Odilia Bird FDA

 Weekly plan: Since the beginning of this project I have broken up my days to split my work load: Monday - Experimentation and Critical studies  Tuesday - Critical studies  Wednesday - Studio practice  Thursday studio practice  Sunday - Blogging or research trips  This is the routine that I have tried to keep to over this project, most of the time I was able to do this but there have periods where I have felt stuck or uninspired causing me to deviate form this plan and fall slightly behind. During this last moth of my project I have spent less time on critical studies and used Tuesdays for my studio practice and catching up on my blog which has been helpful and allowed me to get back on track. I have also been able to start using Friday to use some of the workshops and facilities at College to get my final piece done. For September and October I focused mainly on photography and finding my inspiration and then in November and December I decided to start som...

 Final cyanotypes: To create my final cyanotypes I used the UV light bed that we have access to at the College. I first create a cyanotype for each individual acetate and the after I experimented with different layers and compositions to create three layers cyanotypes. while washing them out there was some variation and some sections were slightly lost but despite this I believe that these final images are all successful and have come out well.  The first six images were of just one acetate scene each. The obvious difference from the mount board scenes is the colour and tones. They vary slightly between each cyanotype but the blue is mostly a deep, dark and rich hue. For the first three images I think that this tone works really well in showcasing depth within the work. The previous black of the mount board did a good job but sometimes I though this is looked slightly flat whereas the blue has lighter and darker tones within each individual piece allowing there to be a deepnes...

 Paper making: As a quick exploration I wanted to have a go at paper making, to do this me and a few of my course mates ripped up a variety of paper, soaked them in a tub of water and used a hand blender to create a paste. We then used trays with sieves attached to them, dipped them into the paste and flattened them to create sheets of paper of different sizes. As a way to relate this process to my current project and nature I decided to add some pressed flowers into the sheets of paper. This not only added some much needed colour to my grey paper but also created an interesting composition. I love the rough edges that can been seen in these pieces, I think that they add to the natural nature of the work and create an organic feeling. One thing I really like about these sheets of paper are the small faults, tears and wrinkles that can be seen, there is something beautifully imperfect about them, they are clearly hand made and the rougher finish allows them to feel homely. Alth...

 Natural uv Cyanotypes: To make these cyanotypes I painted a mixture of water paper and cotton rag paper with cyanotype solution and then dried them using a hair dryer. I then put them outside during the afternoon and put my pieces of acetate on top, I then left them outside for a few hours. Unfortunately, when washing the paper the images washed out completely and either nothing stayed or barley any of the image could be seen. This was a failed attempt and looking back I believe that it likely could have been because by using a hairdryer the mixture just didn't have enough time to properly imbed itself into the paper, but there are other factors that could have contributed such as a cloudy sky and low light. To try to fix this I decided to prepare some paper the night before and let them dry naturally over night and see how this affects my next attempt.

 Mount board scenes and Acetate: After speaking with my tutor, they suggested that instead of cardboard I could use mount board to create the scenes that I wanted with more ease, What I needed to do was score into the black mount board with a scalpel or craft knife and then peel away specific sections to create a monochrome scene. To do this I chose 6 images from my photography work earlier in the project and printed them out so I have a bigger reference image to look at. I used A4 mount board to create these images.  1 This first image was the one that I found the hardest. It was of a photograph of a barn so there were lots of straight, geometric lines that could be seen. However, I keep getting confused about which sections I was supposed to be peeling off and which ones I was leaving so I accidentally peeling off sections I hadn't planned to. Although this was annoying for me at the time I don't think that it had much of a negative effect on the final outcome of the work. W...

Artist research: Rosalind Hobley: Hobley is a London based artists working mainly in cyanotypes and photogravure, in this first image I can see that the blue tones are showcased in a gradient. Darker around the edges and slowly getting lighter until there is white in the middle, this allows for there to be a focal point to the work and I think the change in tones helps to emphasise the shadows and curves of each individual petal. I also believe that this helps there to be a sense of depth within the work, and the darkness seems to stretch on forever. The edges of the petals are frilled and in some places jagged there is a delicate balance between fragility and aggression. When I look at this work I notice how the petals are curve around and lean on each other, they seem to rely on one and other for support. I think that this helps to create an atmosphere of fellowship, they need each other and with each other they are never lonely. I noticed that there seems to be a slightly grainy tex...