The Graduate

Thats right folks. I can no longer be classed as a student. On Thursday 17th July I graduated with a BA Honours in Graphic Design and Illustration from Liverpool John Moores university. Thursday also happened to be the hottest day of the year so far, and lets just say those gowns aren't light and breezy! I had such a lovely day and although the weather was crazy hot I'm glad it was nice as it meant we could get loads of lovely pictures outside (and it meant that my hair stayed nice too!)

I can't believe how fast those three years have gone and how much I have learnt and come on as an illustrator and designer. Looking back at some of my art foundation work almost seems comical. I only wish I could stay a student a little bit longer. I'll be continuing to draw and sell my work which i shall keep updating on here and my tumblr. POSITIVE THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE! GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO ARE ALSO GRADUATING THIS YEAR!

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Degree show madness

So this is it. The degree show and my final few days in Liverpool. The Degree show is on from 29th May till 13th June and displays all the work from the Graphic Design and Illustration class of 2014, as well as all the other art subjects within our building. It is also the main reason that I have been so unproductive on this blog for so long. 

I was quite lucky in the fact that I had quite a lot of my work exhibited for the exhibition and actually I am so proud of each and every piece, which is unusual for me because I probably won't like any of the work within another 2 weeks. The module results have come through now and all I have to wait for is the final letter giving me my overall grade. 

I am so proud of everyone in my class, they have all produced the most amazing work!

So if you are in Liverpool, head up to the John Lennon art and design building and take a look!

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Family Business

Some more final pieces for you all! This precious concertina is double sided and is of stitched family photos (from this project) tied with ribbon and soon to be placed in a tissue paper filled box. This concertina has been the bane of my life recently and I'm so glad that it is finally done! 

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The final stretch

These are my final Posters from my America project; in the end I went for the images without all the type on them and I'm really pleased with the outcome. They are scanned screen prints which are then printed A1 size on fabriano paper. The end of my uni days is coming so fast, my hand in date being 8th May and Final Show on 29th.

 I can't wait to have all my work done. But I don't want to leave.

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Help me decide!

So these are the final screen prints I have decided upon for my 'Travel to America' project. However, i can't decide whether the images with extra type look better than the plain. All the plain images will eventually have type on them but will only have have the name of the place. I will eventually be printing these to A1 size on an undecided paper as of yet. 

Here are my tests so far on a basic roll feed printer. The colours turn out so well! I finally cut it down to just three cities instead of five; I also did a lot of New York screen prints but have decided not to use them as they don't come up to a similar quality. However, these might be sold in my shop in the future! Not long now till the end of my degree, I have three weeks left and then....the real world comes. DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNN!!

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Original Screen Print

So recently i've really been getting back in to screen printing. Its the only way I'm able to see the end of a project at the moment. This leads me on to one of my projects for uni, you may remember my 'Kids in America' blog post in which this project was at its very beginnings. I was all caught up planning and deciding what i was going to create for my screen prints...eventually I got bored of this. In the end i had to just put the project aside and do something else. Yes. It got that bad.

I came back to the project a few weeks ago and have been full steam ahead ever since. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a few cheeky snaps but in the next few days i'll be uploading some of my favourites. I would be great to get some feedback on them and see what you guys think too! YOUR OPINION MATTERS! 

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Penguin Design Competition | The Outsiders

So I decided very last minute to enter the Penguin Design competition. I took a chance and thought well either they like it or they don't! I used images that I have already screen printed for another project and I've just edited them in photoshop. There is also a lot of hand writing that I did using a copic pen (the new love of my life!). Although very rushed and mainly an excuse to procrastinate from my other work I actually really like what I've produced.

Doing this course has made me realise that really I work better under stress and with tighter time constraints. Really when I'm given time I don't know what to do with myself!... and that's when I start second guessing. ALL ABOUT GUT INSTINCT!

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FEATURED.

This month I have been very lucky! Some of you may have seen me say that there may be some interesting opportunities coming up. Well this is it. I became a featured artist in the latest Pickwick magazine.

Pickwick is a local art, fashion, food and overall beautiful free magazine based in Liverpool and Manchester. This is only their second issue but their first went like hot cakes! With their super cool covers and interesting reads its no wonder. It really is a super publication and the guys and gals at Pickwick should be proud of themselves for making something this successful.

I was asked early in January this year whether I would like to be featured in the magazine as a collage artist... WHY WOULD I EVER TURN THAT DOWN! So I sent over my work and Sinead sent me questions to answer for my interview (yes there is an interview!). I'm so glad that it is finally out and i can show everyone my work! Its so nice to be recognised for the work you have worked so hard on and I'm just glad that I'm finally seeing my hard work admired.

So if your in Liverpool please take a FREE Pickwick and a quick read! 

What I Hate: Wasps

This is the second part to my 'I Hate...' series for uni. From this you can probably tell that I hate wasps. They are way too annoying and I feel that they are meaner than bees. Bees die when they sting, which means surely they never want to sting you. Wasps on the other hand are just mean. 

FYI: did you know that we have over 1000 species of wasp in the UK alone. YES. 1000. kill me now.  

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What I hate: Kitten Heels

In my most recent project I've been looking at the things that I hate. Yes. Hate. I've found that i say hate a lot, when really i only mean dislike but I'm lazy. So I've been finding ways at making the things I 'hate' look pretty and attractive. 

This image is from 'I hate kitten heels', which I really do hate. Although doing my research has shown me some nice versions the older ones on the other hand, the ones I probably would have worn as a seven year old, are repulsive to me. So frustrating. Although these have turned out looking like the delightful pair from wizard of oz. 

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Behind the scenes at the World Museum.

So a few weeks ago my friends and I got a chance to take a peek in the World Museum in Liverpool's archives. We got to take a look at the stuffed animals that weren't out in the museum, numerous bones and hundreds of draws of insects. I also got to take quite a few photos of our time there so here they are for you to enjoy! It was amazing to see just how much they don't put on display in the museum and the guy who was showing us round said they had quite a bit more too. 

I would really recommend a visit! You have to book in advance so be sure to get the right information, I may start doing this more often in different museums and galleries. There seems to be so much that we never see!

We're the Kids in America.

So I have just started my projects at uni, things are moving along nicely. One of my self directed projects is to create some sort of book on America. I want to eventually screen print it but at the moment I'm just planning and experimenting through photoshop. So here is a look at some I have been playing with.

I want to look more at reflective images and colour, which I can't wait to do. 

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