Bridget Harris

Mapping the Forgotten I wanted to look at my practice further, I was feeling as bit lost on where to go and what to do , I felt that by just using stitch I was hemming myself in , expression and development was hard. I came across  www.fibreartstaketwo.com  a course by  www.sallytyrie.com  seemed to fit the brief in my mind so I joined and what a great decision that was. It was the most amazing experience, I have met so many like minded artists and was blown away with the amount of talented people on the course. I wanted to continue with my passion of social history. Please have a look at the amazing work  exhibition.fibreartstaketwo.com/books/lcvj       

  After such a long time away. Bereavement, pandemic and life throwing another few awful curve balls left me wondering how on earth I would get through a day, no space or time for creativity. Over time I have come to understand it is my practice that propels me, now with space and time and a Distinction for my MA I am ready to embrace the creative world again. So much has been happening over the past few months in my studio, http://Instagram.com/bridgetharris-artist , you can follow all my work on the following link. I will be posting on my blog regularly. 

                                                                                          Final Work  Stain of 71 Women. An archive is an accumulation of historical records , the archive that interested me contained no fabric or object's, only paper documentation spanning from one side of the world to another. I wondered if by investigating and researching specific embroidery stitches could they be used metaphorically. Could embroidery then be used to creative a story by piecing together fragments of data and would the stitch be enough to convey the meaning of the archives ? Or could the embroidery be used for much more complex expression's that hide within archives, one of time, complexity, identity, the stitching of rejected remnants of society?...

So much more is visible when you look at the detail of this print from the plate, the leaf looks fragile , hand drawn and has a historical botanical feel about it, this was printed on paper , however I think being a textile practitioner  I should try this on linen or calico, then I need to see if the body of the leaf changes at all. I have done this in the past with lace and it has been very successful, first printing on cloth and then taking a negative, not only do you get the print of the object but also the weave of the cloth .

Starting my MA  September 28th 

Having become the lucky owner of a secondhand Hawthorn Etching Press I have been experimenting this morning in my studio. Once I had set up the weight of the roller I got some random flowers, leaves and vintage lace, inked up the plate and off I went. After the first print I took off the elements and reprinted the plate causing a negative effect which can be seen in the second photo. This negative effect is really interesting and something I have been investigating with vintage lace when doing my Wednesdays at The Ropewalk  http://www.the-ropewalk.co.uk/ nts. Another interesting factor was how the sap and stamens from the leaves and flowers bled onto the paper thus causing natural dye. As the garden is coming into full bloom this may be the idea time to carry on with investigating this further. 

Print making and playing with order and position. Often I just use one piece of garment or lace to print with , here I am trying to get out of the habit and use a variety of different elements. The reason is to try and link these pieces with further work in some way. I like the difference between the ghostly images and then the block colour of the lace in the right hand corner,I'm not sure if I could now print and over print to get different textures and colours .