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As a textile artist and teacher of embroidery and quilting techniques many of my embellishment workshops focus on creating texture. We are so fortunate that we work with textiles! Texture is not only in our vocabulary: It is in our fingertips just waiting to be released and “affixed to a surface”.

My various handouts have bullet points and short paragraphs dealing with the subject at hand today. Here are just a couple excerpts from these resources I use in teaching:

“Texture in textile art is created through embellishment to add dimension! Texture may also be provided by selecting and using printed, hand-dyed and batik fabrics for a background. Another method of creating a textured foundation would be to piece small patches of fabrics together.”

Something a little more detailed in the Embellishment Workshop handout states the following: “As fiber artists and quilters we are very interested in this design element, texture. Texture refers to the surface quality of objects. It appeals to our sense of touch, which does not mean we actually have to feel the object, but we recognize certain elements and tap into our memory bank of experience to provide us with a sensory reaction.

Tactile texture in painting is achieved with impasto techniques. In contrast: Fiber artists use hand and machine embellishments, fabric collage and beads to create the same effect! Textile artists are able to successfully combine colored and patterned fabrics to create secondary patterns and optical illusions to achieve visual texture.”

At this time I want to point out the fact that it is difficult to draw a distinct line
between texture and pattern. As in pattern, texture often repeats but its variations usually do not involve perfect regularity. I will keep today’s post brief, as the concept of texture in textile art and nature is much better understood with the slideshow I have uploaded. Enjoy your weekend!

I am back Tuesday when I will attempt to decypher the relationship between the basic elements of design and the way they affect each other. This interaction creates the principles of design: harmony, balance, rhythm, proportion, contrast and movement.

28 Oct This entry was published on October 28, 2012 at 6:57 am. It’s filed under Art, Creativity Update, Design, Studio / Workshop / Creative Space Challenge and tagged embellishments, embroidery, fabric collage, quilting, tactile, texture, visual texture. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.