Tutorial

Today I had a tutorial the tutor was half an hour late which wasn't her fault it was a time table problem we've had a few of them recently but all is well now. It was a good chance to get some advice on my micro teaching session which is something I'm terrified of doing I lack in confidence when it comes specifically to speaking in front of people. My tutor told me to start of with a mind map in techniques that I use in print and then use it as a beginning. This advice was pretty vague and didn't really help me but I gave it a go anyway and decided to just stick to a mini project starting technique that I always use and know well.

She also gave us some things we should look out for whilst work shadowing:

• How the teacher observes class
• How the class engages & interacts
• How the teacher uses learning objectives
• How the experience makes you feel 
• How the teacher manages behaviour

Back after the easter break

Today was our first day in the new Stockport studios.  it was nice to finally be able to get into our space and be able to get back into work its just annoying that we only have a few weeks left in uni and won't really be spending much time there. as soon as we got there we got straight into uni mode and got told about our new tasks over the next few weeks which included planning a workshop for the Stockport Art festival, a micro teaching workshop (10mins long) and finally a work shadowing session at a high school that I am most definitely looking forward to.

We were told we had to base our Workshop on stockport and use it as inspiration this was a little difficult for me as I don't really know a lot about stockport and haven't been their before apart from the town hall. luckily for me I was in a group with two girls who knew about the area and were from there. Straight away they came up with the idea using the Stockport Viaduct as inspiration although we did discuss other ideas. we decided to use the Viaduct as a mural for the community to add bricks onto that have been decorated by them and then also have facts about the Viaduct dotted around on it. some of the facts that we learnt were:

• Built in 1939- 1940
• Largest brick structure in western Europe 
• Victorian engineering
• Cost £70,000
• 33.85 metres high
• 111.1 foot tall
• 11,000,000 bricks
• Designer/engineer- George Buck 

We also got the chance to walk around the town and take pictures.

Viaduct

High school planning

This task was difficult because we only had a few hours of meeting time to talk and get together a lesson plan for this workshop. It was very difficult to begin with as we were a huge group working on one workshop together so we wasted abit of time not starting a discussion straight away. So we had to split off into smaller groups and come up with ideas and finally mesh them together. We threw many different ideas out there and had to put them all together and see what we could come up with. A main idea that we like was the apocalypse idea where we gave the students a senario and they had to make do with the items we gave them to makeup a survival kit that could be kept in a window box for a quick escape. This is what we came up with as a group.

 

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Making task

We were given a task to make objects for a window box using aluminium cans and bottles. This was a fun task to do although it was tricky using the cans as materials. As I was making the flowers using these materials I decided to think of some restrictions that I could give myself whilst making the flowers that could also be applied to a school environment. I decided to use all the materials without having any mess left over. It wasn't a difficult task as it gives you a chance to try and make different outcomes out of one bottle or a can. It is a quick and easy way to make something using recycled materials.

We then went in to uni and everyone displayed their work and we all got to have a look at what they made this was a good way to pick up ideas and use other peoples tecniques with your own work. There was a variety of different types of flowers and bugs and many different object that could be put into a window box and used for a primary school class.

 

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Art Therapy

This was an interesting lecture. I had heard about Art Therapy before but hadn't looked into it or learnt much about it before. After learning more about Art therapy I have decided it's not something that interests me although it was interesting learning about it.

It was fascinating learning about how art can be used to help people with self-esteem issues because art is used purely for expression and the activities are non judgemental because there is no wrong or right. Using drawings and symbolism is a safe way to talk about yourself especially if there is a language barrier and children are unable to communicate.

As part of this lecture we did a few drawing tasks, we drew a sun, moon, tree and a drawing of anything that we wanted to draw. It was a fun task really simple and straight forward. Every single drawing was different it was interesting to see how different they all were even when we all used the same equipment it's a task that would be good for young children as it's fun and simple.

 

 

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Ceramic Transfers

I have been designing for ceramics and china dinner sets mugs etc. so I've been looking at different companies and where I feel my own brand would fit in. I've looked at brands that are sold at a higher end shop such as Selfridges, House of Fraser and Debenhams. One of my favour brands I've come across is Viller & Boch. I straight away fell in love with their beautiful floral romantic patterns on their Mariefleur collection. They were very pretty and reminded me of a summer garden its a collection I'd be a proud owner of! Ive also looked at brands with in super markets that are less expensive and super markets own brands also there are many different markets for china. I have been researching ways to transfer your designs onto china a few websites have some good examples:

http://skinnylaminx.com/2008/06/10/ceramics-transfers-tutorial/

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/bookstore/ceramic-transfer-printing/

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7683306_make-own-ceramic-mug-transfers.html

https://www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/villeroy-boch/tableware/kollektionen/new-cottage/mariefleur-basic.html 

New Brief

So, after finding out that we will be writing our own brief this project I think I will keep it simple and straight forward but try a few new different techniques. I have decided to continue a few parts of my previous research in this new one to see how differently I can take a concept and manipulate it into something new and fresh! I have decided to bring forth the paisley theme i'd briefly included last time but make it the basis of my designs this time. I will also include my personal life into my work and use my experiences from my own life as I feel they make my work have a different story behind it.

work so far & tutorial

We had a tutorial today and I was able to speak to alex about my work so far, these drawings are my favourite so far and I think the represent my research and all my influences that i have talked about before. I have used traditional paisley and henna motifs in my drawings and i have also used these colours as my foundation to begin working on my final outcomes. The feedback was mainly good Alex said to mix the drawings i had done at the beginning with these ones and also maybe make the colours a little more subtle. 

Work so far & tutorial

Today we had another tutorial and I showed my work that I'd done over the following week. Ive been brushing up on my photoshop skills and I'd been changing colours using a technique called replace colour where I played with the colour tool and made colours change. None of these drawings are set in stone they are pure practice. Alex had told me that the drawing with the red part in the right hand corner reflected my initial research (disposable camera pictures) and also looked interesting so i have decided to include i through out my project. I was also told to continue practicing and doing more drawing work.

Work so far & Tutorial

We had a tutorial today and i got to show the series of drawings i have done over the few weeks. I have used different media such as inks and water colours and different pens. I have used motifs and patterns in my drawings that I've pulled out from different pictures and research that I have done so far. This tutorial went well, Alex was pleased with the drawings I did and helped me with my next steps. For my next step I was told to play around with the colours and maybe go a little brighter to what i have done so far. If I was to go back and do something different about these drawings i think I would introduce a few hints of a brighter colour so it wont be as dificult introducing the whole concept to more colour.

Tutorial

So after having my first tutorial with Alex I have decided to do the Future Past project where using things from the past as an influence into making something new for the present time. I think this fits in well with my research and everything thats going to go on in my life at the moment thats influencing my work, as a lot of the cultural things are all very traditional and I think they will help me in my practice.