art

Books: Stitch magic + Drawn to stitch

by kath_red on November 25, 2011

in Books, Fibre+Needlework

November: Month of books at Whipup.net

Stitch Magic: A Compendium of Sewing Techniques for Sculpting Fabric into Exciting New Forms and Fashions By Alison Reid, published by STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book (April 1, 2011).

Stitch magic is as the title says a compendium of techniques. There are a few projects showing off the techniques, but primarily the techniques are stand alone for you to use as you will.

For example cut fabric shapes, can be used in a variety of ways to enhance and decorate a simple design. Different methods of cutting and attaching are discussed, as well as which fabrics will work best with this technique – then you can make a belt and a place mat using what you have just learned. Next you learn about folded shapes and can decorate a bed throw (pictured above) using this striking yet simple technique. Pleating, pintucking, quilting, cording, and smocking all are designed to take you from simple sewing to more detailed and complex sewing. It’s time to move up to the next level.

Drawn to Stitch: Line, Drawing, and Mark-Making in Textile Art by Gwen Hedley, Interweave Press (USA) (October 12, 2010), Batsford (UK) and distributed in Australia through Capricorn link.

Textile artist Gwen Hedley, takes the most basic of drawing concepts – the line – and explores it with stitching. The first two chapters of Drawn to stitch, discuss materials and techniques (collage, weaving, sewing, printing, and drawing), and this then leads in to Chapter three which Gwen Hadley describes as “the kernel of the book”. This third chapter is visually stunning. Gwen uses examples of textile art and deconstructs the techniques used. This chapter showcases sketches, inspiration images and samples of work when discussing how a certain piece of work came into being. The final chapter – my personal favourite section – takes line drawings and sketches and shows how they can be interpreted in stitch.

This book is not only visually stunning and an essential manual for fibre and textile artists but also for others looking for a different perspective on drawing – it is part instructional manual, part workshop and part inspirational journal.

Examples of Gwen Hedley’s work – from her sketchbooks

{ 2 comments }

Guest post | reimagined children’s book covers

by contributor on August 16, 2011

in Art+Design, Guest Blogger

Guest post by Heidi from Uncovered cover art

Uncovered Cover Art features reimagined children’s book covers. Professional and amateur artists can submit artwork, and new illustrations are added daily. Art directors, designers, and agents are all frequent visitors.

When you browse through the bookstore or the stacks of a library, a book cover makes all the difference. A good cover provokes an emotional reaction and instantly lets the reader know what the book is about. Every artist has their own unique style. That’s why it’s so fun to see a book illustrated again and again. As a children’s book editor, I’ve always enjoyed the process of finding an artist and working with the art director to design a new book cover. And I LOVE when we get a chance to go back and refresh a book with a new cover. It makes all the difference and I fall for a book all over again.

There are so many talented and creative artists in our world. Uncovered Cover Art is my way of celebrating them. I really hope this website will be a matchmaker for artists, art directors, and agents. I’ve been amazed by the response to the website with agents encouraging their clients to submit and artists sending in new work every day. I’m so excited each time I get a new submission. Here’s what I love to see…

I love art that feels loose and alive.

I discovered Jana Christy on Seven Impossible Things and her Little Red Riding Hood is a favorite on Uncovered Cover Art. She is so sassy!

I love color.

Meg Hunt gets it completely right with her Alice in Wonderland pieces.

The Princess & The Pea has been a source of inspiration for so many artists because it offers so much room to design amazing textures and contrast colors in fresh ways. This piece by Heather Ross would make me return to the book again and again.

I love texture.

Kate Slater’s The Owl and the Pussy Cat is the ultimate example. I could not care less about this poem, but there is so much here to draw you in.

Kevin Stanton’s homage to Where the Wild Things Are is so dreamy. I just want to stumble along the edges of this paper world and fall in.

I love being surprised.

Some of my favorites are those that just completely reinvent the book.

I absolutely love Quentin Blake’s artwork, but this illustration of Matilda is stunning. Chrystal Chan created this piece for the Gallery 1988’s Required Reading show in Los Angeles. It’s gorgeous, poignant, and made-you-gasp memorable.

This version of The Little Prince by Jennie Lynn Paske is so surreal. It truly feels like Le Petit Prince has landed on another planet.

Billy Nuñez’s Chinese take on Goldilocks is just right. His work has been hugely popular on the site because it feels so obvious (How Has This Not Been Done Before?) and yet, so fresh.

Dokino hails from Mongolia and gave an entirely earthy and unexpected African twist to Alice in Wonderland.

Berk Ozturk’s punk Rapunzel is funny, dark, and suggests this story could be updated for tweens and teens.

To celebrate the launch of Uncovered Cover Art, the three most popular artists will receive a copy of Show and Tell: Exploring the Fine Art of Children’s Book Illustration. If you know someone who should submit to Uncovered Cover Art, I would be delighted if you spread the word to your friends, any all other souls who are passionate about children’s books. Voting ends August 30th.

{ 7 comments }

BIG kids magazine

by kath_red on July 13, 2011

in Books, Kids Crafts

The inaugural edition of this Australian art magazine for kids is due to be published early 2011. So far it looks like it is going to be beautiful, breathtaking and bold. BIG stands for Bravery, Imagination and Generosity – the magazine aims to promote creativity in children and create opportunities for innovative collaboration.

Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue and Australian artists and parents who are passionate about art as a holistic way of thinking and an everyday way of engaging viewing and responding to the world. You can find out a little bit more about them here. And you can find Lilly Blue and her illustrations here and an interview with Jo Pollitt here.

I asked Jo and Lilly what we can expect in the first edition of BIG and this is what they said:

  1. BIg Kids Magazine has the contemporary art world at its core, and many drawn and sculpted pathways for kids to respond, interact and participate in it.
  2. Our main point of difference is that we publish the work of children and artists/adults side by side, acknowledging the importance of the conversation between the two, and the interesting outcomes when kids respond to artists work, and vice versa.
  3. The theme for the launch issue is First Flight and it is full of winged creatures, feathered flocks, flying fiends and caped heroes.
  4. The cover image is a collaboration between Lilly and a very cool 6year old young artist that will set the tone for a wondrous shared adventure on the BIG ship sea!
  5. Artists, both emerging and established, will be featured with a related activity for children to immediately respond to. For example kids will be able to compose poetry out of  a page filled with the most delightful bird names selected from a field of over 10,000. A palate of words for a child to instantly black out and create their own ‘micro poems’ by using a black marker or highlighter.
  6. People who grew up to become who they wanted to be when they grew up will feature a ballerina interviewed alongside a ornithologist.
  7. Interviews with kids on their current adventures in art and the world will feature in each issue and for the launch issue we are very excited to share the wild caravan adventures of BG, who is on our Junior editorial team.
  8. The junior editorial team will be introduced and we will reveal their first (currently top secret) BIG collaborative project with 6 local and international artists.
  9. What’s BIG right now will be for kids to record their current interests, friends and feelings which can be kept and collected with future issues (we find it is getting harder to keep a record of the changes in the personal world of our increasingly ‘busy’ kids, and see this as a quick response, reflective and fun way to remember special times).
  10. The pull out print to keep is by an Australian artist and we will feature a new artist in each issue so that kids can collect the prints to frame, or keep, or alter.
  11. Also there will also be pages to colour, cut and stick and a tiny sized section of miniature worlds.

BIG magazine is offering ONE Whipup.net reader the opportunity to win a subscription to BIG magazine, this includes the launch issue and the second edition for themselves as well as securing a subscription for a child in need. Please leave a comment here to be in the running – you have 48 hours to enter. Now Closed - Congratulations Caleb – you have been contacted via email.

 

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

For more kids craft, creative ideas and activities go to the Action Pack website

Book: The Artful Bird {blog tour}

by kath_red on March 2, 2011

in Art+Design, Books

Today I am very excited to be a stop on Abby Glassenberg’s blog tour for her new book – The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends to Make and Sew [published by Interweave 2010].

I have long been a fan of Abby Glassenberg’s work, she makes the most amazing toys and soft sculptures from fabric. This amazing book she has written is incredibly thorough and breaks down the process of making fabric birds in a really accessible way. But today I thought I would showcase some of her amazing work – its not all featured in her latest book – but will give you some inspiration for your own work. I love her use of innovative materials – she uses a lot of recycled materials in her work, and has an amazing sense of colour and texture. In her book she does go into some detail on how to create different textures on the wings through the use of different fabrics as well as sewing techniques.

Patchworked owl

Crested bird – is made with clothing tags

Another amazing thing about Abby’s animals is her eyes – have you noticed their incredible eye details – in her book she goes to some lengths to showcase several eye designs

Hen and egg

Owl

Orange and blue bird

Abby is also really into texture – she is a master of manipulating fabric to create amazing wings and feather textures.

Rooster – feathers made with torn strips of fabric

Parrot – made with stuffed feathers and gorgeous bright colours

Follow on the blog tour

{ 12 comments }

Book: Machine Stitch Perspectives

by kath_red on February 27, 2011

in Books, Features

I have lately been very drawn to the stitched line. Stitching as decoration, stitching as art, stitching as messages, stitching as contemplation. It holds a fascination for me – the mixture of practicality, tradition and art.

I recently received an amazingly beautiful book for review Machine Stitch: Perspectives, by Alice Kettle and Jane McKeating. It is published in the UK by A & C Black (2010), distributed by Allen and Unwin in Australia and about to be released in the USA in March this year. There is a companion book ‘Hand stitching perspectives’ in the works which I can’t wait to see.

Machine Stitch is a beautifully detailed book, big hard cover coffee table style, beautiful full page glossy images- with contributions by many experts in the textile field. In the introduction it says “Our intention was to reveal the breadth of practice, the joy of making and the strength of critical thinking to be found within this area.” and that promises a lot, which this book does not fail to deliver.

This book could easily have concentrated on textiles with art practices and historic museum perspectives, which would have been amazing – don’t get me wrong. However it goes further and explores the domestic and the commercial alongside the avant garde and the experimental. A gorgeous book to be treasured and read over and over.

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries