The Land of the Dutch.

Recently, i spent three days in Amsterdam, and fell in love with the city. However, I felt as though three days and two nights wasn't enough time to be able to experience the cultural side of Amsterdam as well as the night life.
Whilst there I went to the Rijksmuseuem and the Van Gogh museum. Neither of these museums really appealed to me, although I can appreciate the time, effort and detail put into each painting. But I prefer art with a meaning or concept behind it, the kind of work I can relate to or a controversial piece. I think there's something a little bit more brave or interesting in putting your opinion out there for everyone to see.
I did find a piece of work that was really interesting in the Rijksmuseum. It was a living clock. I know that sounds crazy but I think the way the artist did it was record himself over a twelve hour period changing the time on a board with a marker. There was something about this that was simple, but amazing.

I didn't find the Van Gogh museum very intresting. I actually think he's a little bit over rated.  I think there were other artists during his era that were just as good, maybe even better. I think the only reason he was so famous is because he was a little bit crazy and killed himself. I also though the building for the Van Gogh museum wasn't that spectacular in comparison to the Rijksmuseum.

My New-Found Love.

I love life drawing! It's just nice to take an hour out of the day to just relax, put on some music and just draw what you see.

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My Life Drawing Playlist
1. Someone Like You -Adele
2. Coming to Terms -Carolina Liar
3. Cameo Brooch -The Courteeners
4. At Last -Etta James
5. I'm Not Calling You a Liar -Florence and the Machine
6. That's Life -Frank Sinatra
7. You Are My Sunshine -Frank Turner
8. This Boy -James Morrison
9. Read My Mind -The Killers
10. Revelry -Kings of Leon
11. White Blank Page -Mumford & Sons
12. Winter Winds -Mumford & Sons
13. Undisclosed Desires -Muse
14. Feeling Good -Nina Simone
15. Last Request -Paolo Nutini
16. Behind Blue Eyes -The Who
17. She's Always A Woman To Me -Billy Joel & Elton John

Learning Something New Everyday

I recently did a workshop in how to stretch a canvas, which, by the way, is extremely difficult for a human being with no muscles on their bones. On my canvas i used a turquoise wash and little bits of pretty paper for the back ground, I then used ink to replicate a life drawing i did the day before, I titled it 'Nevermind, I'll Find Someone like You' as this is a song on Adele's album that I chose to listen to during life drawing as it's so relaxing.

A Blast from the Past

I was recently looking through a sketchbook from a little while back. We had to design several different prints and present them to a client. My chosen theme was 1940's and the item of clothing I wanted to base it on was an apron. For my research I looked at lots of magazine cutouts and i found a book of fashion in the 1940's so, I did quite a few labeled drawings from the book which gave me an insight into the materials used and the shapes of clothes worn. I also looked at numerous websites that sold vintage aprons and printed materials.
I only looked at two artists, Cath Kidston. Her work is awesome, enough said. The other was Egon Schiele, his style of drawing was strangely close to my own.
I tried out several different printing techniques and were really please with the results. I experimented with; collograph, emulsion printing, dry point, image maker I even tried repeating patterns on photoshop. I'd created quite a few prints by this point and had to narrow it down to three.
For my final piece, I hand stitched two aprons, created three final prints and photographed my model (Laura Wright) in a 1940's style dress and apron, I worked on this photograph in photoshop to make it look a little more rustic.

If Walls Could Talk

Project Proposal
Recently a family member has looked into my family background. She managed to get information all the way back to the 1700's. It's very vague, but would help none-the-less. This made me think about all the family traditions, all the family secrets, family memories and even family curses. Imagine if all my family lived under one roof, from the 1700's until now, imagine all the memories and secrets those walls would have seen or heard. Hopefully, I'll work towards an end piece that isn't just a peice of work to look at, but one that my audience can experience, I want to creat an atmosphere with my work by getting my audience to have to use most of their senses.
I'm generally textile based, but I'd like to reach out of my comfort zone and create an installation.
So, my starting point is the phrase, 'If Walls Could Talk'. To start off I want to have a look and take photographs of old, derylic houses and the different kind of atmosperes within them. Then I'll start to introduce my family history and think about the kind of nostalgic feeling and atmosphere I want to re-create. To help me with this I need to speak (or interview as some may say) family members on their memories , experiences with family, what family means to them and maybe even getting to the bottom of family feuds, secrets and moments people would rather forget. I'll need the internet and books to help me understand many issues within the family, for example, alcoholism, hereditary diseases, etc.
Artists to inspire me are, Louise Bourgeious (as her work is influenced by family) and the artists that exhibited in the Psycho Bulidings exhibition at the Tate.
As I plan on doing an installation for a final piece, I can't pin-point what materials will be used, however, I'm pretty sure photographs will play a big part. I'll figure out what equipment and materials I'll use for my final piece during the developemental/experimental phase of my project as that is when I'll be using the trial & error method to help me decide what is possible for what i can and can't acheive. I'll to be selective due to limited funds.
To make sure I'm on target, once a week I'd like my peers and tutors to go through my sketchbook with a pen and sticky notes and jot down areas that I need to improve in my book Also, I know that annotating is an area I struggle with, therefore I'll sit down at least once a week and just make sure everything I've done is explained well enough for a stranger to understand.
My evaluation will be done during the final week of this project.

Throwing My Heart at a Wall.

Okay, after several sleepless nights and 100 tea bags my project is finally complete. I took on a monster challenge and even I'm amazed that i did it. I'm not afraid of saying that it's a piece of work that i'm really proud of, but also fed up of looking at. if i have to see another padded heart, i think i may throw up from exhaustion.