Recycled Garden Art – Mosaic Sculpture – Mosaic Artist – Anne Schwegmann-Fielding

A little something i came across...

Loving the recycled aspect of this piece!

Rio Wrenn

Lovely Work by Rio Wrenn - Berry mix dyes, rust and copper printed garments.

Eek...it really is the final year!

Im currently rust printing for my final project and the outcome is going to be some form of a garment, probably quite sculptural. If im honest im feeling a little scared. Its my final year and im wondering where my work will take me. I kinda of wish i had chosen a different route for my project but i have to bite the bullet and do my best to make it as amazing as i possibly can. The uncertainty of where a project may take you is normally exciting but this year that excitement has turned to worry. Is anyone going to notice my work? Are people going to appreciate it or like it?  Have I chosen the right path? And what will i do once this year has finished? I hope that i am not coming across all doom and gloom but I am sure many third years feel the same. The last few years have consisted of being in a creative bubble, feeling secure and able to experiment and test our creative abilities. The journey has been amazing and not only have I learnt many skills, i have found myself, learnt about myself and met some amazing creative people along the way.

So whats next...keep going!!! ;o) xxx

Romania

Well since my last post a lot has happened so my blog has taken a bit of a hit! But things have settled and this blog will not get neglected.
So, whats been going down? Romania for a month in August....amazing! Spent my time there mask making, icon painting and jewellery making. There was five of us being looked after by amazing people! We were made so welcome and was given the full Romanian experience with bbqs, day trips, and a mountain hike. Romania was a creative inspiration in many ways and has influenced my Final Project at university. It was also really hot and was able to actually wear my summer clothes.
I've attached some of images of what i made in Romania.
Then it was a house move and now its dissertation and final project time!!!
My dissertation is about what makes vintage popular and my project is about destruction, deterioration and the disregarded! I shall elaborate more a bit later...
Hope you all enjoy your sunday lunches, sleeps on the sofa or whatever your sundays may be about!

xxxxxx

Cant help but PANIC with a pee RANT!

So much to do so little time to do it in....im sure we all feel that pressure at times. I cant complain as I have some good stuff happening at the moment but the PANIC is setting in because there is so much to do. Im off to Romania in two weeks time for a month...im really excited as I will be on a work placement learning tradition skills including mask making and icon painting...not that i can paint. Before this I have a couple of events one being at a festival. Really looking forward to the festival, there is a good crowd and will hopefully get to check out some bands. The one thing with festivals are the toilets....Im totally happy to camp in the wilderness with no toilet but using the toilets at these places cant be nasty! Oh and needing a wee in the middle of the night when you are wrapped up warm in your tent is just not on! Me fella and I have just returned from camping and every night without fail I had to get up for a pee!!  I found this piece of art a Pee Shower (not real pee obviously)...looks like its at a festival so who knows, if I come across one I will be sure to post it on here. Well i must get on with my list of stuff to do!! Will probably catch up after Romania!! See you soon xx

Rainbow Net

Thank you to those who made suggestions on getting organised. I have started lists and this week has been a really productive week. I have also managed to get loads sorted around the house...a good spring clean is good for the soul. The shed is full of stuff to take to a car boot and have a box full to ebay!!

Now for a bit of artist sharing..for those who know Stella Adams-Schofield she is very good at sharing lots of artists work on Facebook, practically, if not everyday, there is something new to feast your creative eyes on. Today she has posted artist Toshiko Horiuchi-MacAdam's 'Rainbow Net' and I think its awesome. 

For more information and images check out this link: http://www.crochetconcupiscence.com/2012/01/playground-crochet-artist-toshiko-horiuchi-macadam/

Enjoy!! xx

Getting Organised

It is my mission this summer (if we can call it that) is to get organised. I always think that Im well organised but I could be better. With my stall and the pressure of university next year is going to be busier than the last. A 5000 word dissertation isn't to bad but its certainly a lot of writing....which is never my speciality. So any tips would be welcome...i know the obvious diaries, wall planner (im def investing in one of these) but if there is something that someone knows please do share. Previously I listed a few and tried some apps but I would be interested in any others. Well I will leave it there and carry on with a report that im writing.
Thanks for reading and get those ideas listed...for those who cant leave comments please feel free to list them on my facebook. Cheers xxx

Link for dyslexia study skills

I have recently found this link which may be useful for those studying with dyslexia...hope it helps!

http://dyslexstudyskills.group.shef.ac.uk/

A woman talks to you which is great!!!

Trip, Dissertation and Exhibition

Does anyone have anything nice planned for their summer break?? Im off to Romania to learn some traditional crafts. Will be there for four weeks throughout August....looking forward to it but a little nervous as I have never been so far away from home on my own, eek! Am sure it will be amazing though!! What else is there...oh yeah...a dissertation!! 5000 words isn't to bad but am finding it hard to relax with it hanging over my head...must try though. Any dissertation tips are welcome! Tonight is the pre view to the third year contemporary applied arts exhibition. Should be good, have already seen the work but the pre view show is always good. Helping out serving drinks with the lovely Kat....will try not to drink to much but one or two is allowed. If I get a chance I will take some photos and put the up! xx

Spirit of the Jay

Thought I would show my work from my most recent project. It was calle Animal and the project was set by the Collins Gallery in Glasgow. I really enjoyed making my piece which is titled 'Spirit of the Jay' and very please with the outcome. I found out a bit more about what I also like to do which is Fiber Arts and I am looking forward to taking this across with ceramic into my final year. Its a rather scary thought that in a years time I will be back out into the big world but exciting too as my path will be totally different!!

Juileanne Long - Textile Artist

A couple of bits on this ladies website - like the Full Fathom Five and recycled pieces.

http://www.textileartist.co.uk/index.html

Ceramic Artist

Today I am looking at web layouts so any interesting artists I will pop them on here for people to have a look at. The first one is Emily Myers - a ceramic artist. Some lovely surface textures and shapes.

http://www.emilymyers.com/

Its been too long...

I didn't realise how long ago it was since I wrote my last blog. Oops!! Its quite hard to keep on top of everything and sometimes when I have a bit of time my mind goes blank. Basically my memory is shot!! So I am looking into different ways to help. There are these memory joggers you can buy to keep in your pocket but I think you could make them yourself, to suit you. You can check them through out the day so you dont forgot things. Just remember to check your pocket..!! you can be at creative as you like with them...with drawings, text, texture, etc

If you have difficulty reading text on your phone there is an app for specific phones called zoom plus, zooms in on the text and changes the background colour, the link is...

https://market.android.com/details?id=air.com.twothreetwo.ZoomPlus&feature=search_result

Its not suitable for my phone which is an htc wildfire but it may be suitable for yours.

Well just a few tips...I have a lot of organising to do today which I dont always find easy keeping on top of. So any tips would be great!!

Christmas Break

The last semester has been mental and i cant believe that its Christmas Eve already. The year has flown in, the second half more so. The break is well needed by many and I cant wait to stop and relax....if that is at all possible. It was a great feeling to get everything handed in, Essay finished, presentation done and technical files completed and handed in. This semester has been a test on the old dyslexia and i have seen it has been on others who are dyslexic too. I am going to look into some learning strategies, different ways to retain information, when i find some i will of course share them. That will be my christmas present to you all...ha! I hope you all have a wonderful christmas. Much Love xx

The Dreaded Essay

Who hates writing essays?? Well I know that I do. The one that I have had to write for Crafts in Context has taken forever, it was the most difficult thing I had to write. Normally I can get into them but it was not happening with this one. Anyhow its done but I thought I would leave some essay tips not just for people with dyslexia but for anyone who struggles with the.
Prepare - I left mine to the last minute, I dont recommend anyone doing this. I thought I would be able to do it in a few days but it took a lot longer than that. So give yourself plenty of time.
Essay Plan - find a question that you will be interested in. Then write headings about what you would like to cover that relate to that question.
Reference - do this as you go along, it will make your life a whole lot easier
Bite Size Chunks - give yourself 2 hours at a time then go and do something else for half an hour, bit of house work or even a walk.
There are so many more you can do and for those who are Dyslexic giving yourself plenty of time is so important. You will be able to enjoy what you are reading rather than panicing that it needs to be in. It can be enjoyable as the essay is to do with a course you have chosen to do. So unlike how I dealt with it  ...relax and enjoy!!

If there are any more tips that people would like to add please do!!

Bird Art

My ceramic project is looking at the decline of wildlife in Britain and I have focused on the Lapwing as these are extremely vulnerable . They are one of the most beautiful birds around and it would be sad if we were to never see them again. Today a few of my classmates took me to a dead blackbird that was pretty much in tact...though at first it may of been a bit of a laugh I started to think how I could use it within my work. I brought it home to photograph and as I laid it out on a piece of white paper I felt sad and actually quite sick. His eye was a bit of a mess and there was a little blood around his nose and beak, it started to make me question if i really want to use him in my work. I love black birds, they are beautiful birds with a character I cant quite explain but they make me laugh. This poor bird lead on this piece of paper probably didnt die naturally so I wonder...do I bury it?? or do I cast it in clay to use in my final display to symbolise death??

Back to uni

I hope all you folks out there who are getting ready to go back to uni in a few weeks have had an ace summer!! Its been great to see on facebook many of your updates and having new experiences in different countries. I cant believe how quick the time has gone by. I wanted to do so much art but have barely touched on it, think its because there is so much I want to do and dont know where to start. Im in the process of knitting my bear a scarf...once he is finished I will pop a picture up on here and if anyone wants the instructions of how to make their own bear let me know. Well Im going to make the most of the next few weeks as Im in no rush to get back...lots to get on with at home. Will get the wee bear finished and a photo taken so everyone can see Mr B. I dont have to much crack at the mo so will leave it at that. I am determined to keep up on this more regularly with some interesting stuff! I forgot to say went for a spot of bird watching along the solway and saw some Golden Plovers, Snipes, Black Tailed Godwits, Sandlings and one of my fav birds Lapwings. There were more there as it was a high tide but my list may go on a bit so will stop there. You cant beat a spot of bird watching!!

New Project

I can not believe how quick the summer holidays are flying past. Though the weather in England has not been that great I have been enjoying pottering and getting things done around the house. I still have loads on my list I would like to achieve before I go back to university...wether they all get done is another matter. We have been given a summer project to work on called 'Boundaries, Borders and Connections'. Its a great title and the possibilites are endless, its a challenge to narrow down the ideas. I have been pushing my brain into thinking outside the box..pushing my own boundaries...to come up with some ideas. I have been thinking about my interests, things that are happening in todays society and the visible boundaries that we see everyday. Im not giving to much away at this stage but i will update as soon as my ideas are set in stone. Do you find that when you are an outsider looking into someone else's work that the ideas pour in much easier? Once involved it seems to be much harder...or is that just me?? Ha!!! Think i just need to run with my idea and if it works then great and if it doesn't then no one needs to see it...ha!! Well on that note Im going to get started.....fingers crossed!! And to all my class mates who are working on this...good luck, I look forward to seeing and hearing about your ideas! xx

The French Life

I cant believe that I have been travelling around France and Im back sat in front of my laptop updating my blog! The country was amazing and so diverse from Mont Blanc in The Alps to Chateaus in Tudor Towns. There was so much to see probably to much for the time that we were there. Yet it didn't blow me away in the way I thought it would, dont get me wrong I loved it and would happily return but there wasnt that pull that i was expecting to get. For a while I have fantasied about living there and I was expecting that draw from England but it did not happen. Im not sure if my fantasies were to unrealistic or if it was that gradual change in scenery from the North to the South. However there was one place that I think both me and Mr M liked and the was Josselin in Brittany, in fact I think Mr M liked Brittany the most. We stayed in a very nice family run Hotel, there were six rooms in total and we stayed in the family room at the top of the house and had a whole floor to ourselves. The lady of the house was more than lovely and really took care of the guests. In the morning for breakfast a spread of various breads, crepes, coffee and tea was laid out and either a fruit medley or home made natural yogurt would be brought out to us. We sat on a big table with the other guests which was wonderful and gave a really homely feel. The only thing was most of the guests were French who spoke no English so me and Mr M, mainly Mr M would try our best to speak with them with the very little French we knew. It was an interesting experience but I will most definitely be brushing up on my languages. I think we both felt a little rude and ignorant to be travelling in their country speaking very little of their language. But it was all a learning curve and a wonderful experience. Now im home I want to be really getting creative but I dont know where to start, lots of ideas but not sure which one to choose. Also there is always housework to do...thats always a bit of a distraction, i find myself constantly trying to get organised. Tomorrow though I will get into it, once I am back from town I will be putting my creative head on!

Family Visits, France and Life

The last couple of weeks have been mental but lovely. My family have been visiting and its been great to see them, to show them the lake district and show them a bit of what I do. Though I must admit i feel that my creativity has been zapped from me and its been nice to have a break from it. I think its important to have a bit of time out, time to refresh, get new inspirations. Im off to France for a month with my man, we will be travelling to the Alps and along the coast. A budget trip so we will be camping which will be ace and will be a great way to get some inspiration. Also the break from uni will help to let all what has been learnt sink in, its been a mental year and I have learnt so much and im looking forward to doing some of my own things with my new skills. Well peeps I wil be back soon with some of my work from the last year. I do hope that for those who have dyslexia or a mental illness realise that there are so many opportunities out there for them and finding a creative outlet will really help. Speak soon. Big Hugs x