Old World Primitives

This primitive folk artist is from New Jersey, they produce hand made ornaments and sell their work via Etsy . These little works of art are amazing they are very sweet and naive and have a certain charm. The theme of animal/human is much like my own interpretations and again the rabbit makes a regular appearance! i think these little decorative pieces are very lovely indeed.

Julie Arkell display ideas!

Julie Arkell is one of my old favourites and for this project my focus is on her display ideas, she recycles found objects such as old shelves and jars in which she displays her little figures and characters and some times uses box frames . Some of her work is simply free standing with out any box or covering which raises the issue of how to care for it and keep it clean and free from damage! I feel for my fmp I will need to frame or box the fabric work in order to keep it clean and presentable.

Peter Clark collages

I came across the beautiful work of Peter Clark when I saw an article about his collages in issue 38 of Selvedge magazine Jan/Feb 2011. He has spent a life time collecting and salvaging packaging and paper which is uses to create the most amazing collages . I was particularly drawn to his work not only because of the stunning quality of it but also because of the subjects he has chosen . I am working on both animals and garments in my collage work for my final major project so it was wonderful to find these exquisite examples .Clark prefers to use papers that are stained and faded and his use of layering to create texture is one of the techniques he uses to give the' dog 'collages personality and charm. The paper choice is genius and the colour palettes for each piece work so beautifully , Clark has an eye for placement using the patterns and lines in the recycled papers , maps , stamps etc to stunning effect .

www.peterclarkcollage.com

FMP initial ideas

These are some images of my initial ideas generation, I was trying to create a feeling of being trapped so the idea of cages came up, I experimented using different materials to try and make cage like structures including, wire, paper, candle wax, tea bags, card board , string, fabric, pins and twigs some were more successful than others!

FMP sketchbook images

The theme for my final major project is the notion of being contained or released and as I always seem to create illustrations of animals I decided to use animal heads to represent either people or places/situations in my life that have either held me back or set me free. I feel that the idea of animals with human bodies or human qualities may become something of a signature with in my work ! these are some of the sketches I made. My style is line drawings in pen or pencil and some are more cartoon like than others, I feel that some are comical and others are more sinister because to me they represent both positive and negative issues.