DEGREES UNEDITED

# 12 [14 June 2009]

Finally made it!  Show was amazing; very well attended.  The week leading up to it was extremely hectic, however, the setting up went smoothly.  It was fairly straight forward for me to put up my paintings, the most difficult part is selecting which paintings to leave in and which to take out.  The only other job for me was setting up the books in a glass case to stop them from being touched.  Some people however, like Julie and Carol, had quite a job setting up their installations.  Everyone has rallied around to create a wonderful show.  All that is left to do now is gather all the written and supporting work together for the assessments tomorrow.  I have to stop off at the library in the morning to get a copy of May's edition of the an Magazine with my image on the front cover of the Degree Unedited 2009 suppliment because mine went missing last week from 121.  Life never runs as smoothly as we want.

# 11 [7 June 2009]

I feel on the whole, my paintings have been resolved this week.  My worry towards the end of the week was that I could have overworked them and that would have led to a loss of quality held within them.  My books are all finished, the book from Utah has been returned.  However we are not able to display the Utah books for the degree show due to them being displayed at The Liverpool Book Fair before the degree show is finished.  This is a great disappointment to me because the book tied in with my core work.  Not to worry though as it will be on display for the assessment.  Going back to my paintings, I feel they have a moody quality to them.  The colours have become darker and darker during the painting and layering process, but this is deliberate to make use of the light captured within them.  The paper lithograph figure of my daughter Amelia have blended in well with the oil and I hope they will be dry tomorrow for hanging.  Towards the end of the week I gave Caz and Julie a hand to get their work finished.  We had a great time woking together.  Everyone has been so supportive of each other.  It's going to be hard getting back to normal after these intense last few months.

# 10 [31 May 2009]

I feel so exhausted. Pressure is unbearable, but I'm sure I'm not alone.  I have finished printing all the images I need for my canvases.  My book 'Fragile Form' is finished.  I just need to stitch the book together to give it some secure bonding.  I am satisfied with the way it looks.  The eight images I have paper lithographed for the book have been carefully sequenced.  It starts off with the images upright and strong.  Towards the end of the book, the images become more fragile and vulnerable.  They have a quality to them which I have searched for in my work.  The colour for the cover of the book is also important to me.  It is a soft blue which ties in with the fragility held within.  There is no writing or imagery on the front and back covers of the book.  This is also deliberate.  Tomorrow I plan to go to my studio in Birkenhead to start to resolve the paintings which tie into the concept of the fragility of the form.  The paper lithographs which have dried over the weekend will be stuck to the canvases and sealed with varnish.  On Tuesday I will be able to paint more around them.  I hope the weather stays warm enough for everything to dry.  The cold weather recently has hampered the drying process and has been unexpected.  Fingers crossed everything will go according to plan this week.  My journal is up to date and so is my careers folder.

# 9 [27 May 2009]

Deadline is looming and the nightmares have begun.  Last night's nightmare was, I got to the Williamson Gallery and there wasn't a single space for me to hang my paintings! I must pull myself together.  My worries are mainly that the paintings(oils) aren't drying as quickly as I had hoped.  This is partly due to the weather not being as warm as I had expected for this time of year.  I am also surprised as I have been working with thin washes of paint mixed with white sprit which usually dry in a couple of days.  I have now started to apply the paint more thickly aswell.  The next step is to glue the paper lithographs onto the canvas.  This is going to be impossible if the paint doesn't dry, so I am going to leave them until after the weekend.  Meanwhile I am working at my Llandudno studio on the paper litho prints for the paintings.  These I have found incredibly time consuming as I have to size the images first on my PC.  These then have to be taken to Staples to be photocopied onto good quality paper.  I then take them to my studio for printing.  The first and second ink-ups of the image don't provide enough detail, so it's usually third time lucky.  I just hope I can manage to get it all done in time.  I also have to piece my book 'Fragile Form' together and make another mapping book to go with the other two I made for Utah.  I also need to put together my journal ready for presentation.  Mmm, plenty to be getting on with.

# 8 [11 May 2009]

Got back from Utah on Saturday.  Feeling very jetlagged, but work must go on!  The trip was amazing and challenging.  Enjoyed working with American students very much and have forged some new freindships and contacts.  Worked with a student called Dan who did one to one tutorial with me on photopolymer etching.  The times for the light box were different to Twelve Quays so needed him to do light exposures on plates.  The hike through the desert was a complete shock.  We trecked 6 miles accross rough terraine.  We were only expecting treck to be a couple of miles.  The heat and high altitude were awful.  Between 35 and 40 degrees at 8000 feet.  We were exhausted, but it gave me a feel for the mapping project 'Mapping the West', and what the early settlers must have experienced when they were forging pathways through the desert.  When we got back from the three day camping trip it was a tight schedule to get our books made for the gallery opening on the Thursday evening.  We had three days. The first morning I spent printing off photos of the trip to prepare for gum arabic transfer and photopolymer etching.  This wasn't easy as we were using Apple Macs and I'm used to a PC. The following day and a half were a complete disaster!  I couldn't get any gum arabic transfers to work because the inks seemed different and the dry heat was also affecting the process.  I felt hopeless and thought I wouldn't have a book ready.  I kept on going.  We worked long hours and by Wedneday morning I had managed to get some reuslts by using Lithograph ink instead of etching ink.  It was a race for time and by Wednesday night I had printed off all my images and made the covers for my book.  Meanwhile I had to scrap the etching plates I had done because the images weren't strong enough.  We also had to source and buy all our materials from the University campus.  I walked miles collecting ribbon, photocopies, end papers etc.  Thurdsay morning we got in early and I finished my book a little after the deadline at 12 noon.  The opening night went extremely well and it was sad to say our goodbyes.   Now home it's back to the grindstone and thoughts are now turning back to degree show and planning my time.

# 7 [23 April 2009]

Have been working on allsorts this week.  Essay, Utah trip and core work.  Everything has gone smoothly.  Sorted out colour red for Utah books.  Ended up using printing inks because oils didn't work with gum arabic transfer method.  Started five paintings for core.  Managed three layers so far and the images are starting to give an atmosphere of silence and contemplation.  The books have got the atmosphere I wanted in them.  The feeling of fragility and vulnerability of the human form within a landscape.  This will be my last posting before my trip to Utah the day after tomorrow.  I am now excited as well as nervous, but confident the trip will bring something new to my work.

# 6 [14 April 2009]

Still in writers block.  Littlist one is going to nursey for the day tomorrow so hoping to get to grips with essay which is changing everytime I write something.  Today it's on how the artist mainpulates the viewer.  Yesterday I went to the studio to do some work on the mapping Utah project.  I layered some paper lithograph images using two or three layers.  The results were interesting and going in the right direction for me.  I struggled to get a deep enough red for the image.  I think it's the printing reds I've got.  One has too much blue in it, the other too much cadmium.  I may use some of my oils mixed with a block printing medium.  I often do this when I can't achieve the colour I'm looking for.  Will work on them some more on Thursday.  Tomorrow it's essay time!

# 5 [13 April 2009]

Essay.  Constantly on my mind.  Feel terribly distracted by it.  Have reached a thousand words and am now in writers block.  My thoughts have also turned to the Utah trip in a few days.  I have been wondering how I can connect the trip and work with my core work and degree show.  This has been more successful than essay.  I have been fascinated by the map of a desert  section of Utah we were given and the names held within.  These names of the creeks and canyons have given me the connection with my work here.  It is showing me the fragility of the human form within the barron landscape.  These thoughts will be translated into more books.  Based on the previous design that I have done for my elective, but photo litho printing on the outside of the book.  Hoping to have two or three finished this week.... back to essay!!

# 4 [6 April 2009]

It's a huge relief to have the elective out of the way and the results are in.  I got a 2.1 which is what I was aiming for.  65% so quite comfortable with that.  Now that's done and dusted, it's back to the grindstone, no rest for the wicked.  I have done some more photos of my daughter in the pose of the child amongst others.  They have come out beautifully.  Have also worked on journal and am assembling my essay which I hope to finish over Easter holidays.  My poor children.  Mother is miles away in fairy land.  I know they talk to me all the time, but havent a clue what they are saying.  My mind is consumed with the degree.  My plan is to do some more paper lithograph prints over the next two weeks and start three paintings which I have prepared grounds for.  Myself and nine other fellow students from my printmaking elective are going to Utah on a two week residency a week after we return to college, so it is important to get as much work as we can done over the hols.

# 3 [24 March 2009]

I have just completed my printmaking elective which is now hanging in my studio space at college, ready for assessment.  It has been exciting and challenging at times, but I'm pleased with the images.  It is a set of three series each on the theme of 'Aloneness'.  The first series is a set of seven books, each containing a single image with a single form within the image using paper lithograph.  Each book has a word to describe the emotion held within.  The second series is a set of screenprints based on a single form within, then described as 'Aloneness'.  The third is a set of three images of my daughter Amelia whose gentle, quiet nature has the essence of 'Aloneness' I am searching for.  The prints of her are paprer lithographs taken from photographs taken at my studio in natural light.  I am now ready to take these images of my daughter further in my core work, placing them onto the canvas and working the paint in and around them until the essence of 'Aloneness' is resolved.