Thursday 11 November 2010

Playing

Recently I have been doing some workshops in order to do a few things.
  • Explore new techniques
  • expand my means of expression through using new materials
  • Play
Item number 3 is perhaps the most important of all, as I have been an adult for a good few years,and it's all to easy to stop playing.

Remember those times when you were a kid and had nothing to do but play all day. Make believing, dressing up, making stuff just for the hell of it ... well this is what I want to keep doing!

Part of my journey into the next phase of my artistic practice has started with giving myself time to play by taking some workshops that are completely unrelated to my previous works and therefore I can just 'make stuff' with no particular intention.

The freedom of doing this is wonderful... you should try it.

Have a look at my creations below... they are not meant to be beautiful or profound or amazing or anything in particular ... they are simply experiments of play.










Sculptural Surfaces

Blending fabrics and going at it on a sewing machine like a nutter ... it was a lot of fun.

I did not enjoy so much the repetitiveness of the making the 3D circle and leaf going round and round and round. I am more sporadic than this ... not to good with uniformity and continual repetitiveness.


Wire Animals

Loved it. It first started out as if it was going to be a monkey but I persisted and now I have a baby elephant.

It is about 35cm high and took about 5 metres of wire netting. I suspect if I made a mummy elephant to go with her, it may need 100 metres of wire and then a tow truck to move it.

I very much enjoyed this workshop even though the wire ripped my hands to shreds... its hard working with big leather gardening gloves on all day so lack of protection has lead to my hands looking like I have been in a scrap with a cat! Oh well ... all in the name of play.

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Today's photoshoot ends in sleep!

...After a hard day of prancing around a country park ... she slept under that yellowy fallen leafy tree and drifted into the realms of wonder and perhaps a little magic ...







Photography courtesy of Craig Coady

Updating

It started yesterday... after a year or so of living away from the scrupulous draw of the computer, getting into the 'real' world and actually doing stuff with other human beings; I decided that my journeys of out and about really needed to continue being documented, so I have given my blog a bit of a face lift with the intention to use it and keep my friends and followers (no I'm not some kind of God!) happy and up to date with my world...

... So I guess this is going to take a while but my intention is to get some exciting stuff on here over the next week or so....

... also went on a photo shoot today, all in the name of art... so I will be posting some of those images soon. I will also be telling about recent events at Poole Literary Festival - an artist collaboration and many piles of books sponsored by Oxfam. And my upcoming residency at Lighthouse Gallery in Poole that will be taking place over the coming year...

... see you soon... Hazel