working with plaster moulds

so last monday my personal tutorial didnt go so well, they told me i hadnt done much since the previous week and they were right, it gave me the kick up the ass i needed to get motivated again cause i was getting a bit lazy and didnt know what direction to go with my project. So i begun to work like a mad woman making plaster moulds and sculptures.

I created the plaster moulds by first getting clay and impressing different textures into them. once the clay had gotten to the leather hard stage i brought them down to the plaster room. i was happy with how 3 of them turn out nut the last two were kind of a disaster (i rushed it in the end and didnt mix the plaster to well, must remember to take my time next time!) I also got small slabs of clay which i pressed random textures into so see what it would look like and they didnt turn out too shabby. the next step for them is to make wax moulds!

was happy enough with the outcome of my plaster moulds considering this was the first time i'd ever worked with plaster

while wandering around the college i popped into the sculpture studio and rumaged through the pile of unwanted scraps and found this! though it would make an interesting print for a mould.

this texture was created with scrunched up piece of paper that i pressed into my clay mould

this was created by me just pressing my finger into clay

this is how the piece of wood turned out

Artist i admire

Researching artist who deal with texture as part of there artwork has been very helpful to me. Especially during times i dont know what else i can do to my own artwork. It was pretty challenging to find other artists who use alot of texture but the ones i have found are very interesting. However i'm also researching artists that dont really use alot of texture but i admire how they approuch there subject matter and how there finished pieces look.

i particularly liked Karla Blacks pieces. She uses alot of everyday materials such as cellophane, cling film, sellotape, cosemetics such as make up, concealer, etc,. I also like how her pieces flow and take over a space. Karla Black is mainly a sculptor, also she uses texture in her artwork.

these sculptures look almost natural and have a soft, weighless appearance. I believe this was created by her choice of colour and placement 

Another artist I found helpful for my project was Judy Pfaff. She mainly created installations but what caught my eye was her paintings. She uses alot of textured materials in both he installations and paintings. Her installations are big scaled pieces that take control of the room there in. She is somewhat similar to Karla Black but they have alot of things in contrast aswell. Judy uses alot more darker and bolder colours that i think create a more harsh and busy look. Her pieces also look a bit more edgeyer and eerie almost.

An artist i admired who doesnt particulary deals with texture is Frances Lambe. She finds her inspiration from things around her, such as her love for deep sea diving. She take objects she finds and examines them up close, which is similar to theme of my project, i'mlooking at textures up close and seeing how i can recreate them. Frances Lambe is a ceramist, which is an area i'm concidering doing next year along with sculpting so i believe it is important to look at artists in the area i'm hoping to do. 

photos of my journey home!

So I decided to rent out a dslr from the college since my own camera didnt give good quality photographs. I need to take pictures of objects up close. My project and idea has developed, i'm still using alot of texture but i want to look at this up close and seeing how i can replicate certain textures.

My tutors have been very helpful and they gave me great ideas how to approach this project. My artwork prior to this week was very decorative and didnt tell the viewer much about what my project was.