Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you? I hope you're feeling great today.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm very, very pleased about that.

And we are focusing on textile styles.

Our lesson is called "Refining textile styles through experimentation." It comes from the unit of work "Finding your voice: introduction to the creative process." So I'm really looking forward to us getting into this creative process.

I hope you are too.

And if you're ready with some enthusiasm, energy, and openness, let's begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can refine my textile style by using a personal collection to experiment and create a unique paper fabric.

There are some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

Technique, manipulate, refine, and construct.

So what do these words mean? Technique is a method of creating texture, shape, or pattern.

Manipulate means to handle or change something with skill.

Refine is to improve by making small changes through testing and feedback.

And construct is putting parts of materials together to make something new.

These are our keywords.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called "Refining your textile style through experimentation." And it consists of two learning cycles.

We have building a personal collection, and then deconstruct and transform materials.

Let's begin by building a personal collection.

And let's fast forward into the future and take a look at what some outcomes for this lesson could be.

Oh my! So intriguing and so different.

I hope this has caught your attention.

Alex's textile design style is shaped by a mixture of a reflective practise, purpose of the design, target audience, use of textile elements and techniques in his work, and personal experiences.

Refining your textile style through experimentation means making bold, creative choices, reflecting on outcomes to strengthen your textile voice.

Experimenting with techniques helps you refine your ideas.

Understanding the properties of different materials and how they might be used can help you make effective choices in art and design work.

The choice of materials and technique will affect the style of your work.

Designers often discover their style by pulling things apart, deconstructing, and then working them in new ways, reconstructing.

It's helpful to be open-minded when experimenting and not afraid to try new things.

Even failed experiments help you refine your style.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which approach would best develop your textile style? Is it A, following instructions exactly, B, trying new ideas, even if they fail, or C, always using traditional materials? So pause here while you decide which approach would best develop your textile style.

Well done if you selected statement B.

Indeed, trying new ideas, even if they fail, will best develop your textile style.

Take a good look on the screen.

What do you notice about this artist's choice of collected material? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing what you noticed.

Artists and designers develop their textile voice through their choice of collected material.

Collected and found materials allow you to construct meaningful stories.

Materials from your life, even simple ones, can be powerful tools for storytelling in textile art.

This teabag textile sample is filled with a collection of natural forms. By working with unusual or recycled materials, these artists expand what textiles can be by manipulating, constructing, and refining materials into powerful statements.

Christopher Nemeth turned discarded mail sacks and rope into garments with exposed stitching and raw forms, challenging how fashion is made and what it can say.

Nick Cave creates "Soundsuits" from found objects, broken items, and deconstructed clothes.

His work explores identity and performance through breaking and rebuilding materials to create new meaning and style.

These artists use everyday or delicate materials to manipulate, construct, and express identity and memory in their textile work.

Jennifer Collier transforms old paper and fabric by cutting, stitching, and layering.

Her work shows how familiar materials can tell new stories when they are reimagined and reconstructed.

Halima Akhtar creates soft, detailed pieces using hand-dyed fabrics, thread, and everyday materials like toothpicks and soft plastics.

Her work often reflects her personal memories and cultural identity.

So we can see there are a number of artists using materials to express their identity and memory through their textile work.

How could reworking materials help you explore your own textile voice? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear from Sofia, "When I change the shape or surface of a material, it helps me express my ideas in a more personal way.

It feels like I'm telling a story through how I build it back up." And Jacob, "By changing how materials are used, I can create something unique that shows how I have refined my ideas and style." Love these ways of exploring textile voice.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Experimentation in textiles is only about making something perfect or a finished product.

Pause here while you decide if this statement is true or false.

Well done if you selected false, and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this: Experimentation is about exploring and learning through trial and error.

Showing how you develop your ideas is key to finding your textile voice.

Being inspired by an artist's technique can help refine your own style.

This teabag textile sample is inspired by Jennifer Collier's paper art.

It uses a teabag and wax to seal and trap found and recycled papers into an intricate textile sample.

This approach is called entrapment, which is a method that constructs materials to create new meaning.

What small objects or images could you collect to create a teabag textile sample that tells a personal story, memory, or message? Pause here while you reflect on this.

Let's hear some ideas.

Here's Lucas, "I could collect dried petals to reflect my theme of nature.

Different colours can show decay and help me refine my style." And Aisha, "I could collect photos or magazine images that show something personal about my culture and family." Let's have a check for understanding.

Jennifer Collier uses a method called to seal and trap found and recycled papers into a textile sample.

Is the missing word A, envelope, B, entrapment, or C, entwining? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer B, indeed.

Jennifer Collier uses a method called entrapment to seal and trap found and recycled papers into a textile sample.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to collect small objects or images that share a story, memory, or message.

Play with combinations by thinking about colour, texture, and shape, how each object or image contributes to a bigger story, what memory, feeling, or idea your items connect to, which combinations best express your textile voice.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? Collecting small objects or images that share a story, memory, or message.

Your collection may have looked like this, here's Aisha, "I collected shiny materials.

I like the idea of collecting things that wouldn't usually be used in textiles." I love that idea.

And I hope you enjoyed collecting the small objects or images that felt important to you.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, deconstruct and transform materials.

In textiles, you can deconstruct and transform materials in many ways.

Tactile quality means how something feels.

This can be just as important as how it looks.

This example uses folding and layering to create a bumpy, textured surface.

This tactile example shows threads that have been entrapped between layers of recycled plastic.

So intriguing.

Pause the video and share with someone your impressions of this artwork.

Thanks for sharing.

Playing with textile techniques might include experimenting with combining different textile materials such as threads, yarns, and fabrics, entrapment of threads between layers, use of everyday materials such as recycled plastic.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Everyday materials are not suitable for textile work.

Pause the video and decide if this statement is true or false.

Well done if you selected false, and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this: Everyday or recycled materials can be manipulated, constructed, and refined to create unique and meaningful textile art.

Applying different finishes can make paper or fabric look like other materials.

Metallic paint can make paper or fabric look like metal.

Wax or glue can create a transparent, layered, and sculptural effect, especially on delicate surfaces like teabag paper.

These teabag experiments use metallic paint and foil and wax finishes.

By treating paper like fabric through bonding, waxing, trapping, and stitching, designers can create unique paper fabrics.

These can be fashioned into 3D objects like dresses, shoes, or home items. Let's have a check for understanding.

Why do designers apply different finishes to textile and paper surfaces? Is it A, to make the materials easier to throw away, B, to change how the materials look, feel, or behave, C, to make all materials look the same, or D, to stop people from reusing them? Pause video while you decide why designers apply different finishes to textile and paper surfaces.

Well done if you chose answer B, indeed.

To change how the materials look, feel, or behave is why designers apply different finishes to textile and paper surfaces.

Well done if you chose this answer.

Let's look at the steps for how to make an entrapment teabag.

So first of all, use a used or new teabag.

Carefully open it by cutting or tearing along one side.

And empty the contents.

You can save the tea to use as a natural dye.

Nothing needs to be wasted.

Next, fill the empty teabag with your chosen small items, images, or materials.

Think about your composition.

Try layering and stitching.

How do these techniques construct meaning? And then experiment with resealing and changing the quality of the surface of the teabag.

You may like to try dipping it in a diluted glue and water mixture, a melted wax pot.

Some important health and safety reminders.

Always use a wax pot in a well-ventilated room, and use tongs or tie your teabag to a string to dip it safely.

When deconstructing and transforming materials, be open-minded to the unexpected.

Here's Izzy, "In this sample, I used electrical tape to seal the edges, but the hot wax lifted it, creating a frame effect.

Cutting the edges made a textured fringe effect, which I ended up really liking." Love how this exploration and open-mindedness and just going with the flow can lead to all kinds of really interesting and creative results.

You can play with combining your experiments in different ways to create new combinations of surface texture and pattern.

So you could arrange items in a grid or layer them.

You can present your experimentation in a sketchbook with photos, samples, and notes that document your process.

Can you think of any other everyday objects you could use to entrap, construct, or manipulate? And think about transparency or texture, shape and how it holds or frames small items, the potential to tell a personal story through material.

So pause here while you think of any other everyday objects you could use to entrap, construct, or manipulate.

I wonder what you came up with.

Let's hear from Sofia, "I could use plastic food wrappers, netting from fruit bags, or things trapped in cling film." I love how all this use of packaging is a way of recycling these items by creating artwork from them.

And now it's time for your task.

First of all, I would like you to deconstruct and transform paper teabags into textile samples using your collection of small objects and images from Task A.

Open a used or new teabag and remove the tea leaves.

Fill the empty teabag with your chosen small items, images, or materials.

Think about your composition, try layering and stitching.

Experiment with resealing and changing the finishes of the teabag using glue, wax, paint, or other method.

So pause here while you have a go at this part of your task, deconstructing and transforming paper teabags into textile samples using your collection of small objects and images from Task A.

I'll see you when you're finished.

Good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? Deconstructing and transforming paper teabags into textile samples using your collection of small objects and images from Task A.

Your work may have looked like this.

How wonderful.

Here's Aisha, "I experimented with sewing mechanical objects into the teabag, along with electrical tape and foil, to add texture and changes of colour." I love how you've given so much consideration to this piece.

Thank you, Aisha.

And next, I'd like you to discuss and reflect.

What did you discover through manipulating materials? How did the process help you refine your style? How could you develop your textile samples further? So pause here while you discuss and reflect upon these questions.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with discussing and reflecting upon those questions? You may have said something like this, here's Aisha, "I found that layering mechanical objects and electrical tapes created more texture than I expected.

It changed the feel of the sample completely." And here's Jacob, "It helped me realise that I want to mix unusual materials with photos and images to make my work more personal.

I would like to construct a larger textile piece from my samples." Oh, I love this, thinking big.

And I hope you enjoyed discussing and reflecting upon these questions and upon your creation.

In our lesson, "Refining your textile style through experimentation," we've covered the following.

Experimenting with materials and techniques helps refine your textile voice through bold, creative choices.

Deconstructing and reconstructing materials uncovers new design possibilities and strengthens personal style.

Manipulating materials and reflecting on outcomes communicates deeper meaning and emotional connection.

Refining your style is a process of trial, error, and reflection, not about creating a perfect final product.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

I loved us exploring textile style together.

I loved your experimentation and how you were looking to find your own textile voice through experimenting with these different techniques, deconstructing and reconstructing the materials, emptying those teabags and then filling them with things that were meaningful for you.

And it's always so helpful to reflect on our artworks, to share our ideas and to hear from others.

It's all a process.

So thanks again, everyone.

It was so great to be with you in this lesson, and I really enjoyed it.

I hope you did too and maybe learned something about yourself and your own textile voice.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.