Introduction 6
Materials 8
Inspiration 14
Colours 38
Using stitch 46
The sea, the sky and the shore 56
Imagined Seascapes 66
Step-by-step project
Mood and atmosphere 74
Stormy Seas, Waves Crash 84
Step-by-step project
The shoreline 92
Elements of the Shore 102
Step-by-step project
Rhythms, patterns and structures 110
Sand Banks in the Estuary 120
Step-by-step project
Index 128
Amanda Hislop has a degree in woven textiles and painting, studying at West Surrey College of Art and Design from 1983–86. She began her career as a teacher in art and textiles but in 2007 she took the opportunity of redundancy to pursue an exciting creative pathway as a textile artist and tutor. In her work she combines drawing, painting and stitch, developing a process which allows freedom to integrate texture, line and colour into surfaces for stitch. Amanda is a member of Prism textile exhibiting group, Oxfordshire Craft Guild and the Embroiderers’ Guild. Visit her website www.amandahisloptextileartist.com.
I loved this book, it’s fabulous! It has some amazing photographs
that make the book interesting to look at and the paper is very
good quality printing. One of my favourite parts is all of the
ideas to use unusual materials that I’ve taken inspiration from in
helping students I work with in a secondary school and in my own
crafts at home. I highly recommend this book and look forward to
getting more of Amanda’s published works. The book has very easy to
follow steps and information on how to develop each medium into
your work effectively.
*Customer review*
A brilliant book for a stitcher who wants to learn using mixed
media, excellent descriptions of the materials and their uses, with
a good step by step guide in pictures to follow. Very informative
on how to sketch your ideas when on location and how to transfer
them into stitch and varied materials.
*Customer review*
I'm one of those lucky people living by the sea and enjoy walking
on the beach almost daily. I take thousands of photos on my walks,
as the sea is never boring. This book is exactly what I was looking
for to encourage me to venture into the world of textile art beyond
just photography.
From opening the first pages I was gripped by this book. Of course
the photographs are two dimensional but the photographs in this
book are almost tactile and i just had to stroke them. The use of
acrylic paint on stitched fabric might be a total novelty to many
stitches as it is to me so I'm looking forwards trying that
technique soon. I've picked up lots of tips and I'm still on the
first chapter! Never heard of CMC thickener and now I can't wait to
try it. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone wanting
to start or improve their artistic stitching and explore outside
one's comfort zone. Amanda's instructions are clear and encouraging
exploration from simple mark making, creating personalised
sketchbooks to various sources of inspiration. She explains the
basic principles of composition, use of colour and stitches without
being prescriptive. She gives plenty of examples and ideas for
exploration.
And now for the exciting part of the book - the projects. There are
four projects all explained step by step but leaving the reader
with the freedom to create a very personal piece of textile art The
possibilities are endless. Each project leads you through the
stages of processes but gives you the freedom to explore and create
an unique piece of work if one wishes so.
I found the chapter on creating dynamism very interesting. Amanda
explains how to achieve a sense of movement and I feel empowered
with knowledge to try her techniques and explore textile art even
further than I ever dared.
*Customer review*
A beautiful textile art book, full of information from where the
author finds inspiration, what tools to use and basic techniques to
stage by stage photographic and written instructions to create
stunning projects. Perfect as a gift, a resource or coffee table
book.
*Customer review*
This is an outstanding book. Covers techniques and excellent
instructions. Beautiful examples of sketchbooks and
ideas.
*Customer review*
The book is beautifully presented with very clear instructions for
different techniques. The illustrations are clear and useful for
practical tasks. The book is inspirational to embroiders like
myself or other kinds of textile artists.
*Customer review*
This book more than lived up to the promise of the cover. Every
image conjures up the taste of salt, the dampness of foam and the
colours of the sea. This is a book for beginner and expert alike.
She offers, not just a list of tools and materials needed to create
such images, but the reasons for using each in differing
circumstances. Many examples use found or recycled materials,
extending the experience beyond the craft place.
She shares the stages of her work from the sketch books she uses in
the field to the building up of layers. With this multi-media
approach, Amanda uses a mix of exercises and mark making to
encourage experimenting with materials. There are projects
described step by step, but Amanda also points out that working
from your own experience, your own sketches or photographs, will
produce more personal pieces with a greater sense of involvement. I
can’t wait to put some of her ideas into practice and I am sure
that I will refer to this book time and again.
Amanda Hislop writes that she sets out to “create an atmospheric
sense of place” in her artwork. She does not disappoint.
*Customer review*
If you like to paint and stitch, which many Silk Painters do, this
is the book for you. Not into sewing, then the interpretation will
capture your imagination. Amanda Hislop usese a restricted palette
of blues, greys and ochres to create wonderful seascapes, working
with sketchbooks from location visits. An extensive use of mark
making, thumbnail sketches and moodboards leads to translating mark
into stitch. This book is a lively interpretation of sea, shore,
rocks and shells, taking note of mood and atmosphere. I have looked
at this book many times and each time find something new that
triggers ideas for a new painting. The colour palette certainly
ensures the mind will consider new colours. Most of us love the
sea, visiting it through another's eyes is exciting.
*International Journal of the Guild of Silk Painters*
The coast is a special place for many people, evoking memories of
childhood vacations or time spent admiring its beauty. This
latest entry in Search Press’ Stitched Textiles series explores one
artist’s love affair with the seaside and how she creates pictures
that express it in paint and thread. I always enjoy the books in
this series, as I love the way that each book not only shows how to
do it but gives an insight into an artist’s vision and methods of
working. Everybody’s style is different, and a good primer
will give the tools and understanding to do it yourself, but also
see how the author does it. This is not a book about
wearable, washable textiles but the sort of art you can hang on the
wall so the list of materials includes things like different types
of paper, many with a good wet strength. Reading through the
lists of items Ms Hislop uses was fascinating, as it includes
various types of wax, gauze and many other unusual things.
Seeing them put through their paces to create art was quite an
education, as was seeing the sketchbooks the artist makes of marks
and patterns, and having a go at some of the exercises. There
are chapters on her use of colour, composition rules, how she uses
a sewing machine to free motion stitch and how to turn those sketch
book marks into stitches. Other chapters look at dividing a
page into sea, sky and shore and creating a series of pictures,
working with texture and making the horizon your focal point.
After all this learning it is time to have a go at some projects
and there are four of these, interspersed with a look at how to get
certain effects right. These include atmosphere, creating a
sense of movement and items found on the shoreline. Each
section has plenty of examples and the projects have the type of
staged photographs Search Press do so well, and which give even a
beginner a chance at making a decent fist of it. This is a
very inspiring book that will give anybody many ideas to explore.
If you cannot find a good range of embroidery and needlecraft
materials locally try http://www.searchpress.com for a list of
suppliers.
*myshelf.com*
The latest in this excellent Stitched Textiles series is Amanda’s
first book showcasing her love of the sea as inspiration and packed
with examples of her work. For anyone who loves the
ever-changing moods of the sea and coastlines, then this is the
book for you. Amanda shows us how to use a wide range of
materials, including paints and papers, fabrics and threads,
demonstrating how colour and texture can produce the effect we
might wish to portray. Amanda enjoys depicting not just the sea and
sky but the flotsam and jetsam of the seashore, including shells,
pebbles, rocks and fossils. She guides us through the
processes with four step-by-step projects, using a mixed-media
approach, encouraging the reader to create their own
satisfying interpretation of a favourite coastal area. Highly
recommended.
*East Kent Embroiderers'*
Who doesn't love the sea? And the possibilities to create textile
work from this natural wonder are endless. Amanda Hislop shares her
wonderful techniques and inspiration in this latest Stitched
Textiles publication from Search Press. Amanda uses a wide range of
materials to create her seascape pieces and there is a
comprehensive discussion about which base fabrics, threads, paints
etc. and found materials to use in your work. Amanda's approach
uses exercises to build up marks in a sketchbook and there are a
few exercises to get you looking and starting to build up a set of
references to use in your textile work. She guides you, even if
you're not comfortable with drawing, and this section is a great
help for loosening up! Composition is discussed in quite some
detail to make you think about the balance between sea and sky, how
much detail you want to show and takes you through basic principles
to achieve a balanced picture. The book then goes on to talk about
colour and how to approach the changes of light in a seascape.
Developing the mark-making theme, Amanda guides us through doodling
with your sewing machine to add line and texture to a textile
piece. Again, there are exercises to walk you through the
processes. As with the other books in this series, this book offers
you the chance to follow four step-by-step projects to develop your
skills before embarking on your own seascapes. Amanda covers the
shoreline, man-made forms, textures and patterns to help your
textile piece develop into an accomplished piece of work. Once
again, this series of book have become 'must-reads' for those of us
wishing to explore how to develop and improve techniques for
textile art. Amanda's book covers a huge amount of ground and is
accessible for those who don't feel particularly artistic! The
step-by-step projects give you the confidence to have a go and
really just relax and play! Highly recommended.
*Julie Briggs - Sewing Directory*
An exciting addition to this wonderful series that explores textile
techniques and design. Step inside the wonderful world of seascapes
with artist Amanda Hislop. Find original projects, step-by-step
demonstrations, clear photographs and instructions and inspiration
through design exercises. Discover how to capture the magic of the
seaside, the shore and sea in stitch. Many wonderful samples of
finished work and of how the artist works. Looks at inspiration,
sketchbooks, drawing and mark making as well as methods. A delight
for anyone who loves the sea and stitch.
*karenplatt.co.uk*
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