Tim's FAD

 Tuesday was a very interesting opportunity for us all to look forward to what we hope the FAD course will bring us closer to. We got the chance to look at particular differences and crossovers between  Design & Media , Craft and Fine Art. Although there are crossovers and Agencies that work across barriers  it can be helpful to recognise that there are inherent differences and sectors. The diagram below shows some thoughts on the main attributes  of the divisions and crossovers  identified by us as a  group (3 of us). A Venn Diagram shows where the crossovers of disciplines might be seen  We had the chance to look at where we would like to progress at the ned of the course accepting in this that we are near the start and our ambitions could change as more is revealed.  The point was made that CityLit's  department have lots of different skills and we can call on these for advice and help - I was interested t...

 Today in Textiles class had my first practical encounter with an electric  sewing machine, the Bernina.  There were quite a lot of practical things to manage - the health and safety factors were highlighted and I found that there are two lots of thread involved one from the top and a second source from the bobbin underneath. We identified various parts/options, for example there were two 'Feet' we used one for straight lines and one for freehand.  With the straight foot we could have the machine pull the material through but with freehand we managed the material ourselves. The machine Foot for 'freehand' Foot for Straight lines It was good to be able to produce results immediately, as well as thread we were able to experience applique, where other material was ironed on using adhesive on a transfer and then secured with thread. Straight foot with thread - threading was a time consuming  thing for me -  An example of applique A line taken for a walk  M...

When I went to Secondary School there was a big change from how pupils were taught and certainly in Art I encountered an Art  teacher  ('Gerty' Gunner) who was quite strict and somewhat authoritarian - I seem to recall she was not happy with a cartoon based picture I drew ( I think she said something like "This is not the sort of art we encourage here") -this teacher on her retirement  though was replaced by Tom Davies who was almost the opposite to Miss Gunner - playing records and being open to many forms of Art. [Incidentally I met Tom again many years late r by chance, chatting with me he told me he's still painting every day]. So considering the pleasures and personal nourishment that time around Art provides for me : I have found through time and different activities that I am able to immerse myself and the nature of time  itself changes for me - some people describe this as 'Flow'. I have felt this when viewing exhibitions of work by Edward Hopper,...

 On Friday we were given a whirlwind introduction to how we might address the essay that is to be submitted this term. We had a canter through Modern Art from Picasso (and Braque's) work with real materials in collage - the use of Newspapers and the like including artists such as Mondrian and Paolozzi but the artist who's work  created some controversy in the group was Tom Friedman who is considered a Conceptual artist and who we were told is able to command substantial sums of money for his work.

 Coal Yard (St Pancras)  On Tuesday 21st we met at an 'upcoming/upmarket' area of London near St Pancras - it's got a number of companies that are 21st Century focused, some boutique shops and also part of UAL, these factors were useful in giving focus to our thinking on Utopia and Dystopia. Here's a picture of  'All Our Stories' from Bethany Williams . The overhead nature of materials suggested to some of us European cities where washing is hung across narrow streets -the strong sunlight on Tuesday here somewhat distracted from the bright colours . Flags at Coal Yard Cardboard Possibilities is it going to catch on? (perhaps in time) Brompton District It was really stimulating to visit  the venues in this area  I liked the area which confronted some 'awkward themes' such as Funerals and Let's talk about death.   using chicken skins for non usual purposes (in terms of western customs). 3D clay printing offered a possibility of more predictable outcome...

 On Monday we were able to have some experiments with Screen Printing on Fabric - one of the people famous for his involvement in Screen-print  is Andy Warhol. Our work was designed to reflect some of our plans around Utopia/Dystopia project - for me I chose some images from my 'Dystopia' storyboard - I am looking at the imaginings and realities around the Panopticon of Jeremy Bentham.   Storyboard for Panopticon Here are 3 of the steps that are made Step 1 - The Mask is attached to the frame - the masking tape on the edge  should ensure that Ink does not leak through Step 2 - Ink is applied and the frame is flooded ahead of applying to the material Step 3 - A squeegee is used to spread the ink typically 3 passes with steady  pressure being applied Here are my outputs, 2 buildings, Monitor watchers & Camera warning. I found that the Screen Printing was a useful technique for the application I had in mind. Reflections One of the things that I found was ...

 On Friday we spent time in the Room 405 looking in particular at photography. First we looked at lighting of objects which we'll need to do to document our efforts - the item we worked with was a pair of sunglasses and we used paper to create 'infinity' - here are a few examples of the results of moving lights and camera angles.  Here there been adjustments made to compensate for an overly warm temperature from the lighting. Next we looked at work and quotes from those working in photography 'Reportage'  including Dorothea Lange (famous for her dustbowl photo's of Depression USA) , Don McCullin principally a war photographer with a focus on people  and Martin Parr who is known for his pictures of contemporary Britain unlike the first two who tend to be associated with Black & White  he works mainly with colour.  We were given two exercises to complete, taking pictures in London where 20 shots  in a theme and some reportage shots too. This is my...

 This week I have started a course at CityLit London that's about Art and Design, the course runs for an academic year and is 3 days per week. CityLit is an institution that offers many opportunities for adult learning one of the big assets is the teaching which is conducted by people who have a real life history in the topics they teach in - I started the part 1 of the course pre pandemic and here is a link to a post from early 2020 On this website I will reflect on the learning and experience, what approaches were taken, feedback from the group  and the way I felt about various aspects of the topic. Monday  13th September 2021. The first session was Textiles and we looked at  a presentation on  Textiles and some of the artists working in this area - funnily enough I had visited a local Arts Trail at the weekend and seen and discussed with a participating artist a textile approach using a recycling perspective  as the raw material (sort of if I can see raw...