Evaluation

The tutu and corset make up my final piece. It is based on the theme of dancing, shown through the type of garment, the sheet music used, the imagery panels on the corset and the four appliqués of Swan Lake inspired images. I am really pleased with my outcome as I feel I have successfully created a full, useable garment, presenting many techniques, along with creativity and deeper meaning. Having a theme of dancing on my final piece shows the importance of it in my life, and how it has affected my own personal story.

I think I have taken a journey with this project, from my initial research into Claudine Hellmuth and Tracie Murchison, through to the development and creation of my final piece. I feel that all the artists I have researched have affected my decisions throughout this creative process, inspiring me and guiding me onto the next stage. If I were to redo it I may have taken it down another route, possibly focusing on the family holiday theme with beach huts rather than the dancing theme. I think that either way my final outcome would have been a garment however; as I feel my strengths lie more in stitch-based work, rather than painting or drawing, although I have shown the ability for both sides within this project.

Looking at Jennifer Collier was a turning point in my project. Her work with ballet shoes helped me to grasp the opportunity to include my love of dancing into the development. I enjoyed working with the teabags as another medium, and the ballet shoes sparked my interest in creating a tangible, wearable item rather than a 2D piece. 

Overall, this project, to me, was a success. I am pleased with all the outcomes that I have created and feel that my sketchbook fully documents the journey I took during the creation process behind these outcomes. I feel that this project tells my own personal visual story.

Reflection

Upon reflection of my final piece, I decided that the face appliqués didn't seem to sit well in the context of the garment as a whole. The heavy, almost cartoon appearance of these contrasted too severely with the gentle pastel colours in the corset panels and didn't seem to quite fit in with the 'vintage' feel of the garment. I therefore decided to rethink the appliqués on the corset. I chose to stick with the Swan Lake dancing theme and create appliqués linking to this. The materials I used to create these appliqués included textured organza (melted with a heat gun), shards of sparkly fabrics to give the effect of water and bugle beads. These were all in pale blues and pinks, which I felt were more appropriate colours, as they would be much more subtle on the corset. I used blue and pink stitch to add details, keeping the appliqués very understated, whilst still keeping the same amount of detail.

To complete the garment I added a second pleated ruffle to the neckline of the corset to increase texture. I also created an eight-layer white tutu underneath the bottom calico layer on the tutu to increase volume and to create a fuller, more classic tutu shape.

I think that these adjustments have refined my outcome and taken it to the next level. I feel that the garment sits well together now as a whole and looks finished. I am pleased that I have reviewed and refined my final piece as I think it has improved the quality of the garment as well as fulfilling my aims to create a practical garment inspired by the work of artists that I have studied, as well as my own personal story.

Corset Development

After finishing the tutu, I moved on to creating the corset. I purchased a white satin corset with the intention of placing my appliqués on top. However, putting the corset next to my tutu showed that the two pieces din't sit well as a pair, due to the cream, 'vintage' look of the tutu next to the stark whiteness of the corset. I decided to cover the panels of the corset to allow the two items to sit well together. I wanted to bring the calico colour into the corset, so I decided to do an acrylic transfer onto calico, to be created into panels for the corset. I started by creating a pattern for the six different panels on the corset, both left and right. The images I chose for the panels were of my favourite dancers, such as Adam Cooper and Misty Copeland. I feel this adds to the personal story behind this garment. 

I transferred the six images onto calico using an acrylic transfer method, to give a vintage, worn away look to match the tutu. I decided to add slight bits of stitch and beading to enhance the images and give a bit more texture and interest. I feel this process really enhanced the corset and made it a piece of art in its own right, as well as being part of the costume along with the tutu. 

Once the base of the corset was done I moved on to the creation of the appliqués. I found images of four generations of my family; my great nan, my grandma, my mum and myself. I drew these out onto calico and added shards of fabric to the hair and clothing to add some colour and texture. I then stitched them using various shades of brown thread for the hair and black thread for the features and details. They were then cut out and stitched onto the corset, two on the back and two on the front. To finish off the corset, and to bring in more details from the tutu, I added a pleated ruffle of sheet music to the neckline of the corset. I feel this helped to link the two pieces together as one garment.

I am very pleased with the outcome of my corset. I feel it links in well with the tutu, with the calico panels and paper ruffle. This is also a very wearable garment, which illustrates my personal story of life through the figures in my family. I feel this was a successful addition to my tutu and overall final piece.

Tutu Development

Following my research into Peter Clarke's paper tutu, I decided to start thinking of designs for my own final outcome. I drew up a few quick sketches onto tracing paper to look at skirt shapes and composition. I decided that the bottom left design shown in the image below was my favourite, as the tutu shape showed off the pleated layers, as well as the corset allowing the appliqués to stand out.

I then looked further into this design, looking at the specific ways in which to create such a garment. I decided on purchasing a plain corset to put the appliqués on, which would make them stand out. I also decided on what layers I was going to use in the tutu. I created a small sample of tutu to get the idea of what it would look like, as well as to test out my methods of pleating, stitching etc.

After creating the small tutu sample, I thought that it was lacking in detail, which might have detracted away from it. I therefore decided to add some stitched embroidery onto the middle layer. I felt that music would fit in well with the dancing theme, as well as being relatively simple yet effective. I wanted to copy real music as I felt it would make it more authentic, so I chose the theme song from Swan Lake to stitch into the calico, as it was the first ballet I went to see and also a favourite of mine and my family's. I created a sample of this stitched middle layer. When stitching, I decided to leave the threads hanging loose, reflecting the work of Tracie Murchison, as it added more texture and interest to it.

Having decided that these ideas were of what I had intended to create, I began to make the tutu, starting with the band for the layers to be stitched into. I tested the lengths of the layers on a mannequin before cutting out the panels and beginning to pleat them. For the sheet music stitch I started with the stave lines, and then embroidered on the music notes using an embroidery machine.

After I had stitched the music onto the middle layer, I attached the pleated calico layers onto the waistband of my tutu. I then experimented with lengths and pleating styles of the paper sections. I decided that rough edged, randomly pleated paper looked better, so I created my pleated papers and stitched them onto the band also. To finish off the tutu I added net layers under the paper and white satin binding along the top edge to give it a finished look.

I am very pleased with the outcome of my tutu. It turned out to be a high quality, wearable garment. This was something that was important to me, as being a dancer I understand the need of a practical garment in which you can move freely. I feel this is a successful tutu, showing influences from my journey through my sketchbook.

Further Artist Research

After my visit to the V&A Museum, I decided to look into some paper garment artists, to link with my research on the fan and ruffled collars. I initially found Michael Cepress, an artist who has created a series of paper collars. I recreated the three collars in 2D in my sketch book.

Following on from this I created my own 3D collar to develop further ideas on ruffled edges and different papers that could be used to create garments.

I also found Mauricio Velasquez Posada during my paper garment research. This artist creates oversized origami dresses from plain white paper. I started with 2D origami shapes influenced by one of his dresses, leading in to looking at full garments in different coloured and printed papers.

I liked the big paper tutu created by Mauricio Velasquez Posada, which inspired me to develop my research towards creating a paper tutu for my final outcome, as it would link into my dancing theme as well as showing off various artist influences. I started to look at different materials and pleating techniques to get an idea of which papers etc. would look best as a tutu sample.

 

I tested book paper, calico and a mix of both in small tutu samples. I liked the sample with two layers of calico with a layer of the paper in between, as it looked more multi-media as well as being more structurally sturdy. I then did a few 2D fashion illustrations with pleated tutu skirts on to get an idea of whether the idea would look good.

I finally looked at Peter Clark's paper tutu as a 2D design. I liked the messy look to this style of working, and feel that adding something like this to a 3D tutu could add more texture and interest.

This research has influenced my direction for my final outcome. I like the rough look to the ruffled papers seen in Michael Cepress and Peter Clark's work, as well as the oversized look to Mauricio Velasquez Posada's work.







V&A Museum Visit

Following on from my work on Lucky Jackson I decided to do some research on different garment types and ways to attach appliqué onto garments. I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to observe the garments in the 'Fashion through the Ages' and costume exhibitions. I took lots of images of various garments, shoes and accessories and presented my favourite ones, and the ones that influenced me, into my sketchbook.

I really liked this tutu and the way the skirt was created is very different but interesting. The beading and flower additions to the corset top make it look much more detailed and intricate. I would like to include a few of these ideas and techniques into my own final outcome.

 

 The appliqué on this coat is very different. The faces are created out of stitch lines, with the odd bit of coloured fabric or beading to accent the eyes and lips. The Suffolk puff flowers on the top add to the texture of the garment. I think this idea is very interesting and I could maybe include a bit of these techniques into my final outcome.

I really liked the simplicity of this Christian Dior fan. I also liked the ruffled collars and garment made out of old envelopes. I feel I could link these two ideas together to create some paper garments, with appliqué writing and images.



I feel the visit to the V&A Museum was very successful in inspiring me and influencing some decisions to further my development towards my final outcome.

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.