Present and Reflect

Having returned to Manchester to start second year, our first tutorial had us presenting our summer work to a couple of people in groups. In doing this we pointed out the strengths and weaknesses in each other's work and how we could improve and progress further with our work.

I found this very helpful. Getting feedback from your peers can be quite daunting but I found that I learned a lot about the way I like to work. I also learned about different artists that could help influence me in the future.

During my feedback I discovered that most of my work follows the same pattern. Many pieces of my work show that I like unpredictability. I can get this effect by using water and inks or water colours (photographed below).

water colour and ink pen

black ink pen and water

Throughout my presentation to the rest of the group, the use of hand stitch in my drawing was commented on several times. As this is my specialised area I felt that over the summer it was important to follow this through in my work. With hand stitch, I feel that this emphasises my desire for unpredictability. Photographed below is an example of where I have done this.

flicking watercolour paints and smudging, ..... sticking in a multicoloured vary thread

Summer work: Influences

Looking back at the work I produced in the first year, I am trying to now find artists that work in a similar way. I worked a lot with heavy duty D.I.Y materials, building up layers and working into them. I was also using pens and ink, and using water to manipulate my drawings.

Over the summer I came across an artist called Terry Jarrard-Diamond. I especially like her surface design work using ink and paint. These pieces are very similar to work I have done in the past and I have continued to work in a similar way in some of my drawings over the summer break. I like the simple, monochrome colour palette. She works a lot using just lines which I found quite interesting. I like that this composition is simple and so is more technique focused. This is something I have noticed about my more successful pieces in the past.

Terry Jarrard-Diamond

Travelling to the Caribbean every year for as long as I can remember has given me an attraction to bright, vibrant colours in parts of my work. I really like the work by Raul de la Torre. I love his use of vibrant colour and hand stitch. The technique is so simple as a process but is very striking. Below are a couple of images of his pieces.

Summer work: Inspirations

Over the summer I have found inspiration for my work through the places I visited. I spent two weeks in Antigua which I found to have much for me to work from. It was even more inspiring than my visit to Brighton for a couple of days.

Initially, I am always drawn to areas and photographs with bold, bright colours as they attract my attention. The carnival in Antigua was like nothing I had ever experienced before. The streets were filled with locals in costume, dancing to the carnival music playing off the large floats. Each costume was made by hand. I particularly liked this section (photographed below). I love how busy the photo is; filled with vibrant colour and texture.

Carnival - Antigua

I also went on a trip to Brighton towards the end of the summer. I love all the quirky little shops down all the lanes. Again I was attracted to the bright colours here and bought this skewer filled with different marshmallows. All the odds and ends I picked up whilst I was there I found very useful for this summer brief. Particularly the last photograph in this post.

Bought in Brighton

Whilst in Brighton I visited a shop called "Snoopers Paradise". It was filled with everything you could imagine; from old toy cars to vintage milk bottles. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos whilst I was in there. However I did purchase a couple of the photographs that were on sale. This was something I found very interesting. These were photographs that had just been discarded or had been removed from a house clearance.I found the idea of this very odd but I spent a while sifting through the boxes filled with these photos. I particularly liked looking at the different landscapes. So I bought a couple to use to inspire me with my work.

Old photo bought from a hoarders shop in Brighton