Rosiepink

Inspired by the techniques featured on this particular piece by the company Rosiepink, I have created a felt sample based on one of my primary images.

Rosiepink. Felt, machine and hand embroidery. 2008

The vertical, but uneven lines are reminiscent of the natural forms found on bark, in particular the bark on my primary image. The characters that this piece and technique could relate to are the Troll, with its mossy bark body or Mulgarath, who is described as having “dead branches for hair” and no doubt would have bark for skin, or even the Sprites as they dress themselves in natural forms such as seed pods and fallen bark.

Primary Image of bark and moss

The characters that this could relate to are the Troll, with its mossy bark body or Mulgarath, who is described as having “dead branches for hair” and no doubt would have bark for skin, or even the Sprites as they dress themselves in natural forms such as seed pods and fallen bark.

When creating this sample, I mixed together the colours from my primary image, adding more blue to create a more effervescent and therefore magical feel. I added a gradient effect, focussing on the bottom half of the image, where the majority of the moss is situated, gradually adding lighter green, shades of blue and finally browns representing the bark. Into this mix I included some coloured thread and wool to begin adding texture, just like Rosiepink’s piece. On top of the felt, I used embroidery stitches featured on the artist’s piece to describe the surface of the bark. This included backstitch, chain stitch and a messy feather stitch. Inspired by my primary image, I layered the stitches, raising the surface and creating texture.

After completing the sample, the embroidery and loose felt give a softened look to the usually harsh looking bark, whilst it still maintains the look of my primary image, with a more magical look. Whilst the colours do not directly link to my primary image, the raised and textured surface gave me the inspiration to possibly include this in my final costume. The colours could be altered to communicate a certain character. For example, an evil character would contain darker, more mysterious colours, while a character like the Sprites, would be brighter and possibly not a realistic depiction of the actual colours in my primary images.