Birds and bushes.

I am at present, working on designs for Anaglypta wallpaper. It is soon to be a milestone in the companys trading life- time and they have asked some students from various colleges to design some new and exciting prints for their  textured wallpapers. Anaglypta's relief wallpaper has been a household name since 1887 thats 125 years of trading and designing. The paper has been incorporated into many domestic and commercial environments and is renowned for its versatile, hardwearing and sustainable use. I wanted to reflect this when thinking of inspiration for my designs and this in turn lead me to my natural surroundings and the Edwardian gardens that are adjacent to my home. I have been photographing shrubbery, sketching birds and absorbing the seasonal changes of Winter into Spring. The bare branches of winter shadowed onto the garden walls, project an organic texture of line, shape and tone[ see images],whereas the birds have inspired a feathery, softer imagery that encapsulates the turning of spring. After a little more research, some sketching and some experimental screen-printing i am hoping for some exciting results to enter into their competition. I will post an update of my findings!

Best advice i have been given.

As part of our personal development plan, with be asked to think about the best advice with have been given so far concerning our work. For me personally i have received the advice from three separate individuals, yet they all agree as tried and tested designers and artists that these three pieces are crucial to any development.
1. To continue with my drawing until i have perfected an approach that is a comfortable style and will enable me to express my visions in a readable way. By defining a medium i am comfortable with, i will be able to having a starting point that will then enable me to experiment with more techniques. The need to study shape, tone, form and scale will always be a necessity in my design life-time and my drawing should be treated like a developing muscle that will only be made stronger through practice.
2. To always study and understand the contextual side of art. By reading, seeing and researching i will be able to link periods of history and art. This will be a resourceful  visual dictionary that will an important part of my understanding of art, craft and design. Without the understanding of context and the whys, whats and wheres, it will be difficult to connect the influences that have inspired so any artists and designers and my own work.

3. To observe, to look is to really understand. It is important for me to take photographs but also to study my surroundings taking in all of abilities the 5 senses provide. Seeing with your eyes captures ideas as does the ability to hear your environment and taste your surroundings. You can sometimes smell your environment and be inspired to capture colour and scenery without realising. Feeling is another influence that can be provided in my work. Touching the brick of buildings and the sand on the beach can inspire material choice and colour palettes. This advice is now installed in my design approach and will help me to create atmosphere as well as composition.

Jennifer Collier

Jennifer collier's intricate designs produced from paper, textiles, waxing trapping and stitching has accumulated into a beautiful and sort after collection. Her work is made up of tiny to large -scale paper sculptures and dresses. There is delicate baby shoes had cut and stitched together amongst the couture inspired designs. There is also a collection of curiosities including map made cameras, typewriters and even a full- scale hoover. She has been quoted as describing her work as a way, 'of working with disposable organic materials that are transient in nature, imbuing them worth and creating something intriguing and of great beauty'. Jennifer had the innovative idea of trapping dried fruit and peelings into the layers of plastic, tea bags, wax and fibers.  This process is personal to Jennifer only and has encouraged lots of interest from private collectors, museums and galleries. Jennifer is also happy to explore the opportunities of outside art. This is an area many designers find hard to expand into but Jennifer has managed to adapt her organic and fiber approach with ease, creating outdoor growing sculptures. Personally for me, Jennifer’s collection has reignited the idea of truly pushing craft boundaries and experimenting with anything that comes to mind, making the process and exciting but also sustainable. Her work is brave and it has a beautiful concept that can be adapted to any object and is appealing to all viewers.