ritblat

The Christian Dior Pre Autumn Winter 2013 collection includes a beautiful skirt which could be a warp print.

http://www.wwd.com/runway/pre-fall-2013/review/christian-dior

 

 

 

This article from Elle Decor San Paulo apartment of Fabrizio Rollo, a former editor at the Brazilian edition of Vogue who is now working on the new House Beautiful Brazil. His house uses plenty of fabrics from all over the world, in this room, you can see warp prints from Africa and India.

http://www.elledecor.com/celebrity-style/homes/fine-dandy-a-71807

Handloom Tests

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to try out some different weave structures to add some texture to the warp prints so I used an 8 shaft loom instead of a 4.It wasnt as easy to roll the warp onto the print table but it was good to experiment. The structures were all rather rudimentary but there is definite potential for further exploration.

Black Warp

After he success of the first pigment discharge warp, I wanted to explore this technique further, however I wanted more contrast so the warp had to be as black as possible.

 

 

New Screens

Recently, we got some new screens made, we used some images from the archive and some from photos. Below are photos showing the warps on the table being printed, then how they look once they are woven into cloth.