When it comes to initiating a new embroidered artwork, what does it take to get there?
Process, and we all have to learn to develop process in our own way.
Process applies not only to the innovative or contemporary embroiderer but to all savvy embroiderers who wish to propel their work forward, because what’s really behind process is organisation and organisation, in my opinion, equates to a set of healthy, sustainable systems set up for your benefit, to suit your needs and that makes creating your art easier and more efficient.
I love the process behind creating and making. From that first inspiration through to the finished product, and if you’re not 100% behind the process, then you’re missing out.
But where do you start? What process do you employ regularly that opens that door to new ideas, new concepts and hopefully, new work?
Not so long ago, I was fortunate to have been invited into an exhibition titled Exuberance, along with twenty or so other Australian embroiderers. What was so special about this venture was that a book titled Exuberance: An Embroiderer’s Perspective accompanied the exhibition.
Edited by embroidery artists Carol Cooke and Sharon Peoples, this book offers fascinating insights into how these artists begin their process of design.
This is pure gold. Exploring other artists’ creative processes gives insight that may help others in their creative journey.
The premise for the exhibition and accompanying book was simple: colour and embroidery, the very basics that each of us works with daily.
Here are some of the hidden gems shared by these wonderful artists:
- Aimee Estcourt uses photography and her love of nature as inspiration, making several copies as a starting point for her design process. Working with a large range of colours, Aimee allows her creative energy to flow through her fingers onto the fabric.
- Belinda Jessup has a passion for pink, a colour she finds soothing, combined with the idea of pixels, reminiscent of the fractured nature of breeding roses and as a way of translating ideas and images into a design.
- Carol Cooke is unbound by restrictions or perceived expectations in her high-density embroideries. Carol begins a new challenge with a mind map of words and definitions, allowing her imagination to wander and reflect.
- Carolyn Sullivan’s work expresses her love for Australia. She uses photography, drawing and writing to express her vision.
- Liz Payne explores ideas by drawing, working on her iPad or using Photoshop and Illustrator to help formulate digital drawings and collages.
- Nicole Kemp also draws, collages and writes, embedding herself in the suburbs, city graffiti, street art, transport and movement she encounters on her bike rides. She also includes her mood and the daily news cycle that can take her down unexpected paths.
- Susie Vickery begins with a mind map, then researches the history, how to reach that idea and the all-important details. Susie experiments in 2D and 3D, to realise her ideas using a sketchbook to work out construction, making, proportions and scale.
There’s a common theme here that’s obvious.
Time and care.
Every artist has taken the time to think and the care to express their vision in a manner that suits them.
Whether that’s drawing, photography, collage or working with mind maps or digital technology – there’s the beginning, the seed that when properly and thoroughly investigated will yield those new creative ideas.
What follows is the sampling and experimentation, the consolidation of form, texture, size, and finish.
All it takes is time and care, finding a way of working that suits us as individuals.
Exuberance: An Embroider’s Perspective is a worthwhile book for all embroidery lovers, from practitioners to students and teachers.
After all, we’re all still learning, aren’t we?
All views and opinions expressed are my own, except where acknowledged information is included from other sources.