Eleanor Bowley is an illustrator who uses stitching and recycled fabric to create elegant and detailed art work. Bowley is becoming more and more recognisable in the fashion industry by creating a line of quirky urban renewal clothing adding her own inspiration and personal detail.
I have researched Bowley’s work as from the workshop on Tuesday I wanted to research artists/designers that relate to free machine embroidery. Even though Bowley doesn’t use it a lot in her work this can sometimes be enough as over working a design can sometimes over power the rest of the design and I think Bowley does this very subtly in her work.
I am very interested in her art work that she creates using free stitch embroidery over paper, fabric and recyclable materials. The recycling theme that runs throughout her work is something that influences me as I think fabric waste is a very big issue in the textile industry and is an issue I always like to think I keep in mind when creating work or samples. Her eco-friendly approach creates very intricate collage style pieces and this gives a vintage look to her work.
I have chosen a few images that I personally like and have influenced me. I have taken great interest in her bird and fly image created using paper, lace, buttons and fabric. The hand stitch that connects the bird and fly gives a sense of connection, a sort of barrier between the two. The set piece is very simplistic but the college technique that she uses plays a very important part in the detail of her work. This has inspired me to use some of the techniques that she uses such as the college and using paper as a starting point of a design or sample.
To research this technique further I also took interest in some of her faces that she creates, again using paper and recycled fabrics. The image below I have chosen was from ‘blowback magazine’, the face is created by hand machine embroidery which is very elegant and looks professional. Bowley also added red fabric to the lips and cheeks, this adds a realistic look to the image and add a splash of colour. This is something I will definitely try in my stitch samples to highlight some of the elements of my designs.
Here is a slide show to present some of Eleanor Bowley’s detailed and collaged work.
I have created my own version of her work, taking into consideration her techniques and keeping the them of recycling in mind. These techniques I will consider to use in some of my samples.
Isabelle Stephens 