Origins Evaluation.

My time over the past 6 weeks  has been spent within the two specialisms Construct and Embroidery. The main focus of the origins unit has been toward sampling, creating smaller pieces that represent a variety of ideas and techniques. My ideas within the unit came from a collection of objects I had gathered over the summer, each object was either found or gifted, this way I knew that each item had a particular significance or story and would provide me with an interesting basis for development. Friday drawing days also made up for a large part of this unit, spending time away from the workshops gave us the opportunity to fully focus on drawing,  allowing us to explore many different possibilities and techniques and create a body of work that could then be translated into our studio practice.

My first three weeks within knitting where challenging but overall very rewarding. Being at a beginner level within this specialism, my main source of output through knit, was through the representation of colour. Working closely with my objects through Friday drawing days and sketch book development, I gradually acquired a colour palette that allowed my samples to become more thought after and focused. However, due to the fact that our time within knitting required lots of practice toward technical sampling, this sometimes made it hard to concentrate solely on pieces that related to my objects. Throughout knit I feel that my awareness toward colour selection was greatly improved, being selective with colour combinations and aware of fibre qualities really made the difference in creating an effective sample; as some techniques worked better with a variety of colours and different fibre qualities introduced an element of texture and surface to the knit.
As my time in knit came to a close, it was interesting to be able to look back at my technical file and see all the different techniques we had learnt over such a short space of time. I think that if I had more time within knit, I would of been able to create a stronger set of samples that related to my objects, as at the end of the three weeks my work was very much technical based.

(Knitted sample relating to my feather earring; using e wrapping and tension techniques) 

My second rotation was in the area of embroidery and was definitely the rotation which i enjoyed the most. My time was spent working with hand and machine embroidery, learning technical skills as well as focusing on abstract representation through drawing and stitch. Friday drawing and sketchbook development played a big part in this rotation, which immediately made me more comfortable, as I have always used experimental drawing as a helpful tool to development. We were
 encouraged to work with an abstract mindset, focusing on line, shape, colour and texture. It wasn't until my one on one tutorial with Kate on our final week, that I actually realised how strong the abstract feel was already apparent in my drawings, I tend to work closely with mark making and bold  line and shape, aspects that can be strongly represented through embroidery and stitch. I think that If I had payed more attention to my drawings in the first weeks of embroidery, this would of helped my ideas evolve much quicker. Even though towards the end I felt more focused on my ideas, my end samples overall did not turn out as well as i feel they could. However, i do feel this was also due to my lack of knowledge with the m
achines, as some times I would find it hard to be creative while still getting to grips with the techniques and stitches.

(Final Embroidery Sample - Machine)

Overall my time within origins has been a real learning curve, having the opportunity to work within two specialisms over one unit of study, allowed me to explore and understand the many different ways to create and make. The focus of the unit itself has been challenging at times, as the main idea was to create samples, this sometimes hindered creativity, especially in the knitting unit. However, I do understand the importance of sampling, as it allowed creativity to be based solely on exploring many different techniques and approaches, allowing me to find strengths and weaknesses within my practice.

                                                          (Example from Friday Drawing Days)