Lucky Jackson

Lucky Jackson followed on from Jennifer Collier in my research. The themes of her work are family and friends, as well as iconic figures. I recreated the image of her two daughters in watercolour and pen as primary research. I added a lace insert to include the fabric medium and to make it more textural.

 

I noticed similarities between the work of Lucky Jackson and Claudine Hellmuth. They both have a retro theme with people as the subject, so I decided to mix the two styles together. I recreated the Claudine Hellmuth piece in the style of Lucky Jackson. I first did a paper collage and acetate version, then moving it into stitch, the medium used by Jackson.

 

 

I like this idea of creating stitch figures and would like to develop this further. Linking this all back to Jennifer Collier and her garment creation could be a way to blend the themes of dancing (having a dress or tutu in the style of Collier as a base) and family (using these figures inspired by Hellmuth and Jackson as an appliqué on top).



Jennifer Collier

I found Jennifer Collier during my further research for artists. I like the quirky style of her work and I found it very interesting, as it involves stitch and small garment creation, however the fabric used is very unique. She uses emptied tea bags containing small samples of stamps, fabric, threads etc. and then waxes them. I started my research by recreating a bib of hers in waxed map and lace.

I liked the small brogue style shoes made of paper, so I chose to recreate one of hers using map, music and book paper.

The ballet shoes made from wax fabric sparked my interest as they linked to my love of dancing. I decided to develop the idea of  wax fabric creation to link into this, to develop into a mini outcome of a ballet shoe. I tested a variety of materials to find the best fabric to use for the shoe.
 

 

I made a template and created my waxed fabric using tea bags, sequins and dance related words. The overall construction of the shoe was difficult and fiddly, however the end result I feel looks very good.

 

The Initial Research

My initial ideas mainly revolved around the idea of family and memories shared with them. This was my starting point for the project.

I chose to look into Claudine Hellmuth as my first artist, as the subjects and themes of her work reminded me of my family gatherings, such as birthday parties and BBQ's on the beach. Her work is a mix of graphic and fine art, so I chose to recreate her work in acrylic paint and pencil sketch, to get the contrast between the graphic backgrounds and the detailed faces.

 
I then used old pictures of my family holidays to recreate in Hellmuth's style.

Another idea I had during my mind mapping stage was to look at holidays I have spent with my family. We have gone to Cornwall or other English seaside towns every year for our summer holiday, spending time on the beach and learning to surf. I remember one year looking in awe at the colourful beach huts and imagining how I would decorate mine in the future. I thought about how I could develop this idea of beach huts and seaside towns into an artistic manner, coming up with small stitch appliqué ideas, such as a row of beach huts along the hem of a tutu, incorporating the dance theme too. 

Gillian Bates' work reflected the seaside towns and beach hut rows that I remember from my childhood. I chose to look into her work for inspiration. I liked the contrast of the block colours and black lines, so I recreated a piece of hers in acrylic with an acetate pen drawing on top.

 
Bates' medium of work is stitch, so I chose to create my own beach huts using stitch. I created the base with fabric and paper collage, and used black and coloured stitch to add the details. I feel I achieved the unique look of beach huts, as I made every one slightly different.

 

 I enjoyed working in this medium and on the small scale, as it shows off the little details within each piece.

The Brief

The brief for my A2 art coursework is Visual Stories. This made me think of ways in which a story could be portrayed visually, from photo albums of past holidays to picture books from my childhood. I created a mind map initially to get down my ideas of stories and visual applications of them. 

To me this brief suggested a personal story, following a person's life. I thought about how I could portray my life through a visual story; what things were important to me. My family has influenced my life massively. I have grown up with my older sister and three cousins, playing on the beach and performing for our family at Christmas together. It was these memories I wanted to capture. Dancing and performance are also strong factors in my life, and I wanted to mix these two themes together.