Weeks 27 & 28: Glovelier and Glovelier

Weeks 27 & 28: Glovelier and Glovelier.

It is, by my calculations, 4 weeks until we put up the exhibition which, for the part-timers, is the final part of this year's course. (Where the heck did that year go?) By now, I should be coasting gently towards the end, finishing off pieces for exhibition, making sure my supporting portfolio is up to date, and planning for a well earned break.

Am I? What do you think? 

I spent the first semester procrastinating by pretending to be working on the essay, but since the switch from trees to gloves, I keep having ideas. And I keep having tutorials in which other people make interesting suggestions. And I keep following them up. So that small but beautifully formed body of work which I thought I was going to produce (ha!) is, in reality, a collection of unfinished bits and bobs reflecting a series of wild goose chases.

For example, I think I mentioned the suggestion that I bought a lot of cheap gloves and used them to explore ideas. I started sewing them together without really thinking about it, and ended up with a short tube, which I didn't think I wanted, until I'd unpicked it. (Unpicking tight black stitches in black gloves in dim light is not a good idea and resulted in frayed cuffs and tempers.) (I've just read the previous sentence, and think I should make it clear that I wasn't wearing the gloves. That would be silly.)

Then I decided that a tube was probably a good idea, so I had to start again. The trouble is that sewing magic gloves together is both boring and difficult, which leaves to procrastination. Such as blog writing.

Here is the tube in progress on the right, and the remaining gloves on the left. Unless I decide I want a longer tube, in which case it is about half the remaining gloves. Then I have to decide whether I want an erect column of gloves, or a hanging cylinder, and go and consult one of our excellent technicians about how to achieve it.

My tutor suggested that I tried stuffing one of the gloves with fleece, and shrank it. So I did. I think you can probably work out which is the shrunk one. Interesting, but I don't think I'm going to stuff 4 or 5 dozen gloves with fleece, unless someone has one to spare - and even then I don't think I've got time or a big enough washing machine...

I had another tutorial last week - we are encouraged to book tutorials with all the members of staff.  I was enthusing about Louise Bourgeois's wonderful bronze hands - and was told to try copying them. Apparently copying is good, and trying to be original isn't, which was a bit of a surprise.

So here are two Bourgeois knock-offs. The single hand has yet to be felted, and will join two or three others. They are slightly more expressive than I expected, but somehow I don't think I'm going to be able to pass them off as genuine. 

And finally, some small gloves for an enlarged version of this. 

On a good night, I can make two of these, but looking at them in the photo I think I'm going to need a lot more than nine. Better get those needles clacking...