Happy Days....experimenting With Mixed Media And Textiles.

Shadows can be very inspiring for further development as prints perhaps.

Such beautiful sunshine out there as we are in lockdown and isolation, thinking what I can use these for. Getting my machine out, happy creative isolation!

2017. Gabby Costello Art FAD exploring eco-textile printing and natural dyes. About to graduate from Somerset University, Taunton. All the best Gabby! This was your FMP show leaving Strode College in 2017. 

New favourite beach. Wonderful rock formations and so many beautiful pebbles, each one so unique and inspiring. Jurassic and Triassic. Very photogenic and lots of ideas forming. Making drawing tools and using them to capture the scale and drama of the place.

Accuracy and advaced pattern drafting at Strode with the Textiles team. Expert FAD student work plotting and creating new tailored pattern blocks to be translated into cloth.

Fifty Bees #4 exhibition at Frome’s wonderful Black Swan gallery. 

This is my response to the habitat and lifestyle of the Lobe Spurred furrow bee.

I enjoy using found and repurposed materials in my own arts practice, so this is created entirely from fabric washed up the beach at Charmouth and fishing line, horsehair and natural fibres to stitch with. This bee was virtually extinct in the 1980′s but then made a dramatic come back, to now becoming a species with no risk to its population. My quest to discover the reasoning behind this encouraged a journey of discovery and research to try and understand its story.

I travelled around to visit habitats of known sightings, scrubland, agricultural sites, beach cliff locations but did not find my bee. I did discover though,  that the prevalence of Oilseed Rape planted on a mass scale across the UK in the 80′s had a detrimental impact on many indigenous insect species particularly bees. The nicotinoid pesticides used in agriculture was the culprit but fortunately for the lobe spurred furrow bee, it thrived on the blooms of rape and where others perished it increased in number.

My piece uses loopy stitching and intense surface coverage to signify the bees activity. The yellow plant dyed colour references the rape blooms and the undulating surface is linked to the patch of land investigated on site.

Dramatic giant knitting by FAD student now studying Fashion at Westminster university. Charlotte Langdon. Hand knitted merino tops realised as  a full length coat. On to right the use of wire tubing stitched to bodysuit as anew garment. Beautifully styled photo shoot, simplicity and drama and a ‘less is more’ attitude is the key to success here.

Welcome to Textiles @ Strode This is a new blog for 2015 to chat about all things: textiles/fashion/costume/fabric/design/pattern/print/art etc that we do at college.

MA stuff

Gestural marks, fluid and expressive. Enjoying overlaying inks and acrylics with potential to print scaled up marks?

END OF YEAR SHOWCASE -Class of 2020

Congratulations Scarlet Crofts!

Scarlet developed her final Textiles collection as sustainable festival fashion. Recycling, repurposing and ultimately developing her own series of digital prints from her meticulously cut and stitched scalloped dress. Such a pity Glastonbury was cancelled this year, I’m sure Scarlet would have been rocking this outfit and turning heads at Pilton. 

The final image is from a ‘Live’ project with the British Red Cross Society, the class created various paper couture garments depicting iconic fashions throughout the 20th century, they were exhibited as window displays around Somerset shops. This one was exhibited in Crewkerne to great acclaim!

Credit to @catherinehydephotorgaphy for image 1.

Scarlet is seeking a creative employment as a GAP year and plans to apply for UCAS in 2021.