New Blog

I have now finished my Art & Design Level 3 course and started my Art Foundation. I have created a new blog for this...

natalieartfoundation.blogspot.co.uk

Getting Everything Together

I feel like all of my work is finally getting together and i'm started to feel like I know what my final piece is going to look like (wallpaper on the back wall is not what I will be using in the final)

Wallpaper

Today I have found the wallpaper that I am going to use for my final piece. I have chosen a blue and pink with roses. I thought that this would be perfect as I have blue and pink already in my room (on the skirt and on the tin can lights). Im really excited to see what it is going to look like on exhibition night!

Tin Can Lights

Along with my lamp, I wanted some more lighting involved. I was originally going to use glass jars, but when I was planning it, I saw them in lots of shops and I wanted to be original. I thought the next best thing would be tin cans. I decided to use a hammer and a nail to pierce holes into the sides so that when a light source is inside it will shine through to make the shape.

This is what it looks like when light is shining through. I really love the look of this, its clear what the shape is.

I then needed to do something with the outside. I used white acrylic to paint the outside. I then just simply added ribbon around the top and the bottom.

I then started to plan how I was going to hang it in my booth. I decided to just use string to hang it up because I feel like it adds to the rustic feel to the room set. To hang it up I tied the string to a piece of wood which is balancing above the top of the walls. I will nail/tape this down so that there is no danger involved. 

Fabric Samples

I really wanted my room set to feel busy and full of interesting things. Other that my frames I had nothing to add to the walls of my room. So after a lot of thought I decided to add some fabric samples (what every fashion student needs!) to the walls. I thought that pegging them u would be a good idea to display this. I got some string and stapled it to the walls. At a later date I may even decided to add photographs to this. 

Glass Jars

As I wanted to make my room set feel like a real fashion students studio, I felt like it needed materials for the student to work from for it to feel like it was real. So I thought that a good idea would be to use some jars and fill them with buttons, ribbon, string, thread etc. I finished off my tying ribbon around. 

Skirt

As my room set is base around a fashion student type room I thought that some sort of garment/skirt could be used to be displayed on a minikin as the main part of my project. I decided to make a skirt. I was really pleased with the outcome as I have never made a skirt before and it worked first time! I found the pattern pretty easy to follow. It only took me around a day to complete it. If i was to do it again I would try it with a better fabric, preferably a patterned floral fabric to make it look a little more interesting. Although I do like the idea of having it looking unfinished as if the person who lives here is currently working on it as a project for college/uni. I decided to display the skirt on this manikin because I really like the rustic look in home. Around the neck of the manikin I have included a necklace I have made in another project. But at a later date I may swap this for a tape measure. 

When making my skirt I made a slight error. I sewn the pieces on the wrong side. But to fix this I just unpicked the thread and redone it. 

Rachel Ashwell

Rachel Ashwell was born in England but has spent the past twenty years in Malibu, California. A movie set designer and stylist, Ashwell created the shabby chic style in 1989, when, as a mother of two small children, she needed a home that was as practical as it was beautiful.

 

 

I decided to include Rachel Ashwell into my project because she has given me a lot of inspiration. I really like the neutral plain colours she uses and it is the type of look I have had in mind from the start.

Layers

I decided to try using my assotate to make something potentially as a part of my final room set, as it wasn't really working for my origional lamp idea. So I just decided to layer them up. Although at the moment not sure if I am going to use these in my final piece, and not sure on what I could use them in.

Lamp

I bought an old lamp from a charity shop to use in my room set. I decided to cut off all the fabric and the frills so that I have a blank frame to use. I sanded down the whole frame and painted it white and grey so the frame looked new.





















When I bought the lamp shade I wanted to use it to display some photographs. I decided to use wooden pegs to pin the photographs on. And decided to paint these the same colour as the base of the lamp.

I wanted the light to show through my photos. So I started to do some samples for this idea. I firstly just used some paper to see if the light would shine through it but it wasn't looking the way I wanted it to.

I then went to reprographs and asked them to print my photographs onto assitate to that the light would shine through the photographs. But you couldnt really see the image on the assitate because they were too transparent. 

I then decided to dip my photos into wax because I remembered that the wax makes the photo slightly transparent but not too transparent that you wouldn't be able to see the photo. I really liked how this turned out it was perfect BUT then i realised that wax melts! and it was melting next to the bulb.

I finally decided that the best type of material would be to use fabric and image maker, There would still be a fire risk but this is the safest idea I have had. And also there is so wax involved so there will be no melting involved. 

*photo to be added soon*

Frames

As I have decided to fill one wall of my room set with frames. So today I have started to make some to potentially go on my wall.

The first frame I made was just a tester to see how it would turn out, I used paper mache. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to so I decided to leave this idea. 

This frame I decided to do a pastle greeny blue colour. I wanted to make the frame look old and worn so I got some sand paper and sanded it down so that the origional colour of the wood could show through. I felt like the frame needed more added to it as it didn't look finished so I started to mess about with some of the items in my sewing tin. I decided on using my tape measure to make a love heart shape in the corner. This is my favourite frame of them all I really like the colour and the rustic, old, worn look to it.

The second frame a made I just painted a deep yellow colour. Then in the corner, I used a glue gun to glue some buttons in the corner then added less and less and smaller buttons as I got further out. Im not really a fan of this frame, if I had enough time I would do it again and change the colour to a lighter colour. 

This frame has just simply been covered in fabric. The fabric was from the lamp shade that I bought for my lamp idea. I really liked the fabric and didnt want to see it go to waste. Although I dont feel like this is finished yet. If I have the time I will add on to the top and use the fabric just as a background. 

This frame was the modrock shell to my plaster frame (that broke!) I wanted to use this modrock because it still has an imprint of the pattern that was on the original frame. 

Another frame I made done is just a simple button one. I just used a glue gun to add the buttons. I like this frame because its just so simple. 

Half Term

During half term I have been updating my sketch book. I decided to try and create some room sets with items I have found in magazines and online just like helmi vaga.

I have also been looking around on social networks for things I like the look of to maybe be included into my project. Seeing this gave me the inspiration to make my room set as if somebody is currently there. 

I wanted to do this type of idea in my project but I found it in a shop and I decided to stay away from this because I want to be original.

Also during half term I have been looking around some charity shops to find some potential idea and furniture for my final room set. 

Casting

*information on casting will be found in my FMP sketch book*

After I casted, my frame snapped, this was either because I mixed the content of the plaster wrongly, or I didn't add enough in so it was too weak. If I have time I will definitely try this again.