My first attempts with automatic patterns were not very successful – too many holes. I also found it much easier to use a frame.
Chapter 2 – Birdlike patterns and textures
The following are sketch ideas for the set of six pieces. Due to my fractured shoulder they are somewhat limited but gave me enought to work with.
Birds of a feather, chapter 1 – Research, Images and Drawings
Memories of Istanbul – the completed piece
Finally it’s finished!
Assessment piece – towards the light at the end of the tunnel!
I love this screen on a window looking out from the women’s quarters in Topkapi Palace and wondered how I might incorporate it into the piece. I decided that, rather than stitch onto the piece itself, I would stitch onto soluble fabric and wash away. The photo mockup had potential, but was maybe a bit complex. Then, when I experimented with this, I couldn’t avoid the spider’s web effect rather than a solid round shape. Experimenting with vanishing muslin wasn’t much better, so in the end I decided a simple grid pattern would look better – it gives the effect of looking out into the outside world of mosques, but is not so intricate that the eye is taken by the pattern rather than looking through.