Home Page

In the time that I have been producing my website I have altered the home page multiple times, from a basic text 'home' to an image of myself and bio. I have put a great deal of thought into the homepage as it is the first impression some people will get of me and my work. 

After trying out different ideas I thought the best introduction to my works would be a brief overview, a montage of the different mediums I work in. I also decided to include an image of myself that I took as part of a project two years ago, a self portrait, without it being too obvious that it is myself. I chose a different composition to that of the pages so that it was less formal and showed the images in sizes that balanced each other out. 

This is how my website is first viewed. 

Printed media research

I spent my Saturday afternoon wandering around a fantastic Christmas market in Sleaford, unlike many Christmas Fayre's this one was filled to the brim with quality products. The market was arranged at The National Centre for Craft and Design, displaying a mixture of local artists, crafts people and designers.

Whilst resisting the temptation to buy something from every stall I picked up a variety of business cards, postcards and fliers. I looked like a serial hoarder, but I was doing it to compare different approaches to self promotion.

  Email, phone, site.                                                          Three different online contacts. 

  Centred text, easy to read.                                              Typewriter font links with quirky, vintage                   

  No image on the reverse.                                                theme of work. 

                                                                                        Photograph of work on reverse. 

  Drawn logo.                                                                   One sided.
  Online and postal addresses.                                          Image and text intertwined - looks busy.
  Image of ceramics on reverse.                                       White text on black background.

  Bold images on both sides.                                           Blue and white colour scheme.
  Bold divide between image and text.                           Mixed fonts.
  As many different contact methods.                             Multiple contact methods.
                                                                                      Image on reverse

  Typewriter font links with vintage theme of work.     Colourful.

  Multiple social media contacts.                                   Text on reverse (company name)

  Detail of work on reverse.                                            Mainly text to imagery.

 
  Mainly image to text.                                                   Illustrative design.
  Three points of contact.                                               Text hard to read.
  Monochrome.                                                               Same image on revers - bolder colours.

      

  Crudely hand cut out.                                                    Bold colours.

  Name, email, tel.                                                           Front and reverse don't work together.

  Weak colours.                                                               Small image compared to text.

                                                                                        Not representative of his detailed work. 

Each of these business cards are different, from the minimalist, decorative, playful and informative. There are some ideas I would take from examples, and others that I would learn from. In the past I had experimented with hand cut, moth shaped cards, but after seeing this example I do not think it is an effective medium. In general I think the more minimal designs work better,, with a limited colour scheme. 

Printed Media

The business card I had previously made is rather outdated, this artwork shown was made in 2011, since then I have not made any works similar to this. I felt showing this painting was almost a misrepresentation of the art I am creating now. Instead I am looking through the images I took in the photography studio a few weeks ago.

Using basic Microsoft publisher I have started to experiment with different formats and designs, I want to keep them quite minimal. I feel the first few attempts have far too much information on them.   I think i should only have my email and website address, if people need more information they could contact me, rather than filling a small business card distracting form the images. I am still not happy with the design so will continue to work it until I am happy. 

Sculpture photographs

After reviewing and editing the photographs I took last week in the photography studio, I selected one image for each piece of work; wax, glass, plaster and latex. I would have liked to show more images of each piece, but I feel it would look too repetitive. 

I was worried that uploading these images would make the others look less professional, with exception to the bottom left image this is not the case. Although the existing images were not as good quality, I think the way I photographed them with monochrome backdrops has enhanced the final look. Ideally I would like to retake the images but due to not having the works anymore this is not possible. 

Artist Statement

Initial thoughts about my practice.

Materials key - allow them to speak for themselves

Favourite materials to work with; latex, wax, plaster - all start off liquid then solidify 

Work relatively small scale - often dependent on the materials I have to hand rather than a conscious decision

Multiples/series/repetition - Repetition has been a common technique, taking one form I make mass multiples, upon first inspection they appear to all be identical. Though under closer inspection it becomes apparent that they are all different, each cast is reiterated with slight alterations, some natural defects of the casting process and some intentional. 

Presentation is key with multiples, they began life as a series of trinkets, almost fetish like, putting them into and order or composition turns them into sculptures in their own right.

Very little colour used in my work - generally monochrome or coloured added as an afterthought

Artist Statement Research

After looking at numerous art its' website it had become apparent that I need to write a statement defining my work. At this point I am unsure of what to include in this as I am currently making the most of my time within the college utilising workshops, mediums and time. I feel it would be hard to define my work as I am dabbling in so many experiences. To help me further with writing this I am doing more research to find out what is really needed. 

I am looking back at websites I have previously look dat to help me with design and content of my won site, but this time focussing on the artists' statement. Although I am having to visit websites to extract the statement I am not taking the rest of the site or the author into consideration. 

http://www.artybollocks.com/#abg_full

Whilst googling like crazy I came across the site 'ARTY BOLLOCKS' a bizarre website that at the click of a button could create 'your own artist statement.' It is all meant as a bit of nonsense and fun, it made me relax a little and not panic about having to write this statement. 

As well as 'writing' artist statements the website produces certificates of 'Artistic Practice Licensing Authority'

Back to the real research: 

The Art of Artist's Statement - Hellenic Museum - 2005

Curated by Georgia Kotretsos and Maria Pashalidou

Essential points:

• To be written in a language that anyone can understand
• Facts 
• Basic introduction to my art
• Fundamental underpinnings of my art; write it for people like what they see and want to know more
• A Short and sweet - people have short attention spans
• First person
• Address and answer questions I am frequently asked 

• Why I make art
• What inspires me to make art
• What my work represents
• What is special/unique about how I make it
• What my work means to me

Photography session

I spent the afternoon in one of the photography studios learning how to use all of the photographic equipment; lighting from above, flash, lighting from below, exposure etc. I only took a few pieces to the studio to document as many are still works in progress so I will return once these are finished, I took five wax ears, two plaster and latex ears, a glass panel and a latex panel. I took over one hundred photographs of this small collection trying out different techniques, I now need to look through them all choosing which to upload to wordpress. 

Lighting from below creates a translucent effect.

Lighting from above, placed on a sheet of black card creates a much more opaque effect.