Being Too Much of a Mathematician!

On Friday I had the privilege of visiting the studio of local textile artist Sue Green.

Sue has a studio called The Cowshed Studio in South Cerney. It is an amazing space! It is huge and crammed with so much yummy fabric, painting supplies and examples of her amazing work.

We agreed to do a skill swap: I helped Sue understand all of the icons on Facebook and connected her new tablet to her phone, she talked me through my portfolio and taught me a new technique using tea bag paper - who knew right?

It was an amazing experience and one I hope to repeat regularly...

I learnt a lot, in fact so much that it has kinda blown my creative mind a little bit!

You see my portfolios are really neat and follow my process in a methodical way, they are so tidy... my work is really methodical.... I need things to be neat...

The thing is everywhere I look on the Internet textile artists are layered! They have portfolios and sketchbooks filled with content that is wonderful to look at, but is crammed in and all over the place to my eye... this is just isn't me at the moment....

So I have been worrying and worrying that I will never make it as a textile artist because I like things to be neat and structured.... it is the mathematician in me... I knew that the Astrophysics degree side of my brain would take time to wither, but what if it never leaves me?

What if the only way I can work is in a neat, methodical way?

I am still going to be able to work as a textile artist?

Can I follow my own processes of creation and still be a valid artist?

Having a little bit of a crisis....

My lovely friend Liz pointed out that I have passed both of my modules so far with no need to change my work, so I must be doing something right.... but still...

Making a Start... City and Guild

So the email arrived delivering my first 3 modules of the City and Guild course... it kinda scared the pants off me!

It is really in depth and full of information!

After glancing through it and freaking out, I gave myself a stern talking to!

Take a step at a time like I do everything in life..

So yesterday I spent a small fortune on:

It is 20+ years since I bought artist equipment - I dropped art GCSE for biology.... So I panicked about even having to draw!

You start with simple line drawings:

Than add some structure, I cut into mine:

Peppers are pretty beautiful things! I do remember spending hours in art at school cutting fruit and vegetables to draw in the internal structure.... Not too shabby, given a total lack of drawing for 20 years!

Then create a window using card to focus on a section:

Take a section and enlarge it. Then fill with design - like you are doodling:

And there it is!

The first 2 exercises nearly done got to copy this and colour it in with 2 different colours. Then repeat the selection of a window to enlarge.

It has been fun and I am not feeling so freaked out - so slow, steady and one chunk at a time is the way to go!