Rules of engagement
Unspoken and unravelled
Coffee, that’s a given.
A closed door and no interruptions, next on the list.
Add in a couple of weeks thinking about doing something, and I’m ready to start.
OK, make that a couple of years. My latest piece was in the box for at least that, but I’m happy to say it’s now - bar framing - finished!
It was interesting to go back to something that had been pieced together so long ago. The bare bones were there, and they were good bones. But what to do, what to add, to flesh it out, so to speak? Perhaps my uncertainty was why I left it first time around.
The obvious first move (after coffee, of course) was to delve into the box of painted fabrics from whence it came, all created at the same time during a course with Tansy Hargan. Then at least, even if I find my hand drifting towards the basket (ahem) of scraps on my desk, the additions will harmonise because they’re related. Not that being related leads to harmony necessarily, but that’s a discussion for another day…
Thereafter it’s ‘just’ a process of choosing, positioning, moving, securing, stitching, adding, taking away, masking and so on - with the ‘and so on’ doing a lot of the heavy lifting there.
It’s hard to describe, so I videoed some of the process of choosing and positioning for you to see how this plays out. It’s sped up a little and I chopped a bit of the dithering where nothing happened on-screen, so this represents about 40 minutes. Doesn’t seem like much, but this was before anything was stitched! I used clips and pins and masking tape to keep things where I wanted them, before moving on to the gradual process of adding the stitch, to anchor, blend, highlight and - in some cases - mask.
As you can see, this isn’t a random process of depositing a load of similar-ish colours onto a fabric base, chopping and changing them a little then stitching them down - although to some I’m sure it looks just like that! As I’m doing this, I have very firm ideas of what goes where, what doesn’t, what feels “off”.
When a piece feels right, it’s like a breath out. Something inside me relaxes, I feel I can let it go, let it be. It might get moved again, and then moved back, because it’s like it already knows its place - my job is to work out where that is.
Sometimes I listen to a podcast or watch a video - but to be more accurate, there’s often a podcast playing in my ears or a video on the iPad in front of me, and then I realise I haven’t taken anything in - I’ve been completely absorbed in what my hands and eyes are doing.
Trying to remember back to the process while editing and watching the video, I can sense it’s definitely a physical experience - tuning into areas of tension, moments when it releases - it’s something I feel.
There’s definitely visual decision making going on too, as well as the internal feelings, but it’s quite tricky to define them. Slippery though they may be, I think they’re the same whatever I do - so it’s more than responding to the piece in front of me. Because these are the sort of decisions I make whenever I make anything, whether a card or larger work, I find it interesting to think of them as rules - my rules for creating.
I jotted a few notes as I was watching myself in the video, trying to remember why I did what I did - so I’ll have a stab at describing my rules, such as they are…
Some of Izzy’s rules
Coffee
Headphones
Straight edges and empty right-angles should be softened with an overlapping strip, or overlapped with smaller pieces - all in a similar or harmonising tone.
Large or regular or ‘obvious’ shapes should be integrated into the whole with colour or marks that are overlaid and also featured elsewhere.
Marks should come in odd numbers unless there’s a really good reason not to.
Follow daffodil-planting procedure when it comes to dotting marks around.
Try and keep some areas quiet - plain, simple. Add smaller, contrasting elements and colours, but try and keep the simplicity and don’t overcomplicate.
If you go too far, use another layer of similar tone to block out the fussiness, and start again to integrate it.
Don’t let one area be weighed down with a dark colour - balance it up with a smaller amount of dark elsewhere, to pull it back up. In other words, balance the tones. Don’t have all dark and all light on different sides. Unless that’s what you’re going for.
And talking of balance - avoid too much balance and symmetry - keep things moving and unbalanced, so it doesn’t become static.
But not so much it’s all over the place and makes you dizzy…
Circles should be whole - if they’re broken by a line, make sure it’s a bold line.
Areas should relate to each other, or be pulled together with line, or blended with stitch.
Words should either be innocuous or relate to the whole - and if not, muted or obscured in some way e.g. with reverse printing/transfer, lace or stitch. Are they there for the visual effect, or the meaning? Decide and proceed accordingly.
And back to “what you’re going for” - have in mind what it is you’re trying to achieve, the feeling you want a viewer to have, the idea you’re expressing, what you were thinking back when you started the piece. If you already know the title, keep that in mind as you work.
Hardest one: stop before you go too far.
Don’t forget the unpicker if you do - and if that isn’t possible, there’s always the option of another layer, if you can still stitch through it.
Here’s the end result
(end-ish - still to be tidied and framed)
Untangle your own rules
Maybe try a spot of self-observation, next time you’re creating. I find it helpful to think of myself looking over my shoulder. Alternatively, describe out loud (or in your head, but still verbally) why you’re doing something, as you do it.
You could also try this fun process to untangle your own rules.
Let me know if you give it a go, and what you find out!
