artist in focus: Will McLeod

Artist Will McLeod is a great friend of mine.

When we get together, we consider strategic ways to move forward with our plans.

After, our conversation always finds it's way back to the meaning in what it is to be people.

What's it all about? How do we feel and who are we meant to provide for? After all,

we choose to dedicate significant time towards learning a craft that clothes humans. To protect them,

or make them feel something today, tomorrow, and to predict what will happen next. To consider the

place where people live, where we live, and how to prepare for a future on a planet that's a-changin' steadily.

.

We consider ways to be self-sustaining and how to acquire space. From there forward,

it's conversation of animal hair and hand-crafted technique. Machinery already in our possession,

and what we must still attain, what we can build. Business plans and future vacations in the sun.

Materials, colors, textures, sounds, something, and absolutely nothing at all.

Both Will and I share an interest in felt as a medium. This, for me, began when we were

working on a project in the library at FIT, maybe for english. Will showed me a book by German

artist Joseph Beuys, a highly influential creator of the 20th century. He favored two materials for his

work in traditional and performance art, felt and fat. Now, we speak of the uses and importance

in fabric making. How to create seamless garments. Pieces perfectly custom fit to a specific

individual's shape, or rather, aimed to drastically change or emphasis that shape. The possibility in

achieving all of these different textures and color. We speak of ways to create fabric on a

larger scale. An operation that would allow us to make yards of this imagined fabric.

His sketch shown above has inspired me to create the swatch seen below.

collaborative wool felt swatch #1 | 100% wool roving

Will's ideas for collaborative pieces, such as machine sewn blouses and simple shifts

with wet/needle felted collars, yokes, and sleeve cuffs, have also been put into action.

Releasing us from the dificulties of fusible interfacing and time spent on tricky

construction. Also, endless hand-dying possibilities... hand-beading, too.

Hand-dyed hem appears to be of natural progression, like rain water stain after spring months.

This sketch depicts an idea for a dress in this webby, drop stitch sort of fabric.

I think some of these more structured panels could be a contrast of lightweight, felted

fabrics with the same loopy pattern needle-felted into it. Like this one maybe,

collaborative wool felt swatch #2 | 100% wool roving as a base, needle felted

detail using a poly/mohair blended yarn.

Hand-painted tights peaking from this futuristic one...

Also a brilliant way for us to collaborate on looks, rather than single pieces.

I've done a bit of work in hand-painted tights too, using procion dyes and painting free-form.

The layering of pleated fabrics is a technique quite familiar to Will.

Please take a look at what I mean, on the artist's website.

His S/S collection demonstrates a masterful understanding of seam work,

naturally occuring movement, and color relation.

To be continued...

artist in focus: Max McLeod

The Triptych

Here is a photo taken of the materials after they were dug up.

Max McLeod, who lives in North Carolina, uses local earth to create work that reflects a

great understanding of the natural world and provokes thoughtfulness and wonder.

The first step he takes towards an end result of workable clay is to screen the raw

dirt through wire. This allows McLeod to remove some of the rocks and organics. Although,

he does mention that sometimes he will leave some outside elements in the sifted matter.

Next, he must soak the materials in rainwater for one to two months. To complete the

process, he filters the water away, and uses only the top most layer of finished clay.

"I have four clay colors I work with: red, yellowish and a warm and cool gray."-- McLeod

The artist likes to use local materials mostly without glaze.

"My interest in ceramics and photography is often overlapping. Objects of interest

to me sometimes come from random falling leaves or layering of mountain range upon

mountain range. A blending of glaze over textured clay gives controlled random color.

A clay surface becomes a focus for flat abstract photograph. Leaf or flower structure

becomes inspiration for ceramic texture. Finding the art is my goal"

http://maccraftn2d3d.blogspot.com/

layering yard clay and porcelain.

This piece is a continued study of McLeod's local home clays.

He worked upon an 8x8 wood backing, and added no artificial color. This four panel

series was not fired, rather, allowed to sun bake for about a day and a half.

The artist welcomes the cracks of sun baked, thin native clay.

dried elements...

Photos of McLeod's display of ceramics and photography at "An Artful Affair"

Saturday Night, which took place back in November. This event was created by

a group of potters, Terra4m.

Though McLeod is an architect, he has been directing his energy and thought towards

exploring expression using ceramic work and photography as a medium.

He sells his work primarily at small private group artist sales, though, a recent customer

in Singapore now makes him an international artist!

"No glaze, just dirt at it's best."

-- McLeod, when describing this flower vase of immense beauty on his blog.

McLeod's photo of the dried leaves of a Begonia plant. It contains that quality of natural

abstraction the artist wishes to emulate within the texture and color of his own work.

unglazed server with no color added

Max McLeod also collaborated with his son, Will McLeod (who happens to be

a great friend of mine/never-soon-enough future business partner), in creating an image

for his novel collection that made its debut during Fashion Week of Spring/Summer 2010.

Max created the sharks teeth beads, which appeared to have a coat of sea brine and some

thing's bloody remains, that dripped from the necklaces worn over Will's masterful display

of clothing design. This work can be viewed on Will's website.

Highly inspirational... & I hope to experiment with natural dye processes

more throughly in the future of my work. So, linking this particular

artist to this blog was very important to me. Hopefully the collaborations will continue....