HAYLEY CAROLAN

[hayleycarolan]

EVALUATION

Overall, I found the experience of writing this blog to be one that I learned a lot from. I realised that I find the practical, creative aspect of this discipline more engaging than the written aspect of it, but I also realised the importance of working on the written aspects of it in a regular, chronologically sensible manner. This aids time management skills, as well as the ability to process what I learn throughout each part of the course.

Within my online blog I’ve documented through images and analysis of everything I’ve worked on in this first term. I believe I’ve grasped the general aspect of blogging fairly well, I appreciate how my work looks and is presented online however I feel I struggled with making a connection to any potential readers as I am used to analysing my work for only me to read. I believe I could improve on this as I get used to documenting my work through tumblr and maybe explore other sites for blogging that suit me better.

I’ve spoken both briefly and in detail about each area as you will pick up on what interests me more. I feel my images represent how I work in terms of my inspirations and where my ideas come from as I am very visual. I am pleased with how my images sit with the writing as you can easily refer back to them quickly if needed. I am also able to edit and add to or delete parts at any point which is very handy compared to creating analysis’s of work in a sketchbook. In general I think online blogging is a great way to be able to look back on everything you’re doing and appreciate it plain and simply.

I believe I need to improve on time keeping and blog on the day I do the work as my thoughts and emotions will be fresh and I’ll be able to document them better. Or if I was to keep a personal journal that I could refer to at the end of each week to help me do this. As a whole I feel I have the potential to start up a very good blog and look forward to expanding and developing my online blogging skills.

[hayleycarolan]

Visiting liberty is a truly ore inspiring experience. Tudor revival occured around the 1920’s, and was considered the most crafted and English of architecture and so the shop was engineered around three atriums. Designed to feel like a home, each atrium was surrounded by smaller rooms, complete with fireplaces and furnishings. Walking around the shop I noticed a vast mixture of people, from tourists experiencing the beautiful textiles and architecture to wealthier classed citizens buying high quality fabrics and items for their homes etc.

I love all of the stunning fabrics and the classic art nouveau designs they’re so well known for.

[hayleycarolan]

London museum of childhood

Since my box is linked to my childhood and treasures I thought it’d be fitting to visit this museum. I’m very familiar with the museum of childhood as it’s somewhere i’ve visited my whole life due to how close it is to where I live and every time I revisit I feel very nostalgic. Possessing in my collection many wheels and cogs, I chose to look for items such as toy cars, bikes prams etc. all which hold wheels of different pattern and size.

[hayleycarolan]

Frank Huddlestone Potter                                    

A Music Lesson                                         

1887

Martin Ferdinand Quadal                                      

Portrait of a Man playing a Flute                                   

1777

Both paintings I’ve chosen happen to have been painted by men, this is not so uncommon however as in the 18th and 19th centuries it was less common for  woman to be artists and have their work publicized in the same way. One painting I’ve chosen is focused on a man obviously absorbed in making music which is quite unusual as he looks as though he’d be of a higher social standing. 18th century portraits were more generally shown at rest with their instruments nearby. The painter encourages you to look at his body because of this activity and his posture of holding the instrument. The second painting, captured on canvas, the mild boredom of a girl teaching piano to a young child whose doll is cast to the side. This contrasts greatly to the first painting due to the interests the people possess, the man in the first painting completely immersed in his instrument whilst the woman is experiencing the tedium of teaching a child the piano. The viewer's eye is drawn to the teachers deep red dress initially with it being the brightest colour in the painting, this could be to present the power she has over the child due to her being the teacher and having the control in this situation.

Frank Huddlestone Potter                                       

A Music Lesson        

1887

Both paintings I’ve chosen happen to have been painted by men, this is not so uncommon however as in the 18th and 19th centuries it was less common for  woman to be artists and have their work publicized in the same way. One painting I’ve chosen is focused on a man obviously absorbed in making music which is quite unusual as he looks as though he’d be of a higher social standing. 18th century portraits were more generally shown at rest with their instruments nearby. The painter encourages you to look at his body because of this activity and his posture of holding the instrument. The second painting, captured on canvas, the mild boredom of a girl teaching piano to a young child whose doll is cast to the side. This contrasts greatly to the first painting due to the interests the people possess, the man in the first painting completely immersed in his instrument whilst the woman is experiencing the tedium of teaching a child the piano. The viewer's eye is drawn to the teachers deep red dress initially with it being the brightest colour in the painting, this could be to present the power she has over the child due to her being the teacher and having the control in this situation.

[hayleycarolan]

WEAVE

I found weave can be very tedious at the beginning, as with knit, due to how fiddly everything is with setting up the loom but once that parts out the way and you get to weaving itself it can be quite therapeutic.It’s very interesting discovering how a loom works and how you create the different patterns. My first weave I wasn’t very pleased with as it reflects the struggle I had at the beginning but that made me more determined to excel next time and I feel as though my other weaves were much more successful.

[hayleycarolan]

DIGITAL PRINT

For digital print we were mainly using Photoshop. I scanned in some of my designs from my book and learnt how to repeat them, create brushes from them and develop them into completely new compositions. To expand from this and show the potential of my designs I scanned a couple drawings I’d created of two rooms into Photoshop and edited my design into different interiors. I am fairly familiar with photoshop however haven’t actively used it in a little while so felt quite frustrated at the beginning as I attempted to reevaluate everything I knew. I swiftly got back into it however and so was able to create some designs that link to and reflect my other prints nicely.

[hayleycarolan]

PRINT

Within the print block there were two parts, screen printing and digital printing. In screen printing we created several stencils out of paper, inspired from our drawings and used a silk screen and dyes to print onto our fabric. Silk screen printing is a lengthy process as there are lots of steps you have to perform before you can begin the printing itself. Firstly we pinned our fabric to the table so we could easily separate the screen from the fabric after printing and avoid smudging any ink. We learnt how to create our own dyes by following a recipe shown in the dyeing room and also mixed dyes to find the perfect colour to match our colour palettes. When it comes to printing it is best to place the dye along one side of the screen and pull the squidgee across just once or twice to leave clearer lines and avoid the ink smudging. I love screen printing, although it is time consuming, I have the patience for it and feel the results are always rewarding. I’m extremely pleased with how my 6 prints came out, they all coincide with one another favourably in terms of colour, design and proportion.

[hayleycarolan]

STITCH

I have always loved sewing so I was very eager to begin this block. Following from my drawings I began to replicate the textures in the sketches with the machine onto different fabrics sticking with my colour pallette of oranges and blues. I created simple designs for each sample using a range of techniques such as pleating, reverse applique and heat transfer. The majority of the sketches I worked from are very circular in design so I mainly used a freehand foot for each sample so I was able to achieve this form with ease. I found that sometimes I go too fast with the machine however and often can’t get the exact shapes im trying to portray on the fabric. So for future reference when creating specific shapes with a freefoot I should slow down and not rush as machine sewing is a careful process that needs to be performed attentively.

[hayleycarolan]

KNIT

Having never knitted before I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy this block. In the first week we were shown lots of different yarn materials you can work with and past students work who’d chosen knit as their specialism. We were then given a demonstration in using the knitting machines, it was a delicate and slightly tedious process however I found once you know how to set everything up and get yourself into a rhythm it is quite enjoyable. Unfortunately I was ill for the second week so have only grasped the basics of knit so far but I’m very pleased with the samples I managed to create from the first week. I think if I were to progress from what I’ve done so far I would look more into colour patterns and create loops with the yarn and maybe explore yarns of different thickness for varied effects.

[hayleycarolan]

Following on from our box clever, we began to develop our swatch books. Having taken inspiration from our boxes, we began to pay attention to the visual aspect of the objects. Upon closer inspection, the box and the items within it had certain markings and patterns that are only really noticed when viewed with intent. From this, I was able to progressively develop a selection of swatch designs, starting in basic black and white macro images and gradually developing them by altering scale, repetition, and colour.

[hayleycarolan]

From these experiments with colour, I decided that my primary colour palette would revolve around orange and blue hues, since these are the colours of two little cogs in my box that stand out in an otherwise fairly neutral environment. Using this colour palette, I moved on to designing collages. Using pieces of litter, newspaper and other detritus, I was able to create shape and colour that communicated a sense of wholeness and aesthetic appeal from separate parts.

[hayleycarolan]

Having completed the swatches, the next stage was to develop our designs into drawings. I found the most natural way of doing this was to initially focus on the geometry of the shapes I picked out from my inspirations, which was best communicated via line drawings. The simplicity of these drawings helped to draw out their symmetry and geometry, which allowed me to then develop my ideas into more detailed sketches. The incorporation of these geometric designs and their symmetry into other shapes that were less geometric and more grounded in reality and naturalist shapes was a definite benefit of this manner. From this point, I was able to experiment with colour, negative space, and natural patterns, all while incorporating the basic elements of the previous designs. I found this to be concurrent with the idea behind my ‘box clever’, as the development from the rudimentary to the complex mirrored the personal progression of how one sees the world as a child compared to an adult.

Taking a step back, I then returned to the more heavy aspects of my ideas and used them to experiment with colour palettes. The general shapes and marks on the objects in my box were accentuated through the use and progression of colour palettes, which enabled me to get a broader sense of the ideas I was working with. Colour, being a very raw component in visual stimuli, communicates a lot, and stripping back my designs and using colour to accentuate the different details in broad, painted brush strokes rather than fine pencil sketching brought more life to these images. Also, for future media such as stitching, it is far easier to replicate drawings done via marks than with fine shading, as the robustness of the tools required means that fine detail cannot always be accomplished.

[hayleycarolan]

The first aspect of our drawing tasks was to make a project based on our ‘Box Clever’. This was a physical collection of objects to provide us with inspiration for the drawing projects that we would later do.

For my box, I collected items which I had treasured as a child as well as what I now treasure as an adult. As a child, the definition of treasure is flexible, and we are less contained by social expectation as to what we can define it as. This also is a by-product of the lack of materialism and disregard of monetary value that comes with the innocence of childhood. In my box also, I included plastic wheels and cogs that, when assembled together, become a different whole. This reflects the idea of childhood allowing us to construct our own ideas of what a ‘treasure’ should be, and the malleable nature of the word combines with the physical properties of these objects. Contrastingly, I have also included a selection of sentimental items that I will inevitably treasure throughout my life due to sentimental meanings and historic value - the ever-presence of this value means that to me these items are more worthy of being called treasure than those with monetary or financial value.

[hayleycarolan]

To start our project, we were asked to present a book on the numerous areas in london, formatted in images. The aim of this exercise was to make an exposition of our own unique visual styles in a collaborative way. I found the diversity and character of London to be part of what made this task so compelling, and my group’s contribution to the book was on the culturally historic area of Brixton.

One particular area of interest in Brixton is its iconic market. Upon arrival, I found myself absorbed by the vibrancy and vitality of the place: the colours; the cultures; the atmosphere. Out of all the scenes and images I captured, I found myself especially drawn to the snapshot of the fruit being placed on display at the market. The contrasting of the block colours, combined with the banal nature of the subject made an impression on me, and I find it interesting how such strength of pattern and composition can come across from something so simple that is readily available to anyone who would look for it. This became a common theme throughout our visit, as the photo I took of a unisex toilet was chosen to be on the cover of our book. Clearly this is a common point of interest, as something as mundane as a toilet can communicate the character and highlight the urban aesthetic of a city so holistically. I was drawn to this sight due to personal interest in having not seen a unisex toilet out in the open before - this is testament to how the everyday can become something more when observing it through a certain lens, as with the fruit. From a socio-political perspective, this image is significant as it illustrates societal progression when it comes to identity politics. In an area such as Brixton, which in the past has had a somewhat negative reputation in terms of crime, the omnipresence of social progress is a microcosm of society and London as a whole, where gender and identity is becoming a better acknowledged issue and physical manifestations of this are popping up even in these such areas.