Leonardo Da Vinci

'Da Vinci the Genius' exhibition 14Th Nov 2009 -13Th June 2010 at Manchester museum of science and industry

This is well worth a visit , the ideas, the sketches , the inventions , the paintings! the man was a one off , i had no idea he invented the bullet and the tank and also discovered hardening of the arteries all those years ago!!!!!

Truly an amazing man who was almost put to death in his early 20s because he was discovered in a compromising position with another man! Thank goodness that didn't happen and he went on to produce all the inspiring work that is referenced in this exhibition. Go and see it quick !

www.mosi.org.uk

www.davincithegenius.com

Stephen Hitchin Artist/Sculptor

I visited the Bridewell Gallery in Liverpool on 16Th May to see an art exhibition and whilst there i had the good fortune to meet Stephen Hitchin. Stephen's work was not part of the show, he was there working on one of his sculptures in a Court yard at the back of the building. He was a very charismatic, knowledgeable man and he took time out from his work to show me around the building ( which is an old police station) and to talk about his art work. Stephen is the Fine Art degree course leader at Wirral Metropolitan College and in his spare time creatures beautiful pieces of sculpture. Stephen does lots of commissioned work for both public and private clients and he uses materials such as metal, glass, marble, ceramics and most often stone. He was carving a large piece of marble when i met him, which had been commissioned by the jewellers 'Boodles' . He explained that he had purchased several slabs of marble at a bargain price from a local cemetery because the graves were very old and unclaimed and the marble plinths had become unsafe and dangerous so were removed. He talked to me about how some of his artist friends make a living and invited me to his student's degree show which i am really looking forward to.

Lucca 2009
Breaker

Moondancer 2003Millfield 2006-07

Time and Place 2009

Pool Of Life 1999

www.stephenhitchin.com

The Chair

Before this course i had no knowledge of art history and really didn't get modern art at all, but i now have a real appreciation for the concepts and thinking behind the work that is in galleries. I am drawn to bizarre exhibits that don't make any sense until you hear the story behind the idea.

Tracey Enim the Bed 1998

Marcel Duchamp Bicycle Wheel 1913

Fountain 1917

Joseph Beuys Fat Chair 1964

I found this chair in an antiques market in Manchester and thought it was perfect for this project. Because i had been reminiscing about my childhood the fact that it was child's high chair fitted the bill, and i immediately saw it as restrictive because a child is restrained in a high chair with reins,( similar to the restraints forced on me as a child by my religion!)

I decided to paint the chair white to signify purity and saintliness but i also wanted it to have a grubby/ stained appearance with reference to the Church's darker side. My mum who attended a convent school had remembered a prayer that she had been made to receipt in class and she found a copy of it online for me :

Its called Act Of Reporation and is a hideous hate prayer , i wanted to include this text in the piece along with an image of 'gentle' Jesus and one of my own favourite lines " is that what Jesus would do" .I found it amazing as a child that the church congregation ( mainly elderly women) chanted prayers out parrot fashion with no thought as to what they were actually saying! I used plastic Rosary beads to create the reins for my high chair and placed a lamp above the chair to represent the light of the world ,and to put Catholicism under the spot light!

image of finished piece to follow!

Tabitha Kyoko Moses

Paper and Cloth

Having been set a live brief for the Paper and Cloth studio we were lucky enough to meet the company owner/ director Jennie Rivers.

Jennie set up the studio in 2007 having gained a fashion degree in London and worked for several years at Marks and Spencer as a buyer and product developer in children's wear. She assumed that she would be able to find freelance designers who were talented and experienced within the industry, this was not the case so her company began to train the designers on their books to help give them a clearer understanding of how the design world works. Jennie has 7 designers on her books at the moment and promotes each of the design team under their own name within the company , she feels an illustration talent is a must. Jennie told us she is a massive researcher , she follows blogs and spends time networking in order to keep her finger on the pulse, she told us to link our blogs to as many designers as possible in order to get our work noticed. Jennie feels that vector based illustrations are the way forward rather than just photoshop images and thinks its important to keep up to date with new soft ware and to develop your own recognisable style or 'handwriting' she also loves hand drawn work that is unique and different because clients always want new and edgy design ideas.

Designs sell in Europe for around £370 and in the USA for $560 and some times it takes 90 days for payments to be made so its really important to have a contract with your agent or studio.Jennie, like most agents takes 40% of the fee and her designers produce 15 to 20 designs per week and can expect to sell 30 to 40% of them. Another useful tip she gave us was to look at protecting our work online through a creative commons licence or acid ( anti copyright in design) there is information on the Paper and Cloth website via a legal statement.Jennie explained how competitive the industry is and suggested some creative ways to present a CV in order to stand out from the crowd, she also advised joining the design forum.

It was great to meet Jennie and i really appreciated all the advice she gave us .

www.paperandcloth.net

We were fortunate enough to spend time one to one with Jennie and she commented on what we had produced.

Jennie's feedback re my work ;

some of the designers were lovely , they have textural , stencil simplicity and balance

look at the shop FRANK in Whitstable

i am clearly talented , have good ideas and make great connection, some elements are beautiful but others look as if i have run out of time or patience.

Be aware of copy right when using found images

it is possible to use hand done work but this will effect sales and production

look at lovelydesign.com

write to her, to access the Paper and Cloth portfolio in order to see the work and don't rule out designing

focus on what i can do and have faith!

thanks so much Jennie for your time it was really appreciated , and i felt like you absolutely got where i was at !