New work: Lost in Time

Detail of 'Lost in Time; by Gillian Cooper

Arrgh – migraines!   I had great plans for last week, but my head scuppered most of them as I was well under the weather from Wednesday until this morning.  So I didn’t achieve much in the studio last week and even the tidying up project has been somewhat delayed.  Anyway.  I’m back on feet now and am raring to continue, especially as I got my lovely delivery of cotton and silk from Whaleys last week so I can get on with dyeing for some new big pieces.

'Lost in Time' by Gillian Cooper

I’ve started one, as in my first part of tidying up, I discovered I had lots more hand dyed fabric than I thought, which was rather lovely.  The next pieces are going to follow on from this piece ‘Lost in Time’, which is touring with the CQ exhibition ‘Dislocation’.  I don’t normally make pieces for challenges, but as I could fit the theme nicely with my work on ancient goddesses and I really fancied making this bird woman, I decided to give it a go.  

Detail of handling sample for 'Lost in Time; by Gillian Cooper

Timing was a bit tight due me leaving it to the last minute and also due to summer holidays.  However, I was really chuffed I finished (at least well enough for photography) on the last day of school before the summer holidays and to get my sample piece sent off at the same time.  I received the email that it was going to be part of the exhibition on the ferry as we left for our holiday in Holland, which was a fantastic start to a great vacation.

Detail of 'Lost in Time; by Gillian Cooper

For those interested in the technical details, rather than use iron-on Vilene this time, I used bondaweb on the fabric and then stitched round each patch, as a form of raw edge appliqué.  I couched the outline of the figure using hand dyed yellow cotton, which I had machine corded with red thread.  I would have finished it a lot earlier if I hadn’t decided to cord the outline thread or if I had just used the silk sari strips directly onto the figure without ruching them first.  One day I will make it easy on myself!

Current work in progress

New work: Loops of Time

'Loops of Time' by Gillian Cooper

 I’m really excited today because for the first time in ages I’m able to share some completely finished work with you.  In fact it is so long since I entirely finished a piece, I don’t have a title for finished work for the blog heading!  I have ‘inspiration’; ‘in my studio’, but nothing for actually completed.  I’m not great at naming work, but I think that this is definitely ‘Loops of Time’.

'Loops of Time' (detail) by Gillian Cooper

This piece has been in progress many months as regular readers may know from the teaser photos I’ve posted.  All I needed to do on Friday was to hand stitch the hanging sleeves and check that it hung okay.  I’m really pleased with it, partly because I tried out some new ideas/techniques, but also because of the subject matter.  Although it may not look like it, it is a continuation of my ‘Unsung Muses’ series, but this time, rather than represent goddesses on the work, I have been playing with the faded patterns from some of the ancient sculptures and make them mine.  I have always loved patterning and get really frustrated on trips to old museums/ houses where there are postcards available of the artwork, but nothing about the amazing wood carved patterns in the ceiling etc.  So in this piece, I wanted to work only with patterns rather than full figures.  Although it comes from the ancient figures, I also feel it references music and I deliberately placed the front patterns with a sense of rhythm.   Hopefully that comes across.

'Loops of Time' (detail) by Gillian Cooper

Technically, for those interested in such matters, the fabrics are all hand-dyed, then over-painted in dye, acrylic and oils.  The background is fairly heavily quilted, with the four front pieces added on later.  They are stiffened with Vilene to keep their shape.  To give you a sense of the scale, it measures 42in (107cm) wide by 24in (61cm) high.

The piece is for sale (£500 if anyone has some spare cash!) and I will add it to my etsy store soon-ish.  My plan is to get my website sorted in January and then my selling sites sorted in February.

I’d love any feedback you have on this piece as it is something a bit different from what I have been working on.  Any comments gratefully received!  Also have you completed any work yet in 2014?