Resign Module

So our very first modal!! How exciting though a bit daunting as I don't think that anyone knew what is was we were meant to be doing, how much work and what we were meant to be achieving!

However I was pleased with the final outcome though it was a little obscure and I managed to do a fair bit of experimenting which was good as Ive never really done much mould making and resign work before!

Once dried I then started to have a play around with what I could do with my castings. I decided that if I could wrap them around they would make these really nice shapes that I could potentially make them into light fittings. So this being only a prototype as there is a lot of things that would need to be worked out like how they would be fixed together as the hot glue just wouldn't do it!

Another way that the hanging light fixings could look, I was just having a play around with ideas!

If you apply heat to the casting then it will go see-through so by putting the cast into the oven and leaving it there for a while will mean that A. it will dry it out a little more and reduce the tackiness of the casting and B. sharpen the colour up and reduce the opaqueness.

I then let it set (again for about 6-8 hours but I left it over night). Once dried the bio resign gives a very bubbly effect which is really nice. I slowly worked the cast out of the mould being careful not to break the resign as its still delicate - partly as the mould is thin.

Carefully I then pored the resign into my mould and equaled it off.

I then added a little colour pigmentation to make it a bit more exciting and mixed the resign up well you want the two parts to be really mixed else parts of the resign would set or it will just turn out like jelly!

To mix the bio resign you need Bio-resign:1/3 Vs Hardener:2/3 to have the right proportions.

Close up picture of the latex mould where you can see some little "nicks" in the sides of some of the detail, I'm hoping that when I start to cast the resign wont pick these up.

Turning the latex mould over I was slightly disappointed to find that the latex had found its way underneath the card model so next time ill have to stick it down to a flat surface with glue or something a bit stronger than just wedging it with clay! Anyway I cut out all the bits of my card mould and neatened up the edges so that I could then start to cast some resign.

Once the Latex was dry (usually taking about 6-8 hours, but I just left it over night) I then removed the dried out wall.

Before I could even start to cast anything I needed to build a mould. I did this through making a mock up of what I wanted cast out of card, building a wall of clay around the outside and poring latex over the top.

"Power of Making" London trip

We went on a really great trip to London a couple of weeks ago. It was productive even though I was trawling around London on a horribly wet and surprisingly busy day (think that this was due to half term so not fantastic timing) besides the point!

So I started off by tubing it over to Convent Garden where Emily and I hit the contemporary Applied Arts which had a fantastic display of jewelry pieces using a wide range of media by a range of artists including Bettina Dittlmann whose contemporary pieces are very original and uses a range of bright, cheery colours and Stacey Bently who had designed some delicate broaches which were very intricate and 3D.

We then walked over to the Contemporary Ceramics Center which contrary to the map we had in had - not so easy to find! Anyways once we did find it, it was totally worth it as it has some really great ceramics, including an interesting exhibition by Bowen and Bowen.

From there a quick tube over to the V&A where The Power of Making exhibition was on (think it finishes on the 2nd January 2012) which was really interesting and well worth a visit with loads of great new and innovative ideas!

These lovely loose porcelain pieces Ikuko Iwamoto are really nice. I like everything about them from their wobbly shapes to the pimples covering the little pots with little pin pricks of colour!

I like the idea of creating really quite structural pieces even in their original forms like Sasha Wardell.

Really like the organic shapes that Penny Fowler uses.

This work by Sophie Cook was also nice I liked that she has a range of different shades of one colour but then also didn't glaze all of the ceramics giving them different dimensions!

I also really liked the work by Susan Disley and how the little jugs didn't have a handle and you just had to pick them up by the jug. It makes you question weather you needed a handle in the first place!

These functional porcelain pieces made by artist Lara Scobie have lovely form, I particularly like the little handles that they have, I think it gives then a really quirky feel.

However on a closer look its actually made out of porcelain carefully wrapped together whilst still wet. Having done some research into this technique i believe that paper is covered in porcelain slip formed into the desired shapes and left to dry out. Once dry the moulds can then be fired in a kiln where the paper inside would just burn away leaving the porcelain where the artist Valeria Nascimento could then construct this lovely piece.

This decorative sculpture gives you the impression that its a delicate piece made out of a material like paper.......

Walking through London we came across some lovely murals - exciting! This one was particularly nice as you come around a corner in Convent Garden you come into view of this full scale painting taking up the entire side of the building.

Bath Adventures

So earlier on in the term Gabby and I took a trip down to Bath to do some research and have a wander around some of the art galleries in this picturesque city. We manged to find our way around town without to much difficulty even though it was fairly horrendous weather!

From the train station we found our way to Great Pultney Street walking over the Pultney Bridge to some of the art galleries, then up to the top end of town. Our day was really successful as I found loads of really good artists that will be great for my research in print for my next module!

This Lino Cut by Anita Klemin shows us a different style with a combination of just three colours. With the image in black and wight and the background in colour, though surprisingly this promotes the image and pushes it forward where I would have expected it to be the other way around which I found interesting.

Print by Elaine Marshall - I like that she had taken such a simple object and made it interesting through print, with the mix of colours and use of dark and light.

Wood cut by Claire Curtis. She has used a combination of three wood cuts using three different colours, I particularly like the use of orange as it just "Pops" making the image much warmer in contrast to the gray and black, this combination manages to give the print good depth.

Claire Curtis again manages to create a really vibrant print with a range of zippy, organic colours. Particularly like her subject media here with the organic shapes and range of depth, it also reminds me of Angie Lewin's prints with some of the simplified shapes.

Breon O"Casey creates some lovely prints with fantastic use of colour. Using a much more simplistic use of shapes they link well, creating a stylised finished piece.

Susan Binns has created a lovely range of ceramics using a simplistic and limited colour pallet that works wonderfully. I think that the use of thin and thick lined here is what gives it such a lovely diversity, making something so simple really lovely.

Walking over Great Pultney Bridge, and looking lovely in possibly the only sunshine we had all weekend!

First Post of the Year, and the New blog!

Well Im all set up not and awaiting for inspiration to hit. Though having said this over the summer I did buy Angie lewin's newist book 'Plants and Places' which is AMAZING talks all about her thoughts and inspirations, process and so on. perhaps I love her work so much because I can really relate to her choice of studing plants and flowers. I find her fluid shapesand colour choices lovely. Cheak her out if you've never heard of her!