Patchwork Passion

New! Drawing classes starting in February

Dont forget to book into my new Drawing classes starting on Wed 6th Feb

Places are filling fast and numbers are limited!

 

 

These classes will offer all levels of drawers the opportunity to learn or fine tune the basics of drawing, try out different mediums, study a variety of components of drawing such as line & tone, perspective, composition and proportion and will include life drawing. Beginners welcome.

Please contact me for further information and bookings:

Juliet 0403 774783

julietdcollins@gmail.com

How I work

I am often asked how I create my thread and fabric pieces so here is a brief explanation:

All my pieces begin as life drawings.

 
 

I transfer the drawing I have chosen to work with to fabric, usually selecting linen or calico.

I then spend a lot of time at the design stage working out a composition for the piece, selecting fabrics to use, working out texture, pattern and colour combinations.

 

"The Forest Becomes Her" in progress

 

Depending on the complexity of the piece, I use a variety of different source materials including drawings, sketches, photos I have taken... 

This is a very synergistic and dynamic part of my process - The designs, textures, stories and personalities of the materials interact with the original drawing and my intentions for the piece taking me on a journey of discovery!



Having placed & pinned the components of the piece I then draw the figure into the fabrics using freehand machine embroidery.

I add layers and details. In some pieces I use other techniques such needle felting



The Forest Becomes Her

 When the piece is complete I finish it off with my signature.

 

Wedding Haiku

 

 

 

Green Kimono at Manyung

Green Kimono

This piece is currently exhibited at Manyung Gallery.

You can have a look at other available works on my online website with Manyung at

http://www.manyunggallery.com.au/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=806

An Evening of Creativity

Many thanks to all those who came along to my first ever GIRLS NIGHT IN DRAWING. It was wonderful to be amongst such a lovely group of creative women. Bron's studio was filled with chatter and laughter, tasty nibbles were passed around, and the wine flowed. Many participants were new to drawing or had not drawn for a long time and I applaude them for taking the challenge to give it a go! We had fun trying a range of mediums and experiencing different techniques from slow & careful contour drawing to fast & furious gesture drawing.

 

 

It's All About Life Drawing...

Juliet D Collins, Study for Sarong, 2012



Life drawing is at the heart of all the art I make. This is more obvious with my thread and fabric work, each one of which has been developed directly from my life drawings. But it is also a very important element in my sculpture - my studies from the life model have always had a great influence on my ideas, designs and the development of the forms I create.



So I thought I'd write a little bit about life drawing - a whistle-stop tour through some of history's greatest artists who have practised & developed the tradition of this inspiring art form and why I feel it is important and relevant to draw the human form from life.

Life Drawing - the drawing of the human form directly from live models -  has been a fundamental part of the formal training of artists since formal art academies were first formed in the 16th century.

Artists have been drawing from the live nude model at least since the time of the Italian Renaissance. They began doing so in a quest to understand the human body better and to define the ideal proportions of the body. This era gave birth to the study of Anatomy. It is a well known fact that artists such as Leonardo da Vinci were illegally dissecting dead bodies in order to study their anatomy at this time. During the Renaissance the aim was to depict the idealised human form, to perfect nature in an attempt to convey the divine and to emulate the classical art of ancient Greece.

Leonardo da Vinci's Vetruvian Man 1487

Leonardo da Vinci, drawing, anatomy of a male nude 1504-1506

Artist such as Rembrandt - working in the 17th century -perfected drawing skills through careful observation and practise. Rembrandt considered his drawings from life to be a private record of his observations. His ability to depict the human form so accurately, with great economy of line and in a manner that conveys spontaneity and emotion, is just one of the reasons his works and skills are so very highly regarded.

Rembrandt, Sitting Woman

By the 19th century artists had replaced the aim of conveying divine and idealised perfection for the pursuit of realism. Toulouse Lautrec and his contemporaries relished in depicting everyday moments of the ordinary people around them.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Woman Sleeping

Egon Schiele is one of my favourite artists. Working in the early 20th century he is known for his intense and expressionist style. I'll need to devote a whole post to him at some point!

Egon Schiele, Sitzender weiblicher Akt mit aufgestützen Ellbogen, 1914

Matisse aimed to look at everything "as though for the first time" and urged his students to do the same. He placed great importance on the observation of negative space. He studied and drew his subjects over and over again until he was capable of depicting them with a few quickly drawn lines that portray "the purest and most direct translation" of emotion.

Matisse, drawing

When I studied Fine Art, life drawing was still a core and essential part of the course. That was a while ago. Is it still a relevant art form?
I believe so. The human body is generally thought to contain every aspect of form, visual complexity and subtlety that an artist will ever encounter. The figure represents many technical challenges – form, structure, foreshortening, proportion and also allows us to express a great deal about human nature, to express mood personality and deep emotion.
Drawing the human figure regularly helps one to improve one's powers of observation and drawing skills. With practice, it allows us the opportunity to rise above our inner critic and gain skillful artistic mastery which we can apply to any artform we wish pursue.

Above all, life drawing is a wonderful, challenging, frustrating, joyful, sometimes painful and ultimately very rewarding artistic endeavour which can produce stunning works of art.

 

 

You are invited to a...

 Girls night in Drawing

Please join us for a relaxing evening of creativity

No experience necessary

$25

 Tuition in drawing basics, line and tone, try different media  & an opportunity to experience drawing with a life model

 

Materials provided

BYO wine & nibbles

Wednesday 12^th Dec 7.30-10pm

 BRONS-ART STUDIO, Sandringham

Bookings essential. Places limited!

Also book now for 2013 Drawing classes:   ·       Drawing for beginners ·       Life drawing   Mon & Wed  7-9.30pm $240 per term

Please contact Juliet 0403 774783 julietdcollins@gmail.com BRONS-ART STUDIO Unit6/231 Bay Rd. Sandringham www.brons-art.com

 

Princess in Progress

It has been a while between blogs hasn't it! Whilst it may look like I have been having a very nice long rest, I can assure you that couldn't be further from the truth!! I have been so absorbed in my various projects I haven't taken the time to write anything! Sorry folks. To make up for it here is a sneak preview of my current work in progress. Above, one of the life drawing studies for the piece and below the initial stages and starting to piece it together. Lots still to do! This lovely lady is one of a series of 3 fairytale princesses I have planned.

As well as keeping busy in my studio with my works, I have been planning some exciting upcoming workshops and classes for adults and children!

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR  INFO ON UPCOMING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS!!

Cabaret II

Linen, thread, tulle and feathers on calico   76 x 61cm

Dry Stone Walls

Andy Goldsworthy

I absolutely love the work of Andy Goldsworthy and yesterday I was lucky enough to happen upon an exhibition of his photographs of his early work. What a thrill!


Andy Goldsworthy

Leaves polished, greased made in the shadow of the tree from which they fell, pinned to the ground with thorns.

Le jardin Massey, Tarbes, France,
22 August 1989



I find his works completely inspirational. They seem to reawaken and refresh my experience of the natural environment around me. Each piece has so much integrity - I really respond to the way we get the sense of the artist interacting and responding to the natural world. There is so much honesty in his representation of natural phenomena and I find the way in which he manipulates natural materials & environments thrilling! 

Andy Goldsworthy
Storm King Wall
1999

I also have a thing for dry-stone walls!

For more information on Andy Goldsworthy:
http://www.ucblueash.edu/artcomm/web/w2005_2006/maria_Goldsworthy/TEST/index.html

The Dailiness of Life

"Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching until it comes to that certainty which it aspires to, but does not necessarily have at once. Privacy, then. A place apart-a pace, to chew pencils, to scribble and erase and scribble again.

 

But just as often, if not more often, the interruption comes not from another but from the self itself, or some other self within the self, that whistles and pounds upon the door panels and tosses itself, splashing, into the pond of meditation. And What does it have to say? That you must phone the dentist,that you are out of mustard, that your uncle Stanley’s birthday is two weeks hence. You react, of course. Then you return to your work, only to find that the imps of idea have fled back into the mist."

Excerpt from "Of Power And Time" by the American poet Mary Oliver. It is taken from the book "Blue Pastures", 1995, Harvest Books.


laundry basket detail from Blue Jean

I have recently been introduced to the wonderful poetry and writings of Mary Oliver.

Her words really speak to me and this excerpt describes perfectly my constant daily struggle to balance "the dailiness of life" and my creative time. 

Not quite so tidy threads...

 

But equally as beautiful as those tidy ones I posted last week!

 

 

 

....and a fabric combination I am playing with

Just a few days left....

Passion for Fashion at Manyung Gallery closes this Sunday 30th September. The show includes my thread and fabric work - Fabric of Life.

 

This piece is exhibited in the exhibition. It is titled Far from Home

It is inspired by my occasional pangs of longing for the hills, glens and lochs of my homeland.

 http://www.manyunggallery.com.au/

Lots of other artists are exhibiting in this vibrant exhibition. It's worth a look! I particularly love the amazing hats by Felicity Northeast. Each one is made from an original artwork.

http://www.manyunggallery.com.au/gallery/Felicity-Northeast

Sewjourning with Sisters of Inspiration

I have just returned from a wonderful and enriching creative weeekend away at Sewjourn with my inspirational "sisters". Check out http://sewjourn.net.au/

 

Here are a few of the projects that were underway:





 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful brooches by Jo. Have a look at her blog - http://josoandsew.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

Dipping Girl - why she's special to me


 

Dipping Girl has a very special place in my heart as she was the first thread life drawing I made.

This one was made recently and is currently exhibited at Manyung Gallery, Mount Eliza.

Her flowers are also special, made in loving memory of my lovely Grandma whose favourite flower was the poppy.

Dipping Girl is made in thread and fabric. Her body is calico, background includes paper pattern. Size: 30 x 30cm
 

Happy Tidy Threads

When I am in the middle of an intense period of work my studio space reaches a crescendo of chaos! Clutter and mess is everywhere -  fabric scraps, threads, papers, drawings, drawing materials, empty coffee cups...whatever might have passed through my hands in the weeks and months that I have been busy creating, the debris remains. But the funny thing is that when I am in that state I don't mind at all. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it is a necessary element to my personal creative process. As soon as the work is over, however,  I HAVE to tidy! I have to declutter, clear, sweep, discard, clean the decks and have the room as neat as a pin ASAP so that I can start the whole process all over again!

 

A small corner of my currently tidy workspace - happy tidy threads!

 

 

 

Fabric of Life - what it's all about

In my current work I am using textiles to explore the female form to depict life as I experience it. I am using thread and fabrics to portray emotion, character and atmosphere.

I aim to create a sense of a woman's landscape and her connection to her environment.

The Forest Becomes Her

 



Each piece is developed from studies drawn from life

I work with my drawings and the fabrics to express the spirit of the moment, the beauty of the figurative line and a joy of texture, colour and pattern.


The Forest Becomes Her in progress

 I use freehand machine embroidery to depict the drawn line. The designs, textures, stories and personalities of the materials take me on a journey to the finished piece.

Blue Jean

I hope to convey an aspect of the human condition from a female perspective. I have often been asked why I choose to depict only the female form. My current work is an expression of me and my experience of the world - I am a woman hence I choose to communicate this expression through the female form. 










Working in this way allows me to combine my love of drawing the human form with using inspiring materials that allow me to express what I feel and how I experience the world. I hope that through this collection of my recent works, I am able to share with you my love of the human form as expressed through figure drawing and my expression of authentic human experience through the texture, colours and beauty of textiles.

 
 

All my thread and fabric works are developed from my life drawings. Some are directly translated into thread, others come from a series of drawn studies. It depends on my intention for the finished piece and also the inspiration for the work. I always try to capture the essence of the original drawing in the final thread and fabric piece.
I thought I'd share some of my original drawings...

 

This is pencil on paper. It is a study for a large piece in thread & fabric that I am working on at the moment.

This was the original drawing for "Mistress of the Garden". It's mixed media on brown paper.

This is pencil on paper. Drawn as part of my many studies for the "kimono" series this one became "Reflection"