The Art Chain

Last week over on Facebook a friend nominated me to take part in the Facebook Art Chain and post an image of my work everyday for 5 days. I enjoyed taking part and looking back on previous work (especially looking back to college days) so I thought I'd share it here too! So this is the journey of my work from 2008 to today!

Day 1

I graduated from Colchester back in 2008 with a degree in fashion and textiles. Since starting to make things when I was little I've always loved to recycle, using all sorts of bits and pieces my Gran used to give me, and my work at college really cemented my Make Do and Mend philosophy. 

For my Graduate Collection I created an installation of three, three metre long cream knitted hangings. They hung from floor to ceiling and were embellished with all sorts of recycled and found objects, from meat hooks, to nuts and bolts, plastic packaging and broken glass, all of which I spray painted white. I really enjoyed looking back on this, it was stressful but such a great time! 

Day 2

When I left college I was lucky enough to win a studio space for a year at Cuckoo Farm Studios in Colchester. I stayed on there after the year was up and in 2010 I had a solo exhibition in the gallery there. This piece is a detail from the installation of knitted hangings, which hung on the ceiling like light fixtures. I was exploring light and texture and for this piece explored the Shibori felting process to create a really unusually textured piece

Day 3

When I finished college I started making jewellery, like this knitted necklace embellished with found objects and spray paint, straight away. I wanted to capture the ideas from my Graduate Collection but in a wearable form. Louise Dawson Design jewellery was born!

Day 4

This is a selection of my knitted and Harris Tweed Button Brooches, embellished with a scattering of recycled materials. I first started making these because I didn't want to throw away leftover scraps of fabric, so I decided to make something with them!

Day 5

At the end of 2014 I was super chuffed to have an article about my work published in Green Craft Magazine. Here are my Knitted Button Rings, embellished with recycled fabrics

Thanks for indulging me on a little look back. I nominate you all to take part in The Art Chain and share your work too!

Louise Dawson Design Published in Green Craft Magazine!

Before I sign off for a blogging break over Christmas, I have some exciting news to share with you... 

Early in 2014 the lovely Editor of Green Craft Magazine, Devon Warren, got in touch to ask if I'd like to write an article about my work to appear in the magazine and I'm chuffed that it has now been published! 

Green Craft Magazine is an American magazine showcasing the work of artists and designers who use up-cycled and re-purposed items in their work. In my article I explain why I choose to create jewellery using up-cycled materials, particularly Harris Tweed, alongside some great images of my work that the magazine shot. 

I'm delighted to be featured alongside many inspiring artists and designers I'd like to say a big thank you to Devon and all the team at the magazine for making one of my big goals possible. I'm so happy to have my work in print!

Here are some peaks at the article, "Crafting Slow Fashion with Recycled Materials."

I'm having a short break from the blog over Christmas but I will be back before the new year to share some new year plans. I have lots to share with you in 2015!

Thank you for your support as I continue to grow this blog. I'm grateful to everyone who reads, follows and comments and supports behind the scenes- without you I wouldn't be able to do this. Wishing you all a very happy, creative Christmas

Aztec/Carnival brooches

I've been in the studio today continuing with the Aztec/Carnival themed brooches, made using up-cycled fabrics, eco friendly screen printing inks, sequins, gems and embroidery.

I've been making slow progress on these because I've been working on lots of other things, but I'm really hopeful that in the next couple of weeks I'll be posting to tell you that I've made a small collection! I'm enjoying wearing the original one I made with summery clothes in this lovely weather.

Happy Friday everyone!

New materials

 I've been experimenting with learning Fair Isle knitting recently and I've decided that I'd like to have this as a Winter project. In the meantime, I wanted to make some bright and summery textile jewellery, so here's a sneak peak at what I'll be working on this week!

 I've been gathering off-cuts of Liberty print fabrics from Ebay (this is a new brightly coloured batch, I love them!), as well as hand embroidered tray cloths, and I'd like to combine these with lace and other up-cycled materials. I also wanted to add some extra colour and I'm excited to have discovered these Permaset Eco Friendly screen printing inks. Looking forward to getting to grips with these- I've just started making some handmade stamps using wood blocks and fun foam (more on this later in the week). I'm also going to an embroidery class later this week as I'd like to include some hand embroidery. It's going to be a busy week! 

                                                 

Hand embroidered Tray Cloth

I'm planning to patch strips of the different fabrics together

New necklaces in progress!

I'm up early sewing necklaces for The Renegade Craft Fair using the pieces I machine knitted last night in lots of new colours! Once the bases are finished the next job is choosing the up-cycled fabrics to embellish them with. Looking forward to showing you the finished pieces!