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Monday, August 31, 2009

Computer drawing

Our final assignment was to clear up blemishes and add a tattoo (red hair optional)

Finished!

Essay done AND printed before the computer crashed, phew!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Slowly does it

I'm writing a 600 word essay on how Jessica Loughlin's work addresses the subject of landscape.
It is due tomorrow and was started today. I have a feeling that I write slowly, Dougie kindly put it that I work at the speed correct for me (though I would rather being doing other things surely so I wish "my speed" would get faster). Anyhow back to it...

Artist of the day





Jessica Loughlin

Friday, August 28, 2009

Casting into light: 2 part mould

Marina gave us a demonstration of a two part mould using the "wonderful" Gelflex...full photo documentary here at picasa


Gelflex is the colour of porridge and when melted the consistency of it, when set however it's rather rubbery and spongey. Katie who had had a great night in? felt rather unwell at the sight and smell of it.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Roof tops

Dougie bought me a present yesterday (mainly a I bought a book so I got you one too)... It's interesting when other people buy me books in the genre I like because I end up with something I probably wouldn't pick..and end up liking it.
So thanks Dougie for Rooftops by Mandy Ord

Studio day

Usually I would be blowing glass in the morning of a 'studio day', however other priorities are pressing ( quite insistently I might add)

Our final project for concepts is due next tuesday, the Haiku object. Progress so far.



I have also been searching for contemporary artists who have Emille Galle like influences..and luckily found Tony Hanning.

I made some sculpey stamps to impress the clay model to make a mould for a wax shell for the Larria lamp.

and more work on the wax bird for the 'three little birds' light.

Artist of the day

Dr Tony Hanning is currently a Lecturer at Gippsland Centre for Art & Design, Monash University.
I'd love to see one of these 'in the glass' to see how the design works from all sides.
The National Gallery has a short paragraph about his work.


AQA, 2008,
Triple overlay cameo glass, height 37cm




Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hot shop

Sphere's.
hmmm lots of practice needed.

Sensibility shift part two

We handed in our booklets to Andrew, who flicked through them and passed them to Marcus who did the same. The booklets were then given back in a shuffled order. (that's the SHIFT bit in the project)

So our next task is to design an object (vessel suggested) with the new sensibility in mind. I'm fairly sure that the 'secret designer' I was given is Kevin Gordon. So lots of light play and oceanic imagery. Fine by me.

Sensibility shift part one

Assignment:
research a glass designer that closely reflects your sensibility. In week 5, 26 august, you will bring this information in the form of a booklet that tells a short story about the sensibility of this designer and the types of objects they make
.do not bring whole images (only cut outs of images to describe a sensibility) of work by the designer of their name. It is important that the name remains a secret.

Finally finished..more images than text :)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Out of the kiln

and needing some cleaning
Posted by Picasa

Object theory Thap 1212

Ruskin was a strange man...

Hot shop practice

Got to college for 08.10 am, Brett opened up the glass studio. Lit hotshop. shaped some clay for making a mould for wax shell. Got tree cup cast out of the kiln and started unveiling.

In the hotshop I made a small beer mug (for fathers day) a swirly cone and a stringered vasey thing. Jon pursued his pierced bubbles with some stringer decoration. very hot need I say with a slight 'hot shop headache' hovering in the background. More unveiling of the tree cup. Lunch.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Computer drawing

hmmm again I found my self taking an age to find the effect I wanted to apply. I unsuccessfully applied a spider tattoo to my shoulder. Need to get it done by next week.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

15 pairs!

After recovering from this mornings late bedtime and even later rising I spent the afternoon making earrings to hopefully sell on SCA's open day this Saturday.

Full collection here at my picasa account.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Casting into light model making

I've tried stickytape and sculpey...now i'm on to a jasmine scented candle to make my model with..i think the model will be more representational than accurate..I'll leave the drawings to do that.
Any hoo back to it.

Art theory, Romanticism

The lecture happened, I was there. ditto for the tutorial

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Hot shop practice and Object theory.

Jon and I made some monstrous things today..oversized, warped and unbalanced objects. It was fun though.

At lunch time a Joori, Katie and I made our moulds for our lost wax cup things. A little late, still eating part of my lunch I entered into Object theory (sorry Clare).
After Clare's class Anna, Joori, Katie and I went in to the mould room to either steam our moulds start making them or finishing them off.

We got booted out at 5 by teachers wanting to go home (fair enough). Lying on our desks were the details for part one of our hot shop project "Sensibility shift".

I am now eating Green & Blacks butterscotch chocolate wondering how I am going to fit this all in.

Object theory

the questions are "WHY is there such a division between art and craft. Why is craft so material and process driven? HOW did we get to think like this? Should we? Can we change? Do we want to? etc.

Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin had ideas in common that espoused the idea of honesty in design.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Computer drawing

Bring a portrait photograph with an interesting background, the person should take up about a third of the picture.

Nick demonstrated the lessons task's by giving his brother horns, pointy ears, enlarged glassy eyes then texturing him like a photocopy. Some how I didn't feel that Dougie would appreciate the same treatment. At one point I found a tool that made his nose bigger..it was an accident!
I had a little giggle then pressed delete.

So a picture taken of Dougie on my birthday in a cafe on a sunny morning in may. Background was given a palette knife effect and the table on which there was coffee and chai was swirled and distorted.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Lighting design

Radiolarian pics from all over. Aren't they amazing.



Radiolaria interesting links

http://www.viewsfromscience.com/documents/webpages/methods_p3.html
http://www.radiolaria.org/
http://www.zenarchy.net/gallery_3d_micro.html
http://www.archicentral.com/radiolaria-pavilion-a-free-form-structure-produced-using-the-worlds-largest-3d-printer-20520/
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/radiolaria.html
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/radio/
http://www.d-shape.com/pg2.htm
http://oceanlink.island.net/biodiversity/radiolaria/radiolaria.html

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Hot shop practice and wax casting

After I lit the hotshop I made another cup mould.

the step by step photo's are here on my picasa page

I partnered with Mel this morning. I made another larger spotty jug and a little flower vase intended for Kelly. Mel practiced bubbles and made one tumbler though unfortunately the bottom fell out..it was a good shape though for a first tumbler.

After cooling down I poured some wax shells and sheets which I then gently carried on the bus back home to fashion into something for Friday's practical class with Marina.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Hot shop practice

Jon and I partnered up in the hotshop between 9am and 1pm. I will have another spotty milk jug hopefully with a slightly less daliesqe handle. Uri came by to give a demo and instruction on handles. My co ordination is somewhat lacking at the moment but hopefully it will click in soon. Jon made a lovely vase with red swirls and amazing bubbles (bicarb and pineapple marver). Afterward I helped and hindered Uri with making some cane.

Object theory THAP 1212

Craft guilds of the late middle ages and the industrial revolution: Craft is a changing.

What do we associate with the labels Craft, Art & Design? If we were to think in cliches..

Craft: domestic, practical, functional, recreational, traditional, technique / skill, carving, textiles, jewelery, ceramics, glass.

Art: expressive, conceptual painting, sculpture, drawing, representational, abstract, museum, gallery, unique, looked at and thought about.

Design: commercial, functional, reproduction, advertising,

Our idea of craft now is quite different to how it was used previous to the industrial revolution. In the time of the craft guilds in the mid to late middle ages there was no distinction between craft, art and design. The craft guilds and the merchant classes were products of the population decrease after the 'black death (1348-1350)'.

Artists and artisan's worked collectively and apart from some very rare cases individual names where never known.

Guilds introduced many benefits for their members, even if to our eye today the rules and regulations seem rather restrictive and stifling. Compared to the option of being some feudal lord's serf a guild suddenly looks quite good. The guilds entered another level in the feudal system. Standards & prices were set, morals upheld, insurance for members and families, job security and protection! As in the feudal system they worked within guilds had a hierarchical structure. Masters at the top with journeyman in between the apprentices at the bottom.

Eventually the masters became corrupt. Nobility came to the guild for loans often to fund a holy war or suchlike. Guild families and nobility often intermarried..a desire for either money or titles.
To be continued...



The guild for environmental protesters

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Tractus making

Once we finally got out of bed we strolled off to the strand cafe in Croydon. Quite a nice walk, the warmth of the sun this winters day had a fair bit of summer in it's rays. The cafe serves breakfast all day (a trend I'm quite fond of) lucky for us! We sat outside in the courtyard and enjoyed our breakfast around a perfectly placed table, sun for Dougie and shade for me.

Not all the curb cuts between Croydon and Ashfield have a smooth surface some being quite deceivingly bumpy. It was over one of these bumpy ones that I managed to 'bump' my love right out of the wheelchair and on to the ground. Yikes! thanks to a passerby Dougie was only floor side for a few minutes. The remainder of the walk was sunnily uneventful.

The rest of the day I have experimented with ripped up paper, blended paper, flour glue, baloons, clingwrap, jugs whilst trying to make my Concepts "Tractus". it's proving harder than I thought to use recycled materials. Wax would be easier..I think. I took a break to use the kitchen and implements for actually making food (victoria sponge cake).

Dougie is writing and listening to BBC 4.