A New Brief.....

Well......I have now been given my second brief of my second year at university......feeling very excited yet very nervous about this one!

It is called 'A Happy Place.....' which basically means we have to explore Happiness and what makes our 'happy place'

I have so many ideas for this brief that I just don't know where to start! And the fact that i am such an indecisive person doesn't help......I hate having to make choices because I always end up wishing I had  chosen something different.

So far I have thought about looking in to childhood memories, but I decided this was too common. Then I thought about looking at memory boxes, but when I went to get started I just had a complete mind blank so I reverted back to the old 'thought shower' technique. Through this I was able to categorise all of the ideas I had, which made me realise that all of the things which make me happy are things which I can remember doing or having....a hug, my first kiss, making friends, my family, affection, comfort - all of these things are simple everyday things that we take for granted.

Here are a few of my starting points - the things which make me feel happy.........

We all need comfort

Its the silly things that make us laugh

Everyone whats to feel loved

After looking at these I came up with an idea of trying to capture these moments and the 'happiness' they create.......Therefore I am going to look into tyring to capture the feelings and the memoary which is created when you do/experience something which makes you feel happy.

I shall keep you updated on my progress!

Sarah Morpeth Workshop

Today I have been to a book binding/making workshop led by paper and textile artist Sarah Morpeth.

I adore Sarah's work and have been admiring it via her website for years - so you can imagine my excitement at getting to see the real thing!!

Please visit her site here to view some of the fantastic pieces which I got to see today.

Final outcome from my 1st project of year 2

Just thought I would share some pictures of the final pieces which I have made.

The starting point for all of these came from the word 'erosion' which is quite hard to believe as they are all very pure and simplistic.

I guess it just goes to show how art is all about imagination and identification -
Identification of yourself as a person and the ways in which you think.

I personally am a very controlled, routined and structured person and therefore I have taken a completely out of control aspect and refined it to make unique and fragile items of jewellery.

A sigh of relief....

Well I have done it......I have fiinally handed in my first project of year 2!

My work waiting to be marked

Only two days until hand in!!

Well this week has been absolutely manic and its only Wednesday!

Its my project hand in date on Friday and I am totally stressed over the amount of work which I seem to have found to do. It doesn't help that I had set myself virtually impossible goals when it comes to making my final products - I decided that I wanted to encase my ceramic disk into a bezel setting, which has just turned out to be a complete nightmare!

7 tests later and lots of melted bezel wire but I think I may have finally cracked it (or at least for this attempt anyway) I don't think I ever want to set foot in another jewellery studio for the rest of the year. Stress is not the word for how I am feeling at the moment.

Roll on hand in on Friday

My Bezel

Ideas Development

I have been working non stop to create 12 more samples from my chosen 4. Some have been successful whilst others not so successful and some have happened by pure accident - and yet strangely these seem to be the ones which I like the most!

I have recently discovered how to drill holes in to fired ceramic clay pieces - and I love it! The possibilities are endless with this technique and provide such exciting prospects for my work. I can now use this technique to embellish my ceramics work with threads, stitches, beads and ribbons.

Hand Embroidery and Beads Stitched onto Glazed Ceramics

Time flies when you are having fun......

Well......I can not quite believe it is almost Christmas! I honestly don't know where the time has gone!
I guess the old saying that 'time flies when you are having fun' really is true.

Since I last blogged I have been working non-stop to create over 60 samples for my current university project - 'Play - Its in the Process'

This has to be one of the most exciting yet demanding briefs which I have worked on so far, it involved me choosing one technique in each of the subject areas; jewellery, ceramics and textiles and creating 40 samples based upon my one technique.
I then had to pick the 4 samples I liked the best to develop further.

Here are my chosen 4.....

Patinated Coper

Brusho Dyes on Paper

Hand Embroidery on a Painted Bondawed Background

Volcanic Ash Glaze and Gold Lustre