What does a beach and making paper have in common?

FINAL PAPER MAKING PROJECT

Paper an inspirational portfolio Gabrielle Falconer ISBN 0-8230-0304-3

 

I borrowed this little book from the library and found it really inspirational. I was interested in the long paper hangings of Elja Isojarvi and Robbin Ami Silverberg and initially thought of making a long hanging which would incorporate embossing, stitching, printing etc.
As I worked more with paper my idea changed and I could see the possibility of using my paper as an organic substrate to carry some sort of message as in a scroll so it could still hang.
The idea evolved and I decided to use found objects which I could embed in the paper. Joanna Kessel used mud from various sites on The Pennine Way. I thought I would chose a specific walk each day and collect objects on route but this soon changed when one day we went for a walk on the beach and I collected items discarded on the beach either by man, wind or water. This gave me my subject matter and also a message..... pollution and man's effect on the environment.
I made my paper and embedded the items in the pulp on the couching cloths and left them to dry. I then mounted them onto larger contrasting handmade paper. The objects made it impossible to roll the paper so I made a diary which I hand bound with Coptic stitching. The diary now preserved a moment in time on the beach. At this point I decided to leave the images as they were as a visual message to the readers. As the diary is opened and read I hope that it becomes distressed and changes just as the beach landscape changes in response to time and pollution. I hope to raise awareness of the effect man has on our environment and in turn, that viewers respond by making changes and become more environmentally aware. 
I see the diary as a work in progress of which there are many possibilities. I could add text. I could add images. I could return the diary to the beach, like turning back time. I could throw it in the sea and let it disintegrate. I could leave it on another beach. I could record all these in photographs.....and then do it all again.
If I return the diary to the beach then the cycle starts again. If I trawl the beach one year or ten years from now I wonder.... what will I find?

Final Major Project

 "Silent Whispers" is the theme for my final major project for which I chose to produce a sculpture of the human form. These images show the work in progress which seems to evolve and change almost on a daily basis. I started on the smaller sculpture not really knowing where things were going, and it's strange how the work has developed. This is not my usual way of working...I usually have quite a clear idea of an end result but in this case I am almost being led by the two forms. 

Still lots to do and time marches on. I hope to post again before the exhibition when these two will probably look quite different...who knows !

Glasgow Print Studio

These plates are the result of a workshop I went to at The Glasgow Print Studio. The plates are quite small at just over 11cm square. This allowed me to experiment with different techniques, adding texture or taking away and to understand the relationship this has with tone. I managed to print two sets of artist proofs which I've yet to photograph (watch this space) The workshop gave me a better understanding of the process involved in collagraphy and I feel confident that I would be able to produce a tonal print from start to finish. The next step is to incorporate colour, although there is something I really like about black and white.

Time

Where does time go? I haven't got time..... Make time....... If I had time......A waste of time...use your time....run out of time....lost time.....manage time.....lots of time....time is running out.

I've just been thinking about time prompted by the fact that its now February and at college we have started work on the units in block 2. These are the last units of the BTEC course and by June this year our studies will culminate in our final exhibition. The next sixteen weeks will see students busily researching, planning,exploring and creating their final major projects. I always find this stage at the beginning of the projects the most difficult. I can get so involved in research and planning and before I know it the deadline is fast approaching and time becomes my enemy. Poor old time...always being blamed when we fall short of our own or others expectations.

So during this block of study I have decided to turn time round and look on it as my friend. I have a whole 16 weeks to complete four units....that's loads of time !!

FAIL TO PLAN.....PLAN TO FAIL

If I make a plan with my new found friend then the next 16 weeks should be an enjoyable experience. There will be goal setting and lots of lists to keep me on track each day. I like lists.

Before moving on to the next phase of my art journey I need to just finish off with my final pieces from block1, so here are a few images of my completed work.  

Three oil paintings on canvas for Extending Specialist Techniques Unit. These paintings explore different approaches to painting the landscape. This gave me the opportunity to play with oil paints, discover new techniques and explore colour  relationships. This unit certainly made me push my boundaries and I feel the need to do more

Final piece for photography unit. I made a plaster cast mask of a friend's face and then used multiple black and white photographs to cover the mask both inside and out. As the mask rotates it reveals the optical illusion of her face coming outwards. I spent quite some time making this mask and getting the finish right. I had to work into the wee small hours to complete on time and as a result my sketchbook didn't fully reflect a lot of the working up to this final piece. That old time thing again, although I take full responsibility.

I loved the final result and I have to say I had a fantastic model who had no fear at having her face covered in plaster making sight and speech impossible and breathing restricted. Thank you Kate......by the way did you know I had plans for more?!!!

 

   

Don McCullin meets Digital Photography

Yesterday circumstances were such that I didn't make it to college but I did manage to be creative of sorts. I started to look at photographs I had taken over the past year and to pull out suitable images for the Photography Unit at college. This turned into a positive experience as firstly I hadn't realised I had quite so many interesting images and secondly my head wasn't in full concentration mode. Why is this a good thing I hear you ask?.........well it meant that I could cope with playing but not with thinking too deeply.

So I played a little.......................and this

became this...............

and this.........................

became this.............

and finally this one.........

was transformed into this......

and this.....................

Today my head is in a different place so I probably would approach this task differently which is always the case anyway....different time different place. Having said that I like yesterdays results.

I also spent some time today watching this short film on the Canon website which documents Don McCullin's first journey into the world of digital photography. It's worth a visit if you have the time. I found it immensely comforting watching such an iconic photographer getting to grips with the latest technological gadgetry..... and he made it look so easy.

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/Don_McCullin.do

How to Kill Two Birds with One Stone

Tonight I was working on designs for the surface pattern unit at college. I wanted to explain how my design had developed from two dimensional to 3D so decided to use photographs. I photographed the object and then loaded the image onto the computer to crop it etc before printing and pasting into my sketchbook.

Suddenly a eureka moment........I could use this for my photography unit. You have no idea how happy this little light bulb moment made me feel. I played around with the image on Picassa and this was the result. I love the contrasts in the image. It looks like the logo for The Scottish Gallery!

My photography unit has been lagging behind, probably because it's the one I feel least confident about. I thought if I really concentrated on the other two units first I'd have just enough time to complete photography, hoping that the tight time schedule would fire up some inspiration. 

Little did I think I could kill two birds with one stone

As someone who likes contrasts, while I was doing two jobs at once on the computer a message popped up to say the temperature in New Zealand was approaching 25 degrees. Here the temperature was zero degrees. This produced another light bulb moment....but that's for another post. 

Kathe Kollwitz

Sorry there has not been much blogging lately but sometimes barriers pop up that you have little control over. A little time out was needed and I'm now back in the swing of things. I really admire this artists work.......it can be a bit depressive so I've chosen a portrait in profile without too much emotion to begin with.

Kathe Kollwitz (1867 - 1945) was a German artist best known for her printmaking and her vast range of tonal work. She was also a socialist who hoped her powerful and graphic art works would have an effect on how ordinary people viewed their world and hoped it would move people to action. I first came across her work last year when researching print makers for college and this year she is one of the artists I've chosen to look at for observational drawing.

Wilhelmine Mohr  Kathe Kollwitz

Charcoal

I chose this drawing because I liked the strong tonal values especially around the eye and also I wanted to work in charcoal.

The shape of the forehead is too sloped and the chin and lips are a bit prominent. I need to put more shading under the chin. The texture of the paper in my sketchbook is very smooth but the paper used in the original is quite textured. I preferred that effect so for the next drawing I switched to pastel paper.

The paper was grey so I continued with charcoal and also used white conte pastel to add highlights. The forehead is still a little short and the chin a bit prominent but I think it's becoming more like the original. It definitely helped using the pastel paper.

It's amazing how different the drawings look when they are loaded up on the blog. Mistakes and differences are much more obvious and it's a real benefit to learning.