Blog
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fromthegroundup design ideas
SymbiosisConnectionSynergyCooperativeTeamworkCommunityNetworkRelationshipCompositeEcosystemCommunicationI feel like I want to be playful. Illustrative.Play with scale. And to explore diagrams, blueprints and scientific design.Think about purpose driven objects like the seed/ plant swap tabards.What other objects would be useful for their operation?
Ideas:Paper mulch plant pots with image printed on in enzyme inkLook at graphics that imply the sum is greater than the total of its parts.Pop up business card or small installation (e.g. mushroom or passive haus)Incorporate objects from growing spaces and the allotmentIllustration to be painted on the wall with moss graffitiSeed paper for propogating ideas on and allowing them to germinate and sprout new life.Tote bag that’s interactiveExperiment with:Using lettering and playing with wordsLazer cutting paper metal and woodLino printMoss graffitiPhotography/ cyanotype -
Live brief: fromthegroundup
The live brief is to collaborate with eco architecture design and arts practise fromthegroundup to create printed designs which evoke their working ethos.
My first thoughts are mycelium inspired designs. Key words: symbiotic community/ highly intelligent/ collaborative/ communicative/ recycles everything (detritivores)/ originators of life/ connective/ empathic.
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Fairy stitching the wimple (added a “halo” hoop to hang it from too)
I pinned the wimple together and then rough stitched it in place; I was so glad I had the dummy head to help me do this, would have been a nightmare otherwise.Earlier this week I took the largest wimple piece to a haberdashers who popped a curtain eyelet in for me at the top. This serves as a robust hanging point when combined with the button hole I added behind it.I chose this particular fixing because it looks like an industrial subverted version of a Halo.
It looks great stitched together; it really gives it a sense of “being worn” somehow, like it’s moulded to a head. And I love how the text is complicated and obscured by the folds and drapes of the fabric this way.
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Stitching serenely
I am using back stitch to keep the font legible and neat while generating that amateur folk art quality. Repressing my perfectionist streak and giving myself permission to stitch sloppily without corrections was an interesting and healthy experience.Why do I want to “be perfect”?
I will leave the letters empty of fill.This intentional choice does a few things.It creates a visual language of vacuum, which is a metaphor for the opportunity I am trying to present to the audience; a space where they can reflect on intention and power. The power of words. Power constructs in organisations. In society. In gender dynamics. And, because the words lack fill, lack substance, it deflates them somehow. This mirrors the floppy quality of the wimple. And it creates a pleasing paradox that echos the ambiguity I want to evoke.
Making this piece was a kind of deep process for me. It took me on a personal journey because of my past experience and trauma.I felt the power of this and was nervous and reticent. But while stitching these words, I very quickly felt a wave of calm wash over me. I literally felt serene. Honestly, this was so unexpected and it was a humbling.
It made me think on the power of words. That words are spells. Words are magic; they are how we manifest. Apparently, even someone who openly calls themself a witch can forget this sometimes. I am deeply grateful for this process. Process is all.Wet (washing the water reactive fabric pen out).Dry.The cute pink lettering subverts the visual script of the fabric and the wimple so deliciously. And the fonts kitsch quality juxtaposed with the weight of the words creates paradox. I am pleased.My heart feels glad and full that I have created something that will give others a chance to reflect and feel. To step into process. I have created a ritual installation, a piece that will offer connection and relationship. Both to self and to others.This feels meaning making and I understand that this kind of effort is core to what I want to offer to audiences. -
Revised kneeler plan
I didn’t have the time or patience or remaining sanity to cross stitch the whole area required to re-upholster the kneeling stool.
So instead sourced some wool weave re-upholstery fabric with the closest colour match possible and sewed the cross stitch piece into a frame that covers the sides of the stool.I found out in the quest for this fabric that the general shift to online selling has meant that haberdashers/ re-upholstering specialists have very few front facing shops. But luckily I found a great family run business in Netherfield who were very helpful.Website:I bought braid to finish where the fabric meets the wood.
The scale of the cross stitch doesn’t really work for me which is a shame. But I wouldn’t have had the time to stitch a larger area.And it does serve it’s function as a robust, messaged, interactive piece that allows folk to kneel and connect with the portrait of the Nun.Making this piece was an important step in defining my own visual language and gave me a lot of opportunity to reflect on my creative process.Mainly because I was sat just stitching for fucking hours.Lots of lessons.Lots of frustration and anger.Lots of healing.Lots of gratitude.I am proud that I was diligent in my commitment to the project but also proactive and flexible, adapting my plans to fit the timeline without totally compromising what I was trying to do.I am curious and excited to see how the audience reacts to both pieces.
