End Of Year Show Ideas

As the end of year show is fast approaching I decided that I wanted to start looking at how I could present my work for the show. As I want to do stationary, including note books, cards, wrapping paper, and also possibly ceramics including mugs and plates I wanted to start looking at how I could possibly combine all these different elements and make them harmonise and work together.

Firstly I started to look at Craig Fellows, who I saw the work of in Stockport Gallery a couple of Christmas' ago. I looked on his blog and thought that he displayed his work really well, he too has a mixture of different items and products on display that included, beautiful silk scarves, poster prints, cards, wrapping paper, cushions, and purses. I think that the reason that his display works so well because the colour palette is subtle and soft, another reason is that he has different groups of items together, such as the scarves and the cushions. Another thing that I think works really well is that he has displayed the items on different levels, he had hung the silk scarves quite high so they delicately drape down the wall, he has then placed items on a table and smaller boxes near the floor, creating lots of layers of interest.

The next artist/designer I looked at for inspiration was Katharine Watson, a print maker who specialises in block printing in particular. The reason the way she presents her work caught my eye was because she creates alot of cards and notebooks, which I thought were quite tricky to present. She has also quite a simple and folky feel about her work, and also looks as if she prints on to natural and rustic papers, which is something that I want to do in my work too. 

I like how the notebooks and cards have been displayed on shelves, not stacked or laid on a table, this means that people can see all the cards as a collection. I am not keen on the vibrant red back ground, I feel in a way it takes something away from the objects on display. 

I also wanted to try and create some wrapping paper to include in the show, however instead of just having sheets of wrapping paper just laid out, I thought it would be more interesting and realistic if I actually wrapped some boxes in the wrapping paper and then maybe tied some ribbon or string around. This would also be really good to photograph and then put in my portfolio too. 

Also one of my tutors gave me a great idea to include in my show, as I am doing work with rubber stamps, (as seen in my work for BMW) and I also want to include this style of working into this brief, it would be a good idea to have stamps laid out and then visitors could use the stamps to either stamp into a sketch book or I could even put blank cards out and they could then use the stamps to create their own card. I thought that this would be a great idea and would really get people involved in the show. I will have to think about this more and create some samples and maybe I could also talk to other people and see what they think, and would they get involved if they saw it in a show. 

Glam!, Tate Liverpool

A while ago I went to the Tate in Liverpool to see the new Glam! The Performance of Style  Exhibition. An exhibition that explored the power and the popularity of glam in the sixties and seventies. A time when fashion, music and art were fusing and working together, and included what was known as the "in crowd" that included musicians, artists and models, people who were known for their spontaneous fashion and the way they stood out from the crowd with the way they were dressed and their style.
The show had a large collection of items including paintings, installations, sculpture, music posters, prints, photography, moving image, short films, fashion, and vinyl art.
When walking into the show you are welcomed by influential music that was popular in the 60's and 70's, you then notice the colour and vibrancy of the walls, painted a bright fuchsia pink, and the walls covered in photographs, music posters and vinyl records.
Artists that were included were of course Andy Warhol, one of the most significant and influential artists during the period. It also included some of Richard Hamilton's collages, and a David Hockney painting.
It also included some musical artists who were in the height of their career during the 60's and 70's, including David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, New York Dolls, Debbie Harry, and Lou Reed. I loved seeing the photographs and the contrast of the artists performing live and then the glamour and beauty of them in photoshoots, for magazines and album covers.
One of my favourite parts of the exhibition were the photographs of David Bowie, there were some that I had never seen before and thought that they were really beautiful, and because his appearance was constantly changing, no two did he look the same.

I think I was only disappointed that there wasn't more fashion and clothing items in the exhibition, I would have thought that there would have been much more fashion included in the exhibition as it was such an important  and memorable part of this era, and the fashion was very interesting and flamboyant. There was a few fashion garments in the show, one worn by Brian Eno, there was also a couple of sketches of designs for garments by Ossie Clarke that I thought were really interesting. Also, there was the painting 'Mr and Mrs Clarke and Percy' by David Hockney.

The First Cut

Recently I went Manchester City Museum to see the new exhibition The First Cut, Paper at The Cutting Edge. In the first year we were given a project on manipulating and sculpting paper, and as most of the artists exhibiting were people I looked at for inspiration in the projects I thought it would be a good idea to see them in real life.

A lot of the pieces were dotted around and mixed in with the other exhibitions but most of the works were on the second floor. There was a mixture of massive pieces made from huge pieces of paper that covered the walls, to small butterflies that fluttered magically over the walls, and tiny, intricate sculptures made from a single piece of paper.  

The group of internationally well known artists include Rob Ryan, Su Blackwell, Claire Brewster, Peter Callesen, all with different styles and techniques of working. 

One of my favourites and an artist I have always looked towards for inspiration is Rob Ryan, who is a British artist specialising in paper cutting and also screen printing. All of his designs art very intricate and time consuming, all with amazing narratives and great story telling pieces. This piece was one of Ryan's largest paper cuts to date, measuring 1.5m x 3m. The about of time and detail in this piece is amazing, people were trying to figure out if it was multiple pieces of paper, or a single piece of paper.  

Another artist that I love the work of and have looked to in the past is Su Blackwell, again another artist who has amazing story telling and narratives in her imaginary and fairy-like pieces. My favourite piece was an a small box on the wall with a glass front, inside was a fairy tale like scene of a house lit up from the inside, and garden all made from an open book. I think that this is a wonderful piece of work because it was quite high on the wall children were asking their parents to pick them up so they could see, and then when they looked inside they were amazed by what they saw, and thought it was magical and beautiful. This piece manages to appeal to both children and adults because of the beautiful sculpture and story telling.  

I thought that this exhibition was wonderful because of the range of artists, different styles of work and range of techniques, all created from the same material... paper. I thought that the work was really imaginative and creative, and would love to go back and recommend it to everyone. 

London 2012, Surface Design Show

Last week we had the opportunity to go to London to the Surface Design Show, it was first launched in 2004 and is a way for Architects and Interior Designers to find new and interesting ways of using materials in modern times. It is a way for companies and designers to show a selection of their work to potential clients, and show interesting and exciting ways that technology is changing interiors and surface design. 

I thought that it was a interesting show to see new technologies and materials, and how the materials we are using are having an impact on the environment and how they are creating new materials to help the environment and recycling.  

I think the most interesting stand there and the one that caught my eye was Kristel Erga Magnetic Wallpaper. Which is a new and interesting way to use wallpaper and it is an imaginative way to re-use and recycle different materials. 

I also really liked these mood boards, these were as you first went into the show, I thought that they were very interesting because you could touch the materials and fabrics and see a selection of different techniques and different types of surfaces. I think that I would have enjoyed the show more if it was more like the mood boards, as I found these more interesting and inspirational.  

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

On Friday the 21st of October I went to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair at Spinningfields in Manchester. It was the first time that I have been to the Craft Fair and I was really impressed with the selection of different artists and designers there, it included jewellery, pottery, ceramics, glass, lighting, textiles and paper work. 

I found it a great place to go for inspiration and new artists and designers to look into and research more, it also gives an idea of the level and standard I have to achieve myself. 

Orwell and Goode

At the Liverpool show I also saw the work of Orwell and Goode who are two textile artists who specialize in printed textiles. They meet when Orwell taught Goode how to silk screen print and then they decided to work together and create their own collection of works. They hand print everything and stitch to create teatowels, aprons, cushions, lampshades, wallpaper, bags and cards, printing on a mixture of materials such as fabrics, paper, card and linen.

Alto of their work is based on animals and wildlife, especially deer, birds and trees. Mixing together line drawings and silhouettes of deer, trees and birds and using different layers of colour to create more depth and interest in each piece.

I like how you can tell each piece is their work because it has the same theme of deer and wildlife running through-out the collection linking each piece together.

Katie Heeks

At the Liverpool Design show I saw the work of Katie Heeks a designer and maker who specializes in laser cutting. She starts her work by creating sketches of flowers and plants or anything that she is inspired by, and then translates them onto the computer to create the delicate and intricate plywood silhouettes using a laser cutter, which are covered in beautiful floral and patterned fabrics and materials. The individual pieces are then placed in a box and layered in front of each other to create a 3D picture. Lighting is sometimes added to create interesting shadows, adding to the atmosphere.

My favourite was the fairy gardens because they mixed the fairies and other woodland creates like rabbits and snails. I also loved the mix of materials and fabrics used creating a wonderful mix of colour and pattern and the mixture of different characters, shapes and sizes making each piece individual and exciting.

Liverpool Design Show

On the 7^th of October I went to the Liverpool Design Show which is part of the festival over the weekend. The show included 80 designers and artists exhibiting a range of different ceramics, furniture, home ware, lighting, jewellery, clothes, and accessories, from some of the most inserting and exciting new designers and graduates, giving them a chance to sell and promote their work to a large audience. The main show was in the amazing St George's Hall, a beautiful and inspirational place to have the show and created a wonderful atmosphere.   

As well as the stalls there were also catwalk shows and workshops, I would have loved to go to one of the workshops that included T-shirt designing and jewellery making.