All is revealed...

So, now Christmas is over I can reveal what all the secrecy has been about. (I realise that sentence just made me sound like a bit of a scrooge but I'm honestly not! I love Christmas!) One of the presents I made as a gift was a stitched and painted doll of a vintage tattooed gentleman. I liked it so much that I actually thought it could be a great inclusion to my exhibition in April. Not this exact doll you understand but other dolls that I have made that reveal a little bit more about me. I was impressed with the final size when he was completed. He's 27 1/2 inches tall, which was not intentional but just sort of happened. I think dolls such as these would be an exciting addition to my exhibition and would give me the opportunity to work in fabrics.

I am drawn to the number three again when thinking of these dolls. Maybe there could be an Emma, Judy and Terry Baker doll? I was actually thinking about my obsession with collections and groups of objects and where this may have come from. To tell you the truth I was lying in bed and instead of sleeping was giving it some serious thought. I think there is safety in numbers. I like to fill my home with numerous collections of found, vintage treasures, perhaps to keep me safe. This could be why I like to group things together, so they themselves are safe. I also realised in the same early hours of this morning that I like to group things in threes or multiples of threes. The work I did for the first MA exhibition was all in groups of nine. Since the death of my brother there are only three Bakers left. Could this be where the three comes in to it? Maybe I need to keep reminding myself that there are just the three of us now and so what better way than to create three dolls of me, Mum and Dad.

I have probably just raised more questions than I have answers but I feel they are important ones that I will continue to ponder. Whilst I'm thinking I shall do some drawing work. That's a promise.

Just a quick update as the journey continues...

I have been diligently keeping my sketchbooks recently, not least because I've been sharing them with the Foundation students and today was our show and tell. Isn't it funny how you always want to be able to create the things you haven't! There were elements of the students sketchbooks that I thought 'I wish I'd made that.' You always seem to want to create the things that you haven't or couldn't!
I've actually found some more sketchbooks but they're even smaller than the A6 variety I have been using recently. I wonder if I'm just taking it too far now?
Anyway, there are still a few things that I'm quite excited about and keeping tightly under wraps until I'm ready for the big reveal...I hope it'll be worth it!

That time of year again...

So, it's that time of year again when my thoughts turn to Christmas presents! As I tend to make a lot of my gifts I generally ask myself why I didn't plan them all sooner....However, I have some great ideas this year and am planning to start this week. The reason I'm writing all this on here is because these ideas link directly to my art work...I can't believe I didn't think of them sooner! I've actually only thought of them recently due to a particularly bad migraine I had yesterday and today. (Stick with me. This is going somewhere I promise!) Whenever I have a migraine I have to go to sleep and end up having very vivid dreams. It was in these dreams that I dreamt about a Christmas present I had made! (I obviously hadn't. It's a dream you know!) So, anyway, before this gets even more confusing, I woke up and thought that it would not only be a great present but should also be included in my MA final exhibition. I got so excited that I ordered all the equipment I needed and will make a start this weekend. I will post again soon and all will become clear! Now I'm off back to bed until this migraine properly clears up and who knows what I'll dream!

May the documentation commence...

I went shopping the other day and quite unexpectedly came across this little sketchbook that I was desperate to use.

I loved the exercise book feel to it and so bought it. I think this will be sketchbook 14!
I'm hoping to start drawing for my three dimensional fabric pieces in the next few weeks now it has settled down a little at work. I'm itching to get them done but as always good things take time. (I think the actual saying is 'good things come to those who wait' but what I said has the same sentiment!)

How will another sketchbook compare?...

I was worried that, having filled my sketchbook bought in Barcelona I wouldn't be able to find another sketchbook that would compare! Then I found my Grandpa's notebook and felt that this should become my next sketchbook.

I've enjoyed using this book so much. I like the fact that it has previously been used and had another life before I even started drawing in it. I even found a phone number that I initially thought my Grandpa had written but on closer inspection I realised it must've been written by my Grandma as her handwriting was always a little more 'loopy.' My Mum has always said that my writing is just like my Grandpa's, small and very neat! Anyway, I'm getting off the point now.

You can see the phone number written on the above page but I haven't yet rung it. I guess I'll be a little disappointed if the number is no longer used or if it's for something quite mundane. I think I like the idea of it being an unknown, mystery number. I love a good mystery!

And so, the end of the sketchbook and I wonder what the ripped out pages were used for? Now I'm worried that I won't find another sketchbook to compare with this one. It's funny how things change! Maybe I should go and raid my Mother's house and see if I can find anymore books I may want to use?

Sketchbook 13 is completed...

Well, I have been very busy of late, (what's new) mostly documenting my daily exploits in my sketchbook. I used a sketchbook that had been in my possession for some time and belonged to my Grandpa. As I was quite attached to the sketchbook I'll confess I was a little scared of using it because I really wanted to do it justice but having drawn on page one, it really wasn't so bad! The sketchbook now has a whole new meaning in it's completed state, although I must say I'm actually quite sad I have no more pages left.

Let the drawing commence...

I can hardly believe it but I've actually completed and handed in my final essay and now I can continue to draw. I have some major plans but have sadly had little time to implement them of late! All this is going to change, rest assured, I shall be busy from now on with practical work. I intend to draw some more of my precious objects and then re work them in Illustrator, adding colour and texture. I also hope to draw and then make in fabric some three dimensional cameras (my camera collection continues to grow) and continue my recording of life in sketchbook form. If I still have time to breathe after all of that I may even include some new ideas I'm working on...obviously I want to keep you in suspense and not reveal too much!

The new sketchbook...

So, the sketchbook hunt continues but in the meantime I found an A6 notebook that belonged to my Grandpa that I'm using to document my life. I have to say it is very pleasing to work in and I love the fact that it's had an alternative life previously. I hope I'm doing it justice!

I also desperately wanted to draw some cameras during the holiday, as my collection has continued to increase but sadly I have one day left before work starts! Somehow I don't think it'll be spent drawing cameras but I'll do my best as I think it is an integral part to my work and hopefully my final exhibition.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park...

Last week I went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I haven't been for a while so I was looking forward to it but wasn't particularly excited about the Juame Plensa exhbition that was on. How wrong I was. It was great and I particularly enjoyed the way he used text.

This was a metal curtain of text that you were able to walk through and touch. The metal letters clanged together. It also cast shadows of letters on the wall and floor of the gallery so you were surrounded by text. To me this was a joy!

In some pieces the text was used to create objects, which in much of the work was the human form.

I particularly like this piece. The text was punched in to metal and twisted throughout the figures. Although it is a very different technique to any I use it actually reminded me of my own sketchbook pages and the way I like to incorporate text so it is integral to the whole page, often winding through the imagery.

I'm so glad I went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This was definitely an exhibition worth seeing and gave me so many ideas about the future of text within my work.

Crafty Bakie...

I've been very busy this summer, not just writing assignments and working obsessively in my sketchbook but producing pieces of work for friends. My latest craft making exercise involved making a knitted Morrissey for a friend's birthday.

I really enjoyed making and packaging him and I wondered whether I could somehow incorporate this way of working in to my MA work. I like the idea of a knitted Terry Baker with salt and pepper hair (more salt than pepper.) I'm not sure he would! Perhaps I could make people and objects in my life and put them away in neat, little packages. These could be displayed as another one of my groups. This is definitely something I need to think about.

Return from Berlin...

I have neglected my reflections of late as it's the summer holidays and I've actually been in Berlin and am super inspired since my return. I've been to all the major galleries and just being in another city and seeing all the street art has got my creative juices flowing. There was one bad point to my holiday...I searched high and low for the perfect A6 sketchbook...and came home empty handed. Since completing my life changing, delicious sketchbook I'm now worried I'll never find another one that will live up to my high expectations.

Another sketchbook completed...

So, today is a good day as I have completed my fabulous life changing sketchbook.

However, it's also a bad day as now I have completed this sketchbook (which I might add is the best yet) I must start another but I'm worried no other sketchbook will live up to this one! This scale really works for me and the next sketchbook must be a similar size. I feel like my sketchbooks have evolved and now I must continue in a similar manner. That is quite a lot of pressure! I hope I can live up to it!

Didsbury exhibition of third year MA work 23/06/11

The third year MA students moved the Drumcroon exhibition over to the Birley Gallery in Didsbury so I went along to the preview. To be honest I wasn't sure how it would look at Didsbury after being in a white space at Drumcroon but all was well. The exhibition had been curated differently and so had a different feel than at Drumcroon, with many artists having more space to display more examples of their work. Again it made me think about my own exhibition and what my work would look like. It made me want to go home immediately and get my sketchbooks out. However, my tiredness prevented this and instead I have set myself a task this weekend to spend some much needed time indulging in my art. Watch this space!...

Digital illustrations...part three

So...following on from my illustrator diagrammatical drawings I have started to add colour. I haven't managed to add any texture yet (you know how life takes over sometimes!) but thought I'd give you a little sneaky peek at the beginnings of the work.

Drumcroon exhibition of third year MA work 05/05/11

The third year MA students work was exhibited at Drumcroon. I went along to see what was on display and I have to say it wasn't what I expected. The diversity of work displayed alongside each other worked extremely well and got me thinking about my own exhibition this time next year, how I'd like my work to be displayed and even whose work I think would complement it. I'm thinking, old bookshelves filled with my sketchbooks and some three dimensional fabric pieces, along with large scale printouts of my digital illustrations, although I do like the idea of them being small, framed pieces too! (This is starting to feel like a living room set design! I'm not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing!) Of course these ideas may change but it got me thinking...

Digital illustrations...part two

I enjoyed taking my illustrations in to Photoshop, removing elements and adding colour but I wanted to take the whole process further. As my interest was in the linear qualities of my drawings I thought it would be a good idea to take the work in to Illustrator and rework the lines over the top of my original drawing and take away all other elements in the image. Below are the results.

I like the way the drawings now have more of a diagrammatical feel and as they are all objects I own they feel quite like the beginnings of a self portrait, almost a recipe of ingredients for my life. I think I would like to take them further though and perhaps start to add colour and texture. I envisage lots of objects from my life suspended in negative space on an A1 or larger white page.
I think I'd better start drawing and documenting the hoardings of objects that make up my home and life.

Sketchbooks are delicious...

I've been very busy of late, hence the lack of recent reflections but I did start my new sketchbook and I have to confess it has changed my life! I am working in a delicious A6 size sketchbook and it is the best thing ever. I now feel like I cannot go back to the old size of sketchbook as the thought makes me shudder. I feel all my subsequent work must be in a similar size format to this new sketchbook that I have started and am unable to put down. I must go on the hunt for more tiny sketchbooks immediately!

Sketchbooks update...

I am happy to describe the bulk of my body of work as sketchbooks.
A little update...at the last count I had 11 sketchbooks each documenting life through my eyes. They are at varying stages but most of them are actually complete, each one containing different themes and sometimes working methods. They are not books to be developed from. They are my outpourings, to be closed again once read. Completing sketchbooks for me is a necessity. I see them all as final, completed pieces of work to be displayed in my exhibition space at the end of the course. Without them nothing else in my body of work would make sense. I'm not yet sure how they will be displayed but that'll become clear later down the line.
For now I shall just continue as I mean to go on...sketchbook 12 on the go!

Illustrations become more digital...

As always I've been enjoying my drawing but I felt like I wanted to continue to develop it in more of a digital manner. I played around with Photoshop in a similar way to how I ask my students to explore it and added colour to my work.

I feel like my drawings have started to become something else without losing their hand rendered, imperfect feel. I very much like the flat quality of the colour that you are able to apply when working digitally. This may be the next step in the evolution of my drawings. I now envisage some of them to be large scale and not the small drawings hidden away in my sketchbook. This is not somewhere I thought I would be!

I have even thought about combining images on the same canvas and subtracting any background that appears.  I am still happy with the idea of working with 'families' of objects and grouping things together. Eventually the combination of objects may be quite mixed, perhaps a form of self portrait that describes me through objects around me on a daily basis. This again constantly links back to my initial theme of documenting the world around me and looking for beauty in the ordinary.

Thinking about talking...

Last week we had to present our recent work to the rest of the group. As usual I became mute-like whilst everyone was able to articulate about their work and ideas. I realised I may be selling myself short by not discussing my work in depth with others. How are they expected to understand it if I am unable to lead them in to it?
I'm sure many people think I'm just the girl who draws objects and there's nothing more to it than that! Should I be concerned about that? I actually quite like the idea that some people may look no further than face value. After all, what's wrong with simply enjoying drawing? However, maybe I should talk about the many levels to my work, my fear of being left all alone and the accumulation of 'stuff' that I surround myself with to feel safe and make me temporarliy happy...Then again, if people want to look deeper, they can do.
I'll only let people in to my world if they really want to enter it!

Reflections following university last week...

We had the opportunity to look at some reflective journals from Year 3 students. I'm not sure how they'd have felt about that. I found it strange that many were able to comment on their influences and the work they created that linked to this. I thought about influences on me and the work I produce. I guess I find it difficult to identify many sources of inspiration because I'm inspired by everything around me, everyday. I look at blogs, websites, magazines, posters, books, shops, old knitting patterns, packaging, found objects. Basically anything and everything inspires me to work in the way I do.

Conscious stream of thought

I have been thinking quite a lot recently about how best to describe the work I create. I feel the most appropriate terms to use referring to my sketchbooks in particular is that they are a conscious stream of thought.

Although my work does have many layers I feel it is not necessary to understand them all and it may be taken at face value for exactly what it is, the everyday looked at in a different light.  

The role of stitch

Stitch has always played an important part in my work. I like working in a tactile manner and stitch fits within this. I enjoy the whole process of stitching and feel that this is an important part of the creation of the piece. However, I have been absorbed by my drawings recently and haven't used stitch as extensively as I have previously. I'm quite sure I'll come back to it at a later date. I have thought about taking some of my drawings of everyday objects and recreating them in stitch or even continuing the badge theme I used in my swimming based work.

Knitting as art

I started knitting a number of years ago for fun. I did knit as a small child but mainly scarves for teddy bears and things of that nature. I like to think I'm slightly more ambitious now! I started knitting hats, scarves, mittens and socks and then moved on to clothes. I have well and truly been bitten by the knitting bug and saw the potential of using it within my art work.

Obviously there was the knitted swimming costume I created but I also designed these knitted lungs. I'd like to continue to use knitting within my work but I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what form it will take or how it will fit in with the rest of my work. I like the idea of many knitted organs but also knitting the objects that I draw would be great. The only draw back with knitting is that it does take a long time! Watch this space!

The importance of text

Text has always played an important part in my work but recently I have used it more and more, often becoming an illustration or image in itself. I am continuing to use text and am particularly interested in hand rendered typography.

Sketchbooks or Reflective Journals...or something else all together...

Initially my sketchbooks started out as reflective journals and were a space where I could reflect on the work I had created. It quickly became apparent that  these sketchbooks went beyond simple reflections and actually became an integral part of my work. I have always used sketchbooks within all of my work but slowly my sketchbooks have actually become my work. I feel they are spaces where I can be completely honest and document the mundane nature of everyday life. This is a recurrent feature in my work. I am interested in the ordinary becoming extraordinary and looking at everyday life in a different way.

My sketchbooks form the bulk of my work and I fill them in obsessively. I'm not sure whether sketchbooks is the right term for them as they are, in my eyes, completed pieces of work in their own right.

Birley Gallery exhibition

As usual I was left feeling disappointed following the University exhibition. This usually happens when displaying my own work for others to see. I enjoyed creating my sets of 9 drawings of everyday objects and displaying them as little families of objects. There are many meanings to the work but I suppose I don't want them to be known to everyone that views it. I like the work to be viewed as it is. My sketchbooks hold all my true thoughts, feelings and ideas behind my work but the fact that they are closed and must be opened by the viewer makes them feel safe places within which to do this.

Victoria Baths Exhibition

So...I have decided to start this reflection with the work I created for an exhibition at Victoria Baths. The work created had to be site specific and linked not only to swimming but to my life. I have strong memories of swimming with my Dad and Brother on a Monday evening as a child. I liked the idea of linking these happy childhood memories with a traditional knitted bathing costume. This work also formed part of my 'Story so far' exhibition at University.

The knitted costume in all it's glory.

My simple drawing style reveals a sense of nostalgia, something which I think is evident in all of my work and again links back to my childhood memories.