Finally back from the land of nowhere and into my creative zone! I have begun a new series and completed the first two works. Even while I was not feeling very motivated I was still working. I did the drawing below with some ink. It is based on a design on an old Japanese kimono. For no reason in particular I drew a grid of fine lines, well, actually I did it to get used to using a dip pen and to get a feel for how much ink it would hold. For a long while I have been thinking of doing a series inspired by the traditional crafts of peoples from around the world, which is what started me on the drawing above. I had no idea what format the works would take or how I would integrate the varying styles of folk traditions. Then I found this paper. It is A4 size. It looks like woven straw mat doesn't it? But it is actually made of cotton. The woven structure makes it perfect for stitching, what with those intrinsic holes and all. Here it is in close up. Delicious, isn't it? I love the uneven weave and the contrasting textures of the fibres. I still wasn't sure how my single drawing would pan out into an entire series, but after spending a couple of hours in the bark cloth room at Mona the ideas started to gel (you can read about the bark cloths in my previous post here). The combination of ink and stitch was going to suit this project perfectly. My first challenge was to transfer my drawing which I did by drawing a grid over the original drawing and redrawing the image onto the woven paper in ink. Here is the ink drawing finished. It took about 3 layers to get good dark coverage. I was really pleased with the glossy finish that so resembled the finish on some of the bark cloths. While the ink looks indigo, it is actually a very dark green. Here's the finished work. It was surprisingly difficult to stitch curved lines into the uneven weave. Fortunately, because the paper is cotton it was possible to split the fibres with the needle without the paper tearing. The motif on the bottom half is repeated in shadow form overlaying the 2 motifs at a 90 degree angle. Work number 2 drawn up and ready for painting. Mixing up the ink to just the right shade proved difficult with my limited colours, especially the "white", which kept coming out baby pink! Ink drawing completed. On the red/brown side I did a very light wash over the paper before painting in the triangles. The white has this lovely matte chalky look.......... .....that contrasts beautifully with the glossy finish of the red. And here's what happened when my needle was finished its work. Love these little cross stitches. Again, overlapping shadow elements feature. So, do you like my new series so far? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
10 Comments
mahdi
5/2/2013 01:22:01
Your work is always so interesting Marta. Look forward to seeing where this series takes you. Mx
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Marta Brysha
9/2/2013 10:24:10
Thanks Mahdi and Hannah. I really appreciate your support. I've drawn up the third piece, which is now ready for stitching.
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Julie
9/2/2013 18:11:48
Yes! I had to do a double take...these look like the most glorious woven tapestry pieces!
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Marta Brysha
10/2/2013 12:05:32
Thanks Julie! I was hoping for that kind of "is it a textile, is it a paper work" dichotomy.
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Rosalie
29/10/2014 03:15:55
I found some similar 'woven' paper and was looking for a way to use it. You have given me inspiration to go ahead and try something with stitch.
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Marta Brysha
29/10/2014 11:20:35
I'm glad that I was able to help, Rosalie! Yes, go ahead and stitch away. These works (10 in the series - did you look at all the posts?) are currently on show in Amsterdam, in fact, today is the last day). I love these works on paper, but I think the larger, showy embroidered works kind of stole the show and distracted viewers from appreciating the subtlety of these works.
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Yashika
13/3/2015 11:42:39
Hi, how long does it takes to embroider an A4 size embroidery
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Marta Brysha
15/3/2015 07:56:01
The works in this particular series took between 20 and 30 hours to complete each.
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AuthorI am a hand embroidery artist living and working in the rugged and wild Central HIghlands of Tasmania. Archives
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