Overhead projector

So i was given an overhead projector by my mum when a company she was working with were getting rid of it. It has been sat in my room since august when I brought it home and I've been musing what I can produce now that I have the power to project :-) the reason why I'm such a fan is because in school everything was digitally projected, and I remember when an ohp was the most modern of technologies.

So I've just used it half an hour ago (power of instant mobile blogging) to produce a moon gazing hare silk cloth.

Though i still haven't worked out the best way to post images from my phone, i hope the three images show what I've been doing.

A hat of many firsts...

So I've been knitting my self spun alpaca yarn into a hat... Its a hat of many new experiances as I've never knitted a hat before. I've never knitted with "self spun" yarn before and its also my first lot of yarn that I've spun myself and I'm making the pattern up based on another one as I don't yet know the best way to knit to specific measurements... So it's all a bit exciting really!

Power of the mobile

So now that i have a new fangled transformer phone, that can have the blogger app.... Im very much hoping to be able to blog on the go and actually get round to some sembelace of regular blogging... But i very much doubt it... Fingers crossed and all that!!

Portable Printing

So, the work placement in teaching is going well, really well, in fact - i now want to train to be a teacher full time... SCARY!!! this is something that a year ago, i would have laughed at, and 3 months ago, the placement was 'to keep me out of trouble', now i fear it may have landed me squarely in what some could consider the 'trouble' category... but there we go.

anyways, separate to that, the college's screen print tables were being used as real tables so i was unable to steal them - as printing on a hard surface doesn't give the best results, so we were shown the portable print surface that the head of textiles had made when she was completing her degree - this is a genius bit of kit that means you can take your slightly squishy surface anywhere!!!

and within 5 minutes of the conversation myself and Louise (Please check her out) - fellow artist/ friend for far to long/ poor soul who suffers me the most - were sent to pull favours and create our own! and this post - bar the waffle/essay - is about that!!!

so the stages are - 1 find stuff by asking nicely and having generous people who remember when you used to be a student, and are prepared to go 'you're rubbish at explaining what you need, take these and go away' = how to get the drawing boards 

Stage 2 - be told that neoprene is a good surface to use as the squishy bit... then be told there is a convenient roll by the door!

Stage 3 - staple it to the drawing board 

Stage 4 - Then find and staple plastic sheet/ bin liner, this stops the neoprene from getting all inked and helps it last 

Stage 5 - Cover with fabric - plain is best, white/cream is even better - this provides a replaceable cover once its completely covered with ink and hard to use

these are the 2 finished - with a carved lino block for artistic perusal

So hopefully i shall begin printing LOADS, and by hopefully i mean maybe soon, and by maybe soon i probably secretly mean in a year or so.... BUT i shall endeavor to do something sooner rather than later!

Its been 2 weeks - OOOPS!

SOOO i've looked at my blog today, and realised its been like 2 whole weeks since i last even looked at it... OOOPS!!!

anyways, the gangly man is now in fimo!! and looking similar enough to be happy with him, during his production however i realised just how much fun fimo really is, only problem is that i dont think i cooked it properly so it may go wrong and fall apart from being both under or over cooked... 110 degrees is difficult with a gas oven, its somewhere between off and standby... but only the oven knows where! longest half an hour staring at the oven thermometer ever!

photos to follow (if i remember) =D

The Gangley Man

Soooo onto creative things, enough about other such mental notes....

THE GANGLEY MAN!!! ive nicknamed this work of air dry clay with this title... He is a polystyrene egg coated in clay and then the features moulded on top!

 As you can clearly see however, i forgot that clay contracts whilst drying (oops moment) and so hes cracked, right through his nose, and other facial features - fortunately though hes cracked around, not through his ears. Which is nice because it means i dont have to worry about half of it falling off, if it goes it'll be in one piece! (hopefully)

His hands are made of wire and clay wrapped round it, as this is the only way i could think to do them.

 And here are his feet!!! i think this shape of feet is really good fun!

the thing thats next to do is work out what im going to do as his body, and then attempt to make him into an actual complete person shaped thing... not just a selection of extremities floating in the ether.  Since the air dry clay is a bit fragile and stuff, i've also decided to treat this as a test run and then make it again in oven bake fimo clay stuff... because its a bit more robust and all that jazz (its also the first excuse to steal the oven in the name of art since those shrinkies plastic things i used to use as a kid! - well, 6 months ago)

Same sandwich, Same filling...

The one thing that my teaching placement has hit home, is that repetitively doing the same thing becomes interesting, and how we deal with it is also a key test of human nature... i suppose its something that everyone faces all the time within every day life, but teaching 9 different classes the same thing has really brought home just how much we all do the same stuff each day!

I dont know why i've suddenly noticed it, in a lightbulb above the head style moment... but it's really got me thinking about how we all find different things enjoyable about the same task from one day to the next, like knitting, or raking a sand garden like they do in a martial arts film, or anything else that gives someone the saint like patience to be able to do the same thing over and over again, without getting bored, and (hopefully) being able to inspire somebody else to have an interest in what it is your showing them.  

Just having a bit of a moment...