T shirt workshop at Level Best

As my exhibition hung in the Level Best art gallery I was invited to deliver a t-shirt workshop to the trainees. This workshop would explore the use of text on fabric.

I had a number of pieces hanging in the gallery and chose to recreate one of the outcomes on a t-shirt as an example. I've not worked on t-shirts before or cotton. It was interesting to feel the difference between working on calico and canvas to working on cotton. 

The cotton was far more stretchy which made tracing the letters onto the front of the top more difficult. The fabric moved and stretched as it got caught on the end of the pencil. Before applying acrylic paint I put some paper inside the t-shirt to ensure the paint didn't seep through to the other side and then started to fill in the shapes with a thin paintbrush. 

For the workshop, I provided a collection of word stencils for the trainees to work with and also saved the cutout letters too, so they could make up their own words too.

The workshop was a great experience and it was really insightful to see the group respond to the exhibition and create their own wearable outcomes. During the workshop, we mixed acrylic paints with a medium to make them machine washable. 

Some words went down particularly well, such as 'joy' and 'happy', which was uplifting, and some trainees ran with the idea and added signs and symbols to their t-shirts such as smiling faces.

You can see some of the outcomes over on the Level Best Facebook page, linked below. 

https://www.facebook.com/LevelBestEnterprises

Playing with lasers - Part 1

I always enjoy trying new things when it comes to my art practice and new ways to make new text. I had the opportunity to play with a laser cutter and new text ensued.

The process was very different from anything I'd done before, it was all very hands-off - I like to be hands-on - I have a DIY art practice after all. The laser cutter required an Illustrator file prepared in advance and then for materials to be placed and buttons to be pressed. The process was slow and even slower the thicker the material got. And loud too. But it was almost like magic, just very slow magic.

I tested my font, ACComplete4 on MDF wood 3mm and 6mm, and 3mm acrylic. My first thoughts were that this was very much like a puzzle, my second was that I enjoyed the smell of the burnt wood.

Once I had - the laser had - cut the acrylic, I knew right away that I preferred the wood. It felt like I'd been able to do more with the wooden letters. I feel like the acrylic letters have to be used as they are. There is scope for some light work perhaps. But these thoughts are currently unprocessed. 

The first lesson that I learned was that if I am just cutting letters out to use, and not requiring the offcuts, then I need to bunch the letters up more tightly. However, I do like the idea of using the offcuts as the art. I just need to find the right words. 

Silver Letters - Part 2

My studio scavenger hunt continued and I came across some mirror cards which is years old, I distinctly remember buying them while at university for the university shop. This was back in 2015/6. And backs up my 'keep everything just in case' rule, which I think many artists live by.

The mirror card had clear benefits above and beyond the sharpie on black paper. The main one was that it was shinier. 

I also found that I could interact with the mirror card in different ways, cutting the letters out, etching into the surface of the card, and layering the letters.

On the right-hand side, I mixed the two types of letters up, and it is here that you can start to see how much more shiny the mirror card is in the way it catches the light so clearly.

I am still unsure if this is going anywhere but I have mirrors on the mind now.

Process

I found over the past couple of years that my processes for writing academically and for art are one of the same. 

Both essentially start with an automatic writing technique. I write without stopping and without worrying about errors. Both practices then go through an editing process, in which audience and convention are considered consciously. 

The academic writing will be spell-checked, and grammar and any other conventions for publication will be added. With my art practice, I might correct spellings, but I might not, but I leave grammar out. However, word and letter placement might become more important, and constrictions of size and how they will be exhibited are considered. 

I am eager to see what happens with both practices as time goes on, I am keen for the two to merge into one - but do not want to rush this process. 

The merge comes as a gain conference in my place in both the artworks and the academic world. I push boundaries and jump over lines. I mix the two and see if anyone notices.

These finders were first presented at the NUA Terminals Conference in August 2022

Silver Letters - Part 1

I most often work in black and white. I work with a pencil on paper. Until now I worked on white paper and so I hadn't fully appreciated the silvery glint of graphite on black paper, in the last of the summer light making it shine bright silver. 

This let me turn my studio upside down to find silver things, much like a magpie. If it was shiny, I wanted it. I found a silver sharpie, I can't say I remember where it came from initially, but it was much better than the simple graphite pencil.

I continued to work on the black paper and saturated it in silver ink. I enjoyed the subtle black edging that the paper provided. I am not sure where I am going with this, but I am enjoying the light relief of play.