Karen Charlton Textile Blog

  Blog 5 Investigating the Human Habitat - Saltaire Reviewing the brief I decided to  return to primary sources in Saltaire. I wanted to investigate the human habitat.   Images of the houses of Saltaire. Lots of colourful doors and windows. An empty interior... Furnishings allow us to give ‘personality’ to a room. Soft furnishings make an interior warm and cosy. Outside looking in… The net curtains prevent an ousider from seeing into the interior. One can only wonder at what treasures may lie inside the home, making it cosy and inviting. Compared to the fixed sculpture of Louise Bourgeois which was static, I am beginning to see movement in my narrative. Interiors are changed. People move into and out of houses.

  Blog 4 Tree Bark & Other Ideas Tree bark has a myriad of hues and textures one tree in particular caught my interest. It had a long scar/wound creating a habitat within and upon the tree itself.  In blog 3 packaging material reminded me of the structure of a tree trunk and its surface texture. Close observation of the bark and careful drawing captured the lines patterns and structures. Left: Line drawing of bark                                        Right: Detail of bark Further investigation of the surface texture with collage and stitch. Above: Cardboard and handmade paper are glued and stitched Above: Painted Collage The surface texture provides many nooks and crannies. As I made the collage and carefully observed the bark I noticed changes in the surface texture rough and smooth. The light appeared to reflect from the smoother surfaces. There were many different hues ...

  Blog 3 Nesting I have considered the activity of the blackbird .  It built and lined its nest. Laid eggs and nurtured the babies until they fledged.    Throughout this time the bird cleans and replenishes the interior 'furnishings'. T he nest is then abandoned.   A slow careful drawing of a blackbird’s nest enabled the structure and placement of the building materials to be discerned. Observation of the nest allowed the identification of the actual materials. These appeared to be; sticks of varying length and width, moss, feathers, grass leaves and mud. The nest was obviously built with care. The sticks were carefully woven together. Observations of old nests showed that the birds had invariably built the nest on supporting branches of trees. This nest provided a secure, warm habitat in which to lay eggs and raise young.   I investigated the structure of the nest further. I gathered sticks and leaf litter from the garden and tried to identify those twig...

  Blog 2 Initial Thoughts… First steps in preparation for the Saltaire Arts Trail May 2023 involved a mind mapping exercise and some jotting down of ideas. Reviewing my initial thoughts: I had jumped to end designs and products without giving enough consideration to investigation and experimentation.  Which was limiting my creative thoughts and skills. These ideas have been ‘parked’ for another day. A third page was developed.  I reviewed this later and highlighted those words or ideas that seemed significant and of interest to me . The blackbird popped into my head again. He was the only bird I saw in the Wash House Garden and even though it was a wet and cloudy day he was singing. The Wash House Garden of Saltaire was part of his territory and he was letting everyone know. Including any females! I wondered if they would nest in the trees in the garden when spring arrived. Nests and nesting – something to investigate further. Image:Wothe,K.(1994) Birds of Britain &Eu...

Bradford College FdA Textiles Practice - Textile Project 1 Saltaire Arts Trail 2023 Saturday 14 th January – A Visit To Saltaire  Saltaire, in Airedale, as a model industrial settlement owed its existence to Sir Titus Salt and his close experience of the life of Bradford between 1826 and 1850. Prior to the building of Saltaire, Bradford was becoming the world's wool textile capital [1].   A rapid rise in population occurred as people relocated to Bradford to work in the burgeoning factories. Living conditions deteriorated to such an extent that, by 1845 70% of all children born to woolcombers died before they reached the age of 15 years [2]. Sir Titus Salt needed to expand his factory in Bradford, this was difficult due to lack of suitable land. As a consequence he relocated his industries to Saltaire and built homes for his workers including church, shops, baths, wash house, park and a school. The homes were of better quality than those in Bradford and provided improved ...

  From Plastic Water Bottles to Cosy Soft Rugs & Blankets Around 380 million tonnes of plastic are being produced annually. [1] 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950’s. Humans use about 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute and approximately 91%of plastic is not recycled. [2] Roughly half of our global annual plastic production is destined for a single use product. [3] Virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated).[4]   Weaver Green in UK has a slogan, “Great textiles shouldn’t cost the Earth.” They endeavour to take discarded water bottles and process them to create textiles.   . The products include rugs, throws, blankets, cushions. foot stools. ottermans/coffee tables, bags, coiled 'baskets' and dog beds.The woven designs and colours are eye catching and there appears to be something for every ...