The show must go on...

Finally at the end of it all the show goes up.

Going digital - Mimaki prints...

In a bid to further extend my collection I produced a set of Mimaki prints.  For some of these prints I manipulated photographs of my work in Photoshop, for others however I used the Dobby Designer software to create a print with an optical illusion, a printed fabric that looks like its woven.

Jacquard designs...

In this project I took the technical apect of my Jacquard designs a little further by programming all my own weaves into the software so that I could create a sense of continuity between my Texel and Jacquard work.

My developing fabrics...

My Texel designs in this project went from strength to strength, helped by my introduction of new colours to the palette.

A project extended...

I really enjoyed working on my Fabrics for Outdoors project in the Autumn Term of the final year, so decided to extend it to become my degree show project as well.  New developments were required, so straight away in the Christmas break I began to gather new research, as part of this a photo archive was born.

Paris...

In the Spring term of the third year we went to Paris to see the Premier Vision trade fair, the biggest textiles and fashion dedicated show of its kind in the world.  In Paris for three days we saw many sights and many interesting hidden secrets.  The Eiffel tower at night is a sight to behold, but it was easily shadowed by the charm of the hidden away stores we were guided to.

Fabrics for outdoors...

The final year begins...

The first project of the final year was supposed to be an RSA competition brief, however with a mix up with the competition brief release date over the summer this idea went out the proverbial window and we all took the opportunity to create our own project brief again.

I decided look into fabrics for outdoors, garden furniture and picnic blankets etc.  I chose for my visual theme and colour palette to come from nature, the same setting the finished fabrics would go into.  These are a few of my initial sketches.

Self-negotiated brief...

The final project of the second year was the self-negotiated brief, where we wrote our own project.  I decided to do my project on circles, I chose this because a theme that was minimal in terms of design would offer me the possibility to explore much more technically.  My passion for the tecnical aspects of woven textiles was only just beginning to surface, but I was eager to see what I could achieve.  This was the first project where I produced a technical folder.  These are a few of the fabrics I produced for this project, the final intended outcome for these fabrics was for interiors, I had bedrunners in mind as a final product.

Eco Scot fabrics...

Here are a few of the fabrics I developed for the Eco Scot project.

Eco Scot...

The first project of the spring term in the second year had a choice of titles, I selected 'Eco Scot'.  Initially I did the obvious research into the two terms, Eco leading me directly to recycling, however I looked into recycling in a less than obvious way.  I started to think of the recycling of ideas rather than of materials, so I decided to 'recycle' the idea of tartan, I wanted to loosen some of the strictures that define what can be a tartan.  The 'Scot' term of the title lead me to looking into what makes poeple think of Scotland, leading straight back to tartan, so I decided that I would produce a kind of tartan that symbolised Scotland completely, bringing in the national flower (thistles) and another of its famous icons, Mackintosh. 

Fashion illustrations...

As part of the Fabrics for Fashion project we had to produce a collection of fashion illustrations to showcase how our fabrics would be used.  Illustrations have never been my strongest area, so I developed my own style that displayed my fabrics is a eyecatching way.  Here are a few of those illustrations.

Fabrics for Fashion...

The next second year project was to produce a set of fabrics for fashion inspired by a given theme, in my case 'Shaker Style'.  These are a few of the fabrics I produced for this project, they have been woven on a power assisted Texel loom using Shetland wools, finished with a gentle handwash and press.

Klimt project designs...

The beginning of the second year...

Exhibition Homepage

The first project of the second year was based on a visit to the Liverpool Tate gallery to see the Gustav Klimt exhibition.  The exhibition included work by a whole range of artists involved in the Viennese Secession as well as works by Klimt himself, the most impressive being his 'Beethoven Frieze'.

Some of my earliest weaves...

Here are a few of my first year woven fabrics.

How it all began...

The first year of Textile Design at Derby Uni is a combination of the three offered specialisms - print, knit and weave.  At the end of the first year you chose which one of those three areas you want to work within for the next two years.  Straight away I found I had an affinity for weave, so for me as a budding designer it was the obvious choice.