Fine Art Foundation Degree

Agnes Herczeg  Herczeg is a Hungarian artist I came across on pinterest who creates small scale artworks using natural threads such as linen and hemp, differing in thickness and techniques. He mainly uses needle lace technique combined with pillow lace and braiding work. These pieces are hung from / attached to sticks which combines well with the beige and brown colours of the thread and the fact that these threads come from plants. The tiny detail in these works are what draws me to them the most. They are small complex designs which look time consuming and delicate. I appreciate the effort that goes into creating these designs and i love the way the stick is connected to the art in such a smooth way. For example, the woman on the right in the bottom picture looks as though she is leaning on a table, and the left image the hair is tied up in a bun around the stick, almost like a hair accessory. The placement of the stick and the way its blended into the imagery really adds to it. ...

   Using a lace item of clothing I found at the charity shop, I wanted to do some printing onto canvases using acrylic paint. At first I just experimented with one of the arms of the top and put a thin layer of black paint onto it then pressed it onto the canvas. I did this multiple times to see if the pattern would come out well. I realised quite fast that it is hard to get an even layer of paint on a large section to create a consistent and even image. I tried multiple ways of solving this such as covering a large flat surface with paint, pressing the material into it and then putting it on the canvas, dipping it in watered down paint, and using a sponge to apply the paint to the lace. In the end, just using a paintbrush was the best option and applied the most evenly this way.    I painted two canvases black and cut out the section of the item that I wanted to print, then used white paint on the lace and carefully placed and pressed the lace onto the canvases. One...

 THE PROCESS   For this project I thought hard about how I could create a piece using lace without actually making the lace myself. I decided to go to the charity shops around Uttoxeter to find some lace dresses or items that I could use for my project. I found a simple large black lace dress that I thought would be perfect as it had a lot of material & an underlayer too. I also found an old looking teddy bear that reminded me of the ones my grandma keeps on her shelves. When I got home I started to cut up the dress into large sections ready to be used to create something else. I wanted to create a dress for the teddy bear, and had seen videos on how people turn old clothes into new clothes so I had a vague idea of how to do it.    I began by placing paper round parts of the teddy and drawing an outline round each section to create stencils to use when cutting the material. This was a lot harder and more time consuming than it needed to be because I didn't have a...

THE HISTORY OF LACE Lace was first developed in Europe during the 16th century however its exact origin is unknown. The word 'lace' comes from the old French word, las, which derived from the Latin laqueus, which means noose. It is a decorative openwork structure that uses repeated intricate patterns created with fine thread and a needle. Lace pieces often have a mesh layer which is used as a base; then there's either single needle lace whereby a single needle and thread are used, or there's bobbin lace that uses many threads to create the patterns. However, lace fabric was originally made from silk and linen, but today cotton thread and synthetic fibres are used too.  When lace first came about, it was a strong symbol of wealth and was used by royal and noble classes; they often wore lace collars to express this. The Industrial Revolution brought about lots of new machinery and technology which helped create lace a lot cheaper and faster than before which then made it ...