Beheading bodies and beheading shapes...

Experimental shapes. 

Vintage Myth - Not all vintage will suit you.

'Shut up and get over it, shit happens.' - Glen Johnson

Half term is over and done and Art Foundation starts all over again for another term. What a half term it has been, firstly the Winter Olympics are over. What a shame, now we have to wait another 4 years for the spectacle again. Sochi was sensational hosts despite all the bad LGBT press that they held. They held sensational games, we laughed, we cried and gasped as they took to their sleighs, skis and snowboards. Congratulations to Britain and Northern Island for gaining 4 medals at the games. Also over the half term I have been able to learn a lot about myself and who I am as a person and that being stubborn and set in my ways isn’t the way forward when it comes to friendships and relationships! I also had my Peugeot interview which went, let’s put it kindly… disastrous.  I went into a big flat about nothing and my heart wasn’t in it. 

Since my last blog post I have started dismantling objects by focusing on the shapes and angles that make them, I have also began looking at how to reinterpret them in different ways which will push my work forward to a final piece for the pathway. A book based on torture methods was the answer to where my shapes would come from and end up as many torture methods relied on obscure methods to restrict and damage the bodies and the internal organs to inflict masses of pain. I constructed these over a number of pages in my sketchbook which each page looking at a different method of torture allowing me to extract the shapes. This will help progress my work into a series of Adobe worked illustrative pieces that reflect the methods behind the madness. I have also been looking at Barrel deconstruction and fracture by cutting images of barrels up into small pieces and them filling in the gaps with colour, giving the idea that the barrels are deconstructed. This helps to progress my work as it helps me to understand the dynamics and construction of the barrel as an object with the shapes that are hidden throughout. For my work to progress now I need to draw my attention to what I am wanting to create as a final piece for this project rather than just experimenting with ideas and now focus on the final outcome and what I need to do to get it to that point. Watch this space… 

Personal life…

Harvey is being himself like usual which, being a 10 year old fluffy ball of fur makes his presence known, cats are their own people and won’t do anything that they don’t want to do. The mysteries behind cats and being lactose intolerant and them drinking it… Harvey loves it and it makes him sleep for long periods of time. 

Sister has decided to make huge decision and return home which I now hope that she finds something that she is passionate about and can relate to so that she can be successful in life. Me and Glen went bowling yesterday which was fun but I lost all 3 games which was disastrous but I am good sport and dealt with it in a humane and manly way. 

A meeting with Adobe...

Vintage myth - The slipper will fit.

'Some people are gay... get over it!!' - Stonewall.

Woooooahh!! A week has passed already? What a week it has been, from a group critique which ended sour to the frantic thoughts of finishing the pathway. What a week!! Previously in my life I realized how important family and friends are to me as I feel close to committing my life to someone. (I know, a scary thought.) Also people have been concerned with my sanity as I have a love for the dark and macabre, part of me can tell  why people are concerned but I find it so fascinating and the ideas and thoughts behind the people as they were being tortured and the people torturing them. University is coming closer and closer as the work piles up and people race ahead to complete the Foundation modules and work. I am finding I am keeping myself to myself at the moment as I need to focus on the directing into what my work will take.

Since the last blog post and the week has pasted my work has taken on the path into which I wanted it to, I began making models of barrels to show the construction and  how the shapes are made. Templates where the answer as I have no clue into 3D model making what so ever meaning the internet and Google was my first port of call. Horrrrahhh, the templates where there as I would of had no clue into how to draw my own, I used the to construct the basic spherical shapes which turned out well as they showed the curvature and consistent experimentation. I knew my fate though, a meeting with Adobe and the packages that lay within and around it, I began by scanning in my dress designs of the barrels from my sketchbooks before transfering them to Illustrator to create the vector graphic and then forwarded it to Photoshop to colour in the images, I found the colouring hard as with a mouse it was a tad hit and miss with changing the opacity and colour tones to create a fluid solid colour block. Overall I am very happy with the outcome and how the pieces have turned out, the lines are cleaner and more concise.

Personal life...
Not much again to report on again this week...
Harvey's voice seems to be getting louder and louder and has settled into a routine of waking me up at 6am to be let out which makes me day... not... naughty.
Mother's arm is recovering and the scabs are falling whilst the skin is healing.
Soul sister seems lost and hit a crossroads with life with not knowing which way to go and road to choice, I don't know how to react, should I cuddle her and sit with her to help sort it out or should I be stubborn and keep my distance and tell her to grow up? I can relate to her situation from when I dropped out from Rainford College back in 2010 and people where trying to pull me this way and that, I had no clear direction or focus so abandoned everything I had. Now I'm back on track and set for university in September!!
Glen (Boyfriend) is doing well also and we have a good and bad times but ultimately we love each other and hope it continues, he is one of few people I feel I can confide in and tell him how I really feel and be myself around.

A what I call 'Barrel of laughs'

Man in barrel

Vintage Myth - The Sleeves will be to short or to long.

'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade' - What's wrong with Sprite or cordial?

Another week has passed and my head is feeling better and more clearer and can finally focus my work in the right direction. Previously in my life, I realized that people text/message me about the most random of stuffs, this is a hearty thank you to all the people who have let me know about there eyebrow waxing and Yankee candle purchases. Secondly I have realized my great love for Lucozade but it does send my hearts a racing and my arms a flying, not good. I finally accepted my place at Manchester Metropolitan University and am looking forward to passing the foundation so I can start my next chapter in a new city. Not much got done over the weekend, naughty. But I do keep myself composed as I am the master of not dealing with stress and work shall commence!!

Now I finally have found a direction into where to take my work, I began focusing my attention towards what part of the body I want to restrict and found the ideas and concepts of the arms intriguing as you need them for most tasks and without them comes humility and embarrassment. The Barrel Pillory was my starting point and most probably my ending point as the pathway is already running over and have only this week to finish it. Horrible thought. But as the initial drawings of a catwalk model being stuck  in a model took hold I began experimenting with different shapes and ideas which led to an imbalance of shapes as the garments continued to be designed. To progress my pieces I want to start working in the Adobe packages by drawing them in Photoshop and Illustrator and creating an almost Russian doll nature creating the ideas of entrapment through them. Who knows where my final piece will lead to and be as I have another artist research to complete before any major work can be completed.

Personal life...
Not much to report on again this week.
Harvey is acting up like usual but hey what do you expect from a cat approaching retirement?
My mother has scolded her arm so she's out of action for the next week or so but shes doing fine.
Soul sister is returning home for a week to discover what she really wants to do in life which will be nice as I will be able to spend sometime with her.

Stickmen-ing point…

Stick figures. 

Vintage Myth - The older it is, the more holes it has.

When we learn how to fly, we forget how to walk… Train.

My head seems a tad muddled at the moment and can’t seem to know if I’m coming or going with my head being everywhere and not being able to focus on one direction to take my work in. Previously in my life I decided to watch two films at the weekend which is a miracle for an adult who has the attention span of a two year old. Johnny English and Sucker Punch which were both great films in their own rights. Also my love of Yankee Candles is getting out of hand as I now own enough to open my own shop. Kim has gone off for an interview today at Manchester Metropolitan University! So I wish her the best with the interview and all that it entails!!
Visiting a car boot over the weekend was an event in itself with around 100 stalls to get round and £10 to buy as much as I could, I ended up with a couple of vintage jumpers which hold memories within their fibres and the Alien box set which I can’t wait to watch as I have been looking at Alien and Giger as part of my work.

With the pathway statement reworked (again) and the contextual studies punctuation corrected, (again) I have been able to focus on the pathway project itself, the project has headed down a very different avenue than originally intended. We had a group critique this past week which was nerve-racking to say the least, the thought of standing up in front of my peers knocked me sick as they judged and questioned the motives behind your work. Thankfully it went well and I had nothing to worry about. My work has ventured down the path of looking at stick figures and the ideas behind restricting their bones through torture and puppetry; I gained the inspiration for this from a number of images obtained from Google and through looking at books. As a way of looking at joints I focused on drawing over people to gain the basis for how joints move and where they can sit in conjunction with the other joints. The basis for all stickmen and figures is the shoulders as they determine the stance of the person and how they move. I feel like I am learning a whole new craft at the moment as it requires a lot of thinking ahead to the final stance as the joints and ligaments won’t move in a 360 degree motion. To forward my work over the coming week I will continue to draw figures and come up with a concept by Wednesday which shall help towards a final piece which could consist of a series of illustrations or a small piece of garment construction.

Personal life…
Not much has gone on over the past week so there isn’t much to talk about. I feel like I am going nowhere fast with life.
Sister has headed back to University which I am proud of her for doing as I know she is going through an emotional rollercoaster at the moment.
I am obsessed over a chicken bag which I might just have to purchase soon as I keep looking at it and want it more and more.
Partner is doing fine which is good; we get by and we have settled into life.
Harvey is being lively like usual which can get annoying at times as after 11 years it takes its toll on you. (Sorry cat!) But he is part of the family and love him to pieces