Lynne’s sketchbook presentation

Textile Sketchbook Collection by Lynne Dennis

Process 2: writing / presentation

Textile Sketchbook Collection by Lynne Dennis

UCA Archives and Special Collections

by Chavisa Piankit (Pear)

         Lynne Dennis was a member of the Embroiders’ Guild, a society of textile designers and artists, which began life more than 100 years ago. The University for the Creative Arts holds a collection of archives and special collections which students can use for inspiration when creating their own sketchbook. Lynne Dennis’s sketchbooks mostly dated from 1986-1994, and they consist of a collection of 18 sketchbooks in total. They include inspirational, ideas, samples of textiles, paintings, sketches and her analysis notes for each project. They are interesting from the perspective of art history and personal ideas.

               Textile is derived from the Latin word texere which meaning to weave; but a wider meaning than simply weaving must be accepted since it is only one of various ways of making fabrics. (Miller, 1968:8) Textiles have been part of many different cultures, lives and civilization. According to Gale and Kaur, “One common perception of textile is that it is feminine art”. (2002:7) Lynne Dennis is designer who has a fascination with textiles. She applied her knowledge and skill to create fabulous art works. From looking at the contents of four sketchbooks, her design process can be revealed, which reflects the structure of her design over short period of time. In terms of practicality, Lynne has a sense of elegance in the way that she uses fabrics, which show her special talent in this area.

              From an analysis of four sketchbooks of Lynne Dennis, it would appear that, almost all of her works are influenced by nature and the environment. She assembled an interesting collection of inspirational items, for example, postcards, cards, photographs and brochures. She annotates each page of her sketchbooks. Stylistically, she used initial sketches and fabric samples to develop her designs. Some parts of her sketchbook contain freeform drawing which shows how her ideas develop. A large part of the sketchbooks consist of ideas which inspired her critical thinking techniques. She combined many kinds of materials and worked with various fabrics with unusual surfaces. These sketchbooks are interesting (other synonyms) because they serve to illustrate her passion for textiles. 

Archive Project

Process 1:

Research….

Textile sketchbooks collection by Lynne Dennis

The Lynne (alias Edwina Rosalyn) Dennis Textile Sketchbook Collection are textile sketchbooks created in the 1980s, by Lynne Dennis, a member of the Embroiders’ guild. These textile sketchbooks, which also give examples of Jewellery making, show work in progress, including handwritten notes and textile samples. It includes inspirational material, such as photographs, project work and assessments from City and Guilds Embroidery Studies These sketchbooks give interesting ideas to students of best ways to keep a student journal or sketchbooks, and give context in terms of what was in the curriculum for textiles in the 1980s.

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