Thursday, 25 February 2010

Photographic studies of water, Snow and Ice

I was interested how water, when it freezes or cools can change a landscape and change the appearance of something.

I went for a walk where there is a series of small waterfalls to take some pictures (most of which are to large to upload) and took pictures of snow, of water running and of icicles because i thought it looked amazing how in such a little area small things can vary so much.
















































































Thursday, 18 February 2010

Photography In The Studio, Practicing Doing Head Shots

Here are a few of my test shots in the studio with me setting up the lighting and experimenting with different techniques.

I used the fabric to add a soft edge to the photographs and add a splash of colour, and i'm quite pleased with the outcome of them.








































































































Friday, 12 February 2010

A few Photographs from Edinburgh


I recently went up to Edinburgh for the first time that I remember ( I have been told by my parents that I have been up there several times when I was a child, but honestly who remembers things like that when your 5?) But anyway I went up for a long weekend, probably should have gone up for longer as the drive took nearly 6 hours. I tried to cram as much in as possible, all the things that Edinburgh is famous for. Even went on a ghost walk and an under city walk, but don't have any pictures from that I was more scared to death rather than inspired to create something.


I was busy snapping away with my camera taking pictures of everything that interested me slightly, and there was a lot! I would definitely go back to Edinburgh, the atmosphere is the best iv found in a city, it's a very busy city but everyone seems friendly which I love. It doesn't feel like a large city it feels just like a town but with lots to see.


I went to the national gallery complex which was AMAZING it was incredible the amount of wonderful pieces of art work they had there, I could have spent all day in there and thats one of the reasons im going back.


I have put varied photographs up, from buildings to bridge structures because of the interesting lines and shapes that have been formed.









































I visited the Castle which obviously is a must if you are going to Edinburgh. As I was walking down from the castle I saw a whisky shop (which I don't drink, I don't even like the smell of it) but I love looking at things because I can get inspiration from the littlest thing. So I decided to go on the whisky tour which lasted about 1hour or so but was really interesting and I got to see some really old things...... which I love. This was the largest Scottish whisky collection in the world and had the oldest bottles of Scottish whisky in the world so it was interesting to see. They were all in these tall glass cabinets but I was able to get some photographs and you can tell from the labels and how much has evaporated just how old these bottles are.


























































































































































Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Temple Newsham House....... Research day

I recently visited Temple Newsham as a research day and found it really inspiring. It has a lot of historic textiles and pieces of furniture that i have got inspiration from for my designs. From colours, silhouttes, shapes and textures.

To this day it is now kept as a museum of decorative arts.













































































































































































































































































































Sunday, 7 February 2010

More shirt dress designs.


I have done a few more recycled shirt designs.

From my last project where i was inspired by Tord Boontje and make a dress out of shirts i decided to try and make a few more in different prints and textures and designs and see which is the most successful.

I have slightly moved away from what inspired me last time with Tord Boontje with the flowers and nature and water to create the back of the dress. Now i am more concentrating on just the shirt and letting the design develop as i am working away.

I love going to the charity shops and picking up old mens shirts and coming home and just cutting away and seeing what I end up with. Sometimes it doesn't always work so the fabric get put to one side for smaller projects but sometimes im really pleased with my designs and I think I have created something quite cool out of something old and unwanted.

When im out shopping i think ill just run in there buy a shirt and it will only take me an hour to create something amazing and new but i'm wrong, it always takes much longer than i want, but thats because i am wanting to learn new things along the way so take a long time experimenting and making sure it looks good and i would wear it. (because if i don't want to wear it who will?)

This is the first one, and this one was really quick and easy. I wanted to see how much I could keep of the original design but still create a new garment.
























































This is my second garment. I cut more of the garment up in this one and twisted it and changed the shape and the original construction of the shirt. Im really pleased with this design. I put a lot of thought into the back, I wanted it to contrast each other. The front of the dress is smooth and fitted and the back is ruffled, gathered and extra volume added for an extra twist and I think it works quite well.















































































































And finally this is my third design and I have to say I love it! I love the colour of the shirt and the stripes and I love the design and I think it looks extremely elegant with the curve at the bottom of the back and the hem of the dress has been angled so it has a great sweeping movement when walking.

The shirt has been twisted so on the back where the buttons are the stripes go the opposite way and I think it looks like it has added extra details.

The buttons run along the back following the fit of the bottom of the dress, so at a slight angle, they have all been hand stitched on and are a lovely mid blue to work with the shirt.