Merry Christmas

Due to the christmas spirit floating about, I thought it would be interesting to capture the little things that make this time of year so magic through a photography collage.

Merry Christmas!

A stitch in time

Throughout all the festive hustle and bustle, I have finished producing my lock interior tapestry which consists of of heshing, wool, copper wire and apple tree branches. I found producing this piece to be quite time consuming but all in all a very learned experience as it has thought me a great deal in using combined materials. I have learned how to create imagery with various types of textured and coloured wool along with various other materials.

I choose to represent the lock interior through neutral tones as I find these colours to be visually effective in creating an earth-like sense which relates back to roots being locks of their own. In a sense the the stitched image of lock interior is rooted within the heshing itself which also relates to my concept.

Overall i found creating this piece to be one of the most thought-inspiring as connecting both my themes of locks and roots really helped develop my concept.

Decisions, Decisions...

I finally got round to taking a few photographs of my 3d key sculpture. Sometimes you can really convey a concept just through photography as I find the photographs of the piece be more attractive than the piece itself. They display the theme of opportunities yet they are keys to the unknown which I guess has ultimately led me onto the subject of secrets. These keys have progressed my work into an area which I wouldnt have thought of discovering.
In life, we are always facing decisions and never know where one door may lead us. This piece is really symbolic about how I sometimes feel in life. As a young, determind woman with so many options; choosing the right key in life is quite important yet unnessary, as each door will open up new things to me. These keys hide away secrets of their own, they are a symbol of the unknown which highly interests me.

-Theresa

Blooming from a bud

So today i set myself the task of creating a paper flowers for my bud sculpture. I wanted to represent secrets blossoming from the bud and coming into view to the public. I chose to create the flowers in various neutral tones as it seemed to correspond with the colours of heshing. I created these flowers by cutting many copies of a flower silhouette and by removing a petal from each layer.


I chose to orniment these "blooming secrets" with words that we would associate with secrets themselves, ie Love,Hate,Wish,Hope. I found that these flowers worked perfectly in conveying my concept and I am really happy with the outcome, especially the black paper tissue flowers with orange pastel writing. In a way the black flowers represent the deep dark secrets while the white ones may represent little white lies.Overall all i love the blooming effect they have and how they overflow for the inside of the bud sculpture.
I hope to embellish the bud itself in more wool. This piece is a sister piece to the root work i have created, even though it has a diverse form it still represents the same concept.

Here is a beautiful tutorial on making similar flowers to the ones that I have made:  http://meholder.blogspot.com/2009/03/paper-flower-tutorial.html

Cao for now
-Theresa

I heard it through the grapevine

 After experimenting with bud forms and cocoons structures, I decided to go back to forming a more developed 3d root work. This time I am carefully contemplating the colour, texture and form of the finger knitting which i will be using to create roots. This time i decided to add a hint of colour. I found a quite attractive spool of wool which reminds me of ivy as there is various tones of green and brown throughout it. I found to wool to be perfect for my piece. I am concentrating on creating a mass of roots that are long in length, as the roots represent secrets and their length represent that secrets can sometimes trip you up unexpectedly.

Ceramic voicebox

Here is my resulting ceramic voicebox piece which i created earlier in the month (click on photograph to enlargen). This piece is highly stylistic with the rust symbolising the wear and tear secrets have on us if they are withheld. I also created a short whispering sound effect with I placed within the vessel to symbolise secrets; hopefully I will have a video of it uploaded soon!

I found working with clay to be a highly educative experience in which i learned many new techniques in creating forms and working with glazes.I learned that the process and creation of beautiful ceramic pieces is quite an intricate one. I also found out that the more developed a design is the less likely you are to run into any problems. Simple and clear design is without doubt the way to go in creating effective ceramic pieces.

 I like the way my ceramic work turned out although I would have liked to add various other features to it for example, writen secrets glazed inside the cup form. I would have also liked to put in a turquiouse colourant through the rusted shapes to show further decay but overall I am quite happy as my concept comes across quite clearly through the piece.

Budding ideas

 After creating my small porcelain flowers and looking at different types of stamens, i became interested in looking at buds. Buds themselves lock away the unknown which i find to be an attractive quality. I love the fact that underneath such dull exterior lies a flower waiting to blossom. I started to think how this subject could relate to my theme, in terms of secrets hiding away; waiting to blossom.

I decided to create a 3d sculpture from chicken wire and heshing sewn onto its exterior, as you can see below. This piece really inspired me as its form is just so simplistic yet it gave me great inspiration.

I havent quite finished the piece to the extend i would like to but i decided to post these images of it as a work in progress. I sketched the piece as it is and it highly reminded me of cocoons which has furthered my thinking of locking away secrets. I hope to create another 3d sculpture soon surrounding the basis of cocoons.

Anyways,enjoy!

-Theresa.

And so the count down begins!

The frosty mornings

The chilled evenings

The icey nights

...Christmas is on its way!

<3<3<3

Delicacy is beautiful

This week I have decided to develop my wool root sculpture and to create a more finely planned work with more visual aspects. I decided to focus on the delicacy of blooming flowers as secrets themselves are delicate issues that bloom in the public. I looked at different types of flowers and buds to use as my subject matter but found one suiting plant which is the lotus flower. This flower is visually stunning with many layers and meaning.
The lotus flower symbolises purity and divine birth, which in actually fate relates to my theme, as releasing secrets may purify oneself. I chose to create my own version of a white lotus flower through wire, tissue paper, invisible tape and a light piece. I love the idea of light being used in sculptures, especially when its found sheening through tissue paper. Lanterns have always inspired me, even as a child I found them to be so magical. I created the lotus flower's leaves in wire and cover them with white tissue paper with tape and then layered these leaves on top of each other to give the piece a 3d effect. I then covered the light structure with tissue paper so it would flow in with the leaves. I found the piece to be visually effective while set in the dark but when in the light it hadnt got the mysterious and delicate effect I was looking for. Although the tissue paper didnt completely statisfy my visual concept, I did get some great photographs of it shining in the dark which i find highly pleasing.

I spoke with Kieran shortly after creating the structure and we spoke about creating small delicate flowers from porcelain clay which I thought would work extremely well with my rooted wool sculpture. So off I went to the ceramic department where Kieran showed me how to created such intricate flowers; using oil, porcelain and a few inventive techniques. The absolute skill and beauty of creating such gentle blossoms and leaves is fascinating. I took my time in creating these porcelain pieces so that i could capture their true gracefulness. So heres a sneaky peak at the pieces which i will be firing in the coming days. Creating these flowers has really gotten me excited about creating my sculpture as they positively reflect my visual concept.

-Theresa

Tied up Tuesday

Here is an overview of my day through a series of images:

Love, Fear. Hate

I decided to further my concept of roots and their representation of locks and secrets, as their visual qualities seem to really inspire me. I feel that during this week i have really come to terms with the direction of where my project is heading. I have developed my concept in the boundaries of movement and movement and find myself creating pieces that are truly representational of my theme. Photography seems to be one practice which deeply inspires my work. Catching moments that pass us by and being able to study and analyse them to a deeper level really fascinates me.

This week i decided to put my finger knitting creations into use by making a combined material sculpture of a deeply rooted plant. I created this piece with wool, wire and brown paper with pen detail.
The piece, as you can see on the left, shows the combination of materials i used and how i structured the piece. The roots represent how secrets are locked away beneath the surface yet the leaves represent how these secrets may bloom or flourish and become known to the public. I printed words of secrets onto the leaves, giving bare minimal detail which makes the viewer unlock the meaning of the piece. Fear. Love. Loss. etc , these words represent our constant thoughts and feelings that effect us deeply. Creating this piece has really urged me to develop the sculpture in a highly conceptual manner with more visual aspect such as different buds and flowers and different lengths of roots. Choosing roots as a subject matter has proven to be quite an interesting  task.

During the week i also delved into the concept on locking away secrets within a journal. This piece is a sequencial work which leads on from my intricate pen drawing of a journal with secrets creeping out in a weed form. I love the idea of distilling reality through glass and locking away secrets within compartments. I designed this piece as you can see on the left entirely in cardboard. I used corrugated cardboard to give effect of pages. I painted the piece in a tarnished style which represents the wear and tear that secrets have on our lives. I added a magnifying glass piece which represents a peephole which distills the perception of secrets.
I am currently working on creating a moving roll of secrets with lights inside. I would also like to create a leaking medium of somesort which that flows from the journal, but for now i would rather develop my root concept.

"Drawn to Stitch" by Gwen Hedley, is one book which i owe my inspiration to. It has inspired me to work in different materials on various medium. This beautiful books pairs down complex subject matter in an truly fascinating manner. The photography of  lock interio which you can see to the right is image that is currently inspiring me with ideas for a new work. I have chosen heshing, wool ad wire to depict my vision of lock interior in an inventive manner. I am also deciding on using natural wood which i have collected over the weekend, as structure.

-Theresa

Going back to my roots

 In relation to my project on motion and movement, i have furthered my concept of secrets into roots as roots are symbolic of both locks and secrets combined. I feel that roots have great visual qualities in relation to showing a sense of movement therefore i found them to be a quite interesting source of subject matter. I also thought of how roots are hidden away like secrets they are buried beneath a surface, unseen to others. Another subject matter which i find quite interesting is the pattern found in wood and the bark of trees. Their natural embellishments are made of the most beautiful designs. The rings and knots of wood almost remind me of fire or waves in a sense.I also wanted to focus on droplets as a poem which i have read inspired my thoughts on how droplets are secrets that fall to the ground and soak away until the next storm. Another part of my project which i would like to focus on is photography and telling my life and my secrets through keyholes, like the photograph i have taken on the right. I want to develop this concept deeper and to create a piece with these images that show a great sense of movement. I find myself easing into the project more and more and am constantly asking myself, what can i do to show movement? I also find myself asking,what materials can i used that show movement as well as describing my subject matter in an inventive manner. I experimented with spices and cloves in create the rich colours of rust and chains.

 

Interesting projects are constantly running in the creative grounds of L.S.A.D. There is currently a beautiful fashion exhibit running in the hallway of the ground floor. These beautiful garments are quite geometrical with unusual choices of form and pattern. Seeing the work of the fashion students while passing through the hallway really inspires me as the resulting pieces are so skillfully made with such creative and original concepts.

 On Friday the 18th of November, as a part of studio 3's group crit with Elaine, we took a fascinating trip to some wonderful galleries in the vicinity of Limerick city.  Limerick City Gallery of Art was just one of them with such inspiring pieces. Heres a quick glimpse of some of the works which i found to be inspiring.

I particullarly liked the ceramics works by Irish artist; Cormac Boydell. The pieces are so intensely rich and with much elemental aspects. They are also quite affordable pieces of fine artwork with orginality flowing through each piece. I adored the design of one particular piece which was of the salmon of knowledge.