Assignment two: Written reflection

What have I learnt over these two projects?

• I have learnt that the right needle can make a huge difference in how easy or hard it is to make stitch marks on a surface.

• I have learnt that drawing it like stitching and that you need to practise the techniques in order to get satisfying outcomes. Control is important with both machine and hand stitching, as it is with holding a pencil or a brush.

• I have learnt that it is possible to overthink the process and worry too much about whether I am doing it ‘right’ and how my tutor will judge me and whether I am ‘good enough’.

• I have learnt that it is better to just get on and do the work, rather than worry about these things.

• I have learnt that it can be a circuitous path, and that you may end up coming round to an earlier thought or direction, after a lengthy diversion.

I have gained from observing and developing materials and textiles in the following ways:

• It has been really interesting to see how you can change the surface of a material using moisture to make it more pliable, then moulding it into shape and leaving it to dry in its new shape.

• I have learnt to think about how to combine different materials to make a new third material.

• I have learnt to look again at my own drawings in order to reinterpret them in a fresh way.

• I have learnt that the same stitch can look vastly different and provoke different feelings in the viewer depending on the scale that is used.