THE IMPORTANCE OF GLASS | BEADING AND EMBELLISHMENT

Every process taken whilst creating my work involves intricate details. Reflected throughout my drawing and initial inspirations; the notion of slow, serendipitous routines appeal greatly to my practice, alike to that of the movement of the shoreline. During my Practice Unit, I worked through a time-consuming, repetitive process for creating my samples.

I have taken a real interest in the addition of using the glass workshops to further push my portfolio individualism. Being given the opportunity to incorporate such a unique and diverse material into my portfolio, and learn such valuable skills for a short time of my course, I have been very lucky.

Beginning Unit X by creating long glass rods through the gathering of hot glass, and placing the pieces into the kiln to fuse; what I love most about these pieces is the serendipitous outcome. It is impossible to know exactly what is going to happen in the firing process; the glass becomes its’ own self and creates fascinating textures and shapes, alike to the shoreline. I enjoyed creating these pieces, as this was the process that sparked my interest of creating artwork through long-winded methodologies.  After doing so, I felt that there these pieces were significant to my work, however felt too clumsy and dangerous size-wise, to try and incorporate physically into my samples.

Working towards a fashion application context, I am inspired by the sparkles of sequins and beadwork. These qualities are also reflected throughout my primary research- photographs of shimmering lights and reflections upon the water’s edge. I envisage my work placed upon womenswear garments; luxurious fabrics filled with elaborate embellishments and highly skilled techniques. I closely follow the work of fashion designer, Elie Saab; influenced by both his concepts and embroidery technique.

‘The designer magnifies femininity working with fine materials, delicate embroideries with outstanding quality. He builds his fairy-tale creations using simple designs, precious resources, whilst always maintaining a form of sophistication. Elie Saab dazzles with his intricate detail and strong sense of beauty.’

http://www.eliesaab.com/

How could I use glass to reference my passion of embellishment and the capturing of light? Creating beads. The creation of samples purely with my own materials excites me; also the challenge of creating something that hasn’t been done before- speaking to Dan, the production of bead-making is laborious and tricky to complete, therefore usually the purchasing of beads is a far more sensible idea. The difference being, I have the patience and determination to equally attempt, and create what I want. The process behind the creation of my bugle beading: gathering hot glass from the furnace, glass-blowing and the pulling tubing into extremely thin threads, then cutting individually into beads. I have faced many problems, as initially anticipated, through the fragility of the pieces: easily broken, cutting myself numerous times, the sharpness of edges needing to be sanded down, rods having too large of a surface area to use for beads; it has been worth it.

This process has taken a significant amount of time, spread over the duration of Unit X, however, the time consumed is rewarding, once faced with the final result. This is something that no one else can do, or has been able to learn, therefore, alongside my hand-stamp bought through my drawing and embroidery, giving my portfolio another depth of individualism. 

Left to right: glass-blown threads ready to cut into beads, cutting, finished bugle beads

UNIT X | DRAWINGS & MOODBOARDS

Haute Couture collections are described as one-off, almost ‘un-wearable’ pieces of artwork. Their breath-taking details and textures fascinates me, and have always been the basis for both, the context that I can imagine myself to be placed in once graduating, and the methods and techniques that I enjoy working with in my sampling work.

Alexander McQueen has always been an inspiration. Visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum earlier in the week, I had the opportunity to finally experience the effect of his work in the flesh, in the exhibition ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/museumofsavagebeauty/

 The above quote, taken from the exhibition, has stuck with me since visiting, and I have used his words as inspiration for my own mood board production. I take from his words the idea that I want my pieces to be known as being produced by me, not similar to other people already working in the industry; I need to work out what it is that makes the pieces unique to the designer. For me, I aim to show myself through my work, through using my own drawings and creating my own beading materials, something that no one else is able to use. 

Selection of mood boards from Unit X sketchbooks containing colour, texture and pattern

Working from a collection of gathered imagery, colours and textures; I enjoy trying to express my thought processes through mood boards and drawing techniques. By doing this, I feel I am then able to develop my work through sampling, pulling out different references to embroidery stitches or textures or colours that compliment one another etc. 

Left to right: pin-prick drawings, detail of drawing, beaded sample

Similarly to the production of mood boards, I have began my drawing process through using a pin marking method; using slow, repetitive marks to create pattern and texture upon the paper surface. Looking at the marks, I see how I am able to translate my new collection of drawings into embroidery stitch, this being my next task. As well as understanding my next step to the process of my work, through creating these pieces, the state in which my emotions play is one of calm and meditative, sending me back to the place of the shoreline that I so greatly enjoy.