02-03-13 - DTLLS Qualification passed

I am pleased to announce that I have successfully passed all of my unit work and exams and have been awarded and accredited my Diploma in teaching in the lifelong learning sector. This is such a big relief for myself having worked on this qualification across the last two years. Gaining this has given me a real boost with more time to spend on my daily routine of teaching. I am already in the process of looking at other courses to feel my mind with, any suggestions? . . . 

01-03-13 - Pretty Portfolio's

It is that time of year now where students have had their interviews or currently going through them and I get an opportunity to photograph all portfolios. It's an exciting time where you can reflect on what has been delivered, produced and well executed. Only a few have come into my hands as of yet so beware there are more to come. A few selected pages are featured below.

 

 

28-02-13 - Type and the Body

I Have been waiting to post this up for ages, this obscure typographic creation is in response to a task entitled Type and the Body. This two week activity witnessed the 1st years unravel their minds in creating links between typography and the body, how it could be presented as one and how they could incorporate the body into a typographic element. The activity wasn't about just creating a typeface,  but more about communicating the two elements. The example featured below used real hair (donated from a hairdressing salon) and created what appears to be living organic type, a beautiful tactile piece that juxtaposes beauty and filth with some viewers put off my the furriness and the idea of touching someones else reclaimed hair. The pair created the entire alphabet and were applauded in their approach to the project. some of my favourite letter forms are below.

21-02-13 - Viva La Paris

For the past 3 days I have been in Paris for my second year running along with the students of Fine Art and Art & Design at South Essex College. 3 days in Paris opens your mind and eyes up to an array of different cultures, architecture, food, artwork and sheer creativity that surrounds this captivating place. The agenda was pact to state the obvious and despite a few hick ups along the way we managed to witness and visit some amazing places. Here are a few pictures form my travels that sum up my experience. Merci,

 

 

 

 

14-02-13 - Valentines Day

17-01-13 - Observational Drawing

As part of Unit 75:Observational Drawing, Myself and Lee have been running a series of collaborative drawing workshops that have shown a rnage of drawing techniques using a different apporcahes, conditions and media. Drawing is a fundamental part of any art course and it is great to see some amazing work produced at the end of a session.

13-01-13 - New Academy Identity

I have recently been approached and have now had several meetings with regards to the re-branding and design of a new identity for the courses within the fine art academy at South Essex College. Since swapping awarding bodies and becoming associated with University of the Arts London, there has been discussions over a new look. The plan is for all courses to share a link between identities acknowledging each other through colour and course code, This is an ongoing project that will run until the end of the year with additional marketing coming in through the design of publications and a new website. Being part of this is a great opportunity to see my graphic design work spread wide across the college and out to the public. Here is a sneak peak at what has been designed ATM.

07-01-13 - "Adaptations" Induction Task

"Adaptations" is the year 2 Art & Design students second term brief. It requires students to produce several responses composed of multiple formats based on a body of text or specific visual form a film of their choosing. The induction task was a one day brief where students were given an extract from a selection of Tim Burton poems and short stories. In groups they were required to produce a response using paper and card that communicated the passage of text. This was a quick exercise to get the team thinking about what adaptions meant, the overall outcome exceeded my expectations with some really interesting costumes and techniques showcased.

03-01-13 - "Structures" Final outcomes

Sorry for the delay in posts but it has been a manic few months with various projects and other work going on. Despite the chaos there has been some amazing work produced and documented and all that will be up online in a short time.

Structures was a site specific project where by students had to produce a visual response based on the chosen location. They had complete control over where they went, the type of location and what the wished to produce as a final outcome. The site had to inform them of ideas and the response had to visually communicate structures whether physical or metaphorical. The range of outcomes that were provided was amazing ranging from light shows to body casts. The images below are a selection form the year 2 "Design" pathway.

"Sweet Space" reinstalling comfort and safety in childlike spaces thorough the insertion of sweets

"Fuse" a visual response to the word "Echo"

"Mirro-tecture" Fabricating an environment through a reflective structure

"Street Fashion" part of a series a garments that reflected the chosen surroundings

"Forest light" light drawing re-installing a woods that had recently been cut down

"Talking telephone" Telephone box installation giving them a personality and subject to discuss

01-12-12 - Handmade x-mas

It has arrived X-mas is here and the feeling in the studio, out and at hoome feels all that little bit brighter. Being a young creative I have decided that this year I want to put my creatuivty to work and produce my own x-mas wrapping paper and gift tags, if Kirstie Allsopp can do it, so can we!

This is not for the financial economics of it all but actually adds greater value than anything you can purchase in the shops. I decided I wanted to screen print my own wrapping paper and personal test my print skill set out with mass production. This was an extremely fun couple of hours having the print studio to myself and what appeared to be a little print factory with metres and metres of wrapping paper being printed. I decided to go for a classic snow flake design and was inspired by Pantone colour swatches for my gift tags.