texture in art

I've been thinking about texture in art and textiles
and why I think it's important for texture to be an intrinsic part of my work

personally, I am drawn to texture I find in the harbours of Cornwall
and on considering this recently I realised that it is

because of the layers of colour and the tactile nature of these layers

these photos of rusty peeling paint found on a boat in St. Ives harbour
help me to explain how the layers themselves tell a story or journey

built up over years, layers have worn away to reveal a past and a history

the same applies to these photos I took at Porthmeor Studios
so many artists over the years have worked on these boards
so ... how exciting to wonder who they were and what they produced

what famous works of art were created by artists leaning on these boards ...

it's quite breath-taking to consider that many different St. Ives artists
have, over the decades, added their painterly marks and paint spills

so ... whether I am painting, creating a collage or working with textiles

I almost always consider the dimension of my work as well as the colour and composition

I've recently transferred a lot of my textile work to canvas

and have been experimenting with stitching on a cotton, linen or a canvas base

where I have previously painted the background and considered the texture of the surface

in my work here ...
some of the texture was created using texture paste or other textured mediums

and I've been experimenting with using a heat gun to manipulate that texture

I do this before and after I have painted the canvas

on these canvases I have used both acrylics and silk paints to colour the canvas

watered down and neat ... with brushes and sponges to work the colour

so straight away there is another element to the work before I begin to stitch

when it comes to collage ... I apply the same considerations

and love to use found objects and things from nature to enhance the work

fabrics add lovely texture to a paper based collage or canvas

and helps make the paper or card flexible but strong enough for stitch

on this collage I've used watered down acrylics and oil pastels with silk

I rubbed real pieces of lichen into the wax to add a bit of texture to it

after painting and heating to create the texture

I added some shells to this piece called "on the shore"

I was pleased with the texture on this piece below

where I was trying to achieve the effect of surf

inspired by the surf and spray on Porthmeor beach

finished framed work ...

I actually love the part where I'm adding texture to my work

especially considering the layers and colours

here I've used hand dyed scrim with metal scrim couched down on top

the orange stitches contrast

in this one below I've used the texture paste and acrylics on top of the fabric

it's on a calico base so that I can stitch into it

so then ... it's rather hard to describe layers of print as having "texture"

since it's not usually a tactile texture unless it's in "relief"

instead I think it's because the layers do still provide a depth

so that a print can have visual texture

these are the rest of my prints from week 1

of "the surface treatment workshop" project I'm doing with my sister

we are turning the exercises into a 52 week project




you can see I've tried to add depth or "texture" wherever possible



looking forward to week 2 - using stencils

thank you for reading ♥