FickleArt

This was an in-depth induction showing us how to use and work the machines safely.

The Workshop

Cutting Machines

This was a portable jigsaw machine.
It works in a similar way to a sewing machine. It has one small strip of blade that is attached to the 'arm'. The 'arm', when turned on, bounces up and down EXTREMELY fast which allows you to cut through sheet materials. (wood, plastic, etc.)
There is also an adjustable 'foot' that is situated around the blade (like a foot of a sewing machine sits around the needle) this basically gives you more control and safety with your material.
This piece of equipment is brilliant for difficult and unusual shapes like curves.

Band Saw. This is one continuous band/loop of blade that rotates downwards (this direction is very important as it keeps your material from flying out of control. It pushed your material into the 'bed' of the machine). This is mainly used for straight cuts but you can create small/shallow curves.

This is another band saw which works the same way as the one above but this is used only for straight cuts.
It has an adjustable guard and 'fence' this is a movable guide/ruler so you can create perfect straight lines.

Sanders
These are usually used to make finishing touches.
This one is used to sand difficult shapes like rings, loops, curves etc... you can also change the sander for different thickness's.

This type of sander works with a band that rotates.

This sander works with a spinning disk. The closer you are to the centre of the disk the slower it is therefore it isn't so harsh on your material. Whereas the further out to the edge the faster the disk is spinning and the faster your piece will be sanded.

Hand Tools
There are so many different hand tools that you can use! We were shown a few different types of drills and screwdrivers.

The induction was very helpful, we had a chance to try out all of the machines so we could get used to them. I am very confident to use these tools now and I can not wait to start working with them. All of the machines have safety guards and you are not allowed near a working machine until you have:
. Goggles on
. Hair tied back
. Large/dangling jewellery off
. Safe or sturdy footwear
. No coats or baggy clothing
Because of this the workshop is a safe environment to be in and the tech staff are extremely helpful and great fun to work with.

Up until Christmas, we have been set numerous of projects each lasting 2 weeks.
1. Including:
2. Sculpture
3. Painting
4. Video
5. Inscription
Brief
Create a group portrait.
Task 1
Make 30 second drawings of each other with out looking at the page, Draw each portrait on top of the next.
I chose to used different coloured pens so it was easier to see each individual drawing.

I chose to work with photography. I took a photograph of everyone in my group.

I put the images in to photo shop and layered them. I then changed the transparency of each photograph so you could see all of the images.

It looks quite spooky! I didn't want to leave Like that so my next thought was to include everyone's name. I used the same technique as I did for the photographs...

I added this to the image.

At the end of each week we will be having group tutorials, explaining our ideas and progresses through out the week. This will be the same for each project.

Wednesday 3rd October 2012

Brief
Create a sculpture out of found object, refer to the image given.

The Garden of Eathly Delights
Hieronymus Bosch
(Oil on Wood - 220x389cm)

Firstly,I collect objects:
. Shells

. Pebbles
. Rusted Metals
. Metal Shavings
The more I collected the more ideas I got.
When I look at the image (above) the two things that instantly come to mind are people and water. I made this the main subject of my piece, most of the objects I collected came from the beach/sea so it links together nicely.
My initial ideas was to create a family day out. I always visit beaches around England with my family so I thought I would recreate one of those days. (people/family and water/beach/sea).
I started to create the base of my piece and main structure.
(Rusty Metal)

I added people
(Pebbles and Shells)

I made a dog out of seaweed, a limpet shell as its collar and a little metal shaving for an eye.

I liked the eye on the dog so I added them to all of the people.

I also made personal objects for some of the people like hats.

My next step was to glue all the down with a hot glue gun.

I felt it needed something else, so I went and found more metal. I made a boat and waves.

I attached seaweed and shells for detail.

The finished piece!

We had an induction in the workshop, so I will take the piece and solder it together a the glue isn't very strong.

Week 2
Thursday 4th October 2012
When I came in today, I didn't like the sculpture and want to change change my ideas.
The metals I found where hard to work with so I changed materials and chose to work with wax.
I recently went the beach to take photographs, I focused mainly on seaweed so I took inspiration from that.

I really liked the bubbles and different patterns of the seaweed so wanted to capture this with the wax. I started off by making the main structure with modelling wax and then dripping melted wax over the top. The drips of wax create the bubbles of the seaweed.
The Wax Pots

Wax Seaweed

I put seaweed and shells on the wax and then placed the whole structure on a rusted nail I found at the beach. I took one of the pebble people from the other sculpture and placed it in the wax seaweed.

I also placed on the seaweed dog I made for the other sculpture.

The finished piece.

Monday 8th October 2012
I took a look at everything I had made but still wasn't happy so I decided to start again and take a whole new approach. I wanted to used different materials and different themes/ideas, so I studied the image again and my eye was drawn to these castle like structures.

I love the different shapes the buildings were made from I took inspiration from these unusual shapes. I decided to use clay.

I started off with the spherical structure at the bottom made from wax. I heated up wire and pushed it into the ball, this was to give the clay something to hold onto, it also makes my sculpture much stronger. I started adding the clay and making the pillars.

I made small steps round the wax ball by pressing a tool into the clay. The clay started to crack and crumble as it dried, but I quite like this effect. I carried on creating my structure by adding small apartments and balconies all the way up.

I created windows and doors. I liked how this was turning out, I love that you can still see my fingerprints in the clay.

The structure was starting to feel unsafe the higher it got, so I made small bridges to join everything together and to make it much stronger. My favourite part of the piece is probably the roof, I made individual tiles and attached them all the way around.

Once complete I added a little colour to the piece with some liquid inks. I used pink, yellow, blue and purple ink.

The finished piece

I wanted to take this technique further so I zoomed in on the castle and took one of the little apartments and started to make it again on a larger scale. I used the same techniques as before.

I made stable doors with hinges and door handles.

Again the roof was the best part to make! This time I added a little chimney, which I think finishes the roof off but also makes it a little 'quirky'.

The Roof

As you can see from the photographs below, I had to make a wire frame support the weight of the wet clay.

Thursday 11th October 2012
I took two sculptures outside and hid them in between plants and foliage. I really love how they look but I think they stand out to much as they are bright white. I will leave them outside so the changing weather can manipulate them. I will keep checking on them to see what happens.