The Waves

Still working on my sound waves animation, after doing a few tests I have finally started the final outcome using a recording of me reading out the opening paragraph of Virginia Woolf's "The Waves".

"The sun had not yet risen. The sea was indistinguishable from the sky, except that the sea was slightly creased as if a cloth had wrinkles in it. Gradually as the sky whitened a dark line lay on the horizon dividing the sea from the sky and the grey cloth became barred with thick strokes moving, one after another beneath the surface, following each other, pursuing each other, perpetually."

Using garage band I have recorded myself reciting this paragraph then I have copied the sound waves which I am then using in the animation.

Third Stitched Diary entry

Fabric - found in charity shop

Size- each pieces 25cm by 25cm

Stitch- chain

Wow. Knitted music

I just came across this amazing piece on www.craftzine.com

http://craftzine.com/crafter/drogoul/

A knitted orchestra, knitting that produces music.

AMAZING.

Second Stitch Diary Entry

S-H-A-T-T-E-R-E-D

Stitch- twisted chain

Size -10cm by 10cm

Please rain here

Before rain

After artificial rain (bottle of water)

My piece I produced for the week project on site was based on the weather, in particular rain. Manchester is known as a rainy city and the majority of people dislike rain, I wanted to produce a piece that was made more interesting when it rained, trying to change the idea of rain being a bad thing and showing that it is a necessity .

I used water soluble fabric, I stitched a phrase into it which I hoped would not be visible until the fabric dissolved in the rain.

Typically it didn't rain all day, so I cheated and used a bottle of water.

Sound Animation First test

Tried out my sound waves animation today for its first test, the final outcome is good but could do with certain areas changing. The stitch per frame technique works well, but because of the change in size of the stitches the fabric began to curl up part way through. This meant it wasn't lying flat so it effected the image. I've thought of two solutions, either I use a embroidery hoop to keep the fabric flat and tight or I change the stitch sizes and use a thicker heavier fabric so it wont curl as easy. Either way I'm going back tomorrow to give it another whirl as I am happy with the concept and idea its just a few technicalities that need to be sorted.

I'm also thinking about changing the beginning so that the stitch starts in the centre of the frame rather than on the left.

Sound Animation

This week I have started an new animation based around sound, as i haven't used sound yet and have been meaning to I have decided to focus on it for this animation.

I have got a dictaphone from the AV store as I plan on using recorded speech to create the sound waves I am going to animate.

Using the technique of a stitch per frame, I am going to record a speech/ saying which will play along side the stitched sound waves. Using one long piece of fabric I will stitch the sound waves continually until the sound has stopped.

This seems like a simple idea to produce the only thing I can see being a problem is matching the timings of the animation with the sound.

First Stitch Diary Entry

Fabric- found in 3 pound shop

Stitch type- chain

Size- 1m by 1m

Stitched Diary

Over the past few years I have accumulated quite a lot of found fabric pieces, such as napkins, samplers, pillow covers and table cloths, and I have been pondering over different ways of incorporating them into my own work. I have also been thinking about different quotes and phrases that I come across in my daily life and how these could work, as I love hand stitched text. Especially when a persons handwriting is produced in stitch.

Combining these two different aspects I have started a stitched diary, it will consist of a hand stitched quote piece per week. Each quote/ phrase is part of my diary for that week kind of like a summed up version of my week. Because each piece will only be a few words, it will not give the full picture and will still keep it partially private.

I think this is a great way of bringing some structure into my work, giving my a chance to experiment with different embroidery techniques such as cross stitch but still having a running theme, making each piece more relevant then just a simple test experiment. Also only having a week to produce each piece is setting myself a deadline each week, this I think is what I need as I have a tendency to start a variety of projects but not always finishing them.