Stage 3

I decided to create some marble paints as I thought these could mimic some of the textures in space, this worked effectively. I knew that in the past I had not exhausted all my images so I decided to this with my marble paintings, putting them into Photoshop and experimenting with them as much as I could. This worked well also; I will definitely do this in future, exploring each image completely as I got a lot of images out of it. I also found a way of editing my marble paintings so the colours were contrasted and they looked like they were in space, this is my most accomplished work so far in the project, it was a key point in my working progress. I would definitely like to combine these in my final designs with some of my other work.

One image from space that inspired me to do marbling. 

These are just some of the images I created from this marble painting.

I decided to layer up my contrasted marble paints as I knew in my final designs I would be using a lot of layers, I think this was effective.

I became interested in images of earth taken from space because of all the different textures; I especially liked the way buildings appeared in large blocks. I found a microscope with a altered lense so when you look through it everything appears in blocks, I took photos of my work through this and it worked effectively. This has made me think about the different ways I could photograph my work in future to create more work, such as a clear kaleidoscope, coloured glass or binoculars. I then edited these and broke them apart like I did the marble paintings.

Photo of buildings taken from space.

The studio visit to Diane Harrsion was very useful and informative, I learnt a lot from it. I found out they use a programme called AVA instead of Photoshop or Illustrator as it makes repeat pattern a lot simpler but is very similar to Photoshop. It was good to know what kind of programmes I would be using if I work in a print design company. They also said that they create different colour schemes for different places, usually different countries, which is what I have done in my work. I also learnt that they create patterns by hand and then put them in repeat digitally; this was very interesting to learn. We saw a lot of mood boards around the studio which looked like mine in my sketchbook, and also the one I created in my group in the first week of the project which gives me confidence as I know I am putting my ideas down professionally. They also look back on past designs that the company has done so that they don't create anything similar and so they can improve on their designs. I need to do this more so I can see what worked well with my past designs and what I can improve on. In their studio they also have lots of their work around them pinned up on walls, this is also how I like to work. 

After learning that the designers in Diane Harrison create patterns by hand I decided to try this out myself. I wanted to break apart my contrasting marble paintings using the block shapes like from the microscope and circular shapes taken from space photographs. These worked effectively but needed to be on a colour ground and I couldn't see them working very well with my drawings as they are so ordered, and my drawings have a spontaneous natural feel about them.

 I created some layered space images with a combination of my drawings and the edited marble paintings, these were successful and I would like to explore this more. I tried to create a print by breaking up one of these space images into stripes and piecing it back together; but even though the colours were very bright, because the pattern was so small it made it look dark which I don't want.

This is a section of the pattern.

Whitworth Art Gallery Lace Collection

I managed to organise a viewing of the lace collection at Whitworth Art Gallery to help me with my visual research and ideas for sampling. The visit proved very stimulating as I have now thought of many new ideas for my sampling. I viewed lace from Honiton, Italy, France and Hungary.

This piece reminded me of spiders webs in old stately homes, maybe I could introduce this into my designs?

This piece looks like it has devil faces hidden in it, maybe I could mix my drawings of rams skulls and tigers heads with lace designs? It also reminded me of the Raphael drawing I saw in a book in MMU's special collections which has hidden ghostly faces in the back ground. 

I also liked the pieces that included gold threads, metallics would work really well in my work, it would give it an even more decadent feel.

This piece was so bold and beautiful, it was made by 12 rose point motifs mounted on velvet. It made me think about sewing back on top of my work. 

I loved the effect this lace cuff gave as it is layered up, I need to think about how I can layer up my designs to create more designs that can flow and be copied.

Nostel Priory

I decided to visit a stately home as I needed more visual research to work from, so I decided to visit Nostel Priory as I knew they have an extensive collection of Chippendale furniture which was popular in mid- eighteenth century. This visit was very useful as I took many photos of fabrics and furnishings, detailing on every day objects in the home. I will now draw and work designs from these.

Special Collections

I decided to visit Special Collections in the university library to help me start off my visual research as I felt I already have a lot of Contextual references to get me started. I found a few interesting book covers and a book on the history of wallpaper which was quite interesting. There was also lots of books of drawings of the Gods and cherubs, depicting Greek mythology. There was also some old books on lace that I managed to take some photos of, and some photos of work by Raphael.

Cornwall Visit

I visited lots of art galleries while I was in Cornwall, as a lot of the art was inspired by the sea- side I felt like I'd seen a lot of it before, but I also saw a lot of interesting work. At New Craftsman Gallery at St Ives I saw a really interesting sculptural ceramicist called Matthew Chambers, inspired by geometrics, architecture and constructivist art. He layers many sections within each piece of art work which is easy to see. His use of colour also adds other dimensions, helping to creating very dramatic pieces.

Another artist I admired was glass jewellery artist Sally Carver, who sets sea scenes vividly into her work. I also liked her use of colour, texture and movement throughout her work. www.redhotsal.co.uk

New Designers 2012

I loved going to new designers as you see so many good ideas and designs, its so exciting to see the new and unexplored. One of the pieces that I liked because it worked so well was 'Slap it' created by Joseph Begley. www.jospehbegley.co.uk who try's to push the boundaries between the interaction of humans and objects, using a sense of playfulness and humour. His first piece is some soft plastic buttocks that can be placed on objects around building such as tables of walls, this then tempts the public to go and have a cheeky harmless interaction with the buttocks, giving them a slap, which they then light up, reacting to the humans actions in a positive way. The experience is aimed to make people smile, which when I was around them this seemed to certainly work, people were drew to the light and being able to have this unique tactile pleasure with something which would normally be quite rude to do to a human. I think this is the main reason why is was so successful, is its welcoming you to do something which is normally taboo, its exciting and a little bit nerving for the average person, but you get drawn in by the playfulness of it all.

One ceramicist that I saw that I really admired was Angeline Bates, who takes her inspiration from the natural world, which I also do a lot. Her colours were so beautiful and fluid and light and natural. The shapes she used looked so organic and you could see exactly where she took them from, using both glass and ceramics.

A textiles artist that I really admired is Kristal Erga who was exhibiting in the one year on part of the new designers, she has now set up Erga Design www.kristelerga.com. She uses all textile and fashion scraps to create her work as she feels that we now create too much waste and we should recycle more. Her work is a beautiful example of this, using old leather and she also creates her own silk organza. Her designs are for large scale wall pieces, these are attached using magnets on each puzzle plate, so the customer can move the plates around to create their own statement wall piece. I also thought that it would have been good to have all the flowers on small magnets as well so that the customer can also move those around too. 

Another textile artist that I admired was the work of Zhiqiao Zheng, also in the one year on exhibition. She is inspired by technologies in lighting, transformation and colour change, her work is all about natural and man made fibre optics. She weaves metal wires and optic cables into organic and geometric shapes for many genres of art, fashion, accessories, lighting, sculpture and interior design. Every piece looked so gentle and intricate, your eyes are immediately drawn to the light emitting from these pieces. 

Christian Loubutin- Design Museum

Some of Loubutin's designs were fascinating, clearly not to be worn, but as statements, of power, sex and elegance. His pieces are made to make women feel how they want to feel, made to feel special. I think in fashion this is very important, giving the customer what they want, and making a dream achievable for how they want to appear and feel.

Damien Hirst Exhibit- Tate Modern

One of the pieces at the exhibition that really interested me was Hirst's 'Lullaby, the Seasons' 2002.

The title of the piece links children's lullaby's made to make children fall asleep, with sleep inducing effects of medication. At the same time it also refers to the passing of time and the transient nature of life, due to the way he has positioned the medication. These are themes Hirst often presents in his work. Before I read up on what this piece was about I immediately saw the seasons running through this piece as a theme,  but at a distance the medication looks like semi- precious stones because of the aluminium background, which to the users of the medication they would be very important (like the precious stones) It also made me think of how something shiny has changed the appearance of something so dangerous to something so beautiful. 

Hirst's butterfly pieces were some of the most beautiful works I have ever seen! The colours were so vibrant and as they were on such a large scale they were very overwhelming and filled the room with colour. My favourite piece 'Doorways to the Kingdom of Heaven' 2007 where the butterflies are arranged in complex patterns reminiscent of stained glass church windows, emphasised by the triptych's internal rose- like composition and arch shaped canvases. 

 

Manchester Cathedral visit

Lucy gave me the great idea of looking at stained glass windows after seeing my masking tape window pieces, so I decided to visit Manchester Cathedral where I took a lot of photos to look at the details. The colours in the stained glass windows were so vivid and beautiful, some of them had also been etched into and painted on, I think this would be another interesting way of creating visual research. I also thought that the shapes that the windows are cut in could inspire the shapes I am using in my designs for my felt wall hangings.

Roger Ballen

I recently visited Manchester Art Gallery where I saw some really interesting work by Roger Ballen, a photographer who just works in black and white. Although this wasn't appropriate for my project, I thought his work was really powerful as some of it I found quite disturbing as he likes to play with the differences between reality and fantasy. I also liked that some of his photographs felt like a drawing because of the smooth textures, and his juxtapositions between key elements, playing with your eyes.