Wednesday 4 December 2013

Long time no see

So here are a few things I have been doing recently, sorry for the delay but I have been pretty busy. I have been trying to work on various skills and new techniques I haven't tried before. I have been working on some collage and printing and as I get so jealous of the students when they are doing their creative work I decided to join in with lots of the workshops they have been doing recently. Also, I have created my own little studio in our downstairs cellar so I am able to carry on with work at home. Apologies for the poor image quality, they are all taken on my phone as my camera needs batteries and they cost a bomb!

At the very start of this academic year my little workshop was transformed and I now have a new space for my computer, I know it's the simple pleasures that keep me happy! Now I don't get sawdust on my computer, hooray! I also have a few strange finds from around the department which I like to hoard and treasure along with some of my old students work (thanks Josh for leaving this behind) displayed on the walls in there so it doesn't feel like a cupboard. I have been known to be the cupboard lady in the past!




Here is my new work space at home, it is a bit dingy in the cellar, but I have been much more productive and I get electricity down there so it is all good!
Sammi and myself created these envelopes for the type project earlier this year, each one contains the name of an object a student must base their project work on. We had fun making these, Sammi made the stickers which were the best bit really. 

The Isle of Man sunset, I went at the end of the summer and it was lovely to see my best friends in the world. I even learned how to fish, not a bad place to start!

The number 5 is my lucky number, so I had to take a pic of this wood pile. 

Occasionally I get to tag along on student trips to London for free which is great! Here is a friend I made whilst loitering outside the Tate gallery on the Southbank.

Amusing graffiti in the ladies loo's at The Black Boy pub in Winchester. 

Another friend of mine, I call him Skanky and he dwells outside the college gates, where I am not supposed to smoke. 

Lino cut owl print on collaged surface, there are a few more of these to come as I hope to see them at the Christmas stall at college. 

Someone's Christmas present, made from triangles cut out of old vinyl record sleeves. 


Someone else's Christmas present (Work in progress)

This was an example I did for the kids who I did a workshop for in the summer, T-shirt printing. Exhausting, but fun!

Laser cut Christmas tags, these I will also try to sell for Christmas. 


More owls!



This is a bit old, but is finally hanging in our kitchen. A sushi picture I made printed using image transfer paper onto fabric.

My random mantle piece, yes I still have the roses I got from Gayle for my birthday in August, I love them when they dry up and shrivel.

Occasionally I get good focus on my phone camera. This was taken at Broadlands in Lancing, near Brighton, somewhere I used to go as a child, it brought back fond memories. 

Flo helping Jenny learn to walk, though she was dragging her along a bit to quickly, poor Jen Wren!





Tuesday 19 March 2013

Here are some of the latest pieces of work from my lovely students. They are all now leading up to their final projects, can't believe it's that time of year again! I have been much more involved now I am teaching them and I am very excited to see what they will produce for their end of year shows. Here are a few finished pieces and works in progress. 


These are the result of our trip to Brighton, SEAGULLS!!

Really love this composition. 

The Pavilion.

The Artists! Alex and Matthew are happy working together. 

Josh and his super creature! We used a whole bag of plaster, a lot of which ended up on our clothing. 

Jamie's heart paintings are getting more and more expressive. Not sure why he needed to use so much duct tape! 

Lewis's falling man drawings. 

Louise's iris paintings, she wanted me to make a point that 'It is not finished!'

Laura's body parts paintings turned out really well.

Sarah's Leonardo wings which flap when you pull the cords, they are awesome!!

We managed to put our heads together and come up with a way of minimising the mechanical parts so it is easier to wear. Although, you do still have to avoid poking people's eyes out when you manoeuvre.  

Pitt Rivers and Bungle rats

I really love old artifacts and the Pitt Rivers in Oxford is full of treasure! The jewelry in there has to be my favorite thing to look at in there, but there is so much to see, here are just a few things I snapped. 



The famous shrunken heads, preserved in vegetable dyes and stuffed with stones. 

A rat trap made with old film cases.

Really love all the tribal jewelry. 

Various jewelry pieces made with teeth and bones, usually to celebrate their kill.

A funny looking owl :)

Flo went into meltdown and was more fascinated by the air vents than the exhibits. 

Fighting jewelry.

Tattoo stamps.

Trilobites.


Pyrite, I think we have a fellow magpie in our midst! 

The Natural History Museum was closed that day, but we did sneak a peek at some of the dinosaur bones. Some of them were in packaging and Flo thought they were bandaged up as they were poorly. I told her they were long gone!

Camel Heads, Indoor Cinemas and Chinese New Year

This is kind of old news, but I had a lovely weekend in London with my good friend Sarah A.K.A. Migedy a few weeks back. We tried on some of the hats she makes and this delightful camels head made for a fancy dress party. We watched a funny Spanish film called 'The Originals' on her in house video projector and went to a really cool gig/birthday night at The Lamb pub in Islington. The next day to blow away the cobwebs we decided to go and celebrate the Chinese New Year in Chinatown and got chased down the streets by the dragon dancers in torrential rain. FUN!





Tea, cake and films! Such a cool indoor movie experience. 

We also helped Martin eat his birthday present, PLOPP chocolate...ha ha!

Sarah was a bit scared of the dragons, but I looked after her. 

The movements were so fast my phone camera couldn't keep up. 

Some shots turned out really beautifully though and really show the bright colours and movement of the dancers. 

Cats are lucky!

Naughty George didn't mention anything about having his work in the Hayward Cafe, but we stopped there for one last cuppa to dry off. 

We got soaked, I really should get an umbrella.