#17 Glastonbury Abbey

What does one do when their tonsils have been removed?... go on a wee trip to Glastonbury.

As you do

#16 Summer house

This is where I have spent the last week revising...or attempting too. I really want one!

#15 The Holburne Museum, Bath

I managed to visit the museum very quickly on Monday and I took a few photos of the outside. It was really busy and I didn't have time to check out Karen Wallis' exhibition, but I will later in the week.

Eric Parry Architects - Eric Parry is giving a talk Monday 23rd at the museum

#14 Healthy Office - A Vision for Coleford

This is a recent image for my final design studio project titled 'Healthy Office - A new vision for Coleford'. I had to produce a killer image to bring the whole project together. I used black fine liner 0.3, black ink, yellow water colour and water to blend the inks together. To get a bleeding effect, you wet the cartridge paper first and then add on the water colour. A nice and simple way to add shadow and depth to your drawing, is to bleed out a line drawing using water. 

#13 The 9mile journey

A friend and I hopped onto our bikes, once we figured out how to fit the bike carrier on the car and headed to Bradford on Avon from The George in Bathampton. Little did we know the length we would cycle! 9 miles in total, but it was totally worth the pain. We pedalled away along the canal, taking in the idyllic views and came across around twenty horses all drinking from the rivers edge. 

It was a perfect moment and took a few pictures. We rode past Warley Weir in Limpley Stoke and headed to our first stop the Angelfish Cafe (The chicken and grape baquette is a favourite!!). Our next stop was another pub, which was full of people all enjoying the sun! We finally made it to Braford on Avon, where we managed to get a spot at a pub and enjoyed some good food.


Around the corner from the pub, I showed my friend the tithe barn and the surrounding buildings. To our delight an ice-cream van was waiting for us!!

#12 Passion

On my home from work, I walked past the new retail shop The Loft in Bartlett Street and saw a window display of flowers and realised Passion was the latest company to become part of the store. The Loft is a lovely store which sells homeware, clothing (from different brands) and a cafe. And now you can purchase flowers all from under one roof. 

Bartlett street is one of Bath's hidden gems, with shops such as Mee Boutique, Toast, Antiques Centre, Artizan Hairdressers, Mauger Modern Art Gallery, Bertinet Kitchen, and Lighting Shop.

#11 The Holburne Museum

Sir Peter Blake 'A museum for myself'

This saturday marks the grand reopening of The Holburne Museum in Bath, with exhibitions from Sir Peter Blake and artist in residence Karen Wallis who documented the buildings change over three years.


Karen's work will be exhibited from saturday, which shows internal and external sketches of how the building has changed over time; an evolving artistic record. I recently contacted Karen about her thoughts on this modern intervention and she found the 'transition very positive'.

Check out the above video to see the vision proposed for the museum and decide for yourself what you think on saturday!

#10 Architectural Mapping

Architectural mapping is a special technique of projecting 3D films onto buildings, following their exact contours. This building is Frank Gehry's IAC headquarters. 

#9 Artist of the day - Judah

Gerry Judah

I was introduced to Judah's work a few years ago, and rediscovered Judah whilst reading Architectural Voices. I've never seen three-dimensional paintings quite like his and I think they are incredible. There is a clear architectural feel to them, as buildings and spaces are created on the canvas. The colourless paintings suggest that as the viewer, we should try and form a judgement of what we think it represents. 

Gerry Judah was born in India and now lives in London since the age of ten. As a young child he found London completely odd and uncomfortable and found himself drawing the landscape and buildings. 

Since living in Britain Judah's artistic skills were used in many ways, working for television, film, theatre, museums and public installations. His new work is held in public and private collections including the Saatchi Collection, the Imperial War Museum and the Goodwood Sculpture Park. 

Throughout Judah's work, the concept of 'absence' is strongly displayed. The images I have attached below Angels, 2006 are a series of paintings that depict buildings and settlements that have been subjected to sudden attack and destruction. Judah had an early interest in old ruins, and the physical remains that were left behind. It was the remnants of memory which could be rediscovered that inspired his work. 

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#8 Shadow Catchers Exhibition

'Shadow Catchers' at the Victoria & Albert Museum, is on until the 20th February, so only a few more days left, but I really recommend the show if you enjoy photography.  


I visited the V&A beginning of November 2010 and stumbled across this amazing exhibition of work by five international contemporary artists; my favourite being Floris Neusüss. All of the artists images were created not with a camera, but by using photographic paper and casted shapes onto surfaces.


The camera-less photographs show what has never really existed. They are also always 'an original' because they are not made from a negative.  Encountered as fragments, traces, signs, memories or dreams, they leave room for the imagination, transforming the world of objects into a world of visions.


If you visit the V&A website, under this current exhibition you can watch a video on Floris Neusüs and his photograms at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, which was where one of the first photographic negatives were created by William Talbot in 1835. 

'Be right back' 1984

1984

'Untitled' 1967

#7 Stories from the city

This was a project I finished before christmas. We had to use photography and compositional skills to form our final image. The theme was to try and capture either 'the old and the new', or find a view of Bath that isn't seen by an everyday tourist. 

I wanted to capture texture in my photography, so I chose to photograph the rooftops looking out from the top floor at Hall & Woodhouse, with the tip of the Bath Abbey quietly poking out.

This project was a public exhibition in the shopfront at Saville Row in Bath; which was curated by myself and others.

The Bath Chronicle

                  

#6 Artist of the day - Schiele

Video - Depiction of Schiele working

Egon Schiele 1890 - 1918

Egon Schiele is an Austrian painter, and was a major figurative artist of early 20th Century. His work is intense, graphic, erotic and pornographic. I love the line weights, pockets of deep, rich colour and clarity in his drawings. 

Figurative works defined by bone structure, creating a sharp, jagged edge throughout the body.

If you like the feel of Schieles work then search for more images, or alternatively purchase one of his books. A favourite of mine, studied during art foundation is 'Egon Schiele' by Erwin Mitsch, Publisher Phaidon. There are many to choose from!! But you can get reasonable priced copies via Amazon. 

x

#5 Secret Garden

The door to the secret garden
Lark House - Charlcombe Lane, Bath

#4 Peter Salter

Today, the new architect I have discovered is Peter Salter. Salter is a British architect and currently teaches as a Professor at the Welsh School of Art, Cardiff University. His early career saw him work for Alison & Peter Smithson (Known for 'brutalist' designs) who were the founding members to Team X. In 2004 he won the RIBA Annie Spink award. Most famously, he is known for the production of drawings for a series of projects which remain unbuilt. 

Salters drawings are highly developed and evocative, which are concerned with qualities of construction and spatial atmosphere. 

I want to inject some of his poetic qualities into my own work, to lift a flat, lifeless section or detail.

#3 Literature

Some of the books i've read and in the process of reading. Architectural Voices is particularly a good read by David Littlefield who is my tutor at University. The book encompasses interviews with artists, architects and case studies around the UK. The book is based around the concept that buildings speak. I highly recommend this read if your into history of a building, its historical journey it undertakes over time, derelict spaces, how surfaces change with human interaction and traces left behind physically on a building. 


Just a quick note on David Littlefield, as he deserves a mention here! He is an architectural writer, and has a masters degree in Interior and Spatial Design and has taught at many educational institutes such as Chelsea Arts and University of Bath. David also writes for many notable architecture magazines, particularly Building Design. 


The book i'm tackling now is 

Happy reading bloggers x

#2 Designers Desk

desk: view


This week my desk is quite tidy, which is a pleasant surprise. Usually there are blobs of dried glue, pieces of cardboard dotted around and no form of any organisation, just pure chaos! The mess usually progresses onto the carpet, where I form a second space to work. 
But this week is great, i'm trying to keep a tidy workspace to keep a tidy mind! Lets hope this sticks.

My essentials!! 
1. Macbook - a recent convert to the mac world and I love it 
2. Diary - Filofax design purchased from Paperchase 
3. Artists' Carry Box - my toolbox to keep my stanley knife, ink, tubes of paint, stamps and any other items 
4. Tracing Roll - tracing paper to loosely sketch out ideas, without the rigidness of a sketchbook 
5. Pantones - the architecture colour palette, at a pricey cost of £95 for the set, but a beautiful watermark finish leaving no connection lines 
6. Sharpie pens - a mini collection also attachable to your keys. who doesn't love anything small
7. Scale & Metal ruler - for the precision to ensure buildings stay up!
8. Architects Pocket Book - a present from a friend a few years ago, and I can't live without it; it provides a basic guideline to   sizes within the building industry and building regulations
9. Drawing tools - graphite pencil to create a strong, confident sketch, and a fine 0.5 Pentel twist-erase automatic pencil for accurate drawings. 
10. Sketchbook - produced in the UK, 'Seawhite' cartridge paper is acid free and chlorine free with extra wet strength, with a reasonable price of £5.75 from a local art supplier. 
11. Cutting Mat - to save my desk from endless slices and marks, a  cutting mat is always a good idea to save any surface!
12. Set Square - adjustable triangle to ensure correct angles and right-angles 
13. Book - the book i'm currently reading by David Lowenthal


If you have any question about the things I use please feel free to ask or if you know of any great pens, pass your ideas on, as a stationary store is like an Aladdins cave to me!!

From 0.05 to 0.8 technical drawing pens.
I use a range of brands:
- Pilot Drawing Pen 
- Staedtler Pigment Liner
- Uni pin fine line

Form models using plaster as primary material

#1 Welcome

'Conceptualising the Workplace' was a recent design project. I had to create a workplace in response to a historical figure, in this case it was Frida Kahlo. It was a chance for me to revisit the material plaster, which I haven't used for some time since art foundation. And I forgot how much fun it was! 

I purchased a large bag of white fine casting plaster from a local company based in Bath called Artistic Plastercraft, at a very reasonable price. 

A day spent getting very messy was just what I needed to get me excited about this project, and I was fairly pleased with my final outcome.

My form models were a lot more experimental and organic, rather than my final piece. I will upload some images of those later in the week for you to judge!!