Category Archives: Crafts

Unpredictable

I have actually already photographed some of my final pieces for this project but I’m trying to get this blog up to date. I have been soooo busy! I’ve been making jewellery, researching, planning and house hunting whilst still trying to have a social life!

So, to bring you a bit more up to date with my project I have been doing a lot of work with clear crystal resin.

These first pieces are actually test pieces I made in wax glass with pieces of the rusty metal set inside.
IMG_7357It’s not as clear or as pretty as crystal resin and it’s not very strong but it still worked very well and was great to photograph.IMG_7363IMG_7352IMG_7347This was a great way to do test pieces because it is so much faster! Crystal resin “can take up to 7 days to cure”.

These are the first pieces I made with the crystal resin. I am really pleased with them and I have made them into brooches and pendants. IMG_7370IMG_7372This encouraged me to make more…

…And that’s where my problems began.

My first mistake was buying Sili-put, (Silicone putty) to make moulds so my resin pieces could be in more interesting shapes.
(If you ever want to make a mould out of silicone putty, trust me on this, buy Gedeo Siligum NOT Sili-put! It is just nowhere near as good!)

My second mistake was believing my lecturer when she told me that the crystal resin would take up to 7 days to cure.

I am still waiting for these to set properly and they were supposed to be ready for the photo shoot of my jewellery yesterday!IMG_7435IMG_7451 Ah well, some things are just unpredictable!

Rusting Metal?

Are these made out of metal?
Nope.
I have been developing my acetate work, making my work more about the rust again.
I wasn’t able to make my sculptures out of the actual metal very easily so I’ve been using my photos of the rust instead. I have printed the photos onto acetate and then stuck copper tape on the back giving it a gorgeous metallic look.IMG_7157IMG_7153IMG_7200IMG_7206IMG_7203

Sculptural Developments

My lecturer was very kind to give me a sheet of pewter to play with. It was very flexible so I was easily able to recreate my paper sculptures out of it.IMG_6937I’m really pleased with how I’ve developed my work but the problem with these sculptures is that they don’t always want to stand the right way up by themselves!IMG_6934IMG_6936I’ve also been playing with copper tape recently (yes, the kind you use to keep slugs away from your plants) and I had this idea of sticking it in strips onto cartridge paper and then making more paper sculptures out of it. I actually love the lines this created on the sculpture.IMG_6981IMG_6968Copper tape is actually really fun to make things with. Check out these sweet crumpled copper earrings I made a little while ago.IMG_6679

Broken

This is the result of one of the ceramic pieces you saw, in the process of being made, in my last post. It was meant to be a large bowl filled with words but, as with many things in life, it simply did not work the way it was meant to. Having said that I am still pleased with how it turned out. In a way the fragile broken pieces were a more appropriate representation of the nature of dyslexia.DSC_0930DSC_0931DSC_0934DSC_0935DSC_0929

Dyslexia

I still haven’t decided where I’m going for Uni – just to keep you up to date.

Anyway, I have recently been working on a project called Deconstruct – Reconstruct. I chose to look at the deconstruction and reconstruction of words, specifically the nature of dyslexia. Here are some experiments I have done in ceramics.DSC_0669DSC_0664 DSC_0662DSC_0685DSC_0686

…and now for the hard part!

Ok, so I have neglected my blogs a bit but…. all my interviews are finally over!! All of them offered me places and I had great reactions to my portfolio. So pleased!

But now for the hard part! Haha I bet you are thinking “wasn’t that the hard part?” but no. No the hard part is making a decision. And I’m completely torn!
Oh, I hate decision-making!

Well, anyway, I finally finished my Spaces project. After looking at the air from a scientific point of view I came up with the idea of petri dishes. I ended up looking at what else is in the space around us – bacteria, dust and other microscopic things.

I have created a collection of petri dishes with all different materials (though mostly PVA glue!) filling them as my own representations of what fills space.

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Two down three to go

I had my second interview on the 20th. I was told it could be up to two weeks before I found out what they had decided but yesterday I had a fantastic surprise just before I went to bed. I have just received my second offer!

So anyway here are a couple of photos of a molecular hand harness I made for my Spaces project. I had moved onto a more scientific approach to what is in the space around us. This was inspired by Raven Hanna’s Made with Molecules.

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Interviews

One down four to go!

I had my first University interview on Thursday. Wasn’t sure how it had gone but I got a place (yay!) so it couldn’t have been that bad. So glad it’s over, I was so nervous and stressed!

I put some of my current project in my portfolio so here are some more images of my paper dress.

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I have also recently been looking at the artist Tara Donovan. I was particularly taken with her work with drinking straws so I took these photos.
IMG_6082IMG_6087IMG_6078I then took this further by making the negative space, combining the work of Tara Donovan and Rachel Whiteread. I put some clay at the bottom of a tube and pushed the straws into it. I then poured plaster into the tube, filling the space around the straws. When it was dry I took the plaster out and pulled out the straws. These are a couple of photos I took through the piece.IMG_6071 IMG_6072

Space

It’s taken me a while to post any of my work for this project because I have been concentrating on my portfolio. I have been offered interviews for all the Universities I have applied at! So nervous!!!

Anyway here are a couple of ideas I have been working on for this Space project. This first piece was done by poring ink into a bottle of bubbles and then blowing them repeatedly onto paper. I love the effect this creates. It reminds me of atoms, which is another thing I am researching for this project; the atoms that are in the air that fills the space around us.
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This second idea is a paper dress I designed as part of a task using only circles. This was really fun to do! Also really great because I thought of combining these two ideas by blowing more bubbles onto the dress. Get to be a little child again! Haha.
ETNA PLUSWill be posting more soon.