Art Quill Studio
The Education Division of Art Quill & Co. Pty. Ltd.
Art Quill Studio Director: Marie-Therese Wisniowski.
This site will feature a new post each week centred on the following categories: ArtCloth, Art Glossaries, Fiber Arts, Prints on Paper, Textile Arts, Wearable Arts, and include posts from our publishing house that are pertinent to each of these categories.
If you like any of my artworks in the above links, please email me at - Marie-Therese - for pricing and for any other enquiries.
Garden Delights I & II” Introduction, Concept and Processes My new, contemporary fabric design range, “Garden Delights I & II” is based on some of my favorite personal species of plants – the Australian Waratah with its spectacular large flower heads, the Australian Banksia with its characteristic flower spikes and fruiting “cones”, and the Asian Ginkgo Biloba tree with its unique fan shaped leaves. Here, images of the above three species have been created and printed to capture a modern, timeless and unique design aesthetic.
The “Garden Delights I & II” range comes in two design formats and colorways – one tightly printed in high contrast colors on a dark background, the second printed in a more open format on a soft toned background.
As with all of my fabric designs, the base fabrics were dyed and/or over dyed using time-honored hand dyeing techniques to add visual depth, pattern and contrast to the fabric backgrounds.
“Garden Delights I” started as one of my digitally printed fabrics (“Leaves Transformed” see https://artquill.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/leaves-transformed-new-collection-of.html) which was over dyed in black-grey shades. The digitally patterned background acts a subtle nuance and gives a greater illusion of depth to the finished print. Using time-honored hand printing processes the over dyed fabric was then tightly screen printed with multiple complex layers of images consisting of banksia’s, waratah’s and ginkgo leaves over the entire fabric length. High contrast colors using opaque and metallic pigments were chosen to create a visually rich and multi layered graphic-like surface.
“Garden Delights II” started as a white piece of fabric which was dyed using numerous soft toned colors with a linear structure to the background design. This gave the piece a formal design structure for the printing of the images. Similar in print mode to “Garden Delights I” the dyed fabric was screen printed with multiple complex layers of images consisting of banksia’s, waratah’s and ginkgo leaves over the entire fabric length. The individual elements in the piece were printed in a more open format to allow the dyed patterned background to interact with the surface colors and images. Colors which featured in the dyed background were chosen for printing the images using opaque and metallic pigments to create a richly hued and multi layered surface.
The fabric and patterning in the “Garden Delights I & II” range can be designed using variations of the above colorways and patterning techniques to create a truly unique and individual statement. “Garden Delights I & II” fabric lengths and fat quarters can be used for wearable art, accessories, quilts, furnishing, as framed artworks and interior design projects. Please email me at - Marie-Therese - to discuss further options.
“Garden Delights I”
“Garden Delights I” (full view of fat quarter).
Technique and Materials: Over dyed digitally printed fabric, screen printed employing opaque and metallic pigments on linen.
Size: 50 cm wide x 55 cm high.
“Garden Delights I” (detail view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights I” (detail view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights II”
“Garden Delights II” (full view of fat quarter).
Technique and Materials: Multi colored dyed fabric, screen printed employing opaque and metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 50 cm wide x 55 cm high.
“Garden Delights II” (detail view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights II” (detail view of fat quarter).
If you like any of my artworks in the above links, please email me at - Marie-Therese - for pricing and for any other enquiries.
“Ginkgo Love” - Introduction and Concept Ou-Yang Xiu (1007-1072 A.D.) wrote in a poem to Mei: "Human nature changes in time. Someone should record the beginning so that future generations can know its (= the Ginkgo) origin. This is thus not only continuing your verse, but also contributing to history".
My new contemporary fabric design, “Ginkgo Love” is based on my trips to Japan and Taiwan and seeing the magnificent, spectacular and tall Ginkgo Biloba tree. It is also known as the Ginkgo Tree or the Maidenhair Tree. The Ginkgo symbolizes peace, longevity, life-death, hope, love, yin yang, east-west etc. The Ginkgo leaf design - with its unique fan shaped leaves - appeared on silk textile paintings, ink illustrations, prints, kimonos, ties, scarves, jewelry items, lacquer ware, ceramic vases and family crests - to mention a few! I also came across many poems featuring the Ginkgo in beautiful calligraphy script.
History of Ginkgo in Japanese Literature The first description of the Ginkgo found in Japanese literature is of 1530 when the poet Socho wrote in his travel diary (1530) that he had gathered yellow Ginkgo leaves and gave them to someone together with a waka.
In the Edo period the Ginkgo was described as being familiair in everyday life by Kikaku, Buson, Shoha (in haiku) and Ryokan (waka). In this period the Ginkgo is also mentioned in lists of season words used for haiku. Yosano Akiko (1878-1942) and Saito Mokichi (1882-1953) and also ordinary people have composed verses about Ginkgo. In prose too, Ginkgo has played an important role as an element by which people were soothed or given energy etc. in various plots of novels or stories. Examples can be found in novels such as “Hakai” by Shimazaki, “Sanshiro” by Natsume and short stories such as “Hana” by Akutagawa.
Many legends are written in Chinese and Japanese relating to the Ginkgo. In Japan the Ginkgo is often used in haiku-poems and is then called 'icho-ba(ne)' meaning Ginkgo-feather[1].
“Ginkgo Love” - Processes The “Ginkgo Love” range comes in two color ways - one on a black dyed background, the second on a deep violet dyed background. Both feature gold metallic and opaque red imagery on the surface layers. The imagery has been created and printed to capture a modern, timeless and unique design aesthetic.
As with all of my fabric designs, the base fabrics, in this instance cotton, were dyed using time-honored hand dyeing techniques to add visual depth and contrast to the fabric background/s.
Referencing my personal photo files, an image from my travels - characters from a calligraphy scroll - were digitally blown up and translated/carved onto a lino block. Other calligraphy poem text was digitally scaled down and burned onto a silk screen. A silk screen image of floating Ginkgo leaves was created earlier this year.
Using time-honored hand printing processes the dyed fabric/s were lino block printed using gold metallic pigment over the entire length of the fabric/s in a seamless repeat mode. To further create a richly hued and sumptuous surface, the next layer - the calligraphy poem text - was screen printed using gold metallic pigment over the entire length of the fabric/s in a half drop repeat mode. To create the final surface layer - the floating Ginkgo leaves - a high contrast opaque red pigment was screen printed over the entire length of the fabric/s in a half drop repeat mode. The completed fabric design consisted of multiple complex layers of imagery creating a richly hued, multi layered, sumptuous surface and reflected my visual interpretation of my ‘Ginkgo’ experiences in Asia.
The “Ginkgo Love” range can be designed using dark hued background fabric colors for the printing of the gold metallic and red opaque surface layers to create a truly unique and individual statement. “Ginkgo Love” fabric lengths and fat quarters can be used for wearable art, accessories, quilts, furnishing, as framed artworks and interior design projects. Please contact me to discuss further options.
“Ginkgo Love”
View of “Gingko Love” design as fat quarters (close up). The design comes in two color ways - one on a black dyed background (left), the second on a deep violet dyed background (right).
“Ginkgo Love” (full view on dyed black background).
Technique and Material: Dyed, lino block and screen printed employing metallic and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 106 cm wide x 180 cm high.
“Ginkgo Love” (close up view on dyed black background).
“Ginkgo Love” (detail view on dyed black background).
“Ginkgo Love” (full view on dyed deep violet background).
Technique and Material: Dyed, lino block and screen printed employing metallic and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 106 cm wide x 180 cm high.
“Ginkgo Love” (close up view on dyed deep violet background).
“Ginkgo Love” (detail view on dyed deep violet background).
If you like any of my artworks in the above links, please email me at - Marie-Therese - for pricing and for any other enquiries.
“Banksia” Collection - Introduction The genus Banksia
There are 173 Banksia species, and all but one occurs naturally only in Australia. Banksias were named after Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820 ) who in 1770 was the first European to collect specimens of these plants.
Where do they Occur?
South-Western Australia contains the greatest diversity of banksias, with 60 species recorded. They are also an important part of the flora of Australia's Eastern coast. Few banksias are found in the arid regions of Australia or in the rainforests of the Eastern coast.
There are no species that are common to Eastern and Western Australia except Tropical Banksia, Banksia dentata, which occurs across northern Australia, in Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya and the Aru Islands.
Banksia Flowers and Fruits
The flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together in pairs. The color of the flower heads usually ranges from yellow to red. Many species flower during autumn and winter. The fruit of a banksia (called follicles) is hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (which they are not, since "true" cones are produced only by conifers). The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out[1].
Heavy producers of nectar, the banksia is a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush. They are an important food source for all sorts of nectarivorous animals, including birds, bats, rats, possums, stingless bees and a host of invertebrates. Furthermore, they are of economic importance to Australia's nursery and cut flower industries. However these plants are threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning and disease, and a number of species are now rare and endangered[2].
“Banksia” Collection - Concept and Processes My new, contemporary fabric design collection, “Banksia”, is based on one of Australia’s truly unique flowering native plant species, the Banksia. Inspired by the Australian bush, Australian artists such as Margaret Preston and writers/illustrators such as May Gibbs, brought their own fresh, truly unique aesthetic of the Banksia genus to the world. Here, banksia images have been created to capture modern, timeless and unique design aesthetics.
The “Banksia” Collection comes in a series of design formats and colorways – Banksia Brights, Banksia’s Floating and Banksia’s amidst the Lichen.
As with all of my fabric designs, white fabrics, in this case cotton homespun, were dyed and/or over dyed using time-honored hand dyeing techniques to add visual depth, pattern and contrast to the fabric backgrounds. Using time-honored hand printing processes the fabrics were then screen-printed with images of “Banksia’s” over the entire fabric lengths. Using analogous and/or complementary colors (in each specific colorway), additional layers of complex images were overprinted in transparent, opaque and metallic pigments until a richly hued and multi-layered surface was created.
“Banksia Brights” comes in two colorways: one in lime green hues with red accents, the other in hot pink hues with blue accents. To create visual depth multiple, complex layers of banksia images were printed and overprinted in a random, half-drop pattern over the entire fabric using transparent, opaque and metallic pigments to create a visually high contrast, richly hued and multi-layered surface.
“Banksia’s Floating” comes in two colorways – one in soft, muted sea green and pale lemon hues, the other in soft, muted plum/purple and light blue hues. To create visual depth multiple, complex layers of banksia images were printed and overprinted in a random, floating pattern over the entire fabric using transparent, opaque and metallic pigments to create a visually contrasting, richly hued and multi-layered surface.
“Banksia’s amidst the Lichen” comes in one colorway – a dynamic, richly patterned, shibori dyed background in black and lime green hues. To create visual depth multiple, complex layers of banksia images were printed and overprinted in a random pattern over the entire fabric using metallic pigments to create a visually harmonising, deep, richly hued and textured surface.
The fabric and patterning in the “Banksia” Collection can be designed using variations of the above colorways and patterning techniques to create a truly unique and individual statement. “Banksia” Collection fabric lengths and fat quarters can be used for wearable art, accessories, quilts, furnishing, as framed artworks and interior design projects. Please email me at - Marie-Therese - to discuss further options.
“Banksia Brights”
View of “Banksia Brights” design as fat quarters (close up). The design comes in two colorways - one in lime green hues with red accents (left), the other in hot pink hues with blue accents (right).
“Banksia Brights” in lime green hues with red accents (full view).
Technique and Material: Dyed and screen-printed employing transparent, opaque and metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 113 cm wide x 100 cm high.
“Banksia Brights” in lime green hues with red accents (detail view).
“Banksia Brights” in hot pink hues with blue accents (full view).
Technique and Material: Dyed and screen-printed employing transparent, opaque and metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 113 cm wide x 100 cm high.
“Banksia Brights” in hot pink hues with blue accents (detail view).
“Banksia’s Floating”
“Banksia’s Floating” in soft, muted sea green and pale lemon hues (full view).
Technique and Material: Multi-dyed and screen-printed employing transparent, opaque and metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 113 cm wide x 100 cm high.
“Banksia’s Floating” in soft, muted sea green and pale lemon hues (detail view).
“Banksia’s Floating” in soft, muted plum/purple and light blue hues (full view).
Technique and Material: Multi-dyed and screen-printed employing transparent, opaque and metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 113 cm wide x 100 cm high.
“Banksia’s Floating” in soft, muted plum/purple and light blue hues (detail view).
“Banksia’s amidst the Lichen”
“Banksia’s amidst the Lichen” in black and lime green dyed background hues (full view).
Technique and Material: Multi-dyed, over-dyed and screen-printed employing metallic pigments on cotton.
Size: 116 cm wide x 158 cm high.
“Banksia’s amidst the Lichen” in black and lime green dyed background hues (detail view).
“Banksia’s amidst the Lichen” in black and lime green dyed background hues (detail view).
References: [1] Based on an Australian National Botanic Gardens leaflet prepared by Rod Harvey in 1995 - https://www.anbg.gov.au/banksia/index.html.
Preamble This is the seventy-fifth post in the "Art Resource" series, specifically aimed to construct an appropriate knowledge base in order to develop an artistic voice in ArtCloth.
If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document etc. for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g. click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.
The Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip over those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will hopefully be useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!
Introduction Woven double cloth is made with four or five sets of yarns usually interlaced so that the back and face of the fabric are different in appearance.
Maxi knot kersey grey dress (true double cloth).
Double knits are those in which two yarns are knitted as one or as one in some parts and separately in the same fabric.
Ochre zig-zag brocatelle dress (double cloth).
Double Cloth Woven double cloth is composed of two separate cloths woven on the same loom, one above the other with two distinct systems of both warp and filling yarns. Warp and/or filling of one fabric often exchange positions and appear in another cloth. True double cloth has a fifth set of yarns (warp), which interlace with both fabrics. True double cloth can be separated by pulling out the yarns holding the two cloths together.
True double cloth, made with five sets of yarns.
True double cloth is expensive to make, but it is more pliable than the same weight fabric using two sets of heavy yarns. On reversible garments, the edges can be turned in and stitched together. The edges of regular double cloth or double-faced fabrics must be hemmed, bound, or finished with facings.
Pink stitch Saxony dress has a high, round neckline with cutaway shoulders (true double cloth).
Double-faced fabrics are made with three sets of yarns; two warp and one filling yarn or two sets of filling and one warp. Blankets and satin ribbon are often made using this process.
Royal blue satin sash belt - double faced satin ribbon sash (double-faced cloth).
Pile fabrics are made with three sets of yarns, but they are not considered double cloths, since they have a definite right and wrong side. However, some warp pile fabrics are made as true double cloths and cut apart (see previous post).
“Garden Delights I” (full view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights I” (detail view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights I” (detail view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights II” (full view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights II” (detail view of fat quarter).
“Garden Delights II” (detail view of fat quarter).
