Life Update!

So, where have I been?

Well when I stopped posting I was up to my eyeballs in dissertation work, which was as you can imagine verrrrry time and energy consuming. So everything else kind of took a back seat, but all that hard work and stress was worth it in the end because... I got a first! I'm so happy as I put in a LOT of work into it and I'm glad I got a grade I can be really proud of. 

Anyway since then I've celebrated by chilling and going on a few holidays and enjoying the summer. Besides my part time job I volunteer at a couple of places now, a small gallery and at an art group, both in Glasgow. I've revamped my website to fit more with my professional art image and branding, and I think my Blogger page is next, just so everything is consistent. I'm now working towards setting up an etsy store to sell drawings and also looking at a masters for next year. So writing up C.V.s, proposals and personal statements is what I have to look forward to the next couple months. 

Art wise I've been practising and playing about with photography as I've been taking one photo a day for the first few months and plan to print them and stick them into a sort of scrap/sketchbook thing. I've also been working on a watercolour/ drawing for a present and I think I might play about with this style to sell on Etsy.

I'm also working on building up concept, workshop and artist folios. This is to help me with research for further study and my goal of working in community art. I also plan to write up my artist folio on this blog and also include some exhibitions that I've attended reviews. 

So I'm looking forward to what the rest of this year might bring - so watch this space for what I'm working on :D

Byyee!!

Róisín -x

Last steps of research

It's the last week of research - yaaaay! I'll most likely do bits and pieces of research throughout as I start to formulate ideas along the way.

This week I was looking specifically into my local area for statistics so I could plan out where I could go. I think I've decided on one area being one of the more "deprived areas"  I just need to think of what would be a more wealthy area and an area of average income etc. I've been able to get a lot of information from the Falkirk census site which I've been printing pages from for my logbook.

Here are some of the images I took from the "Case study" I looked at last week:

The reason that I'm planning on doing these is to get a general idea of what sort of things I will find in certain area - this example being woods next to estates and schools etc. 

So the plan for next week is to begin getting my ideas in order and applying all the research I've been gathering. This is also the same week that I'll finally be able to go into my sketchbook. A couple of things that I have planned are to go to the Smith Gallery in Stirling for some inspiration and also do another case study near my house.

Until next time-
Róisín -x

Inspiration of the Week - Richard Prince

Richard Prince is a photographer and painter whose "New Portraits" exhibition I am going to be talking about.

All of these so called 'new portraits' have been taken from instagram and include some of the tags, likes and comments that appear below the photo.

These portraits offer an interesting insight into the person in the portrait themselves and also those liking and commenting on the photo.

What I like most about this installation is the way these portraits are displayed as usually these images would be seen on a small screen and normally only exist digitally. These photographs seem to be huge and take over their surrounding environment.

In my work I want to look at how people try to be noticed in general and online and I also wanted to explore the idea of the 'selfie'. I think that this works explores how people appear online and how this digital format is becoming one of the most popular forms of media and portraiture, and straying away from the more traditional methods.

NB - all photographs here have been taken from the artist's site:

http://www.richardprince.com/
http://www.richardprince.com/exhibitions/new-portraits_1/

I do not own any of the pictures on this post.


Until next time
byyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Róisín -x

Investigatory Walk 5

Investigatory Walk 5

Date: 09/03/2016

Where: Larbert (River Carron)

Duration: 2 hours

Purpose

This walk was to try and leave my ogham mark alongside the banks of the river and collect some items and get photographs.

Details

I got my dad to drive me up to the River Carron as he would know the best and safest places for me to go and get photographs, and we also took the dog. We then walked up the bank as far as we could go and then turned back on ourselves. This was probably the most enjoyable walk so far, as there was a lot of climbing and exploring some of the rocks and trees.

Success of the Trip

I think this trip was quite successful as I got to experiment with different ways of putting down my marks, and I found some different materials and objects that I could use. I also got some good pictures of the Carron itself that I was thinking of using as prints.

Additional Notes

·         If I was to do this again at a river I didn’t know, I would need to be extra careful around rocks as it is easy to slip on places even if you know them really well.

Investigatory Walk 4

Investigatory Walk 4

Date: 07/03/2016

Where: Stirling (River Forth)

Duration: 1 hour 30mins

Purpose

The main purpose of this walk was to take advantage of the two hours I had spare at college before going home. I thought it would be a good idea to take a look around Stirling seeing as I was there already seeing as all of my walks so far have been near my home.

Details

I walked along the public path next to the river forth and took pictures and collecting some of the objects that I could find. It was a really nice day and so I think the pictures of the water work really well.

Success of the Trip

I think this trip was quite successful and I really enjoyed it seeing as the weather was nice as well. I managed to collect a good range of objects I think and I also took a photograph of a newspaper wrapped around a branch because of wind and rain, and so this gave me the idea of how to place my marks that would be on paper. I also found a sort of junkyard at the back of the college where I could maybe get some stuff later on if need be.

Additional Notes

·         If I get the timing of the walk right the path isn’t all that busy