Odilia Bird FDA

 Printing photos onto acetate: To get these my images onto acetate I needed to alter them on photoshop first. To do this I inverted the image, changed it to black and white and then adjusted the contrast and shadows on curves to get the right degree of dark and light. I then sent these images to the print shop to get them printed out to a more professional degree.  I have alway thought that this process creates a very eerie image on it's own, without even needing to turn them into cyanotypes. I think that the black and white tones are effective at creating this uncanny atmosphere within an image, it not only makes the work seem old but also slightly unnatural. The quality of these acetates are good, better than when I print them from the studio printer and if possible this is how I will have them done from now on if possible. 

 Natural UV cyanotypes: I wanted to have another go at using the acetate images to make cyanotypes after my failed attempt last time. This time I made sure to place them in a very sunny spot in my back garden and weigh down the corners of the acetates with some small rocks to make sure that they don't blow away. I then left them out for about half an hour, took them inside, washed them with cold water and left them to dry in the attic.  I believe that this attempt was very successful, the images came out so clearly and the detail is visible. Another thing I did that I think improved these cyanotypes was not scrunching them up to get the extra water out of them after washing them. When I used to scrunch them it would cause the calico have creases and wrinkles that were very hard to get out, even with and iron and this then caused the images to be obscured and ruined the details of the work. By laying them flat to dry I have managed to get past this issue and I am left with...

 Learning how to use the sewing machine and some more practice stitches: Yesterday afternoon and this morning I decided to take the time to figure out how to properly use the sewing machine that it available for us to use in the fine art department. My course mate was kind enough to show me how to thread the machine properly as well as put thread onto the bobbin, we then managed to work out how to select the correct stitch on the machine and from there I was able to start stitching with no problems.  I tried out a variety of different patterns, however, there are definitely more that I would like to try as this project goes on as well as different thread colours. Possibly a neon pink or green, and after speaking to my tutor they suggested using thread similar to the lighter sections of the cyanotypes and using that to embellish sections of the work and then contrasting that piece by using the neon colours on another.  I think that these experiments have been very suc...

Acetate of hotel images and cyanotypes: For the next development in my project I decided to print of my photographs of the hotel hallways onto acetate and use them to create some more cyanotypes onto calico. Again I used natural UV light for this and set up a table in a relatively sunny spot in my garden. Unfortunately, the wind managed to catch the corner of most of them knocked them off the table onto the floor and these pieces were exposed without the acetate. I did manage to get two cyanotypes that had some sort of image on them, one better than the other.  This first image is the one that I think is the most successful out of the two, I have had to iron the calico to be able to take a clear photograph as the the material has become creased while it was drying. The acetate that was used is and image focusing on the mirrors of the hotel hallway and I think that the overall result is nice and you are able to tell what it is. However, the image is not as clear as I would have like...

 Sewing machine and sticking calico together: To make my first attempt at a patchwork wall hanging I used a sewing machine to stick my previous cyanotypes together. For the composition I moved each piece around and found placements that allowed the edges of each piece to more or less line up without looking to messy, however, for future pieces this is something that I will pay closer attention to as I want the work to look professional and put together. I have little to no experience with sewing machines and was struggling to figure out how to use the one at college, for my first attempt at a stitch I placed two of the cyanotypes together with one overlapping onto of the other and used the neon yellow thread that was already in the machine and the stitching was visible on the front of the work. For my next attempts I managed to get some help from someone more experienced and they showed me how to thread the machine properly, they also suggested a neater way of sewing by placing the...

Cyanotype onto calico test pieces: for the first stage of my project I really wanted to try and created cyanotypes on some new materials and fabrics, to do this I cut up pieces of calico into varying sizes and set up a table in the brightest spot in my back garden. I decided to gather a mixture of flowers and leaves from my garden and placed them on top of the calico and left them all out in the sun for about half an hour until they were fully exposed. I ended up with five cyanotypes, when looking at them I noticed that the sun had managed to get underneath some of the leaves and flowers causing the images to be slightly faded with blurred sides. The edges has a fuzzy aspect to them and I think that this allowed the subjects to seem softer and gentle. On each piece the images seem to fade in and out with some areas standing out more and contrasting the darker blue of the background, and I believe that this effect invokes this surreal and dreamlike atmosphere within the cyanotypes. In t...