First few weeks have been good in most places and not so good in a few others.
I am really trying to keep things simple and remember that less is more. I think, to a large extent, I have managed to do it. Not easy when you have a million ideas swirling round inside your head. Suppose that's better than having no ideas. My life drawing has improved a lot and I am gaining in confidence. I've still to do some of the drawing exercises Janet gave me. I'm pleased with my mushroom and pine cone drawings I've given myself a big challenge in making my own microscope slides but I think this is worth pursuing. It is another skill I can acquire and, if I get some decent slides, it will open up a whole new world of design for me. If all else fails, I can fall back on pre-prepared, commercial slides. I think I'm getting to grips with ceramics at long last. I've had no major disasters and I'm looking forward to my pieces coming out of the kiln so I can see them in their full glory. Macro photography is a challenge. I've had some help from teaching staff and now need to get more technical with my camera ... I can't keep saying "life's too short" for f-stops, aperture priority, ISO and white balance. Just knuckle down and do it! As usual, I have to take images and photos one (or three or four) steps further. I just love digital manipulation and have produced some absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous images. Not that I'm blowing my own trumpet - well, not very loudly. Placement is going well, research project is coming along and personal profile is a continuing to develop. Overall, I'm doing OK.
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Need to see it to believe it. Over 800 years old, the largest medieval gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, housing the largest collection of medieval stained glass in the world. It's huge , has many little chapels off the main nave, some incredible carvings and the fabulous Rose Window. I went on a guided tour which lasted about an hour. You can find information at www.yorkminster.org
"The Lumber Room" exhibition was brilliant and reminded me very much of Joseph Cornell's boxes only on a huge scale. The Unimagined Treasures is curated by Mark Hearld, a Yorkshire artist who has put together a magical selection of paintings, textiles, objects and furniture. This is a "must see" if you visit York.
The whole class, Rachael and Janet all piled onto the train. Got to York. Left our bags at the hotel and then hit the Art Gallery. Some amazing art including the exhibition "Flesh". A couple of highlights for me were "Seated nude" by Leon Kossoff, "Father and dead son" by Harold Gosney and "The Ceramic Rainbow" by Bernard Leach. Thursday 13th October. Given our Practice Based Research Project ... rough draft to be handed in by 19th October. Mine is going to be about surface pattern designing. Thursday 13th October - Paint effects - process continued till the month end Tried out lots of different paint effects on calico mounted on small square boards. Here are 3 of my favourites. Saturday 15th October Rachael wants me to produce a professional book of my patterns so I compiled a photobook on Photobox and on Blurb. Chose the cheapest option as this going to be something new and I need to learn the ins and outs of the process. Sunday 16th October - Tuesday 18th October.
Tried to make some microscope slides of the cap and gills of a mushroom. Very difficult to cut the sections thin enough. Once on the slide "chasing" the sections to get them under the microscope itself. I'm going to try and see the TMC scientist and see if he can help me. Here are a couple of photographs. Had a talk by Carly Phipps (MA Photography) who is a documentary photographer training to be a teacher.
She talked to us about her journey, the type of photography she does and the importance of networking. Some of the activities she'd been involved with were very interesting - trip to Nepal, fundraiser in Macclesfield and a number of exhibitions. Her advice to me. Create a broader portfolio of macro images. Experiment with different angles. Keep a portfolio. Have a look at macro photography artists. I had intended to make some tiles using paper resist but Anne suggested an exciting alternative - photographic transfers. I could use my own images from my macro/micro project.
Made 9 large and 9 small tiles. They need firing. Then glazing and firing again. Then transfers applied and fired for third time. Should be worth waiting for. Had an idea based on a pine cone - inverted dome made out of crank clay with rounded rectangles cut out and then pine cone "scales" attached to the dome. Can't do that because after firing the dome I can't attach the scales. Back to the drawing board - used a redwood cone to texture the dome. Reflection Used crank clay as not used it before -didn't realize how heavy it is and how difficult it is to work with. Can't use knives on the moulds so had to cut my shapes out with a wooden skewer. Very hard to do. Should have fully discussed with Anne before I started - I'm sure she would have said crank clay would be unsuitable. Need to work out more carefully what I want to make, how I'm going to do that and what materials are the most suitable. This is the second phase of my macro/micro project - photographing the natural forms with a digital microscope.
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