Wallhanging. Am I making any progress with the design?

I do enjoy the design process, but having found a source photo I like and having had some ideas for a wallhanging , I am now letting my ideas simmer. Does this mean I have artist's block? The ideas are simmering away, and I am not sure when they will be ready.

This is what I have done: I decided to go with the idea of cutting up strips of the photo,as in my sketch book. I played around with making a rough, using some white sheeting as background. Then I cut strips from newspaper and scaled them up from mm to cm (something my non-mathematical mind is capable of doing!) The strips were then painted with gesso and acrylic. I wanted to try and get the feeling of the colours and textures of the original so that the wallhanging will be derived from the concept of "coast".


I hung the strips up on the wall* of my studio** so I could consider them.


* the side of the fridge
**the kitchen

I don't know if this will work, and I don't know how I can translate it to stitch, which is why I am letting my ideas work themselves out.

To get the ideas flowing I have been doing some background reading.


Books I am looking at this week:-

Stitch, Cloth, Paper & Paint by Angie Hughes

(Exciting techniques using gesso and acrylic painted over machine stitch, involving tissue paper and scrim)

Hot Textiles by Kim Thittichai

(More exciting techniques, involving heat tools)


Experimental Textiles by Kim Thittichai

(Thought-provoking ideas about starting a piece and the design process, plus wonderful photos of textile artists' work)

Contemporary Quilts by Sandra Meech

( I really like Sandra's work, particularly her use of photos within her quilts)

Paintings by Michael Honnor

(Wonderful, inspiring coastal paintings in mixed media)