Odilia Bird FDA

 Pinning, tacking and using a sewing machine: When sewing my practice wall hanging I quickly found out how little I knew about sewing and sewing machines, I found the machines hard to navigate and I never knew what to do when something went wrong. To try and improve as much as I could with the short amount of time that I had left on this project I decided to take a short sewing course, during this course I was taught about the different features on the machine, how to choose the right stitch, different techniques and how to reverse stitch to make sure my work doesn't fall apart. I found this course incredibly helpful and even ended up buying a sewing machine while I was there for me to use at home.  During my practice sewing I made the mistake of not pinning or tacking any of my fabric together and not taking any measurements of where the stithies would go. As a result, I ended up with an incredibly messy and unfinished wall hanging. The seams were coming apart and none of the...

 Looking at composition: For the placement and composition of each image I wanted to make sure that there weren't too many repeating images within each wall hanging. Due to the amount of acetates that I had I knew that there would be some, which I didn't mind but I needed to ensure that it wasn't overwhelming. To do this I took photos of each row of cyanotypes when I put them out in the sun to develop and was able to look back at this to figure out the next row of images. I found this to be a good system, it allowed me to be efficient and accurate with my decision making and save time while I was at it. I would leave each cyanotype out for about 30 to 40 minuets to make sure that they had good exposure and that the images would be clear and detailed. 

 More test Cyanotypes: Using my new mixture I made some more test Cyanotypes with my readjusted acetates, I have already made the decision to not use three of the new acetates that I have and it's important that I see how successful the others are.  These images are all successful, the contrast is good and allows for the images to be light and clear. The white tones of the paper oppose the darker blue colours. While the images are clear I noticed that the lines within each Cyanotype are slightly blurry that create this distorted atmosphere within the work. I think that characteristics of Cyanotypes blend well with the natural eeriness of the images. I have said this before but while looking at this work it really feels like I am glimpsing into a parallel universe or looking into a scene from a dream. The depth that the blue tones creates make it feel as if I could step right into the image and walk around.  While these have been very successful on paper I will need to see...

 Making my own Cyanotype mixture and testing it: This was my first time making my own mixture with chemicals that I had bought myself and not borrowed from college. I had to look back at images form my first year so that I could get the correct measurements for this process. I mixed 10g of Potassium Ferricyanide with 100ml of water and 25g of Ammonium Citrate with 100ml of water, and then used this small amount to coat 4 sheets of mixed media paper to use as tests to make sure that I measured the correct amounts.  For these tests I used the new acetates that I had readjusted and manipulated on photoshop. I decided to use the four that I was most unsure about in terms of their contrast and transparency and then I would be able to decide whether to use them on my final work or not.  I left these cyanotypes out in my back garden for about 30 or 40 minuets to give them the best chance to be exposed to the sunlight and then washed them off in cool water and left them to d...

Measurements of calico sections: Moving forward with this project, I knew from my experimentation that I wanted to have a boarder of calico surrounding each of the cyanotype images within my wall hangings. To make sure that I did this properly I needed to measure out and divide both of my two metre length calico sheets into equal parts. After some experimenting and measuring I figured out that I could have four images going down the length and three across the width. Of course I made sure to account and leave space for me to create loops at the top and bottom of each sheet.  After doing this, I thought about time management and the process of stitching all of these sections back together. On my practice piece cutting and sewing each individual panel together was very time consuming and it also allowed for there to be more room for error when it came to getting the lines straight. To remedy this I decided to just cut across the width and have the four sections that I can them p...

 Testing and readjusting acetates: Due to my previous acetates being too light and transparent I need to go back onto photoshop to make them darker. To do this I used the curves feature on photoshop and slowly adjusted the contrast until I thought that the image was dark enough while still keeping the details. I was happy with the results but I will need to do some test cyanotypes to see if they have worked properly.