Bookmarks

The never ending list of sites I urge myself to visit;

http://www.village-center.com/ - Wonderful French campsites
http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/other/living-on-the-earth - Book I must buy!
http://blog.freepeople.com/art/ - The most influential blog
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html - contemporary fashion blog
http://homepage.mac.com/curatorial1/Kertesz%20web%20gallery/index.html - Andre Kertesz: On Reading, a beautiful collection of photographs.
http://www.theplasticlens.com/ - Holga based photography site.
http://www.vimeo.com/3685931 - Some digital harinezumi video pieces I am yet to watch. The digital harinezumi is a sort of super8 camera made by Superheadz.
http://www.superheadz.com/digitalharinezumi/ - digital harinezumi.
http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/home - Skill sharing near my home.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/library/ - Natural History Museum archive
......

Untitled December 2009

This is an untitled piece made from moss, chicken wire and thick thread. Finlay and I gathered moss and it has been stored outside for the past few days to keep it fresh and green. I made a structure from chicken wire and sewed the moss onto it using the thick thread. I then attached this 'mossy-stalactite' to a light fitting on the ceiling using invisible beading thread which is strong but enables the sculpture to appear weightless, almost floating.

I feel that this piece would be suitable for exhibiting, despite its short life, within a white gallery space such as the concourse gallery in Byam Shaw. I will experiment with display further when I am able to.

Disneyland 2009

I made this 'Disney-land' for my mum who is quite unhappy that we are not going to Disneyland before Christmas this year. It is a collection of photographs in a large cardboard box that you can stick your head into and imagine that you are there.

'The End Illustrated'

Issue 1 of 'The End Illustrated' 2009.

A new publication idea developed from my publication company 'The End Publications'.

Yurt

I have been constructing a yurt since September 2009 in a collaboration with my boyfriend Finlay Simpson, a carpenter. It is being presented for assessment at Byam Shaw school of art and will be exhibited in the Concourse Gallery at Byam Shaw in January, and hopefully other exhibitions within the University of the Arts London.

Please visit http://s734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/faybamblett/Yurt/ to view additional photographs taken during construction.

ARTWORK

Please click 'ARTWORK' to visit my photo album of current artwork.

Newly Discovered

Some blogs I discovered over the weekend (and some old favourites I always use);

• http://blog.freepeople.com/2009/10/ - my source for all great american contemporary, undiscovered art.
• http://cosmic-dust.tumblr.com/ - I haven't quite discovered what this one is all about but the photographs are beautiful.
• http://egotrippingatthegates.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html - Summer Teeth. lovely photography.

This weekend I have been drawing, re-kindling my classic piano playing, researching, discovering mushroom spore prints, walking, collecting, reading, tidying and wearing my gorgeous new brown boots.

Tracey Emin

I am feeling inquisitive towards Tracey Emin, her work and her life. I plan to buy or borrow books such as Strangeland which you can buy quite cheaply on Amazon and 'One Thousand Drawings' 

Please visit...

Please visit my facebook album 'I am an Artiste' to see other works I have completed over 2008/2009. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86164&id=511824709

Heike Weber

Beautiful installations and line drawings using a range of media; ballpoint pens, watercolour, ink etc. Visit her website at http://www.heikeweber.net/ to see the large work collection which are all as equally stunning as these three examples above.

A Long Weekend

On Saturday my mum and me took a trip to London to visit the Barbican Gallery and the Hayward. We spent most of the day on foot or overground on buses and discovered a wonderful new way to view London, as we usually always catch the tube. 

First on our list was a long walk to the Barbican to see 'Radical Nature - Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969-2009.' This was something I had wanted to see, as it relates to my environmental art interest, and have been collecting articles about it. I plan to write reviews on all of the galleries I visited this weekend.

We then caught the bus to the Hayward, stopping for lunch on Southbank on the way. Haywards new exhibition 'Walking in my Mind' is definately my exhibition of the year, with such a broad range of artists they brought together the subject of the artist's mind extremely well. 

On Monday we visited Tate Britain and Tate Modern. I was a little let down by both galleries new exhibitions; Richard Long's Heaven and Earth at Tate Britain and Futurism at the Tate Modern. Richard Long's exhibition was dull and Futurism, although showing a great number of wonderful works, was hung rather badly and there was no flow between each room. I did enjoy reading the manifesto's and seeing a movement in art I have never studied before. 

Charaka Satyam Danaher

I discovered Danaher's beautiful porcelain installation in an old issue of Ceramic Review I bought yesterday at the Aylesford potter's market. Each ball represents a family soul and the floating ones signify the dead family.

Please visit her website on http://www.familyconstellationuk.co.uk/livingdead2.htm and view some more images of the wonderful installation which was displayed at Oriel Queens Hall Gallery in Pembrokeshire in November 2008.

Michael Jackson Sculpture

I started work early on Friday morning, Guy had a rather good idea to make a Michael Jackson tribute sculpture that would be presented in the gallery on Saturday morning. The sculpture is not for sale.

Here is the paragraph that I accompany the sculpture with;

This is not a piece of sorrow or mourn. It is a celebration of Michael Jackson's music career and fame, and respect for his music and life as a pop icon. The constant reference to black and white and the mirrors suggests the difficulties he had with race and skin and the issues of his appearance. The bouquet presents a gift of honour and the crown salutes the title he achieved as the 'King of Pop'.

The iconic imagery of Michael Jackson is represented through this pose and the discarded white glove inclines us all to lay his memory in peace.

Tessa Farmer

I found out about this artist through Helen Nodding's links on her webpage. They are quite morbid sculptures but fantastic all the same. I remember seeing an article in Vogue a few years ago with these images.

Helen Nodding

This great little piece is presented within a decaying brick wall, like a tiny forest suspended on a cliff hundreds of metres above ground.

Visit http://storiesfromspace.co.uk/data/html/menu.html and browse her 'Pueblo de las Calaveras' in Victoria Park, London. She created tiny worlds within our own, I find the way she lights them breathtakingly fairy-like. This piece in particular reminds me of Peter Pan's Neverland.

Laura Adel Johnson

The June 22nd blogpost on 'www.blog.freepeople.com/art' introduced this fantastic artist Laura Adel Johnson (http://lauraadeljohnson.blogspot.com/) I am already following her blog, which has some more photographs of her 'twinkle' artworks. I would definately suggest a look.

Listing

Galleries/Exhibitions I must visit;

Radical Nature at the Barbican

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2009 (again, with my mum)

Tate Britain

Tate Modern

Exhibition Week

Today was the second to last day in preparation for the exhibition which is opening tomorrow evening. Most of the sculptures are in place, all photographs and paintings are mounted and on the wall and we are almost ready to open! It's all looking great, we had a lot of visitors in the gallery throughout the day today, mainly friends of Guy and Victoria (my boss and his girlfriend) and a few lovely artists and photographers who are exhibiting their work.

I mainly worked on painting the backboards and temporary walls a lovely shade of 'art-gallery' grey. Also a little retouching of the mosaic tiles that had fallen off in transit or grouting missed areas.



During my lunch break I took a cheeky trip to Cass Art shop and bought a huge A2 sketchpad, a tiny handbag sized sketchpad and a set of staedtler fineliners. Shopping in an art store to me is like a child in a toyshop or shoe shopping to any normal woman!

This week I have downloaded around twenty podcasts, mostly Tate Events but a few lectures by senior staff at UAL colleges. I have also been looking most mornings through several blog sites and google searching 'environmental art' and 'natural art blogs'

Summer Work

I have continued working for Guy beyond my work based learning term, on the run up to his exhibition which is launching this Wednesday and Thursday, I shall be there for both nights. I have been in the studio working on Ringo Starr's commissioned garden sculpture and a small mosaic piece for a local primary school. Below you can see the progress I have made;

The two pieces above are a yin yang that are the center piece of Ringo Starr's garden sculpture.

Deadlines

Cultural and Contextual studies project is in for today. I've completed all of the tasks, and tonight hope to put together my Work Based Learning reflective journal ready for next Monday 8th June. I feel I have handled these project deadlines better than previous ones, as I am off to Spain tomorrow, meaning I would give myself unnecessary pressure this weekend when I get back to complete my journal. 

Today I'm visiting the Royal College of Art's 'ONE' exhibition of graduating students work. 

Led Zeppelin Mosaic

Current progress of the Led Zeppelin mosaic. It will be finished by Monday when it is being photographed for the catalogue. The close-up is a mosaic of Robert Plant

Good Sources

Over the past few weeks I have found several blogs and magazines that are great sources of inspiration, updating all the time. Here are a few suggestions;

http://www.alexmonroe.com/blog/ beautiful Alex Monroe jewellery blog, if you don't know him already.

http://www.weebirdy.com/ A London bird reflecting on lovely things in the capital.

A GORGEOUS jewellery shop near Chelsea called @work (just a few roads down from the college)

http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/index.php beautiful book based work and a wonderful piece called 'origami birds'

http://www.bldgblog.blogspot.com - great architectural based blog, sustainability and urban agri-utopianism a key.

Bird drawing, from £92 and paintings, from £188, by Rob Clarke, from Elphick's;

Tiny Studio

This is my current tiny studio space, in my boyfriends bedroom. I can just about squeeze everything in here but will hopefully be moving into a bigger shed in a few weeks. All I need now is a tall easel, several tubs of white primer and an electrician. 

Work Based Learning

Here is an up to date record of the work for Guy Portelli I have collaborated with. Up to this date I have worked on these sculptures; Sex Pistols, Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Who, Spice Girls, Elton John and these photographs of the last five weeks are of the new Led Zeppelin large wall piece.

Wednesday

I did not help at the stables today, instead I organised some things and went to bexhill. We collected some 'jestom and flotsom' and visited the de la warr pavillion gallery where I was not impressed at all by the work on exhibition there.

Glamour

The temptation to buy a packet of cigarettes purely for the gorgeous packet is intense. Luxurious colours, gold writing, embossed images, oh what I would give for smoking to be good for you! Despite the fact I rarely smoke even a roll-up, I must say it is an attractive factor in my boy. Waitrose; remove the cigarette stand.

Shelter

Current Progress - April 2009

I am almost four months into the project and development is slow as I have been concentrating on other projects, personal and degree related. I do not have a specific sketchbook for the project and therefore have little holding the progress I have made together. I must compile a folder or book of my research. 

Projects

Self directed projects I am working on at the moment:

• Wunderkammer - Cabinet of Curiosities. Also running alongside 'Cultural and Contextual studies' unit at Byam Shaw.
  
• Roots - Nature project. Reading books such as Monty Don, Lost Crafts. Taking inspiration from fashion magazines and current 'floral' trend. Spring Harpers Bazaar, Vogue, Elle.
• Shelter - Long-term project continuing from term 2. Researching books - Shelter by Lloyd Kahn, Home work: Handbuilt shelter by Lloyd Kahn. Must visit Weald open air museum.

Work based learning begins next Monday 20th April. I start with Guy Portelli, as a sculptor and research assistant continuing from my previous work with him last summer.