Refelective Task

Hi! I’m back and ready to art attack the pants off of the year. It’s my first week back in CSAD and I have the task of self reflection through answering these following questions:

Materials and process – What are your preferences and why?

I do remember as it’s coming back to me the incredible enjoyment of working in three dimension. I love to see my artwork literally come out at me and I enjoy repurposing the interesting things I find to create something new and become a part of my work and world. I particularly recall this feeling with my Street car named desire project that I crafted at the start of year one where I created the set using my collection of  recycled materials using anthing that I could find and carefully creating symbolic links in the way I use them. I believe it’s the searching  and the actively creating sensations for my hands that keeps a fire in my heart burning. I am also really excited by the idea of making mixed media 2D work in the form of professionalised prints. All in all I just love for my media to really collaborate within my work.

• Multimedia (recycling, reusing, repurposing, utilising collections of random things I find)
• LOVE paper mache!
• Rough Sketching. (My first and instant outcome- e.g drafting)
• Working with colour expressively rather quickly! (Any paint) I particularly like using light washes with watercolours.
• Sequential narrative making – playing with perspective, being inventive with it.
• Life drawing.
• Binding.

What five artists do I admire?:

1. Red Nose Studio – Chris Sickels 

The Red Nose Studio produces 3D illustration and stop-motion animation created by a talented artist known as Chris Sickels who uses what is on hand and at arms reach to produce images like these below come to life with textures, light and elbow grease.

“… to keep my hands busy and get away from the world for a little bit” –  Sickels

What is your vision? (A handwritten sign is Sickles studio)

Fabricating, concepting, photography, drawing, woodworking.

He saves the things he finds.

“The photograph is the finished product, it’s like the painting” – Sickels

“He just came from a sketch” – Sickels

“A lot of it is nonsense I throw a lot of wires around” – Sickels

‘RACE TO COLLECT’ Source: http://www.rednosestudio.com/#/race-to-collect/

‘BUISNESS FABLES’ Source: http://www.rednosestudido.com/#/business-fables/

‘THE FREEDOM OF NAVID LEAHY’ Source: http://www.rednosestudio.com/#/navidleahy/

2. Mister Finch

Mr Finch is a self taught textiles sculpture artist who mostly uses recycled materials not only as an ethical statement but he believes they add more authenticity and charm to his creations. Flowers, birds and insects particularly fascinate Mr Finch with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour. Humanizing animals with shoes and clothes is something Mr Finch has always done and he likes to imagine that they come alive at night.

I particularly love the detailed features that go on in Mister Finch’s textile sculptures and the brilliant concept of humanitizing animals that bring them closer to our world.

Source: http://www.mister-finch.com/portfolio/attachment/tumblr_o89gtx2zlk1rx92fao1_500/

Source: http://www.mister-finch.com/portfolio/attachment/fox-open-small/

Source: http://www.mister-finch.com/portfolio/attachment/foxes-sat-small/

3. Jim Mckenzie

Jim Mckenzie is an American artist and director based in New York City. Mckenzie’s sculptures and paintings often depict surrealist wonderlands occupied by highly saturated characters.

I particularly like the ideas in Jim Mckenzie’s creations that are very extraordinary and engrossing.

‘PUGGLEPILLAR’ Life Size Mixed Media Sculpture. Source: http://jimmckenzie.net/sculpture

‘THE GATEKEEPER’ Mixed Media Sculpture. Source: http://jimmckenzie.net/sculpture

‘PUMPIN CRAB’ Resin Figurine. Source: http://jimmckenzie.net/sculpture

4. Helen Musselwhite

Helen Musselwhite creates paper scultpures and a lot of her inspiration comes from the British countryside.

Musselwhite’s choice of colours for this scene is particularly captivating. ‘THE MYTH OF WILD ERIC’ Source: http://www.helenmusselwhite.co.uk/projects/the-myth-of-wild-edric/

Paper Art by Helen Musslewhite. Source: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/300052393896976296/

Paper art by Helen Musslewhite. Source: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/161918549073652421/

 

5.) Chris Hagan

Chris Hagan is a Freelance Illustrator based in Brighton (UK) who creates wonderful mixed media limited edition art prints inspired by nature, folk art and life. What I really like most of all about Hagan’s proffesional results is that he doesn’t just stick to one media with his colourful and very concluded work he seeks out more tools in a adventurous stride and makes them entertwine and dance with the piece to work together as a powerful one, like an ensemble.

‘RIDING THE HORSE OF LIFE’ Source: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/181697314/illustration-art-print-riding-the-horse?ref=shop_home_active_2

‘THE BIRDS’ Source: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/271321527/bird-illustration-art-print-the-birds-a?ref=shop_home_active_4

‘THE LADY OF SHALOTT’ Source: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/224934273/illustration-art-print-the-lady-of?ref=shop_home_active_20

Three things that inspired me last year?

1. Working in teams.
2. Going to talks and Seminars.
3. Going out on trips with the uni – adventures and inspiration hunting.

What materials, processes and visual languages did I try last year that I want to explore further?

1. Repurposing things that I find to create somthing three dimentional.
2. Visual narrative and pacing, playing with perspective.
3. Colour exploration and collaboration with mixed media experimenting.
4. Collage – particularly for words and sentences.

What have I not done that I want to try?

1. Paper sculpting like Helen Musselwhite’s 3D approach.
2. Making puppets.
3. Printing techniques.
4. Using mixed media for a 2D piece like how Chris Hagan uses his media so that they work together to create a powerful finish.

What creative activities do I enjoy the most?

1. Using the things I find to create a three dimentional artwork. REUSING, REPURPOSING.
2. Being messy at times, I really do love using paper mache particularly for the reason that I work with my hands so much that it plasters them with the texture and feel of the medium – Connecting with my media.
3. Being expressive and getting my feelings straight out there on the work.

Three challenges that I have encountered that I want to work through?

1. Time management – getting my projects completed on time to a professional standard.
2. Professionalism in my presense at UNI – so I want to get to uni for 10 then work through until 5 for 5 days a week – using the studio is valuable to my learning experience.
3. To work by these mottos:

Source: https://ellenreesblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/f7b6b-muchofthestressthatpeoplefeeldoesntcomefromhavingtomuchtodoitcomesfromnotfinishingwhattheyvestartedcopy.jpg

Source: http://www.sparkpeople.com/assets/quote_images/quote_7.jpg