Now I’m going to try to reflect some more on my pieces I made for the Form, Frame and Fracture assignment.

Why did I choose the order that I did? Because I did 2 pieces, I am going to speak about the ‘pot’ and the ‘gate’ separately. They both had the same order – but different subject matter and intended outcomes.

Pot. I wanted to make a pot and I knew in order to do this that I had to create pieces I could form together. In order to make this form, I had to follow the order I chose as a practical consideration. I began by working out how to make the form in pieces and then deciding how to Frame pieces of an image in those sections. The image itself was Fractured to make an interesting frame – taking areas from all over the image and placing them in the Frame  – of which there were 12 pieces. So not only was the image Fractured within each Frame, each Frame was, in itself, a Fracture. Having created each of these Fractures – elements of a sunset, with the addition of mohair yarn in the sea – I then Formed them into the pot shape. My initial intention was to create these into a teapot if all went well. But the Form itself was a bit too floppy – it would need interfacing on it to create a sturdier item. At this point I had also had another idea that I wanted to explore – I had around 4 hours left of the 12, so I moved onto the Gate.

Gate. I wanted to try to try to create that misty feeling you get in landscapes by taking a b/w image and fracture it into layers that could be built upon – pushing some into the background and others to the forefront. I had to do this in the same order as the Pot as this was already defined. So I began by Framing the area on all the pieces of organza. I then fractured the image into layers in terms of regressiveness of the image. Working out what should be on each layer and how those layers would build up to Form the whole. I machine embroidered each layer with black cotton, overlaying each one on top – and beginning by securing the Frame to the one before. The Form built up as the layers progressed. This took around 3.75 hours to complete.

What did I feel about the outcomes? Generally neither were a finished piece I was happy with. However, there were many elements within each that were really successful, in terms of techniques, ways of thinking and processes.

Pot. I really loved the colours in this. The use of the yarn to create the sea and the way that taking the image I was using as a source and fracturing it to make something even more ‘hyper-real’ than what I was seeing was really great. This fitted in much more with the memory I had of a place or experience. Mushing all of those snapshots you see over time into one form, rather than the singular images you have, which can often be less than you remember. The making of the seams to joining the form was very satisfying – but they were a lot more flimsy than I expected. At times the repeated stabbing of seams meant they started to pull away from the main body. I would also be cautious of the distortions that occur when felting something that needs to be so precise to fit. If trying to create a pot again, I would concentrate much more on something very abstract and based on mark making, which could then be cut up into regular shapes that mean that the Form could be created much more consistently. I still really like the idea of making pots from flat pieces. I think making curved pieces of felt would be very hard to do in needle felting and might only be possible in wet felting. However, I guess if I found a big enough rock it would be possible!

Gate. I LOVED making this. I got SO into the process. The ‘taking a line for a walk’-ness of it all. I loved each layer as I did it. Unfortunately, together they didn’t work as you can’t really see the layers! I would certainly try this again. But this time I might make the sheets separate and hang them as individual layers so each can be seen for itself, or stitch them into a book format. I would also have to remember that the material (at least organza) puckers quite a lot, so if putting a frame on, to make sure that happens at the END of the process to ensure the sizing is all consistent. I really like the idea of making these into books. Like a fractured photo album. The introduction of colour would be good – but as I previously said – I want to work with b/w till I have mastered techniques. By making this into a book, perhaps even with a felted cover? it would allow each layer to be seen in its full glory as well as the whole. Perhaps a felted cover could be cut out to make the frame? This is definitely something I would like to come back to. I would have to be more careful about the layers and not get too much of a build up of cotton on the lower layers to allow the image to shine through. Perhaps backlight them?

As an assignment I have loved this one. I think – certainly the Fracture element – is something I will now begin to include in my work.