09/12/2009

OPEN STUDIO

TONIGHT....
My coursemates and I are takin part in an OPEN STUDIO where we will be showcasing our latest work - this is not an exhibition, but something a little more informal and allows others to see our preparatory work and our studios.
Here are a few quick photos I have taken to try and document some of my prints and... a sneaky peek for those who are attending tonight!
Screen Print and Soft Ground Etching

Soft Ground Etching, with 'Stop Out Varnish' mask

Carbarundum Plate

Carbarundum Print (wallpaper impression)

Soft Ground Etching with Ink and Mask

My work has become a process led project by means of building up multiple layers using diferent printing techniques.

MY FINAL PRINTS ARE.... COMING SOON! RETURN TO HAVE A LOOK :)

07/12/2009

My ONLINE PORTFOLIO

I have just discovered how to create my very oen online protfolio, complete with fullscreen slideshows, take a look: CREATIVE MOMENTS

This portfolio is linked very closely to my DEVIANT ART profile, a site created for the artistic and creative alike! There's so many users, and a great place to get inspiration for your own artistic little moments, it's taken me a while to get to grips with 'how to use it' as such, but it's been worth it!

Have a look and let me know what you reckon!


30/11/2009

Art or... Design?

I ask you... What is the difference between Art and Design?

Whilst creating decorative prints I was asked to recall the limits set within each. This you may be thinking appears easy at first and you may real off many a definition:

DESIGN - problem solving, creating solutions to improve the quality of life, part of everyday life
ART - aesthetic, personal, and everyday phenomena

The list is endless, personally I think there are many blurred boundaries in which they overlap. For example, after looking into the work of Claire Coles I have become interested in the process of wallpaper design. Surely, like most fashionable items, interior design contains many artistic designs and processes.

My current project is entitled 'place, object, space' which I believe wallpaper can be applied specifically to. Walls create a space of their own, and become an object in the process. Surely wallpaper designs start with drawings and collections of source materials, colour palettes etc. So how do large scale paintings, prints, collages etc (all considered 'art' pieces) differ from wallpaper (design).

Wallpapers are created for a specific purpose, fit specific dimensions, and often created a mass market. Wall paper designs go back in history an awful long way and were considered a sign of wealth and status. The earliest wallpapers in England were created as individual sheets, printed with black ink, on pale paper with geometric designs, printed with wood blocks.

Take a look around, wallpaper has developed DRAMATICALLY and has become a successful form of industry, linked closely to furnishings and fashion.

You can argue however, art (for example sculpture) can be created for a specific site/space, like wallpaper.

What do you think....?

29/11/2009

Collage


I am wondering where to start...

I guess my inspirations and how they relate to my work?

A combination of media and techniques create my art work, be this photography, collage, digital work, printmaking, textiles or painting. Thus a wide net of ideas inspire my work!

My current printmaking project, lies closely inline with the concept of collage and layers.

Claire Coles is a wallpaper designer who incorporates stitch and collage to recreate new designs from Vintage Wallpapers and found materials.

visit http://www.clairecolesdesign.co.uk/ to see more!

Claire's work has directly influenced some preparatory collages I have created for screenprints and source material for printmaking.
Rather than using vintage wallpaper, I tried to use surfaces and shapes from my daily environment - so I used photography to capture these elements and then used collage and free hand embroidery to build up image rich layers.


GOD IS A MANC' was a flyer I had from a past art exhibition based in... Manchester of all places! Layered on top are then images of interior pieces in my room, and jewellery from my HUGE jewellery tree. This was then stitched together, simultaneously alongside a series of approximately 4 collages.
My logo for this blog initially came from such collages, which I then edited using Adobe PhotoShop. This is the initial collage I used to form the backdrop for my blog title:
Can you see the elements within my logo?

15/11/2009

Every end has a beginning, but knowing where to start is the question. I guess learning the 'ins and outs' of blog making will arise as I reveal my thoughts.

WELCOME


Hello.... take a look, get on board the Lily Bus and see what you think! x