Author: Chris Miller

I live in Bristol, UK. I make things out of cloth, plywood, paper and other things. Sometimes I make prints.

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art

Rhythm

“Rhythm in art is the visual or auditory pattern created by repeated shapes, elements, colors, sounds, and movements. It is used to create a sense of flow and connection within a work of art, as well as draw attention to certain areas of the composition. Rhythm can be achieved through repetition and variation, contrast, gradation and echo.” Studiobinder

Studiobinder – a video software house – blog has some useful definitions and practical examples of the creation and use of rhythm in video and they apply to plastic art (and other artistic ideas), most of the examples shown are painting but the same ideas apply everywhere.

In my own work I’m aware of rhythm in the flow of the stitch lines, the juxtaposition of colour and the textural depth, I use these as well as cut-away, embellish, embroider and ink. Mostly an intuitive process, based on the sketch and scrapbook but with larger pieces some planning and sketching is essential.

Work in progress

Categories
art

City

Working on fabric I usually have several pieces on the go, large and small. The smaller pieces sometimes get joined or incorporated into larger work.

This is an example of a series I called City, there are some larger and some smaller, framed and unframed.

City – one of a series – 25 x 25 cm, mixed textiles embellished and stitched

Part of an on-going study of colour.

Categories
art

In Bristol Studio

A short walk from my home In Bristol Studio hosts a wide range of artists and makers – what a city! – “…an artist-led studio and home to over 50 artists and makers who work across multiple disciplines.” There are classes here and occasionally expos, the BS5 Arts Trail event on September 7th and 8th 2024 will be an open studio event.

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art

Palestinian artist

Malaka Abu Owda is a Palestinian artist who can be found on Facebook or Instagram

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art

Seven League Boots

Simple pieces of work are often the most satisfying I find. This little sketch was one of several made for a pop-up card for my grandson Sam on the occasion of his seventh birthday a few years ago.

Sam in Seven League Boots
Categories
art

Requiem for Oil

Post updated October 8th 2024. This is the final version of Requiem for Oil, 270 x 165 cm, mixed textiles, lino-print, transfer & other print, stamping, ink, fabric paint, embroider and machine stitch. I delivered the quilt to 44AD gallery in Bath yesterday and it will be on display from Thursday 10th October as part of the Bath OPen Art Prize Exhibition 2024.

Art Brut (‘raw art’ or for the cupboard) I expect. But more influenced by the COBRA (Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam) anti-formalism movement which grew out of Dada and the disaster of WW2.

If you’re in Amsterdam be sure to visit Cobra Museum in Amstelveen.

Requiem for Oil, artist’s book, 2016 (I updated the title)

I use a free font throughout the work, Action of the Time Now by Galdino Otten

Categories
art

My Garden

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art

Work in progress

Another in this series of textile pieces, not quite how I intended but almost finished and ready to frame. the contrast around the yellow isn’t as strong as I would like but further stitching over already quite dense and layered fabric and stitch will probably mean more broken sewing machine needles.

work in progress – City Sunrise, 25 x 25cm, mixed textiles, embellished and embroidered

Although most of the fabrics are plain colours I also use white and colour it in-situ, sometimes also colour white thread the same way.

Categories
art Software

Affinity and Canva

Affinity: Photo 2, Designer 2, Publisher 2.

I have written here before about Affinity apps – now selling for £160 for all three or £68 each – and how useful I have found them, (I have no connection to Affinity or Serif, the parent company) and in a world were many Mac apps seem to be getting worse it’s good that Serif are still producing useful upgrades for all three.

The subscription payment system used by Adobe, Corel and many others means that we pay for ever for a product which barely changes which may be great for the makers of Illustrator, CorelDraw &c. but which drain art and other school coffers year after year.

There are still a few niggles with the Affinity suite – no trace function for instance – but the layout, speed, almost seamless suite integration and excellent functionality more than compensate for any shortcomings.

A couple of weeks ago Affinity was taken over by Canva (a widely used online design house) and they have pledged: “We will provide Affinity free for schools & nonprofits (NFPs)”. This can only be good news, hopefully finally breaking the subscription stranglehold of Adobe etc. Canva are also pledged to invest.

I don’t know anything about Canva other than they are now a huge company but the product seems ok. and very popular.

Categories
art

Hare

I finally got round to putting the Hare – made last year – into the garden, the heavy rain of the last two months has eased and the ground is a little less muddy. Now awaiting some flowers. Not much chance of frost now, there has been very little this winter in southern or western England, but some of the most popular of annual climbers such as Black-Eyed Susan, sweet peas and nasturtiums like it to be a little warmer before being poked into the cold earth.

Hare, mixed fibres, approx 2m – awaiting some flowers

I finished off the hare with several coats of diluted pva, about three water to one glue, allowing it to dry between coats. I’m hoping this will extend the life for a few years, nothing will stop the elements for ever of course. I can’t quite remember all the various fibres, most of them came from Musgrove Willows in Somerset, others from garden centres and craft places, collected over years, includes wool, string, rope, willow and many more. Musgrove have an interesting website gallery