Portfolio MA Applications - Laura McPherson

An MA provides further time to experiment on unfinished ideas after the BA. 

A portfolio needs to communicate a broad range of clear ideas without explanation from the artist.

Linen Pockets

Met with Mark Beecroft and feel clearer about my direction. 

• make pockets 
• use my flax designs using the multi head and lazer cutter. 
• 'pocket' has many definitions including hidden and concealed, which fits with the idea of the unseen realm being revealed.

Fashioning Technology by Syuzi Pakhchyan is described as a DIY intro to smart crafting...."your wire cutters will become just as important as your thread snippers as you shift your vintage sewing machine to make room for a new soldering station!"

http://www.fashioningtech.com/

Collaborative Projects Lecture

I was amazed at the jewel like colours of the suffolk puff quilt 

that Lynn Setterington had made from plastic carrier bags for Stitching up Oxford Road.  

The distorted images of the bags remind me of Japanese fabrics. 

Walking the Warp - Jennifer Harris

A work experience opportunity with Anne Wilson dying t-shirts for her work Walking the Warp Manchester. I was interested to hear about it but I know I already have too much time committed to 

work experience curating the postcard exhibition.

Tutorial with Heather deconstruction

Clarified my interest in form and construction reflected in the zips and pockets I've made as well as abstraction of form into pattern, which I've done repeating the flax seed drawing as a lazer cut trimming. 

• experiment with one garment feature like pockets or collars 
• look at tailored details. 
• consider deconstructing garments to see how they're made. 
• consider abstracting elements from tailoring and how to exploit and develop functional garments. 
• my interest in seeds and their life cycle could also be brought back into garments.

Fashion & Concept Portfolio - Julie Haslam

I want to make garments so this was useful, Julie gave examples of mood boards with
trends and inspiration, fashion shoots and technical drawings
done on illustrator, so I will need to improve these skills. 

Multi head flax pods

I'm referencing the blue flax flower and experimenting with glow in the dark threads 

as a way of symbolising Jesus the Light of the World, in the linen. 

Hussein Chalayan has used light in his garments to expression the 

point of ecstasy in the religious union with God as well as a metaphor for seasons.

(Fashionable Technology by Sabine Seymour)

LED Dress 2009 Hussein Chalayan

Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

Innovative layered lace made from crocheted glass by Catherine Carr. 

Pockets, sleeves and plackets workshop

Flax pods and seeds

I was disappointed that my lazer design lost all the detail
and with the size and dreary brown of the flax pods I'd sent off for, 

although the image of them nestled snugly in the tube appeals!

Garments made of linen

Garments in the bible are often referred to as linen and are symbolic of holiness and praise. 

Jesus wore a seamless linen garment common to Rabbis so linen is my starting point. 

I'm interested in the seed cycle and I like the intricate design of the flax pod in this botanical drawing 

and the blue haze of the distant flax flowers below. 

• translate flax pod into laser cut edge with a view to combining lazer cutting and multi head.

Portfolio Unit Introduction

A visual CV that reflects my career ambitions, I'd like to run my own business manufacturing textiles that appeal to spiritually minded people, but I would like the experience of working for a textile design company or manufacturer first.

• write a portfolio brief
• create a visual mood board of my inspiration and vision

Lazer Cutter Induction

I love the precision of the line and plan to use this technique.

Finding a Starting Point

Possible themes from the Bible for illustrating something of the unseen realm of God in my work are:

• the 4 faces of God - lion ox, eagle and man 
• living water
• seed cycle 
• garments of praise, righteousness etc

Drawing at Manchester Museum