Moods

Arty Connections

All at sea

Our most recent game of Connections was entitled Boat. Jenny provided the starting image and gave general guidance for us to follow as the rounds progressed. Jenny, Pat, Erica, Linda, Liz and I took part and we were pleased Lesley could re-join us from Round 4.

Jenny asked us to combine Boat with an image of own choice in Round 3.  I added a lightship (see above top right) and admittedly became a bit obsessed with the cabin windows for a couple of rounds!  Seagulls, buoys, a street lamp in the shape of shells and two men in a boat were also used by other DOT members.

In Round 4 Jenny wanted to see some evidence of the original boat in our images (lest it had disappeared completely) and in Round 5 we could introduce nautical equipment, hence netting, rigging, floats, anchor, lighthouses and compasses were added.  This produced some interesting results and kept the game alive. In Round 6 we included words or poetry on a nautical theme which gave us a chance to do some research, manipulate text and play with words.  The final round asked for an impression of waves or water in our images so Erica was creating sea spray using text, Jenny used the paint brush tool and Linda added an image of choppy water. Pat, Lesley and I all used distort (liquify, twirl and wave) and Liz used rotation.

Many thanks to Jenny for her good choice of design criteria. Here are some of the images I produced this time around.

All steamed up

Beginning with a black and white image of a traction engine provided by myself, this game was entitled "Steam" and used the same principles as described in Rickshaw (our previous blog entry).

After 3 rounds I provided the instructions for guidance which included making good use of the rivets, nuts, bolts, wheels, name plates etc in the original image and to add a stitch or stitches using Photoshop Elements by the final round.

Pat couldn't resist adding colour in Round 2 where as others remained in black and white for longer. The essence of steam was suggested in some images, others emphasised the metallic nature of the subject or the power and might of the engine. The original image or parts of it were re-introduced throughout the rounds to keep the game in motion.

The rounds started by Ruth and Ros produced the most follow on images whereas others fell by the wayside if there was nowhere to move the image on to or they were complete as they were.

Liz used hand drawn stitches in Round 5 which were put to good use by those who followed on in Round 6. Erica used filters and stroke outline to produce textures which looked like stitching. Ros used the eraser tool and pattern stamp to create stitch.

Here are some of the images I produced in this game of 'Steam'.

Choices

Choices

We have been playing a new game recently entitled Choices where we all chose an image and uploaded it to Picasa web albums. We held a secret ballot and our favourite image was entitled Rickshaw, an image provided by Liz. In Round 1 we all worked on Rickshaw, altering it in some way using Photoshop Elements, and then uploaded the altered image to Picasa. In Round 2 we chose an image from Round 1 and worked on it and again uploaded it to Picasa. Rounds 3, 4 and 5 followed the same routine. We had instructions to avoid working on one particular person’s work and Liz gave us some pointers to follow such as to include text, circles, squares, the colour blue and to bear in mind the words transport, tropical, history etc. We made good use of the rickshaw of course and the windows and lanterns from the original image. It was nice to see the use of text and the subject lent itself to pattern making. Rickshaw Jenny and Rickshaw Lesley produced the most follow on images whereas Rickshaw Erica, Pat and Ros didn’t get off the starting block (must try harder!!). From the original image we produced 25 new designs.

I am attaching our starting image and my final image from Round 5. This had started originally as Jenny’s Rickshaw design and had been worked on by Jenny, Liz, Pat, Jenny again and then me. I struggled with Rounds 4 and 5 as the ideas in my head didn’t translate to the computer and in the back of my mind I was thinking “how would I make these into textiles”.

We start a new round of Choices in the new year. Watch this space!

"Lost In Lace" Exhibition - Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Erica visited this amazing exhibition on Saturday http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/collection-and-exibitions/exhibitions/lost-in-lace/

For more pictures from the exhibition see Erica's Google+ Photo Album

DOT On Show

Proof that we were there! This is the DOT stand just as we had finished putting it up. The work was selected from our recent Consequences Exhibition. Erica Thomson and Jenny King are on the left and our two consenting Mr DOTs Barry and Jim (helpful husbands wielding spirit levels, steps and hammers). DOTs aim was to open people’s eyes to what you can do using a computer as a design tool in textile work, whether it is simply printing an image on fabric or doing more complex things. Every piece of work on the stand was derived from something we did on the computer. All the wonderful members of DOT who manned the stand felt that we achieved our aim. You can just about see Liz Welch's Friendly Plastic masks, and work by Jenny King, Ros Willis, Erica Thomson, and Pat Roberts.

DOT’s group piece drew a lot of interest. It was based on a game of consequences (see earlier posts) using an image of an old mangle in the Millgate Museum at Newark. The hanging illustrated some of the very many different materials that can be printed on to at home. the other work in the picture is by Pat Roberts and Hilary Holden.

Mr DOT x2 in repose, worn out by all that levelling, measuring and hammering. On the wall is work from Lesley Fowell, Erica Thomson, Jenny King and Liz Welch. In the foreground are the two big books that tell the story behind the work with lots of step by steps of the computer transformations that took place to achieve the finished pieces.

Work for the original exhibition “Consequences” can be seen on a CD catalogues (£5) available from Liz (just email lizwelch@rarebird.ltd.uk). The CD contains more than 130 images including overall and close ups of every piece of work in the original exhibition plus work sheets describing the computer stages in developing each piece.

We hope you enjoyed viewing the work and meeting members, but most of all we hope we have inspired you to try your hand at making more of your computer in your creative lives.