Sunday morning.

The clocks went forward last night so 8am was really 9am which gives me less time to prepare my journal for Eve tomorrow. I have stacks of things to sort through; artists, reviews, exhibitions etc etc, anything that has influenced my work really. It is something I have always tried to do over the years but true to form my way of filing it was never brilliant.

I have always enjoyed reading about other artists, in fact anything remotely 'arty' and since starting this course it is never far from my mind. My life outside is somewhat difficult to juggle alongside my studies but I have never enjoyed myself so much, it is by far the best thing I have ever done.

Only one more week to go before we break up for Easter so I shall have to get into the 3D workshop and 'get busy'. My collaborative partner Simon is working tirelessly on his/our project 'How we live' so I need to decide what I shall need to do so our joint presentation looks really interesting, we are both confident but I really want to tie our work together in some way that has something visually combined.

The last one.

This is going to be short, it is the last one and it is called 'Making the most of the view'. It's Friday night and I have had another tiring week,I am relieved my assessments went well so I shall finish off now and celebrate with another glass of red wine. If this degree course doesn't kill me, the drink will!

More of my work.

This is the 2nd one I made and I named it ' Coming out into the light', that was the idea I got when I was making it and it just seemed to fit. Fancy, me naming a piece of work! There is something about it, again it is simple yet again, I like it. The buildings are made very quickly and are fun to play around with until by experimenting with them the result pleases me. The idea wasn't from a drawing it came by 'making'. I spend less time procrastinating these days and have realised what a great time I can have just feeling the wood, its smell and the atmosphere in the workshop suits me. I have to continue producing more over the next few weeks ready for my summative assessment. It is nonstop but so far I am loving it!

One of my creations.

This piece is one of 3 that I presented at my formative assessment this week. I have photographed it from different angles to show its form and it depicts 2 houses on the top of a cliff with a 3rd one at the base having fallen off. It is made in MDF and stands about 12" high. It is simple and far removed from my usual work and yes, I like it! It has a sense of humour unless of course you live in the 3rd house.

Assessment.

My formative assessment went very well yesterday with Eve and Richard. Sculpture is definately what I enjoy doing, getting good results that being 3D can be looked at from all angles and therefore creating different images. Sculpture is drawing and it is brilliant!

My work is based on our enviroment that we live in; the buildings, the landscape, but simplified in appearance down to the basic shapes and forms. We discussed my ideas and they were very forthcoming with different avenues I could go down. It is an amazing journey so far from the start of my course but it was all there in me waiting to explore; I can remember how I felt when I first cut into the big slab of white plaster when I did a piece of work called 'The Fat Cat' with reference to the greed of the bankers. It was the start!

Monday and Formative.

This is a close up view of the houses positioned on top of a length of thin steel and the approx size of the wooden houses is 2" square by 6" high. I have experimented with different arrangements and have still not finished 'playing' yet. I have come a long way and I have learned such a lot; how to play and wait for things to happen, it is much better to experiment with the materials than just from sketches. You can 'draw' with other things,its not about a pencil anymore! I have enjoyed myself so much and the results are very good. I have displayed them in the gallery space outside the studio today ready for my formative assessment which is in the morning.

Success and Failure.

In just one day I have experienced success and failure. This morning was one of those times when everything went right; my wooden houses are beginning to give me some really good ideas about how to place them in really interesting arrangements. I had a discussion with Richard about them and how I just know when 'it' looks right, it was a great moment to see he was pleased with what I am doing and understands this path I seem to be treading. It is all a natural progression for me and I am enjoying myself. Tomorrow can't come soon enough!

The failure came as expected in my session when we had to critique each others blogs, mine received applause for its written content [ from one person] but lost marks for the lack of images and rightly so. I have conquered that hurdle and have now got images!!! a day late.

useless!

This is so annoying when I attempt to add images to my blogs and it seems to be going well and then...where is it...gone...I give up. It was daft of me to start trying at this hour after spending too long at my brothers on his birthday [ Mark ] I will do it tomorrow if it kills me.
It is blog critique tomorrow so I shall be the laughing stock in the class...never mind. Off to bed feeling old and imageless.
Goodnight!

Monday...a long day.

This has been a memorable Monday in all sorts of ways; my brother Mark had cut me a piece of 3mm thick steel, 6"x 30" long to use with my wood or plaster houses in the form of sculpture. It is fantastic just how excited I can be playing with the form and the arrangements of the shapes on the steel which is curved at one end. The effect was really good even if I say so myself. I feel a great sense of pleasure working in the 3D workshop getting dirty with the smell of wood, it really is a pleasure to be there. I now need to decide if I go ahead and make some larger plaster houses tomorrow when my wooden ones look so good. We have a formative assessment on Monday so I shall be very busy getting everything in some sort of order.

Life is so busy for me now, even last night I was sat up in bed taking notes on Tracy Emin who was on BBC4 until late.It was really interesting but more news tomorrow because it is late and I am shattered. Oh the life of a mature student!

The Leeds Book Fair.

Yesterday was a great day for me at the Book Fair, it was really inspiring for me. Having never been before it was a real surprise to see so many ways of making 'art' from books; some had taken on a totally different persona and were sculpture. Books with the inside cut into the shape of a bird and the shapes were then arranged on thin wire coming out of the book and flying away, I loved it! There was a burgundy book approx 5" x 8", quite thin with a plain cover and when you opened it the pages[ also burgundy] were plain but the centre ones were cut using a scalpel in the shapes of trees. It was beautiful and very delicate, the trees felt nice to the touch.
I was taking notes all the time and have little sketches of my favourites for reference

I have come away with the intention of making some and am amazed and also annoyed with myself for having never been before. This Fair takes place every year and next year we shall take part [ 2nd Years can submit work] so I shall look forward to it.
We are constantly surrounded by all this art around us and it can make you get a feeling of panic that you are missing something great. Seeing work like this really does make you want to dash off and produce something equally stunning.

Off now to read the Guardian, Goodbye.

Preparation.

We are all going to Leeds in the morning to the Book Fair on the train. It's been hectic today in the studio watching the 2nd and 3rd year students finishing off their books for tomorrow, I now have a better idea of what it is all about. I was really impressed with them and can't wait for tomorrow. The atmosphere in the studio had a real buzz this afternoon prior to the show. This morning was a bit different though discussing how we are assessed on the degree course which needs to be ready for a meeting next Tuesday. I thought it went well, not that I had much input [only been a 1st year ] but I quite enjoyed it listening to everyone.
I had to prepare all my Visual Investigation work for the Assessor to see tomorrow, it was really interesting looking back through all my work in my pan chest drawer. It is really amazing how my work has changed since Christmas, I was very literal in everything. The pace is so fast and the time passes so quickly that I am changing without noticing it. My work really excites me at the moment and it is difficult to explain but I am engrossed in making beautiful shapes, strong clean lines that just say something. It is all about that, just that! No great narrative for once, no complicated idea, it's the new me and I think at last I am getting the message. Brilliant!

A Special Moment.

Having taken long enough already deciding which blog site to use and then having to think of something to call my site [ no great ideas were forthcoming at 9.30pm ] it is now a very strange feeling to be sat typing away and wondering what to say.

I am now wondering if this was the wrong time to start when you're a bit green behind the ears when it comes to all the icons on the screen and it is getting late and I really don't want to make a mess of it. It is now 9.50pm [ a touch typist is not on my cv] and I am still only the proud blogger of 112 words so far and most of that is of no interest whatsoever.



I will try again tomorrow and say something interesting.