I DON'T DRAW...I PAINT WITH FABRIC AND THREAD (Part 2)

YOUR PHOTOGRAPH IS YOUR TEACHER

One of my favourite things to encourage students to do is to work from their own photographs. Don't worry about whether you can draw the image. Instead, ask yourself:

What do I actually see?

• Look at the shapes.

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Image 1 (Left) SECRETARTY BIRD FACIAL EXPRESSION | Image 2 (Right) MY INTERPRETATION

• Look at the light.

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Image 1 (Left) SLIGHT AND SHADOWS | Image 2 (Right) LIGHT and SHADOWS USING COLOUR

• Look at the shadows.

• Look at the colours.

• Look at the textures.

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Image 1 (Left) TEXTURES ON THE GREY CROWNED CRANES | Image 2 (Right) MY TEXTURES

• Look at the direction in which things are moving.

Then ask yourself: How can I recreate that feeling using fabric and thread? That is a completely different way of approaching art and it is something that can be learnt.

YOU MIGHT BE MORE CREATIVE THAN YOU THINK!

I’ve seen people arrive at classes convinced that they are ‘not artistic’. Then they start cutting fabric and they experiment. Granted, they make a few ‘mistakes’ along the way but that is why I am there…to guide them. When they make a couple of stitches, they discover that a strange little piece of yarn is exactly what they need and slowly, something begins to happen. They stop worrying about whether they are doing it the correct way and start looking at what they are creating.

That, to me is where the real joy of textile art lies. It isn't about reproducing a photograph perfectly, it is about interpreting what you see in your own way. Your fabric choices will be different from mine, your stitches will be different your colour combinations will be different and that's exactly as it should be.

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Image 1 (Left) BLACK WATTLE CRANE | Image 2 (Right) MY INTERPRETATION: VERY DIFFERENT

So, if you’ve ever looked at one of my textile artworks and thought, ‘I could never make that because I can't draw,’ I hope you’ll think about it differently! Perhaps you don't need to learn to draw!

PERHAPS YOU SIMPLY NEED TO LEARN TO SEE DIFFERENTLY!

Once you start looking at the world through the eyes of a textile artist, you may discover that there is inspiration everywhere…in a scrap of fabric, a piece of thread, a photograph or even something you were about to throw away. That’s when the magic begins.