Saturday 18 December 2010

We're Snowed in...

This weekend I am meant to be in Cambridge, collecting the clothes and stuff that I need over Christmas that I couldn't take home on the train.. BUT I am stuck at home because of the snow. However, all is not bad. I have spent the day with Alex celebrating our one year anniversary making a chocolate log and watching TV, that definitely beats driving in the snow!


mmm... I am now going to indulge myself in chocolatey wonderfulness (I can't see this cake lasting very long!)

Monday 13 December 2010

Print & Process

I am pleased to announce that tomorrow I will be handing in my print module at uni and I am daring to say that I am finished, however, I am slightly worried that I have missed something out. But fingers crossed I haven't!
We had to produce a series of prints from a line in the song, 'Desolation Row' by Bob Dylan (My Chemical Romance have also done an excellent cover of this song).

I chose the line, "Memories in a trunk."
Now this is obviously referring to a case of some sort, however, my mind thought of an Elephant's trunk and my ideas spiraled from there...
I decided to make a series of lino prints telling the story of the life of an Elephant (very simplified).

As part of the assessment objective, we have to make the prints we produce into a bound book format. I have always wanted to be able to make my own books, so this has got to have been one of the most exciting parts of the project for me!!

Below are some of my favourite prints from "Memories in a Trunk":






 Here are some photographs of the "Memories in a Trunk" book I produced:
(The book has been covered using Calico fabric)







And here are some photographs of the practice book I produced, which I am fairly pleased with:
(This book has been covered with fabric designed by Amy Butler



Lastly, I want to show you a couple of prints I produced as part of my experimentation with different print processes:
This is a lino print I produced from a drawing of a Ballet shoe:



And this is a screen print I produced of a drawing of acrylic tubes:


Thursday 2 December 2010

:)

Yesterday, I was happily hoovering my room with Henry the hoover, that had strangely been sitting in the living room for several days and not in his cupboard. (I just assumed my flat mates were being lazy and didn't put him away after they had finished using him).
When I went to put him back in his cupboard, there was another Henry already in there!!!!
I thought something magical had happened, but my flat mate kindly pointed out that someone from down the hall had lent us theirs because ours wasn't sucking up very well. :(
I have put the two Henry's back in the hoover cupboard as I fear they may get lonely without each other! I wonder how long it will take the other flat notice we haven't yet given back their Henry?

On the theme of couples, I would like to share with you our very much in love penguin couple :)
They are just too sweet! :)




Lastly, I would like to leave you with something that baffled me this morning.
I opened the second door on my advent calendar to find this chocolate shape?!
What is it? Am I looking at it the wrong way round??
To me, it looks like a monster with very large teeth.. not very Christmassy at all!

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Flying dog circus

For my most recent project at uni we had to produce a circus poster. We could make up our own act and make it as silly/ funny/ freakish as we liked.
I like the old-style circus posters that I researched and I also liked the ones that included animals.
My inspiration came from my little dog, Misty (below), whom I'm sure would love to be able to fly. :)


 
Here she is getting into the spirit of Christmas, however, I'm sure she would fit in well at the circus with a collar like that! :P


Well, I am currently buried under a mountain of work.. so off I go.
I cannot wait for Christmas so I can have a bit of a breather!!!

Friday 26 November 2010

Black Cat Cafe Exhibition

On Friday 19th November my class had a exhibition of some of the work we had done in the Mill Road project in a cafe on Mill Road called The Black Cat Cafe.
The private viewing was very busy with everyone crammed in the tiny cafe but it was great fun. It was also nice to see people turning up that weren't in our class, along with the owners of the businesses our class had drawn in over the 6 weeks at the beginning of the semester.
It was a lovely experience to have our work on display for the public to see so early on in the course, I hope that we get more opportunities like this!
The exhibition is still on, so if you find yourself in Cambridge, be sure to pop into the cafe and have a look at all the lovely work on display. :)

Here is the flyer for the exhibition, beautifully designed by Mr. Jason Mervyn Hibbs.

Monday 8 November 2010

New Music

I love finding new music to listen to... and yesterday I found two new artists, which was an absolute bonus :)
The first is an artist called Howie Day, his music is beautiful and his voice is simply wonderful.
This song is one of my faves :)


The second artist is a guy called Tyler Hilton. Coincidentally, he sounds very similar to Howie Day, but his music is equally as wonderful.
I'm not sure whether to believe this video or not, but if it's true then I am amazed!!


Lastly, this song by him is truly inspirational and I hope to find myself taking this message on board.

Monday 1 November 2010

Finding some calm in the storm..

Well since starting uni my life has been very very busy and I feel bad that I haven't been able to update on here.. so here I am now.. I have found a little window of time to tell you about my life over the past 7 weeks.
I have had many ups and downs and I have taken a very long time to settle in. I feel as though I am still settling in now, but I have come to terms with the idea that I am someone who doesn't cope well with change and it takes me a long time to adjust. I know I will get there though as it's just such a lovely place here, I just need to keep trying.

Well I have been at uni long enough to have already completed two projects, one project was to just draw around Cambridge, the second was to go to our allocated shop and draw there.
I was given a kebab shop (of all places) called Bosphorus. I have to admit, this really isn't the sort of place you would normally find me in and as tempting as it was to swap, I decided it was best to stick it out to the end.
The end results are as follows:

This is the very first drawing I did of the shop, as you can see I've had to fiddle around with the scanned image on Photoshop so you can actually see the pencil marks!
Some of the salt, pepper and sugar dispensers.
 Different versions of the Turkish flag that was hanging in the window
The left-overs of my lunch (Houmous Kebab)
A small drawing of the front of the shop

Here is the above drawing photocopied into A4 acetate and then painted on the back with acrylics.
The interior of the restaurant

A colour palette of the front of the shop, I have transferred these colours into a painting of the shop, however, I haven't quite finished the painting yet, so I will post that up when it's done!
A brief that we were given within this project was to produce a puppet of the shopkeeper from the drawings you have made.
This is my puppet of the owner of the Kebab shop, sewn together by hand and then painted with acrylic.
Here are some of the Cambridge drawings, I didn't get into this as well as I did with the shop project, however, I plan to do more drawings throughout the rest of the year.
The banana that I carried around Cambridge with me..

I quite like the layout of this page apart from where I went wrong on the clock face.


I am quite pleased with what I have done for a first project, but I know I still have a long way to go, but I am here to learn, so I'm not expecting to be perfect already.


Today I had to do a presentation on William Blake and his effect on the modern day, I was absolutely petrified about doing the presentation, but I did it. Another small thing that I have achieved now :)

I have forgotten to mention that over the whole time that I have been at uni I have not been well at all, I have had a virus that I just can't seem to shake, which really seems to be getting in the way of everything at the moment :(
I'm thinking of going to the doctors to see what they think about it and I can hopefully sort myself out so I can be on top form. But I can't let the way I am feeling stop me making the most of the course, however, that's what I am doing at the moment and I really need to stop this. Now!


You can hide `neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now?

Thursday 14 October 2010

Helpless

At the moment I am currently obsessed with a solo singer called Mads Langer. I really like the song called 'Helpless', it's a very meaningful and powerful song.
Click here to listen to a live version of the song, which is just as beautiful as the CD version.
This is quite a bad painting, but I wanted to express the song in some way..

Monday 27 September 2010

I love rediscovering old, forgotten things..

At the weekend I popped home as I was feeling a little homesick, I also to collected a few bits that I inevitably forgot to bring with me before. I picked up a number of art materials and a load of old sketchbooks, among these sketchbooks was my old diary from last year.. 
It was so nice to read through things that I had forgotten that I had done or thought. I found reading the entries very interesting, it almost felt as if I was reading someone elses diary. It made me realise how much everything has changed in just 1 year, I think that is why it felt like I was reading someone elses diary because the feelings that I had felt then have long gone, I can now look at the situation with a fresh mind.
There are quite a few pages in my diary that I am really quite pleased with, although at the time I know I really didn't like what I did at all. But with a fresh mind I can really appreciate the effort and thought that I had put into what I have done. 
My obsession with song lyrics still existed last year, I like using them to express how I'm feeling because I seem to be able to explain it better that way than through my own words.
I have chosen these pages I quite like the drawings and the layout of the pages, I also like the style of writing I have used.





I really love making diary pages, they help to preserve memories. I am still currently doing a diary, however, discovering this old diary has given me ideas on different ways to present my pages and subjects to base them on.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

The Script - Science & Faith

The wise spending of my student loan was represented beautifully on Monday when I went on a small shopping spree around Cambridge, after my lectures. I didn't actually buy any clothes, which was a first for me. But I did buy a tool box (to carry my art bits back and forth to uni), a basket for my bike (which was fitted by a very handsome shop assistant!) and also some lights for my bike, some sequins (why?!), pink screwdrivers and lastly, the new Script album called "Science & Faith".
I have listened to the album many times since Monday, I think it's really good, definitely a great 2nd album from the boys :).
I have many favourite songs on there (to be honest with you they are all great, I don't think there is one song on there that I do not like.), however, there is one song on the album, which I feel to have particular significance to me at the moment. It's called "This = Love".
It's about love (funnily enough) and the ways it can make you strong. The song has helped me understand and realise that no matter how weak we are feeling and no matter how much of a battle you are facing, the love and support from the people you love really does make the difference. Love gives you a reason to carry on, no matter how much you want to stop, because you know that you have to be strong for them. The song also talks of the darker side to love, that it can be the reason why we fall down sometimes, but it's that feeling that picks you back up, "love is worth the pain."
With the thought of the people I love and love me in mind, I hope to do things I never imagined I could do.
Below is a little painting I did, it's not very good, but I felt like using the acrylics that have been sat on top of my wardrobe since arriving at uni.
This weekend I am going home, where the new Maroon 5 album should be waiting for me!

Monday 20 September 2010

Birthday Weekend

I have just celebrated my 20th birthday!
I'm starting to feel so old. Time is running too quick, I really wish I could slow it down. I guess all I've got to do is make the most of every moment, but I know it's certainly easier said than done!
It was my first birthday away from home (due to being at uni), so I had a birthday meal just over a week ago with the rest of my family. Being away from home on this day was a weird experience and also made me feel older as I was on my own.
Luckily, I didn't have to spend the whole day on my own as my parents and brother drove up to visit me and give me my presents.
My main present was a mini sewing machine, which certainly will come in handy on my Illustration course and in my own projects. I also got a tea cup, saucer and cake stand set from my mum, along with loads of cupcakes to have with it. All the plates are vintage, but when I have a little more time, I am going to post some pictures of them, just so you can see how lovely they are :). I was also very lucky as I received another bead for my Pandora bracelet, it has blue butterflies on it, which are very pretty.
My brother also made a little bag of goodies for me, he got me a little Pooky Bear (Garfield's teddy) key ring which is REALLY cute, some  AKG headphones and a talking alarm clock that's shaped like an apple. The clock tells you the time and temperature every hour, which is a little bit annoying, but at least I will always know the time now!
After opening all my presents, we went out for a meal in the Weatherspoons in Cambridge (The Regal), which was nice.
Then after that we headed back to my flat where we were just in time as Alex arrived from the train station. My family then went home and Alex stayed the night ready for tomorrow antics.
The next day we both went shopping, where I bought a few art supplies for my course and Alex bought a lovely jacket from the very expensive Ted Baker shop.
We then went back to the flat to get ready for the evening, where we went to go and see Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. (see previous entry for details). Then after the gig we headed back to the Weatherspoons for a drink and bit of dancing.
Then on Sunday, we had to say goodbye again, which was very sad. But I have to keep in mind that I'll be seeing him again soon (this Friday to be exact), so all is good :).
All in all, I had a lovely birthday, I'm just hoping this year won't go too fast!
My lovely flowers from Alex on my windowsill
Brother, Mum and Dad at the Weathersoons
Mum's heart-shaped fish
Me with some of my birthday bits

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