Chesterfield Art Show

The art show at Chesterfield college is spread out over a number of rooms, each showcasing different specialist areas. There were all different subjects being displayed, including ceramics, visual communication, photography , textiles and fine art. All of these subjects were mostly categorised into each room, but they were also mixed up in places, making the show a bit hard to follow and more difficult to find the things I'm interested in. Each student had their own space to showcase their work. Some areas were presented in a really eye-catching and creative way, whereas some were a little more slap-dash. There were also some pieces hung up that seemed to be part of a larger personal project, but did not include any sketchbooks, so it was a challenge to put the work into context. However, the work there was still very beautiful.

This was a set up done by Lucie Richmond, a Level 3 Foundation Art & Design student. It's an antique-looking desk and shelf, containing many amazing and mystical designs and drawings and objects. The centre-piece is an incredible ceramic dragon with gorgeous dark wings. The level of detail put into this piece is absolutely fantastic. I looked at this piece for longer than anything else in the show, because there was just so much to look at! The desk idea is really interesting because a person's desk can often say a lot about their lives, and I think that idea has been brilliantly portrayed here. It's like peering into someone's life. One minor drawback is that there were sketchbooks, however they were very involved and I couldn't quite tell exactly how she got to this final piece, but other than that this was really amazing.

These three pieces by Jessica Hadfield, another Level 3 Foundation student, are equally captivating. They are a mixture of drawing and collage, to create a surreal 3D effect. The stairs and corridors in these are so well presented that they really draw you in. It's as if you are travelling into the picture itself. The pieces also flow really well as a whole. The use of similar colours and compositions makes these three pictures really connect, which I find very interesting. However, there were no sketchbooks or other pieces to link these pictures to any project. I really would have loved to find out more about this students work.

Overall, I really enjoyed looking around this art show, because of  the variety and high quality of artwork. It was really great to just wander around looking at all the brilliant work that fellow students are doing. It's also helped me to think about which specialist area I would like to go into. I have also thought about how I would present my own work in an art show. It's been a very useful and enlightening experience.

Gorjusss by Suzanne Woolcott

I think that these drawings are absolutely beautiful. There's something so wonderfully unique about them. I love the simplicity of them, and also how each one has its own lovely colour scheme. They are so interesting and... well, gorgeous!

Projections

Here's some more photography work I did from a while ago. I really liked how these images turned out. They're really effective.

Photographs of Interest (3) (B&W only)

I think the way that movement is captured in this series of photographs is really interesting. I also love the way that the skirt flows and hangs; it's very lovely. The compositions are all uniquely captivating, as if each individual photo could be its own piece. But putting them together creates a whole new, and fantastic, effect.

This photo is brilliant. I love the lovely innocence of this piece. It makes me think of school days, and made me smile as soon as a saw it. It's a fantastic composition. I think that when the photographer decided to capture this scene, he wanted to do so in a way that would make people feel warm and happy when they saw it. I also like all the cars in the background. It makes you wonder what those drivers were thinking when they saw this scene.

Out of all of this photographer's work, this particular photograph really stood out to me. It's also well lit and very effectively composed. The outfit she's wearing is brilliant; I love the patterns on it and the feathers on her head. It is the kind of photograph that you would see in an old matchbox or a frame in an old house. It's so wonderfully retro.

Photograms of Interest

Susan Derges -  I love the composition of this photogram; how it looks like a real scene, and at the same time, its so unreal too. The ripples on the water look so beautiful, and the leaves at the top are very interesting. I love all of Derges' work. It's so professional that with some I could barely tell whether it was a photograph or a photogram. It's absolutely fantastic.

Laszlo Maholy-Nagy - We did something similar to this in our last photography section, where we put objects onto photographic paper and flashed light above it. The results were interesting, but not as good as these ones. I love the shapes and patterns you can see in this photogram. It's like looking at clouds; it can look like lots of different objects. I think it's captivating.

Adam Fuss - The water in this piece is just amazing. There are lots of photograms similar to this one, but this was my favourite because of how amazing the ripples in the water look. I also really like the yellow of the water and the purple in the silhouette of the baby. Because purple and yellow are complimentary colours, I think that this photogram works very well and looks really lovely.

Photographs of Interest (2)

This photo makes me think of long school days, when by the end of the day, all you can think about is your bed. I feel very nostalgic looking at this photo. It so beautifully catches the innocence of childhood. I also love how simple it is, because it means you're focusing on the little girl instead of the background. I love it, such a lovely piece.

This is a brilliant piece. I really like how this girl looks here. Everything about her makes her seem like an old woman; from her vacant expression to her old clothes. I think that this effect of mixing young and old together is really interesting. The outcome is fantastic.

There's something so comical about this scene. The woman washing her hair is supposed to be sexy and nice to look at, but the man in the background completely changes the whole scene. Because the man is in the same position as the woman, it makes the scene a little... gross. This is a great composition. I love the accidental element it has to it. It's almost as if someone has tried to take a photo of a lovely woman, and has ended up with this fat man in the background. It's hilarious! I think its a fantastic photograph.

How To MindMap

In photography we did a big group exercise on making a mind map. We were all given a starting word (our group's was Light) and we had to do a huge mind map, connecting as many ideas as we can and thinking about the word in lots of different ways. We did this in four groups, then stuck the mind maps together and connected as many of the points from the different mind maps as we could, turning into ONE BIG MIND MAP! It was a really good exercise to get us thinking outside the box.