Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm (2009)

I chose Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm as my initial inspiration for this project. i began by illustrating key parts of the story using different media and techniques.

Water colour and oil pastil.

Line and water colour.

Stencil and spray paint, and pastil pencils.

Motif development.

My final outcome using appliqué, screen print and heat transfer.

Urban Vs Rural (2009)

Urban Vs Rural was the basis of this project. i began by collecting images for both themes and explored some drawing techniques i had learned in my Tea Total project.

from this work i noticed that there was some overlap between imagery for both themes. i therefore chose to study barbed wire and chains in my fabric samples.

my final outcome was a decorative piece of statement jewelry made from fabric, wire and rope.

Tea Total (2008)

For me this project was about practicing my drawing skills. I wanted the subject matter to be simple and who doesn't love a cupcake!?

Here i have experimented with two techniques, line and continuous line. i found the continuous line frustrating although sometimes it created a nice effect.

Here i have done some blind drawing and mixed media.

These are my favourite images. i used acrylic paint and added detail with black fine liner. i have also used the line method i developed earlier.

i have used a theme called "naive" here using water colour and fine liner, but i wanted a bolder effect. i have also experimented with fabrics and beads to create the tops of cupcake, this may be something i continue to explore in a textile project.

These are two large scale drawings i did using inks, drawn with a stick on an upright canvas the ink dripped effectively. i then used black fine liner to pick up on the detail.

i found that when creating my motifs these didn't work but i did use them to create birthday cards.

With the achrylic paint cup cakes i created 5 motifs for this project. these would look effective as cards, or wrapping paper. i enjoyed this project i found that by exploring different drawing methods my technique improved greatly.

Urban Myth (2008)

I live in Manchester and i often see a lot of great graffiti situated away from the cen

tre. some of it looks influenced heavily by Banksy, one of the most well known and acclaimed graffiti artists who transformed the idea from it being vandalism to an art form.

I looked at Banksy's and other's work and it seems that sometimes the more understated pieces are the most influential. Banksy works mostly with stencils, this allows him to do his, still illegal work, and move on quickly.

I continued to expand my research into all types of graffiti stenciling, i also looked for relevant fashion images for further inspiration.

During my research of stencils i noticed that several designs reminded me of the work of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. i used this inspiration to develop a motif of a famous image to create a Banksyesque stencil.

For my final piece i decided to try something different so i created a bag. i bought a cheap bag and unpicked each seam. i then appliquéd newspaper and magazines onto it, creating brick patterns with the stitching. i also appliquéd several small replicas of the stencil in brick patterns. i then sprayed each section lightly with red and black spray paint. i then hand stitched each section back together so that the bag looked worn.

Grecian Glamour (2008)

I must admit that it was the film 'Troy' which drew me to this theme. The detail and beauty in each costume was breathtaking and i began spotting grecian influence everywhere i looked in fashion.

through my research i pulled up an artical about an exhibition called "Goddess" at The Cotume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. each piece reflected the theme of ancient grecian goddesses in a very unique way;

(from left to right) Christian LaCroix, Dolce and Gabbana, Julien MacDonald and Alexander McQueen.

i experimented with fabric using the designer pieces from the exhibition and more high street branded garments as inspiration.

I that began constructing a garment using elements of my experimentation. i pinned these pieces onto a mannequin until i was happy. this is my final piece;

Unorthodox Materials (2008)

(These images were taken from Vogue November 2009 edition)

This article about reusing materials to create quirky fashion really excited me! the effort and detail put into each piece was inspiring, i decided to choose my own unorthodox material from which to create garments. i brainstormed a few things that were readily available through disposal but i didn't want to go down the woven plastic bag route, which has been done a hundred times. after visiting a junk yard i came across some great computer pieces; circuit boards and components.

After searching for some further inspiration in that fashion bible (Vogue) i found several images that helped me to compile some

initial ideas.

After developing a simple motif for screen print i did a few designs which incorporated both printed elements and act

ual pieces of computer technology.

My final garment consisted of a backless bodice made from strips of coloured circuit board glued together and held in place by knotted wires, with components decoratively crisscrossing the open back of

the bodice. this is attached to a full skirt. the under skirt is screen printed with the patterns from circuit boards and then layered with a metallic grey chiffon fabric.