Carlisle Archive - repeat patterns



As part of exploring pattern design, this week 23rd January we viewed pictures taken on a recent visit by our artist to Carlisle Archive Centre
.
Carlisle Archive Centre
 
Carlisle Archive Centre is based at Lady Gilford’s House, Petteril Bank Road, Carlisle. It holds many local documents dating back to the 12th Century to the present day – many donated before being lost forever.

Fortunately several pattern books from Ferguson Bros. had been saved from destruction and donated to the Archive. Ferguson Bros. Ltd. were textile manufacturers and printers, at Holme Head Works, Denton Holme, Carlisle from 1824 until they closed in 1991.
Japanese inspired


Arabian inspired

We saw black and white prints of pattern design and also examples of patterns which had been printed several times in different colour ways.






We were also able to see and handle a sample of fabric from Morton Sundour – who were printmakers in Carlisle, and developed a form of printing that did not fade in sunlight.

 The fabric had been designed by Mrs Morton and featured the four seasons and phases of the moon (around 1940).

Four Seasons designed by Mrs Morton of Morton Sundour Printers


This week in our activity, we explored how folding a certain way could duplicate a shape to make a repeat pattern.
Chloe attached some examples to whiteboard for us to see

We were able to ‘draw with scissors’ randomly to give us random repeat shapes – where we could decide to use both positive and negative shapes and the spare pieces we cut off to make a repeat pattern.


repeat shapes but individually patterned

Ullswater Yacht Club inspired repeat pattern







We found folding the paper to form a repeat a little difficult but kept trying and produced some interesting individual repeat patterns - some used their pattern to develop and expand into specific compositions - excellent!  Well done.

At break time we found some amazing frost covered spiders webs which we wanted to include in our blog!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building our banners 1 - 19th June, 2019

Image
Our two main large banners will be made up of approximately 30 printed pieces for each class and using a tessellated brick design will symbolize our journey in building our knowledge of the history of our local textile heritage. Using our notes and drawings from looking through our sketchbooks and our blog last week, we started to think about what we could include on our individual piece which was our decision. It needs to be bold, bright and striking as it will be seen from a distance   We will use a combination of techniques to achieve this. We started by adding blocks of colour - some made by printing and others by painting.  A really good print using impressed polystyrene tile We masked off areas then used fabric paint to paint blocks of bright colour. Some engraved textile inspired drawings into foam and printed onto the fabric. Over the next few weeks we shall be adding more detail.  We aim to have two or three pieces from which w
Read more

The Journey of Raw Cotton - Carlisle Ship Canal 1823 - 1853 - 22rd May, 2019

Image
Carlisle Ship Canal by local historian and author David Ramshaw  - As part of tracing the journey of raw cotton to the Mills in Carlisle we today learned how cotton made its way from the port of Whitehaven into the centre of Carlisle. Britain was developing fast - there was a high need for a cheap and reliable way to transfer raw and manufactured materials to and from the new factories and canal building was at its height.  Factories were being built in Carlisle to meet the demand replacing the hand loom weavers and more people were coming into Carlisle to work in the mills.  But Carlisle had poor transport links - goods were transported to and from Carlisle to the Solway ports by horse and cart along inadequate roads.  A river - the Eden connected Carlisle to the sea but was shallow, ships could get so far but ran aground.  The local council looked at the possibility of building a canal from the Solway coast to Newcastle - money was raised by the sale of shares and it was deci
Read more

Stead McAlpin, Print Works, Cummersdale

Image
Stead McAlpin, Cummersdale This week 30th January,  Ros Downing was due to visit us and give us a talk on the history of Stead McAlpin printworks in Cummersdale but unfortunately had to cancel due to illness. Although not in as much detail as Ros could have told us, we looked at the history of Stead McAlpin who have had a factory at Cummersdale since 1835 and is the only surviving print works in Carlisle and the most versatile print maker in the UK, using rotary, flatbed and digital printmaking. We talked about what life would have been like as a print worker in the 1800s.  The factory would have been unheated, the only light coming from candles stuck into blocks of wood hanging from the roof.  Many bleaching and dyeing processes involved harsh chemicals and unpleasant substances - lime and dung for instance.  Working conditions would have been harsh for unskilled workers and a long apprenticeship would have to be served to become a printer, who were the elite of the workforc
Read more