#textile degree

Fionnuala Character Roughs, created with hand drawn work assembled on PS.

This is the character: Fionnuala. She is the only female child in the Children of Lir and is the second oldest. Fionnuala means ‘fair’. She is often depicted as a strong character- the only one who stands up to the women who turns them into swans and she is also very caring.

When working on my character roughs I have had to make all my children for the story a little older as I will be working with adult performerns and not children ( this is a health and safety aspect of my degree, all performeers must be 18 or over). Therefore I have worked to bring softness and immuturity into Fionnualas costume.

Staring with the silhouette of Irish dance dresses I have combined this with the medieval origions of the myth to bring about a soft but fit for purpose costume. I am depicting Fionnuala as a swan, however, I do not want to just recreate a full on swan costume!

Therefore I have brought in elements throughout- she will have wings in the form of a shawl or cape- that look as though the swan is surrounding her being  to mimic the idea in the myth that the swans still retain their human voice and soul. I would also like her headpiece to tell a sotry through the embellisment- from child who is loved to a swan. This will be done through embroidery and using celtic symbols and knots. The same idea will come through in the embroidery on the costume- it is very common for Irish dance dresses to have a decorative embroidery that hails to a story or myth. 

Further textile Drawing for the Swan Characters.

I have created these images by cutting away sections of my landscapes and colour imagery, in the celtic shapes I have been working with, and placing the cut areas on top of other images. I am so happy with the look of these textiles drawings and think they translate beautifully to the swan characters.

I'm finding it very difficult to get down to the sketching and when I do, to putting them in one place. I know it's about disciplining myself to do that and getting myself motivated to do it. Having just finished the project for assignment 1 in A Creative Approach, I'm going to try to get my sketches (what few I have) all together in one place and work towards doing more before I head home to the UK for Christmas. Living in the Middle East has opened my eyes to many things especially regarding culture and diversity. It's a fine balance in Qatar, of East meets West. When walking around the malls here, you will see westerners in shorts and teeshirts, mingling in Marks & Spencers with Arabic women covered from head to toe, with a glimpse of a designer shoe or a ring laden hand. However, one of the most striking things about the average Arabic woman swathed in black cloth, are their eyes. Regardless of age it seems, their eyes are their most alluring feature (that we are allowed to see). Often they are heavily kohled with long heavy lashes. One of my earlier sketches when I started this module was of a Middle Eastern woman, her eyes framed by the black hijab. For something so devoid of any colour or real shape, the abaya and the head covering can often be the perfect frame for very real beauty and glamour. I've decided to get my sketchbook together at last, using this image as the starter, a frame for many more beautiful and thought provoking images.