Photographs at Standen house :: Bluebeard!

The other day, I wrote about my experience at Standen House, and the drawings I made. While I was there I took a lot of photos to use as reference for a project. The whole place is so beautiful, each corner has something interesting about it. Here are some photos of the house, without much editing, so you can see the real colours and feel of it.I'll let the photos speak for themselves...
Taken October 2011. Standen House.
Kimxo

**Copied from ArtEqualsHappy**

Drawing at Standen House :: Bluebeard!

Standen House is a National Trust property that is about an hours drive away from my parents' house. The architect who built it was Philip Webb, who was a close friend of William Morris- and the Arts and Crafts movement is shown throughout the house in every nook and cranny. Not to mention the beautiful self-sufficient garden that the lady of the house had.

Here are some of the quick drawings I did whilst I was there and from photos I took. I mainly wanted to focus on the house as a wealthy, mysterious and fantastical place. Full of entrancing patterns and objects- but that could be the scene for a more sinister story. At this stage I was purely gathering visual information.Also- I may have gotten side-tracked by all the Morris wallpaper... sigh...Victorian times are inspiring me the most lately.
(Photo at top taken by Mum on her iPhone.)
Love, Kimxo

The making of the background. :: Bluebeard.

One of our briefs is to create a set. For this set, or the 'interior' of the room, I really wanted some tapestry/wallpaper type wall. And I've been dying to incorporate some of my knitting skills.
I drew this partly from memory & partly from the drawings I did at the V&A. I was struck my size and complexity of the tapestries there & I wanted to extend that into this set. Creating a surreal environment- like I've been doing with the size and mash-up of images in my collages lately.Converting it into a knit-able pattern: (each marked off block is 1 stitch on left- little ones on right are first attempts, and smaller versions. hard to see)
Planning out the spacing and overall flow of the pattern. (each section of yellow is 30by30 stitches)


Making the right wool!
I wanted to background to be a changing shade of blue without being stripes. I wanted it to be variegated but soft and changing subtly.
This is something I usually do in my head, or by placing cones of wool next to each-other and making snap decisions. But for the sake of documentation- I've taken samples of each one that might be appropriate (far right and bottom right). Then found a pre-made thread that had a similar feel to the one I wanted to create (bottom left, top) Then, using the fibers that are most appropriate, I chose(top left) and did the 'stripe test'(bottom bottom left) to see what the effect might be.

Here are an image of the four colours I was going to ply together with the lighter blue.
I wanted to prepare the yarns in this way, so that as I was knitting- I didn't have to keep thinking about the colour changes- as I was already going to have to be following a strict grid 2 colourwork pattern. Here are some shots of preparing the DK wool:



Ta-da! All ready to be knitted.

I saw some medieval tapestries and felt better. :: V&A Bluebeard.

So, I went to the V&A to see the Postmodernism show, with my group. I tried really really hard to understand and appreciate it- but generally I feel like the 80's were a mistake. So feeling very uninspired and like the whole world had everything upside down- I wandered around trying to find the Textiles room- to draw some beautiful handmade embroidery or brocades. I desperately needed some craft and wholesomeness and the honesty of workmanship to make everything feel sane again.
Unfortunately. The textiles room is gone. They are putting it into storage and we now have to make appointments to see it, once it's all fixed up again. Bummer.
But, I did stumble upon some magnificent stained and painted glass- with an endless supply of pattern upon pattern. (see above sketches) That lifted my spirits somewhat.
And then I found the Tapestries room. Oh! What a joy. A room with high ceilings and lots of empty space. Air Conditioned, cool and dark with benches all along the middle. I had found my new favourite spot.
The actual tapestries themselves are too big and too wonderful to put into words. They dwarf any sense of power or importance you have and humble you to the core. The amount of work gone into these astounds me. Fair enough, they were commissioned by some ridiculously rich guy who probably hoarded it in his castle of dreams. But I appreciate it. I feel like somehow, the makers of them should get a warm fuzzy feeling of worth when I look at them, even though they are probably just dust by now. To have something live on. oh. marvels of marvels.
I took watercolour paper with me and my handy little waterpen. I got so far (see above) and then was informed that it's dry materials only. gutted. but i understand. these are so old. so I continued with pencil. Kind of a fun surprise.Didn't stay for too long this time, but I'm sure I could lose whole days to that room.
I added some 'colour notes' when I got home.
Just the dose of inspiration I needed.
See you soon, Tapestry room,
Kimxo

Metropolis. :: Films& Bluebeard.

Some of my favourite scenes/moments/shots/faces from the movie. It truly is a masterpiece:





















The subtle movements. Slow. Impact. Big facial expressions. Gestures. Dwelling. Quick cuts. Back and forth. 'Horror' girl faces. Transitions. Fades. Experimental.

I'd quite like my project to have the same feeling. Not nessisarily black and white. or moving. or silent. but, holding some of the qualities.