Isle Of Wight

So, although regrettably, University is over and I have now settled into a relaxing few weeks at home. Last week I took a short trip to the Isle of Wight with my very close friend and his parents. It was very peaceful and it was nice to reflect on the year and the potential of what could lie ahead. During the trip we visited the ‘Ventnor Botanical Gardens’ which I must say were quite fascinating. You could definitely be forgiven for thinking you were lost in some tropical or far away land, yet it still retained an often royal, stylised feel to it.

Amongst the floral lustre however, the information centre at the front of the gardens had a very intriguing water feature that instantly took my eye. Often I see things that I find interesting to view in abstract forms. As with my ‘Rummage through the bins’ escapade, I was taken by the shape, textures and colours within the object and photographed several compositions that are less identifiable at first glance. Again, they may inspire future paintings but I am also enjoying them simply in their photographic form.

I have produced similar images to the following before, taken from the undersides of rusted boats at Lyme Regis and will put them up when I can find the disk!  For now, here are the best from the recent selection…

Postcards

Look out for my postcards people!!...

Degree Show

I'm afraid I haven't been blogging very much recently as I have been extremely busy preparing for my Degree Show at Bower Ashton Campus of UWE.

The work is a continuation of last semesters 'final piece'. I have explored different sizes and shapes for the works boundaries and experimented further with colour and pattern. This has resulted in seven new box frames, a total of eight. Four of these were selected for the show and from this, were then exhibited in the ‘New Designers’ show in London. This was extremely exciting news especially so soon after finishing education.

Very disappointingly I was not able to make it to the show in Islington but I am told that the work was received very well. It was amazing to be asked to participate so even that in itself was a fantastic start for me and hopefully the first of many to come.

Here are a few images from the exhibition at the University however....

Rummage through the bins...

To keep my studio practice fresh, I like to keep my eyes open to different, unexpected forms of inspiration. I took these photographs for example, whilst exploring my parents allotment. Amoungst the greenery, a well used blue bin caught my eye, behold, an interesting Tryptic.

Watch this space as I may work with these in black and white and experiment later in paint...



Taster of the end product...

The work has definitely progressed over the past several months and I am really enjoying where it is naturally taking me. It feels very organic and it has been the most engaging yet.

 I intend to carry on with the drawing, and 3D for the time being and I will entwine the two in the end result as they both feed each other. Here is a taste of what I intend to pursue for my show...

Paintings

I have wanted to experiment with a mixture of 3D on 2D large scale paintings, I am very interested in tonal qualities and creating modern patterns inspired by nature and what i have been exploring. I have decided it is not the right time at the moment however as I want to keep the ball rolling with the areas of my practice I already have going. Although I may not delve into this a great deal I feel it is something I must try at some point.

The white boards were an experiment with base tone and texture ideas and the blue work was from earlier in the summer. Watch this space for more later in the year...

In the Aquarium

The fragments also quite closely resemble coral like forms and this has opened up a whole new area in the drawing side of things, as well as inspiring how I imagine their potential layout and display further down the line. I am a bit worried if this has relevance as such but again, the work has been going its own way over the past several weeks so for the moment at least; I am going to let it lead me…

I have discovered some amazing images that have set my creativity wild just recently but due to licencing Im afraid I cant share. A book to seek out if you are intreaged however: Oceanic Wilderness by Roger Steene, definately one for the bookshelf guys! 

              

                                          Images of work to come…watch this space!!!