COP 3

I also messaged friends who have also suffered from eating disorders as I felt their opinions on the piece would be very valid. I want to shock people, but I also don't want to offend. Thankfully Vicki (who doesn't mind me saying, suffered from anorexia for almost 15 years) did not find it offensive, and gave me some great, positive feedback.

I also sent it to some female friends for their opinions- people outside of art college and education.

Although it is just an embroidery piece I do understand the image is rather graphic and could offend some people. This has made me realise I can't share this work where everyone can see it in order to get feedback, so will have to show it to people in private messages, in person, or on closed groups on Facebook.

First I shared a photo of my piece on Instagram. I didn't get any comments that would influence how I evaluated my work, but I got a lot of likes which always makes you feel good about your work!

As you can see I had a lot of loose fabric around the outside of my embroidery hoop. I searched online to find out what is the best method in tidying this up. I came across a very helpful blog with a post dedicated to this; it suggested you cut the fabric roughly 3 inches away all the way around the hoop and then thread a piece of thread through the material. You tighten it up and tie it at the end and end up with a neat back, and all the fabric hidden from view.

To try and combat this I snipped the pieces of thread and either tied them in a knot (I could only do this with one piece as the rest were far too short) or sewed them into a nearby knot or thick strand of thread. Hopefully all of the threads will stay in place and won't be visible from the front.

Around 26 hours later I have a finished piece! 

I wanted the body to look like long sensuous lines so I didn't want the thread to look too thick. I decided to go with three strands for the main lines/ outline and the small pieces of detail like the nipples and folds in the skin I used one thread. 

I went out and bought a 10inch hoop and as soon as I began working on it I realised it was a good decision. The Flake was a lot bigger and became less like a hidden part of the work! It was also easier to make the lettering look more stylised, but on a negative note I realised it was going to take me a very long time to get it finished.

The flake, which is such a key piece of the work was really small and would have been really difficult to fill. I thought a bigger piece would be easier to get the right kind of detail and convey the message.

I am pleased with the way this looks and will trace it onto my fabric.

After deciding I wanted a simple outline for my figure, with all the detail being shown on the Flake I tried to find work of a similar nature. Willis's work contains a lot of simple outlines of bodies with one section heavily embroidered. I feel this looks rather effective as your eyes are drawn to the detail.

However, I feel this is too detailed for the look I want with my piece. I intend to have a very simple black outline for my figure, but then have this kind of detail for the Flake chocolate bar. I want that to be the main focus of the piece.

This will make up the words that will circle the main image of the woman and the chocolate bar.

Dripping ice cream down their naked body or rubbing cream cake on their bottom will not give a woman much pleasure. These ideas feel as though it will appear she is doing it for the pleasure of others, not for herself. I don't want it to look like food pornography.

This goes against my message as I am trying to show a future where this is the only way women can allow themselves to enjoy food. It has nothing to do with men and the pleasure they would receive from the message.

How far we haven't come.