Sunday 22 July 2012

Decorative Objects Workshop at Brighton and Hove High School....

Here are a selection of images from the workshop I ran in early June with the year 9s from Brighton and Hove High School:

The girls have a lovely space to work in

I love this original feline design!

I like the twisting of the thread on this piece




I'm loving these little text blocks...

 I love the way the text changes with the shape of the curved wood












Using a whole variety of media to create a very jazzy piece indeed!


A beautiful piece

 I like the separated bands on this piece, with their individual colour schemes that all relate to each other


 This piece is really fun, using the holders from the skeins of embroidery thread

 There's just something about plastic bags that is very appealing

I'm glad that someone used the peg!!

A very carefully considered piece with a lovely soft colour scheme

 Some really nice text pieces came out of this workshop

 I love this rabbit piece too, it was a bit of a mission to complete but it looks great as a result!



I really like this boldly coloured piece, it feels quite sculptural to me


A lovely monochrome colour scheme, very nice

The girls with their creations!

Saturday 14 July 2012

New framed "Collection", Drop It Like It's Hot....


 Drop It Like It's Hot, 2012, found lighters, 58 x 60 x 4.8cm. £700

Just one new piece, but I've been waiting a long time for a frame to be especially made, so I'm very happy that it's complete now! I really like this piece, so much so that I currently have it hanging above my desk so that I can enjoy all its rainbow shades whenever I so desire....

The Platinum Store installation. Gold, Silver and Bronze exhibition at the Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford.....

On Thursday I spent the day installing gold, silver and bronze-coloured found and unwanted objects/ fragments for the "Gold, Silver and Bronze" exhibition at the lovely Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford (which runs from 14th July to 9th September). The gallery is in an absolutely lovely building and some of the works on show are truly beautiful. There's also lots for young children to do whilst going around the exhibits.

Here are a few progress photos from the day...


 I laid the pieces out on the floor first, to double check composition and colour order.....

  Just getting started with the gluing, hammering and white-tackiing, big things and golds/ bronzes first....

  Gold done, just starting on the brightest silvers.....

  Keeping my eye on the clock, and the dwindling supply of found objects...

  Just starting to meet in the middle now..


I had JUST enough pieces to fill the 3.5 sq ft frame, thankfully!! Not a bad day's work!

Sunday 20 May 2012

Sustainable Earth Exhibition, Bath, part of the Fringe Arts Bath festival....

Here is the flyer for "Sustainable Earth", the forthcoming exhibition that I feature in, alongside Rob Turner (whose work looks very lovely), Carole Anne Tonge, Tim Floyd and Claire Orpin. The show is part of the much larger event, Fringe Arts Bath (FAB), and opens on Friday the 25th May, please pop down and check it out if you are in Bath.

I will be showing "Ice and a Slice", "David", "Lucky" and "Green Tea", all for the first time, so that's very exciting!! It's also going to be my first visit to Bath so that's something I'm looking forward to!

The show closes on Sunday 10th June. Please contact me if you require any further information....


Four delicious new framed pieces....

Sorry, I've been pretty quiet in blog-land recently.... I've been very busy house hunting, cleaning and sorting, whilst also trying to make some new pieces and apply for opportunities. I have however been putting a few updates on my artist Facebook page and asking for people's help on a few things. Please bob along if you would like to join me on there and help me out....

In the meantime, here are a couple of new framed pieces that I have been working on over the past few weeks, I hope that you enjoy.....

 All The Colours Of My Heart, 2012, found sea ceramics and glass, 47.1 x 50.2 x 4.7cm

Found All Around, 2012, found metallic-based items,  35.6 x 35.6 x 4.7cm. 
This piece has been made for the upcoming "Gold, Silver and Bronze" exhibition 
at the Shire Hall Gallery in Staffordshire, 14th July until 9th September 2012

Green Tea, 2012, found sea ceramics, 22.8 x 22.8 x 4.7cm
These ceramics were found at the Firth of Forth, Edinburgh, on one of my research trips!!

 
 Red?, 2012, found beach plastics, 49.2 x 49.2 x 4.7cm
This piece is the little sister of Blue? (even though they're the same size!!)

Saturday 24 March 2012

Photos from my trip to Kerala, South India....

Cherai Beach (Vypin Island), our first day in India, and what an amazing beach!!

 The Chill Out Cafe on Cherai Beach, Vypin Island at sunset

 A lovely bunch of coconuts

 A traditional rice boat on the backwaters of Alleppey

 Alleppey backwaters

 Freshly caught crabs

 Our boat, Alleppey backwaters

 Alleppey backwaters

 One of the staff on our hired boat, Alleppey backwaters

 Two Indian crows enjoying the beginning of sunset, Alleppey backwaters

 Our boat, moored up for the night

 The smokey sunset on our exploration of the Alleppey backwaters

 Two men from our boat going fishing for little silver fish


 You can't beat a delicious vegetable biriyani

 Indians on Varkala Beach

 A bit of art in the back yard of our hostel, Alleppey Beach

 Indian crows and graffiti

 A bit of tired grafitti?

 The back roads near our hostel at Alleppey Beach

 Not sure what this hut is, maybe it's a garden shed, but I like it!!

 Little hut on Alleppey Beach

 The back yard of our hostel, Alleppey Beach

 An interesting and colourful use of sand bags

 I love the way they hand-write signs in India

 An interesting flower shop on our taxi ride from Alleppey Beach to Varkala

 Bricks made and stored outdoors, somewhere between Alleppey Beach and Varkala

 The vast majority of Indian vehicles have "Sound Horn" written on the back

 An interesting decoration on this building

 A sign for Varkala Beach, in front of a golden statue

 I found this arrangement interesting! Varkala Beach

 Lovely sari-clad ladies on Varkala Beach

 The "sludge pond" by our bungalow, Varkala Beach

 There were lots of these paper stars hanging at Varkala Beach

 An interesting style of accommodation near to us at Varkala Beach

 Pretty pink flowers by our bungalow at Varkala Beach

 A stall trader on the cliffs above Varkala Beach. At first I thought the baby was
 a doll, it gave me the fright of my life when I realised that it was actually alive!

 The view from a cafe on Varkala Beach

 Another delicious Veg Biriyani

 I liked this colour combination

 A little ice-cream cart

 A gentleman resting in the midday heat, near to Varkala Beach

 A lovely pink bus

 One of many tired looking buildings

 Looking up to the Varkala Beach cliffs

 A view to the west of Varkala Beach, with the cliffs above. This beach was 
lovely but it had a very terrible sandy-wind that liked to whip you as you lay

 Men looking very nice wearing dhotis on Varkala Beach

 Another interesting bit of advertising near to Varkala Beach

 Hand-painted Kingfisher signs, of which there were many in around Varkala Beach

 The interesting interior of The Juice Shack up on Varkala Beach cliffs

 A lady performing a traditional dance outside the temple in Varkala

 Outside the Varkala Temple was this temporary structure

 Lots of lovely bananas outside the temple

 The Temple in Varkala

 Very plastic looking ice-cream cones outside the temple

 I think these were balloons??

 "You are an organic being constantly evolving"

 Decorations in Varkala for the Holly Celebrations

 The front view of a jazzy tuk-tuk

 The back of another jazzy tuk-tuk

 A bus stop that caught my eye

 More painted Kingfisher signs, complete with cow

 Holly Celebrations near to Varkala Beach

 Holly Celebrations near to Varkala Beach, lots of very enthusiastic drummers

 Holly Celebrations near to Varkala Beach

 Holly Celebrations near to Varkala Beach

 Holly Celebrations near to Varkala Beach

 Night view of a Varkala Beach restaurant on the sea

 An Indian Kingfisher watching the early morning cricket on Varkala Beach
 
 I think this was a game of "shoot the heart with an air rifle", on the banks of a dam between Munnar town and the Top Station. I just loved all of the colourful bits of balloon that are sitting underneath the board

 Another game of "shoot the hearts" at the same dam near to Munnar

 The legendary techno tuk-tuk

 Lots of these flowers are to be found in Kerala, they have an interesting section of square components

 A view over-looking the tea plantations in Munnar

 A view of tea picker's and local's accommodation

 Looking down over the tea plantations

 Looking up into the tea plantations

 The Honey Bee Tree, on the way to the Top Station on our tuk-tuk tour of the local area

 The first dam between Munnar town and the Top Station

 Tea pickers up high in the plantations

 Our techno tuk-tuk driver on the way up to the Top Station at Munnar

 A market stall at night, the Bazaar, Munnar


 Lifesavers on Varkala Beach. The currents here are really dangerous!

 A view out over Varkala Beach from a cafe on the cliffs

Rubbish on the cliffs at Varkala Beach

 Holly Celebrations near to Varkala Beach, more relaxed drummers

 Lots of tired fabrics, not sure how they came to be on the beach?!

 A large beach, sand swirl

 One of many, many crabs on Varkala Beach

 Indians playing two games of cricket at 8am on Varkala Beach

 Some fun graffiti found above Varkala Beach

 ... and some more!

 A pretty sight I came across whilst on my early morning wonder of Varkala Beach

 Looking back towards Varkala Beach

 An Indian crow welcoming you to the Tibetan Market, Varkala Beach

 Spices

 A little lizard, Varkala Beach

 Approaching sunset at Varkala Beach

 Locals enjoying Varkala Beach

 Young men messing around in the surf, Varkala Beach

 Locals enjoying Varkala Beach

Young men messing around in the surf, Varkala Beach

 A lady waiting for the fish to be brought in

 Fishermen hauling in the morning's catch about 30 minutes walk away from Varkala Beach

 More grafitti

 Locals enjoying Varkala Beach

 Locals enjoying Varkala Beach

Fishermen looking at their catch

 Sorting out the fish

People trying to get their hands on some fish

 Pushing the boat out to collect more goods from the sea

Crows looking out at the fish coming in

 A very pretty building/ temple to the West of Varkala Beach

Men making fishing nets (and then having a rather large disagreement!)

The beach west of Varkala

 A cow on the beach west of Varkala, another one followed moments later

Waving to myself

The building/ temple to the west of Varkala Beach