Chapter 12 RESEARCH THREE ARTISTS

Zandra Rhodes, Deidre Hawken, Carole Ann Waugh


Zandra Rhodes




Zandra Rhodes is one of my favourite designers. She is two years older than I am so I have always felt that she designed for my age and era. One of her major areas of study at college  was printed textile design, she once said that she had 'a life long love affair with textiles'. I can appreciate that feeling,  I have always loved textiles and I enjoy working with fabric. Early in her career she could not find the fabrics she wanted for her designs so she pioneered techniques to print her own fabrics. Her designs in the 1970's were very striking  and controversial. I was at teacher training college in the 70's and one of my core subjects was Dress and Textiles.  She was a big influence on my work at that time with her bold prints, bright colours and exotic designs. 

 I found many aspects from her work  included in this module. Many of her dress designs have flowing lines that indicate movement.

 She uses spirals and swirls  in her designs and also makes accessories to complement her dresses.

The theme for my work in Module 3 was shells.
Zandra Rhodes used shells as the theme for her Autumn/Winter collection of 1973. I was unable to copy any of these images but they can be found at-  http://vads.ac.uk/collections/ZR

Deidre  Hawken

Deidre Hawken is a milliner who makes very unusual hats and headpieces. She began work as an artist in theatre design but in 1999 she won a Qest Scholarship to study millinery with Rose Cory. After completing this she started taking commissions to make bespoke hats.  Her work is in many permanent collections thought out the world including the Victoria and Albert Museum. 
Some of her very quirky and innovative headpieces below are one of a kind accessories. 


 

Carole Ann Waugh

Carole Ann Waugh is an American fabric and fibre artist.
I found Carole Ann Waugh's work when I took a 'Craftsy' course on the internet. The class included unusual ways to use reverse applique and decorative stitching. Her work includes vibrant colours, lots of layers and the creative use of machine and hand stitching. She mixes geometric and organic shapes with many layers to create complex surfaces.

 I discovered that she is a fibre artist after my own heart, this is a quote from her blog -
 'I don't know how other people work but I know my own process. I have an idea and I try to make it. I don't plan, draw it out or put too much effort into restricting my ideas in the beginning. I just start out and let the piece take me where it wants to go'.
She describes exactly the way I work and it is very reassuring to know that someone else works this way.

Elements of work from Module 3 are shown in the samples of her work below. They include  spirals, lots of stitching, both machine and hand, as well as indications of movement with the wavy stitched and cut lines. She also makes use of unusual combinations of complimentary and analogous colours.