This Week

On Saturday I visited Nottingham for the day to complete the seminar task of visiting Nottingham and the Nottingham contemporary gallery.  I found some interesting pieces and the theme I think was to express worldwide issues that affect the people.  The work was very abstract and expressed in a different way to paintings.  We were also asked in this task to visit certain designer shops and collect information about the clothes and style trends in that particular shop.  I really loved Vivienne Westwood’s style. Her clothes are full of detail, unique style and colour which inspire me because I really like these elements so it’s interesting to discover that a well-known artist uses these elements in her work.

I also went to a knitting club at the University on Monday and got to meet some new people as well as practise my knitting skills and I was able to learn how to cast on so I have decided to make little wall hangings out of knitted squares and embroidery for my friends back in Northern Ireland.

The pattern cutting and manufacturing has been going well it’s exciting to learn new things each time and I now know how to create certain seams and how to make a pattern piece for a basic bodice which is great knowledge to have.

knitting!

how to knit tutorial

Above is a link to show you how to cast on for hand knitting.  I used the youtube website to learn how to cast off so I found the guidance very helpful.

I find knitting relaxing and fun way to calm down and relax after a stressful day at university.  I learnt how to knit from my mum for my textiles module in my last course, but I forgot how to do it and also didnt know how to cast on and off.  That is why I went to the knitting group and to also make new friends with the 2nd and third years.

New modules and exciting techniques!

Now that I finished Print for the 3 weeks I was rotated with group D to Pattern Cutting and Manufacturing in Fashion.  There was a lot of knowledge to take in that day but I’m excited to learn new skills in this area because I like fashion and after doing a module in my last course I really enjoyed it, so I’m excited to make a fashion garment sample in the next 3 weeks.  For my lectures we were told that we had to go to Nottingham the next week for market research so Janet Kerr and I decided to go on Saturday 23^rd which is tomorrow.  I want to spend time and study the gallery and the retail shops to get an understanding of the style and retail market of each shop. Also if we run out of time to visit everything we will then head back next Tuesday as this is the lecture class but due to the visit there is no class timetable.  I have been busy developing my drawing skills and keeping up to date with my work and building on my designs and ideas thoroughly during the weeks.

Sweatshops debate

The discussions we had this week where interesting. Our Tudor brought up Primark store and how it used sweatshops to create the really cheap clothes.  There was a documentary on the television about this but I didn’t see it which I was quite annoyed about because it would have been quite interesting an inspiring for me personally to see it.  But I learnt a lot from my course peers that had seen it.  I also discovered that Primark is the best shop for students because of its cheap prices! But I don’t normally shop there because I find the clothes aren’t the best quality and I like buying clothes that will last because I create my own style and buy the clothes that I like and not because they are in the fashion.  My favourite shops would be New Look and Dorothy Perkins, Peacocks and International etc.  This is because their style of clothes suits me personally.  I must research these companies and find out how their clothes are made.  The thing is I think the sweatshops are a good thing for those countries where there aren’t any jobs for the people BUT the conditions must be very high standard and human rights needs to be in order.  Also the pay must be reasonable as these people work hard for as the saying goes – tuppence worth!  The work that these people do should be praised by respect as no one here in the UK would do this kind of job but expect others to do it in really bad conditions for their pleasure.  This is wrong and should be changed.  We have to respect other people and not abuse their rights and also their willingness to do this job.  If this means the prices should be altered for the garment well then let it be that way, for someone’s life to be changed and improved I would quite happily pay a bit extra for a t- shirt!

We all have a part to play in this.  The company must change the labour standards and us as customers much respect the decisions and support it by continuing to shop at the shops that are changing the manufacturing process.  Globalisation has caused a split in the rich and the poor and caused serious issues that need to be changed.  The fact that we have destroyed culture, health and people’s needs so that our pleasure can soar!  If we don’t want to help and change this issue then where are our hearts something must be done - Soon.

Another week of University

I really enjoyed this week.. It was busy but really fun as I learned new techniques in Printmaking. I have done Printmaking in my last course, but we just used a paper stencil which was very delicate and somtimes broke which ment that any pieces of artwork I created wasnt as good as I wanted it to be.  The facilites here are alot better and the technology is a higher level which is expected at a University.  It ment that I didnt need to make a stencil and my designs were copied and exposed onto a emulsion that was put onto the printing screen so I was able to enjoy myself experiementing with the screen printing process.  I also learnt a new printing process called Transfer Printing where I can add materials such as plants, leaves etc and metal items as well as coloured transfer paper onto fabric and the machine presses the materials together and all colours are transfered onto the fabric, also the materials sush as plants act as a barrior to the colours so there is a white image of where the materials where, which is really interesting and gives interesting textures and details to the fabric piece.
I really love printmaking now thanks to the new processes and I can see improvement each time I use the techniques.

I also had a lecture on Globalisation which really inspired me because I have been to Romania as you know on missionary trips and have seen poverty at really bad levels and it changed me personally and economically by wanting to give away the things that I dont use or need to help those less fortunate.  I cant wait for the discussions next week where I should be able to put my opinions forward.  I will look into other authors who have studied globalisation and documented it in books I really like the Britannia Mill library as it is full of useful books and information that I havnt had the privilage of using before.

Visual studies on wednesday was alot better than the last week I enjoyed interpretating the marks that were made from the previous week into an image given to me by the tudor.  I really enjoyed the session and liked the techniques used to create the images so I will do some more studies in my sketch book to enhanse my drawing skills.

Well thats all for this week another update soon!

 

I really like this fashion garment from WGSN.  It is full of colour and pattern and really stands out because of the bright colous used.  it is a summer dress because of the use of summery colours,  also the style of the dress highlights summer.

I found this image on WGSN.  It inspires me because of the crazy colours mixing together to create a formation of interesting detail and colour.  The bright blue strikes me as it slices through the image sharply because it is such a cold colour where as the other colours are warm and inviting.  The figure looks like she is enjoying the event and makes me want to try this crazy event out!