Buildings Behind RMIT

Our last ‘ideation’ class tonight with Nick had us getting out pens, paints and any other drawing material we had. Working like this has now become lots more fun than I found it to be at the beginning of the semseter having certain hangups about my drawing skills.

We had to bring along images of urban landscapes either from photos, post cards or magazines and a postpak box of medium size. Nick gave us post card size paper to make 4 drawings each with different specifiactions.

I most enjoyed the final piece which required layering of material, in effect collage I suppose. Whether it be on paper and in drawing or making objects in the jewellery studio I do like to combine materials and incorporate various forms of contrast.

Here some photographs I took

CRANE

Building Detail Windows & Piping

I really like contrast in this image and the presence of metal.

Russel Street - Old Police HQ Building

This is an amazing building in the Art Deco style, a large building of bricks  some thing like this would never be built now. I find the open windows interesting &  intruiging and would like to go inside the building.

My post cards..

Colourful Cubicles

Crane & Cubicles

My boxed Urban Landscape

Urban Landscape

Working with 2 or 3 people, 1 takes turn describing an objct in great detail while the other/s make notes and draw the object with out seeing it. Those drawing may ask general questions but must not see the object. The results of this excercise were amazing, especially in looking at versions of the same object by different people.

Mystery Object Drawings

The only image I have from this class, my drawing on the right and Isobels on the left

With our chosen stationery we were to construct a piece of fruit that could be worn in the form of a brooch.
In all the years I worked at NEC Australia I received correspondence relating to patents in these very nice synthetic paper envelopes. The envelopes were very tough and could not be torn. Certainly not environmentally friendly material that could be recycled with standard office paper. I started to keep the envelopes thinking one day I might do some thing crafty with them. I also liked the stamp with depicted Mt Fuji with cherry blossom flowers in the foreground.

NECJ Envelopes

So, I came to cherries made from the NEC enevlopes as the subject of my office brooch.

I made some internal structures from binding wire and included little cherry pips which would be placed inside each cherry; part of the brief was to think about internal structure of the fruit. My idea is the pips will be loose inside and make a rattling noise when shaken.

Cherry Structure and Pips

I used the ink from inside a couple of red ball point pens to colour the cherries. A bit messy, but the result was an effective nice shinny red.

Painting Cherries

And… the final piece

Cherry Brooch

The back of the brooch utilises a magnet which is fixed inside several layers of the envelope paper featuring the stamps from the envelopes.

Brooch Stamp Cherry Blossom Flowers at base of Mt Fuji

This piece was found on a building site by Jim my hubby – he is always bringing me home things of interest;)

Broken Found Object

Broken Model

After several drawing exercises including Blind Contour Drawing and Fast Drawing our task for homework was to make a model based on the drawing and incorporating line and features from all exercises .

Line Drawings2

Ten examples of line were brought to class and sketched.

The corner exercise involved examining a corner in the room or of an object in the room and making a model of the corner from box board.

Projector Corner

Corner with Forms2

We were then to adorn the corner with images from drawings in an earlier exercise and cut out paper & cardboard based on the rubbings drawings.

Corner with Forms

An exercise for homework was to make  a New Corner incorporating colour. I used a page from an old calendar and colured cardboard found in a box of tricks!

Corner with Squares

Corner with Spirals

I thought I would really make the most of going to Perth so have also signed up for two workshops. Elizabeth Turrell 3 day enamelling workshop before the conference and Karl Fritsch 3 day casting workshop after the conference.

As I hope to do Enamelling and Casting as Alternative Studio subjects next year, these workshops are a unique and great opportunity.

Here are  a few images from the workshops. …..still to be entered

Hello - I am just here for a visit and will be replaced woof

The conference also offered a great program of exhibitions including Return an exhibition curated by Melissa Cameron.

As well as curating an exhibiton Melissa also presented a paper at the conference titled Examining the connections between architecture and jewellery

As a keepsake of my trip to Perth I bought a pendant by Robin Wells from this exhibition

]]> http://handsignals.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/missed-class-this-week/feed/ 0 handsignals Lyra in backyard http://handsignals.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/week-4/ http://handsignals.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/week-4/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:36:59 +0000 handsignals http://handsignals.wordpress.com/?p=71 ]]>

Shoe Deconstruction

Shoe Deconstruction - lots of detailed stitching...

My shoe proved quite difficult to pull apart. It’s construction had never intended it to be subject to such and exercise. The glue on the sole was extremely tough.

Shoe Deconstruction - many hidden layers...

Shoe Deconstruction - lots of material to work with

Shoe Deconstruction - well consructed = tough to deconstruct!!!

Check out the following.

An interesting combination of  shoes and jewellery & made in Melbourne to boot.

Some time later, after leaving my shoe material for a while I set out to giving the shoe new life in new forms.

All the material was cut up and assembled by either treading on thread from shoe or some fine steel cable,  and…  along the way half a tube of glue.

Shoe Rubber Neckpiece

Double Tassle NeckpiecSuede Neckpiece

Red Suede Shoe Neckpiece

Three pieces now and I have almost used all the material.

My chosen material – black ties wraps which are multipurpose material commonly found in any tool box – well perhaps not a jewellers tool box ordinarily.

Using only the one materials and glue, thread etc to enable joining we were to experiment and play with our material to make compositions that reflected

• dense/solid form
• open/light form
• consider structures both dynamic and static; inside and outside
• consider adjectives and states of being eg, quiet, loud, explosive, gentle, aggressive

From models based on above we were asked to make a wearable piece

TIE WRAPS

TIE WRAPS

I didn’t really like the first samples I made and ended up with the following.

A spiky explosive looking ring

Tie Wrap Ring

And a necklace with balloon, it was a requirement that one piece we made include one piece of multiple material from another student, I was gifted a pink balloon from Annie.

Tie Wrap Necklace with Balloon

IF THE SHOE DOESN’T FIT

This excercise is the major project in the first half of the course. We were to bring a shoe to class ready to be sacrificed and deconstructed, examined and considered for transformation into new wearable form.

Having quite a passion for red shoes,

Some of my red shoes...

when I found the following new shoes in an Op Shop in Bentleigh, I could not go past them.
I think it’s the largest pair of mans shoes I have ever seen, size 45!  The red suede is really nice.

Lyra modelling shoe

RED SUEDE SHOE

As it turned out, being such a large shoe it meant I had a great deal of material to work with.

Shoe Components

JUXTAPOSE

Hard/soft   rough /smooth   light/heavy

Our task was to make quick composition from materials supplied and sketch them focusing on contrasting properties.  I tried to show some differences and similarities I saw in the feather and nail.

Quick Drawings

Feather & Nail

EXQUISITE CORPSE

From three objects we brought to class and swapped around, we were to draw an image made up of upper body, torso and lower body.

These were my materials

Exquisite Corpse Materials

… and the en result – in 2 pieces for now until I can scan the drawing…

Exquisite Corpse - Upper

Exquisite Corpse - Middle & Lower

]]> http://handsignals.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/week-2-sketching-in-class/feed/ 0 handsignals Feather and Nail drawing Feather and Nail Exquisite Corpse Materials Exquisite Corpse Upper Exquisite Corpse - Middle & Lower http://handsignals.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/1st-march-2010-day-one-at-rmit-after-returning-to-full-time-study-after-much-longer-than-i-would-care-to-admit/ http://handsignals.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/1st-march-2010-day-one-at-rmit-after-returning-to-full-time-study-after-much-longer-than-i-would-care-to-admit/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:57:14 +0000 handsignals http://handsignals.wordpress.com/?p=3 ]]> If it had not been a requirement of my first alternative studio course, I may never have thought to start a blog. Or at least it is probably something I would have avoided for some time.

Natalia Milosz-Piekarska is our teacher which is a real bonus.

Natalia’s work is currently part of and exhibition at Eg etal titled Figment

CUT UP POETRY BEASTS

Links to further background on cut up poetry can be found here Cut up poetry

Our first task in Small Object Ideation was to write 10 descriptive words on pieces of paper and put them into a hat. We each took 5 words back and to make a drawing based on  cut up poetry beast technique based on the words.

I drew my first quick response to the words

soft

colourful

revolting

odd

ODD

lankey

Lanky

Natalia was correct in recommending working with A3 size paper for our visual diaries and working with the whole page.
My beast ended up with a flat top style ‘revolting’ hairdo as I had run out of paper at the top of the drawing.

Cut up adjective Beast

PAPER STRIP 3D MODELS

Using A3 cartridge paper strips we made compositions creating repeated forms by scoring, cutting and folding.

Here are some samples;

Paper Folding Model 1

Paper Folding Model 2

Paper Folding Model 3

Paper Folding Model 4

Drawings of the models were then done, either of whole or part of the forms.

I like the shadows given off in the images, looking at the flatness and subdued colour the shadows can be seen as another layer.