Exhibition: David Shrigley

10th October

HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

AN EXHIBITION OF STUFF BY

DAVID SHRIGLEY

AT CORNERHOUSE IN MANCHESTER

Today has been a very dull and rainy day in Manchester, so my flatmate and I decided to take a trip the Cornerhouse for a little inspiration. David Shrigley's 'How Are You Feeling?' exhibition is currently being shown- not the type of work that I am usually interested in, however I found a lot of his pieces ever so fascinating to read into and interpret in my own way. It is very clear that his pieces are packed with emotion, created, I believe through his own personal journey in life. The idea of journey held great inspiration for our own current unit, making me think about maybe incorporating my own emotion into some of my pieces. I enjoyed looking at David's use of lines and text, with many of the pieces holding very meaningful quotations and drawings.

Hand Embroidery Samples

I have been developing my technical file this week, learning french knots, fly stitch and chain stitch. My favourite stitches are the french knots- though a little fiddly at first, when building up an image their details become very intriguing. The below photographs show my interpretations of the given stitches, I am looking forward to incorporating these into my work.

Artist Research: Julia Jowett

This weekend I managed a trip home, and happily accepted the chance to have a look around my local gallery, Unit Twelve. It is my absolute favourite place to spend days looking at the beautiful art work and feel super inspired. As I am currently halfway through my Origins unit, looking at embroidery, I focused on the work of Julia Jowett.

I find her work very inspiring; her use of hand embroidery is incredible. Using gauzed material, Julia stitches all of her pieces of fabrics- the details are so intricate, and the amount of time that it takes to produce the pieces is outstanding. I am also very interested in the way that she uses wire, and creates a line with the material- I think that it could be very interesting to manipulate fabrics and threads in a way of creating repeat patterns.

Exhibition: Great Northern Contemporary

Since living in Manchester, I have found that it is impossible to ever be stuck for something craft-related to see/ experience in any free time I may have. This weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to the Great Northern by one of my friends that was holding a stall there. The GNCCF is an event that I have always admired, and read fantastic reviews about, so having such an opportunity on my doorstep would have been silly to have missed.

The fair was packed with a host of inspirational and amazing crafts people, working with every imaginable media- paper, embroidery, sculptor, metal. It was a fantastic even to be able to speak to a variety of these artists about their experiences in the art world, and even more wonderful to hear that a vast majority had in the past graduated from MMU. Two artists that I really enjoyed talking to were Holly Levell and Katie Almond. I have always been a fan of their art, so being able to speak to them both was amazing. I would love to be able to have my own stall here in the near future!

Hand Embroidery Samples

For the first three weeks of my Embroidery unit, we are learning the basic methods of hand stitch. I have always been very comfortable using stitch, however I tend to use machine in my work as I find it less time-consuming. My favourite part about hand embroidery is the relaxed and personal feel that can be found in each piece of work. 

Today we have been looking at the exploration of stitch through different materials, using straight, ladder and chain stitch in our own personal styles. It was interesting looking at how each other the fabrics took to the use of threads, and how the thread was able to manipulate the fabric. After doing this, I then went back to my sketchbook, and began to chain stitch through some of my previous sketchbook samples, following the original lines on the dress-making patterns- manipulating the paper and stitch to incorporate with the idea of weather.

Exhibition: Liverpool Biennial

Liverpool Biennial, Bluecoat
Exhibition: The Unexpected Guest

Whilst on our trip to Liverpool, one artist's work caught my eye- animation artist, Sun Xun. The two pieces featured in the photographs both, I believe, allow an insight on the kind of journey that I am thinking of basing my Origins project on- emotions.

The large scale mountain canvases were the first piece to have caught my eye- as I enjoy working in quite an expressive way, similar to the artist. The landscape seems to have been created in inks, and as a continuous line drawing. Whilst looking at the mountain range, the first ideas that entered my head were the feelings of loneliness and a sense of abandonment- a place that can be full of negative thoughts- expressed by the harsh tones of black and blue brush strokes. However after further consideration I also decided that a mountain range could be a calming, peaceful place- somewhere that you are able to think and feel. It could be interpreted that a sense of calm has been shown in Xun's work through the white canvases in between. The black against white is very simple, allowing an audience to approach the canvas with an open approach.

I also enjoyed looking at Xun's second piece- large canvases running along the walls of the gallery. They feature pencil drawn birds, which when played in animation would show the birds to be taking off. This piece, when linking into the idea of an emotional journey can be interpreted as a sense of freedom, the motion of flying away (or moving away from home in my case) being an exciting, yet emotional experience, unaware of where you are going, or the outcome of the journey. In comparison to Xun's mountain canvases, these drawing are a lot more detailed, showing the true beauty of the animals.

My favourite style of drawing is quite expressive, similar to the first pice of Xun's work, however after seeing these pieces I've decided that I am going to start to incorporate both expressive and detailed accounts in my 'journeys' unit. I think that this idea will work well with the idea of emotions, as detailed drawing will be able to link with the times that I have over-thought or been certain about my feelings towards a situation, and expressive pieces will be able to show any confusion that may've been going through my mind.

Origins Introduction

As a task to help us settle into the course we were given a list of sentences, and asked, using 12x12 squares and an oil bar, to re-create what we felt these sentences meant to us. I really enjoyed this task, I feel that it really helped to loosen up my ideas and to become less structured with the way that I like to usually work.

Summer Project Part Two

Today has been our first day on the Textiles course. It has been such a wonderful day getting to finally meet my tutors and friends, and seeing everyone's kites all together in All Saints Park. As an induction brief we have been asked to get a feel for the campus, and to photograph our kites in various/ unusual locations around the School of Art, and add them to our blogs.

After getting very lost, and having a lot of fun looking around the campus, I decided that these are my three favourite example photographs of my kite. I feel that the simple backgrounds best show the detailing that went into the making of my kite, especially with my use of bold colours being exaggerated fully, on the while/ brown backings.

Summer Project Part One

Once being accepted to MMU we were asked to complete an induction brief as part of our summer project: creating a kite based upon our own textiles preferences. I really enjoy the use of colour schemes, layering materials and machine stitch, so found this brief very exciting. I decided to base the kite on the idea of textiles, and the everyday objects that I use in my ow work- scissors, buttons, tape measures etc. I am very pleased with the way that my kite looks overall, and am looking forward to (attempting to) flying it, and meeting everyone on the course on our first day.

Exhibition: Festival of Quilts

 I have been fortunate enough to visit the NEC's annual Festival of Quilts exhibition this year. This piece really caught my eye, and bought great inspiration as to the making of my summer project kite. I am very interested in tonal shadings and the process of building up layers of fabrics in order to create an overall piece. I have decided that my kite background will incorporate this idea of layers and complimentary colours, with added details in the foreground, now I'd best start making!

Digital Portfolio

My mind is firmly set on an Art-based career as I am constantly excited by the choices offered by Art and Design. 

I feel that it is now time to move away from a rigid school-based art programme and begin to develop my own freedom and make my own decisions in life without the safety net provided by current peers and teachers. University will provide me with the opportunity to do this, as well as allowing me to meet like-minded people, who share the same passion for art as myself. 

I would describe my characteristics as creative, open-minded and adaptable. I am a very hard working student and refuse to settle for anything less than my predicted A level grade.

The pieces that I have submitted in my digital portfolio, I feel, best represent my contemporary style of work. My portfolio demonstrates an ability to combine mixed medias and artistic interpretation with a creative and unique approach. I know that my knowledge-base has significantly improved over the past twelve months through the skills that I have acquired from both professional tuition and my own self-experimentation. 

I have chosen these particular pieces as they show my versatility and range of skills, with my work varying from small close-up pencil drawings to A1 expressive sheets. As you are able to see, each piece shows a combination of medias present- an aspect of art that I have always found fascinating.

As well as these pieces, I also enjoy keeping journals for each of my projects; this allows me to write about my inspirations and newly discovered ideas. Looking back at my final pieces, it is clear to see that my initial ideas are developed through the topic.

I know that studying for an art degree is the right choice for me. It will provide the opportunity to develop my skills as an artist, build on existing techniques and give me the chance to continue to broaden my artistic knowledge.