Drawing Inspiration trip, Ickworth House.

Today I took and drawing inspiration trip to the stately house, Ickworth. 

Ickworth house is situated in horringer, Bury St. Edmunds and is owned by the national trust and run as a historic house displaying how it would have looked as a home. Originally the house and gardens were owned by the Hervey family, who began building the house in 1795. the house designed by Fredrick Augustus and was poorly design for suffolk weather with its italian influence. it was not until 1829 when the building was finished with the rotunda holding the art family's art collection, while the family lived in the east wing (now Ickworth Hotel) and the west wing was an empty shell built only for a symmetrical design. throughout the generations of the Hervey's the building was developed and heating and electric were installed. in 1956 the house was passed onto the national trust to pay off death duties from the family, however the family continued to live in the east wing until 1996 where the lease of the building was sold back to the national trust. now Ickworth hotel is situated in the east west wing, whilst the rotunda and west wing are still owned by the national trust and run as a historical stately home displaying some of the rooms as they would have been when the family lived there.

I have previously been to Ickworth house for a source of visual research in earlier projects, but this time I decided to focus more on the estate rather than the physical building and interior design. This is because the interior of the house does not contain much evidence of natural research for this project, the vast estate contains a variety of plants and trees as sources of primary research

I spent the day drawing in situ around the estate, creating a variety of different drawings used a variety of different medias and drawing techniques. I feel this was a very successful drawing session, which I hope to repeat in the future. I am really coming around to the importance of drawing throughout the project, it is an excellent way of documenting work and promoting development.

This session relates well to a previous blog post about a drawing session at uni which I had missed, I feel today addresses that missed session and I look forward to further developing these drawings as I begin to transfer them into my larger sketchbook.



More Photos to follow!!! http://www.pinterest.com/nathanmison9/ba6-patterns-in-nature/

Contextual Studies - Work Placement research, the beginnings

Smiths Row art Gallery is an art gallery based in Bury St Edmunds. Although a small gallery, it has a wide variety of exhibitions supporting local art and design industry. Smiths Row is well known for their learning and workshops, always open to lend a helping hand with their vast knowledge of their specific areas of art. They are happy to support new as well as accomplished artists through their surgeries, tutorials, are a well established part of the local community, running workshops and lessons in schools across the county. “one-to-one surgeries for artists to talk through their artistic practice with one of the Smiths Row team to receive critical feedback and discuss professional development” - Smiths Row Website.

As an art gallery, Smiths Row makes their business through the sales of artwork, from which they get a percentage. Artists have to pay to display their work in the gallery, a great form of advertising for local artists. However, a large bulk of Smith Row's business is from their workshops and shop, which contains a large variety of handmade objects, prints and artwork from local artists. Smiths Row is well known in the local community for these connections to the sales of local artwork and crafts. "Our contemporary Craft Shop showcases affordable work by the very best British makers, including ceramics, jewellery, textiles and printmaking, alongside artist-designed cards and wrapping paper." - Smiths row website.

As a local art gallery, Smiths Row is greatly publicised in the local and wider community. Their many exhibitions are advertised in the local paper, through flyers and on their website, http://www.smithsrow.org/,  which even contains an exhibition list for the whole year. As a public service, funded partly from the local council, art gallery’s exhibitions and workshops are always well advertised.

Smiths Row prides itself for the promotion of contemporary art is the east and work both with artists and the public the help to make art accessible to everyone. In this sense, the art gallery is extremely successful with its wide variety and extensive list of exhibitions. However, I also think that the gallery is successful as a business too, generating profits through their services both to artists and students alike, selling work and providing tutorial style surgeries for aspiring artists.

Richard Horne

Whilst completing some of my visual research on Pinterest, I came across some images of screen-prints by Richard Horne and decided to do some more research into him as an artist, because I really loved to bold, striking colours his designs contain. I had spotted his work at an exhibition earlier in the year, at the forum, Norwich where he was involved in the print exhibition from 24th feb - 1st march.

Richard Horne is a graphic designer, who creates a variety of designs for different uses, including books, posters and greetings cards. based in East Anglia, Richard Horne has many connections to Norwich , its a wonder I hadn't heard of him earlier!!


Info and Images from.... http://www.elhorno.co.uk/index.html

About Richard Horne is a graphic designer, illustrator, author, screen printer and gocco printer. 101 Things To Do series, A is for Armageddon, an illustrated catalogue of disasters and he has just completed his seventh book, the Modern Day Spotter's Guide. He also illustrated The best selling book, the Dangerous Book for Boys, winner of the 2007 book of the year at the British Book Awards. Also, in 2007, two of his books, 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring and 101 Things You Need to Know and Some You Don't were selected by the School Library Association and the Department for Education and Skills for their 'Boys into Books Riveting Reads campaign', to support the reading needs of boys in Key Stage 3.

Claire Coles

Claire Coles is a designer based in London who produces bespoke, embroidered wallpaper often based on the idea of recycling. Claire Coles uses Vintage wallpaper and other papers which she embroids onto paper to create her own patterns.

Claire cole's work has influenced my designs as i move forward into the sample stages. i love her combination of materials, paper and embroidery which create stylish, but beautifully delicate pieces of work. this has made me think more about the types of material used, do all wallpapers need to be printed??
Claire Coles work also feeds into our contextual studies work looking into sustainability. coles is re-using vintage papers to create new designs, a physical recycling.

info from website (www.clairecoles.co.uk) 

Claire designs and produces couture embroidered wallpapers and panels for the interior design and contract market. Her unique style of collage and embroidery transforms walls into works of art.

Claire also works in collaboration with luxury brands producing custom made surface patterns for her clients. Her ethereal patterns translate beautifully onto many mediums from gift packaging to fashion prints.

Claire has been practicing for 10 years, clients over this time include Missoni, Paul Smith, Anthroplogie, Liberty of London and Penguin Publishing, and she has just launched her collaboration with champagne house Perrier-Jouët.

All designs are bespoke and produced in house at Claire’s West London studio. She has previously exhibited at 100% Design, Maison Objet and ICFF. In November 2012 she had her first solo exhibition at Flow Gallery in Notting Hill, London.

Drawing, Abbey Gardens 1

AS previously mentioned, I thought I would take some time out today to do some drawing in situ at the Abbey Gardens, which is known for its amazing, large scale, decorative floral gardens. I thought that this would be a great opportunity for me to get a load of drawings done to really begin to boost my sketchbook work, but I am afraid the whether was against me. SAD FACE!!

IT was wet and miserable, so I did not manage to get as much done as I would have liked. I did managed to get some small sketches done and have named the blog post 1 because I aim to go back on a sunnier day and complete some more drawings.

I must admit that I am still finding drawing quite a difficult task, you have to be quite spontaneous to create a large amount of work in a relatively short amount of time I was there for an hour an only completed four drawings!! this was mainly because i spent ages trying to decide what to draw. I must be more decisive!!! I think that going out specifically to draw is a good idea because it gets me away from all the distractions and makes me focus on having fun with drawing. I must do it more often, so I can improve.

Interiordesign.net - Pollak

Continuing my research into the interiors market, I came across the website interiordesign.net, a website which deals with the new and upcoming names and trends in the interiors market. 

"Interior Design is the definitive resource for interior designers, architects, and other design professionals, featuring groundbreaking projects, innovative new products, real-time design industry news, exclusive in-depth research, and more. Offering print, digital and events, Interior Design is the design authority in the B2B design market." - extract from http://www.interiordesign.net/page/2-about-us/

Whilst looking into the different posts about designers and their new works in the interior market, I came across an article on a new collection by Pollak, a collaboration with Coral & Tusk, a quirky embroidery design company. The collection collaborates the intricate design and the bright, quirky use of colour to create a new range of playful textile prints.








Article from http://productfind.interiordesign.net/our-take/7837-pollack-launches-coral-tusk-collection ....

"Pollack injects its spring collection with Coral & Tusk's signature quirky embroidery style. The collection began as a collaboration between friends, Pollack's Rachel Doriss and Coral & Tusk's Stephanie Housley, who met at the Rhode Island School of Design. Fifteen years later, the friends combined their strengths to produce three new textiles for Pollack. The fabrics—Circus Toile, Circus Stripe and Quill—combine the whimsy of Coral & Tusk's imagery with the fabric expertise and sophistication of Pollack

"With Coral and Tusk's rise in the retail market, we thought it would be great timing to create new fabrics of continuous yardage and offer them to a new audience: Pollack's high-end exclusive interiors market," says Doris. It was the perfect timing for us to finally collaborate on a professional level and bring something totally unique to the market.

Coral & Tusk fabrics will be available beginning this month in Pollack's New York showroom as well as in fine showrooms throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Asia, Australia and the Middle East."

I love this quirky little collection of prints. Each of the designs have a really unique hand draw quality, and a really fun and playful composition which mimics a childlike design. This is a style that I would love to interpret this in my own work, a really playful design which portrays the enjoyment of the design creation, creating a fluid flowing design without going into too much detail.

Placement Planning cont.

I have chosen to complete my placement with the local art gallery 'Smiths Row'. This is only a small art gallery, but has a wide variety of exhibitions supporting local art and design industry. They are well known for their learning and workshops, always open to lend a helping hand with their vast knowledge of their specific areas of art.

Displayed below is an extract from the Smiths Row Gallery website about what they are and what they do. I will complete some more research as I go along in order to begin to write my 2,000 word essay.

ABOUT US...

Smiths Row is a contemporary art gallery in the heart of historic Bury St Edmunds.  We curate an exciting programme of exhibitions and public art projects, accompanied by a range of tours, talks and workshops.  Admission to all our exhibitions is free.  Our contemporary Craft Shop showcases affordable work by the very best British makers, including ceramics, jewellery, textiles and printmaking, alongside artist-designed cards and wrapping paper. 

Smiths Row supports the careers of artists and makers through a variety of different programmes including Smiths Row Surgeries, and during 2013 through Hot House East, a maker development programme we delivered in partnership with the Crafts Council and the University of Hertfordshire. 

The architecture of Smiths Row is quite spectacular.  The gallery occupies the first floor of an elegant Grade 1 listed building originally designed as a theatre in the 1770s by Robert Adam, which has retained its high ceilings, Georgian façade and elegant arched windows.  At the centre of the space is a pair of magnificent Venetian crystal chandeliers.

Smiths Row is a great place to see new work by up-and-coming artists, alongside more established names, and to see and buy the best contemporary craft. 

Drawing Trip - Moyses Hall

Moyses hall Museum

Bury St Edmunds Cathedral

Ceiling of Bury St Edmunds Cathedral

Moyses hall is a medieval building with local history and changing collections in the heart of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, housed in a 12th century building with examples of Norman and Tudor architecture. Previously used as a gaol, police station, Bridewell and parcel sorting office, it has been a museum for over 100 years.

Unlike my previous trip to the Norwich Castle Museum, I focused more this time on the drawing of objects with a natural theme. These were just rough sketches, mostly which were followed with photographs too. 

From here, I aim to develop my rough sketches into more established drawings using the photos to help me. These will form a separate section within my sketchbook, based more on visits to places of visual research, which will help inform and develop my work, not as a form of primary research to develop designs from. 

Image of Bury St Edmunds Abbey when it was standing (image from Moyses Hall)

Visual Research

Again to combat one of my criticisms from the last project, I have decided to do some more visual research to include in my sketchbook. I have created this as a series of mood boards, exploring pictures of trees and flowers in a variety of published forms. I decided to gather a set of images to push my research at the beginning of the project, to give me a variety of different areas to look into.

I will use these images to help me in the drawing stages of this project, hoping to gather more images as I continue to use specifically with sets of drawings. From here I aim to begin to gather my own images from primary sources, backing this up with my images from secondary sources (in my mood board pages). I will then create drawing based on all of these images, experimenting with drawing style and materials. 

This first sketchbook is based on the drawing, so the mood boards only display flowers and tree in their natural form. As I begin to narrow my work down, thinking about finalising my ideas in the next sketchbook, I will create further mood board pages on flowers and tree in patterns and design.

Placement Planning

For this project, BA6, we need to complete a work placement which will give us an opportunity to see what working in the design industry is like. We have to create a 2,000 word report based on our time at our placement, what we have learnt and how we plan to incorporate into our work.

We need to contact placement opportunities ourselves to arrange at least a weeks worth of time alongside the company/designer in order to gain an insight into their work and commitment to design.

Below is a plan sheet, which we could complete in order to begin to write the report.....

I aim to complete what I can on this sheet, before the start of my placement, so I can be organised and not be bogged down with paperwork and writing, focusing on the more interesting design development work.

2000 word Industry Report for BA6

Your essay for BA6 is a 2000 word industry report based around your placement it should include correctly referenced sources, a bibliography and should be structured as follows.

Introduction – Why you chose your placement (300 words)

Context of placement (500 words)

What do they do?

What is their business?

How do they operate?

How do they publicise themselves?

Do they live off their business?

Is it successful and why do you think this is?

Use illustrations.

What did you do?

An overview of your experience (500 words) Illustrations?

How has what you learnt on your placement impacted on your work? (500 words)

Where is this evident? – Illustrations

Conclusion (200 words)

In what way was this useful and a worthwhile experience?

What might have improved at it?

Include employer feedback forms (Not included in word count)

Reference - key websites (Not included in word count)

Plaster of Paris

At the same time as beginning my drawings based on the patterns in nature, I thought about wanting to explore the shape and line of subject matter of the project. One of the main things that was discussed in relation to the last project, was my lack of contiual experimentation. For this reason, I wanted to begin this project the right way, experimenting right from the beginning.

Whilst exploring the website Pinterest for visual research, I came across the idea of rubbings and pressings of flowers. I had some plaster of paris at home, which I had been wanting to experiment with. So, I decided create pressings of flowers into the plaster of paris, pushing leaves into pieces of the plaster and leaving them to dry. This worked amazingly. The lines and shapes were replicated really well.


But, because the plaster was white, the lines and textures were not as defined as I wanted them to be, you had to look closely to see them. To combat this, I decided to paint the shapes in to help define them, The gold paint worked best because it was more liquidy and formed to the lines the best.

I would like to take this a step further, and will look into buying some clay which may be a little more of a stronger material to work with.