Second Quarter Challenge 2022 – I can’t do that

As soon as I saw what Lyn was setting as our next Challenge I thought “but I can’t do that”. I have always stumbled when trying to understand Design because, although I can see pattern in a lot of things, I fail entirely in translating what I see into my work. I am very literal in my thinking, and when I see abstract pieces (usually “modern” embroidery pieces) based on images of say, a broken brick, or the reflection in a window, or a rusty piece of metal, or a “fractal”, I think to myself “yes, very clever, but why?” and “what would I do with it?” and “I can’t see that on my wall” (and just occasionally “I wouldn’t give that house room!”). This is why I tend to make my pictures or 3D sculptures as realistic as I can.
I was going to just not bother with this Challenge, and then I remembered that some years ago I had attended a course on Design – I had forgotten all about it and it is relevant to this Challenge.
In August 2015 the Association of Guilds of Weavers Spinners & Dyers included in it’s week long residential Summer School syllabus a course by Alison Daykin – “Design for the Terrified” and I was lucky enough to be allocated a place – most courses were usually over-subscribed. Here is the introductory list of available courses from the brochure for you to drool over!

The course was described as offering “help to ‘painting and drawing challenged’ weavers, spinners, dyers, or other textile practitioners, in understanding Design and using this in their chosen medium”. The brochure went on to say: “This course will provide simple, but effective guidelines in design, without the student feeling overwhelmed by theory. The tutor will also leave plenty of room for participants to express themselves in their chosen medium.
“By the course end students will have at least one sketchbook and understand the basics of: colour studies; textural studies; shape; line/stripes.
“Students are encouraged to make samples appropriate to their own textile skills. They may choose to bring their loom or wheel with them, or to develop further sketchbooks if they prefer.”
Frankly this description of the course frightened the life out of me and I nearly didn’t apply, not least because I would be foregoing the chance to take the offered very interesting felt making course. (It’s headline description was “… an ‘adventure with fibres and fabrics’, combining colour, texture and layering to produce felted fabrics for decorative purposes or garments” and that was what I was most interested in at the time.) However after exchanging a few emails with Alison, and reading the three blogs which she sent out about the course I decided to bite the bullet.
The first blog post puts emphasis on your “Inspiration” and resulted in a further flurry of emails with Alison, since I had no idea what it meant or what my “Inspiration” should be in this context. She basically said that I should pick a subject which I found really interesting. I was undecided whether to plump for trees, which seemed a very big subject, or sea shells – almost as big but of which I had recently started a collection. In the end I went with sea shells.

skeletons”
The second and third blog posts and a “round robin” email from Alison encouraged us to bring along as many different types of art media as we might be able to lay our hands on, including different types and colours of paper and “mark making” equipment. In addition we were asked to only bring one image of our inspiration, but as many copies of it as possible. (As I hadn’t been able to choose just one shell my image consisted of most of my collection, which also included sea urchin “skeletons”.) We would also need to take a notice board (if we hadn’t already made a mood board – “Er …. what’s one of them?”) so that we could pin up various bits and pieces as we went through the course. We would also need the equipment and materials required to make samples in our chosen technique. As I didn’t know which shell would be my inspiration the “materials” consisted of most of my stashes of fibres, fabric & yarns!
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the saying “everything but the kitchen sink” – very apt, my poor car was groaning when I set off with all this stuff plus clothes etc., and I had yet to fit in the friend I was giving a lift to, plus all her stuff and her walking aid. (She was still a bit frail after an illness.)
The Summer School was based at Moreton Morrell Agricultural College in Warwickshire, where (after we got lost twice on the way) I met Alison and the rest of the class members. There were weavers, spinners, an embroiderer and a felt maker – me.
Alison showed us her own work, and took us through her process for designing woven fabrics for specific purposes, showing us her mood boards and pictures of finished fabrics “in situ”. Here is a much abbreviated view of how she followed one inspiration from an image of ancient ruins to cloth samples.
She then started us off on our own design journey. Alison suggested to me that I should pick my favourite shell from the picture of my collection and make an enlarged drawing of the shell, both in monochrome and in colour and using different media. I had a go at this, although my drawing skills are minimal. This was before she had found that we would be able to have access to the college’s print facilities, where we could get photographs printed, and colour and monochrome photocopies made on a copier, which was capable of enlarging. We all made great use of this facility – zeroing in on just part of our inspiration image and having multiple copies made on different colour papers as well as plain white – which enabled us to speed up our progress through the stages of the design processes that Alison had mapped out for us.
One of the “tricks” which Alison showed us was to take two images, cut (or tear) them into strips (leaving one side of the paper still intact, and then to weave the two images. This did produce some interesting results.


We also cut strips across an image and used this to reference yarn (in my case fibre) wraps. Using this method enabled us to achieve a colour swatch giving combinations, quantities and placement of harmonious colours.

Once we had all played around with these ideas for a day, we were encouraged to get on and start creating samples in our chosen techniques, keeping in mind how we might use the finished work. As I was interested in making felt for clothing and accessories, I had brought with me copies of designs from specific sewing patterns and tried to pick the patterns that would best suit. I had by this time branched out to using as inspiration two different Sea Urchin skeletons, one Cone shell (and when no-one was looking I did a bit of crochet based on the end of a Conch type shell).
As you can see, I’m still leaning towards the literal/representational side of designing.
Alison also encouraged us to take our cameras and go out around the college grounds and look for more inspirations for design. At this stage we had all got used to looking beyond the obvious and came up with some unusual images. This was the one I chose to do something with – don’t ask me why – it’s just a picture of the wood surround (and my toes) to a raised flower bed outside the portacabin which was our workshop, where we all congregated for coffee, snacks and chat.

Being full of enthusiasm for the project, I cut down the photograph to a corner and then cut out the image of part of the surround.

which I then had enlarged and with several copies started to develop the design

This is the design I finally ended up with.

There are five versions in this picture, the basic design on top with four colour changes of the small “pops” of colour. And here is the jacket pattern and a tracing of the design.

The last day of the course was mainly taken up with visiting the rooms where the other courses had been taking place for a grand Show & Tell. To this end, we had packed up all our equipment and materials and set up our notice boards and work tables as displays of what we had been doing. Here are mine
And here are some of the displays of other class members’ work. Not all of them I’m afraid, I had camera shake by then so I’ve only included the less blurred ones.
The whole Summer School experience was great, with evening entertainments, a fashion show, a display of entries for the Certificate of Achievement “exams”, a traders’ market (I spent too much money as usual) and a trip to Stratford Upon Avon for a tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Theatre with a chance to see some of their costumes “up close and personal”.
We inhabited a bubble, with little contact with the outside world. (There wasn’t even a signal for our mobile phones, short of climbing a hill and standing in the middle of the road.) A wonderful experience and I’ve enjoyed revisiting it.
I am afraid that by the time I got home again I reverted to type and have not made any fabrics, felted or woven, from any of the designs. I just did what I usually end up doing after returning from a workshop – I put everything away and forgot about it! So I still don’t have a 2nd Quarter Challenge piece to show you; though as a result of writing this post and after seeing some of the pieces which FFS members have posted, I do feel better about the possibility of designing from random observations and images.
I am looking forward to seeing what the next quarter’s Challenge will be.
19 thoughts on “Second Quarter Challenge 2022 – I can’t do that”
It’s a lovely write and wonderful pics!
How Kind. Thank you
Ann
Welcome
What a heart-warming post and a thoroughly interesting read and photos to look at.
You may not have a new piece to show but you have still taken part in the Second Quarter Challenge with the work you did on the course! Your crochet and felt samples are lovely!
Had to smile when you wrote “my poor car was groaning when I set off with all this stuff plus clothes etc.” as Annie is exactly the same when she attends a class!
It’s exciting to try new styles but if you are happy with the “literal/representational side of designing” then go with it! We each produce our best stuff when we follow our instincts.
Thanks Lyn. I’m hoping that going through the process again, and attending my first workshop since Covid started mucking things up for us, I can start doing some more work.
Ann
A very interesting post and class. I am afraid I also struggle with transforming something from picture inspiration to felt. It was interesting seeing the process. I think you did better than some of the others. I like the way you played with the line and position of the texture of the wood. Someone just taking the colours form a picture seems to defeat the design portion. But I guess if they have trouble picking colours than it was worthwhile.
Thank you Ann, you give me encouragement.
Ann
What a wonderful course and I agree with Ann M. You did a great job and pushed yourself out of your comfort zone. I also think it is important for you to “do you”. It’s great to learn new methods but do what your heart wants. I know that you have done some wonderful landscapes based on photos. That fits the challenge too. I have not gotten very far with this challenge either. I have loads of inspirational photos I have taken though 😆
Thanks Ruth.
I had hoped to have Glorious Devon finished by now, and I’m on the last lap. I’m trying a new technique which I hope to post about in the not too distant future – if it works!
I’m grateful for the encouragement I’ve received from members.
Ann
We want to see it if it doesn’t work too. Failures some times teech you a lot.
Such a wonderful article. I know exactly how you feel, and wish there was a course like that, for me. Your instructor seemed well versed, in her understanding, that not all people learn the same way. She was able to get down to the essence, and make it doable, for those who would normally be put off in favor of other class members that “get it.”
My mind does not work the same as others. I have experienced these situations so many times, I am leery to take many workshops. It’s such a feeling of isolation and self doubt.
I can’t pretend that I understood everything in your article, but I received enough hope, that I am going to read it, and study it again. Maybe I will learn something that will help me succeed. Thank you!
Thank you Capi. I do hope that you get help from it. Alison also told us about using the fibonacci sequence for designing striped fabrics, this might help you perhaps. I don’t know if you clicked on for Alison’s Facebook
[guess who pressed the wrong button!] what I was trying to say was that Alison’s Facebook link is https://www.facebook.com/AlisonYuleTextiles/ and this might be of help too. (I think Yule is her maiden name) I don’t do Facebook so haven’t been able to look at much of it.
Ann
It looks like you had a wonderful experience, Ann! It definitely helped push you out of your comfort zone, which can be great for creativity. I’m slightly envious of your Summer School 😀
As for not doing anything with your project after returning home: get it out and look at it, and leave it somewhere noticeable for a couple of days. That might spark something!
Thanks Leonor. I will try your suggestion, but I’m afraid that it is likely just to add to the mess in the workshop. I do have some ideas resulting from the latest workshop and now it’s a question of making space in the workshop to actually work!
Ann
Gosh Ann, what an amazing post. I’m really glad that you enjoyed the course, and I loved the crochet and felt samples of the pattern on your shell. I am too literal, I really don’t think I have any original design bones in my body, and too old to develop any now either, although a couple of things I made have surprised me!! Such an amount of ‘brain torture’ in the process though. I loved reading about your adventures and seeing your photos.
Thank you – I’m glad I’m not alone. I never got the chance to study Art at school (after the age of 12 I was required to do other classes instead. Back in those days you didn’t get the choice) and I didn’t get to go to Art college after school either – too busy earning a living. I had hoped to take the City & Guilds Foundation Course which gave a basis for Art and Design that could be used in most crafts. Unfortunately they withdrew it before I could afford to do it. I think that, had I had the chance to take these studies, I might have been able to do more abstract art. I’m still not certain if I missed anything though!
Ann
Great post Ann. Like Leonor I am slightly envious of you attending such an interesting course. Fair dues are due to you for stepping so far outside your comfort zone. The results are super. By reliving it in this blog who knows where it may lead.
Thanks Helene. I hope to move on. I’ll keep reading and going back over my notes and photos. Who knows it might work.
Ann