DJCAD Degree Show

This past week has seen the Duncan of Jordanston graduates present their work to the public. Walking round on the opening night I was filled with equal amounts of excitement and terror at what next year may have in store for me! A lot of my friends from the past 4 years are graduating this year and I was incredibly proud to see their work come together. I have lived with a few of them since coming to Dundee so it was incredible to see what they had done in their time here having watched the whole process, tears and all! The standard this year, as always was incredibly high but I felt this year really stood out, particularly in the textiles, jewellery and product design departments (but maybe I’m biassed!). Through this week I have gone back several times myself and really looked at each piece in the degree show, taking my camera and photographing some of my favourite pieces, before my battery died! You can be sure that Dundee will always get the Degree Show season off to a great start and this year was no different!

Jewellery & Metal design

Susan Mcleod

Suzie looked at the human relationship to the natural world and began translating that into objects. Her pieces were rough, irregular forms which gave them a beautifully organic feeling. When talking about organic, natural forms, she said she had an ‘intrigue in their imperfection’. I loved the organic nature of these pieces; they seemed to almost have fallen together, not placed, yet sitting just in the right places.  Each time I went in I kept being drawn to her work, taking note that this is something I seem to like in the wake of my impending fourth year! Having looked into plating and casting organic forms I was particularly drawn to the piece second on the left, I just loved the honesty of it.

Rebecca Sarah Black

Rebecca has been intriguing me through the year, not to mention filling the with workshop with emanating smells from dremel. She calls herself a contemporary ‘bone smith’ and creates truly unique pieces of work carved from locally sourced animal bone. Having only seen bits and pieces on her desk and carefully shot snippets online, I wasn’t sure what her degree show was going to be like the the outcome was incredible. Although in a room with other jewellery she had created a little world in her corner and you really got the sense you were looking at something which was a response to our surroundings. Originally inspired by Scottish folklore she brought this into the collection entitling it ‘The Selkies Treasures’ and each piece really did feel like that. As someone who is looking at unusual materials for my fourth year, it was really inspiring to see someone who hadn’t focused solely on metal within their work.  I, alongside many others, already have my eye on a few pieces!

Rebecca Smith

After discovering over 300 love letters sent from her Grandad to her Grandmother during WWII Rebecca created a collection of work which honestly expressed the nostalgia and love passed between her grandparents over the space of three years. The set up of the exhibition really enticed you in and made you feel comforted. When you walked in you could feel the emotion from the letters on one side, passing to the collection of work on the other. You felt as though the letters had been put in a modern context so as never to be forgotten. Rebecca’s collection felt incredibly delicate, both in the nature of the materials but also in it’s context; you were viewing someones relationship blossoming in a neckpiece or a brooch and I loved that about her work. It was very personal if you understood the story behind it and yet wearable, and still a beautiful piece even if you didn’t.

Morag Eaagleson

There was so much to look at within Morag’s work. I spent quite a bit of time looking through her drawings, photography, screen prints, branding and final collection. Having taken the step not to create wearable pieces she had in turn created something almost installation-like. Having been brought up in the highlands she had been influenced by her surroundings of the Scottish landscape. Each piece told a story about an adventure into the wilderness, expressing a memory.  They were incredibly tactile pieces having been combined with natural materials such as wood and slate. There were inscriptions beside and underneath pieces giving you a little more insight into each one. It was a calming collection and it really felt like someones experiences being brought to life in little objects.

 

Time-based Art

Ryan Esson

This has to have been one of my favourite pieces in the degree show. Unfortunately when I went back to photograph it the glass had cracked so part of the exhibition had been closed. ‘The Void’ looked at surrounding the viewer in an experience. He explored natural elements and bringing them into a space indoors and looked to the fifth natural element in Japanese culture, “The Void”. It really felt like you were part of the experience; i spent quite a bit of time surrounded by a waterfall. You have three walls surrounding you, one above and one below all mirrored with the projection. This means almost every angle is covered by this projection leaving you engulfed by the experience. It was the most amazing feeling. The waterfall was a really weird but amazing experience.

 

Textiles

Lisa Gibson

These were definitely my favourite pieces within textiles! There were a couple of pieces I would definitely wear. Her aim was to create timeless pieces and she definitely achieved!

Kirstin Neillie 

Kristin had created the brand ‘DIZY’, a knitwear label which offered contemporary and luxury materials which encouraged you to express your individual identity. There was a clear influence form the 1960’s and you felt that there was a lot of fun in the process of making pieces and creating the brand.

 

Fine Art

Rebecca Sarah Black

Rebecca Sarah Black

Susan Macleod

Susan Macleod

Sheila Roussel

Morag Eagleson

Rebecca E Smith

Rebecca E Smith

Rebecca E Smith

Rebecca E Smith

Katie Petrie

Ryan Esson

Ryan Esson

Jack Fischer

Steve Swanton

Fine Art

Lisa Gibson

Fine Art

Kristin Neillie

Someone tell me who this is!

Jennifer Heilbronn

Time Based Art

 

Midnight madness

So last night at approximately 2.30 am, I had somewhat of an epiphany regarding my fourth year project. No idea where it came from but I lay in bed thinking I would be fine and then just had to get up and write it all down and do a few sketches. Suddenly I had been at it for a good half hour!

I’m definitely not going to complain though, if it gets me to my degree show next year long may it continue!

I’m excited to go sit in the garden today and see what my midnight ramblings can turn into!

 

Developing an idea for fourth year…

It has now been a couple of weeks since finishing my third year at DJCAD, a year which culminated in a 7 week project; a topic chosen by each individual, explored in depth whilst creating our own deadlines in the run up to a final hand in.  We had spent the five months previous to this on a series of small projects, getting us to work with different materials and techniques which we could then cherry pick and expand on as suited our independent projects. Throughout my education at DJCAD I have been pushed to try new techniques and play with materials outside my comfort zone which I feel is really pushing me not only as a jeweller but as an artist.  I began my self motivated mission looking to my Dads graduate job as a Geologist and incorporating his fossils & stones into my work however having spent a few weeks playing about and pushing myself however I didn’t feel like I was developing a deep context with it so began looking through my old sketchbooks to see if i could identify and running themes or similarities in my work.

I very quickly identified a sense of family and emotional connection through my work. I have always been interested in the relationship we have with jewellery and how that develops and changes over time as pieces pass from person to person.  I also looked to our identity and began focussing in on what makes our aesthetic identity alone. Taking certain obvious aspects away such as the face left interesting materials and shapes to work with. Continuously in my work there has been a sense of history and playfulness with materials, both old and new. I wanted to bring these elements to my current work, whether that be in material or techniques. Having enjoyed working with human hair in my second year I decided to return to that and push myself even further. At the start of my third year I had been reluctant to use it again as I didn’t want to be pigeon holed, however taking a break from it, I saw that there was a huge amount of intrigue within the work I had originally created and felt I was ready to take it to another level.  I did a series of sketches of different kinds of hair, using them as peoples sole identity; it was incredible how easily people could pick out someone, simply by their hair. I also began playing about with longer sections of hair, glueing them together, weaving and braiding them and moulding them into unusual shapes..

I have always wanted to incorporate an emotional context into my work and have continuously been interested in our relationships to jewellery. As hair is such an evocative material the hope is that I will be able to expand on this more going into fourth year.

 

Self Motivated Mission

For the past few weeks we have been working on our ‘Self Motivated Mission’: a project that allows us to work independently to focus on something which we have the potential to take into our degree show year. As usual, I spent a good few weeks feeling lost. (I did this in my Advanced Higher class: 4 weeks sitting in my studio playing with a tennis ball). I explored a few different options, collecting fossils, raw gemstones and crystals from my Dad who used to be a Geologist. Most of these had been collected during his time in India and all had great storied connected to them, however I really struggled to find a meaning within them. I pursued it for a couple of weeks but felt like I was simply treading water. Back to the drawing board! 

Throughout this time I kept looking back at my work from second year, which had been based on my Identity. I had looked through my family history and been inspired by mourning jewellery passed down through the years and now belonging to my granny.  From this I created a series of brooches influenced by Victorian mourning jewellery and the developing use of hair in contemporary jewellery. Three rather unusual pieces were created, two of which used hair in unexpected ways. I really liked the fact that people were not immediately aware that the pieces incorporated hair and was intrigued by their reactions when they found out.

 I have always been interested in people (I did originally study Psychology) and I’m interested in creating pieces which connect to individuals. I think it’s important to create something which evokes an emotional response in the wearer, whether or not it is obvious to others. I plan on focusing on different stages of life and what we give at these points; birth; graduation; engagement; weddings and death.

 I am gathering individual responses to jewellery and the emotions it evokes. I want to find out peoples relationships to pieces they own and what, if any, connections  or memories they hold. If you have time please email me with a response at katiewightman@hotmail.co.uk. Any help would be much appreciated.

The nuts and bolts of it all.

Last week we had our first tutorial in which we began looking at our values and ethics as designers, we sat down and listed what was always important, sometimes, rarely and never. This gave me a very clear indication of what my key values were which I could apply to my business idea. My business idea; that was the sticking point! Going into class I had three ideas I was throwing around and playing with in my head. I had originally planned on going down an educational route but after analysing the strength and weaknesses of it as a business idea and really pulling it apart I felt completely lost with it. Pulling out the main points within it felt like pulling teeth so I must admit I left the class feeling demoralised.

That evening involved a bit of soul searching and talking to those who knew me best. I decided to follow my two other ideas; having run through it all i could only describe the educational one as grey and the other two as bright and colourful to which all my friends said “well you have just answered your own question there”.  This meant an element of ‘back to the drawing board’ but I can’t really complain because at least it happened at such an early stage! What ensued was a few late nights of redoing work and trying to find a focussed direction. I finally feel like I am narrowing it down and hopefully in a couple of weeks time will have a focussed idea. I’m getting there though and feeling far less terrified than I was this time last week!

Building a business.

Over the past few weeks I have been working through my Design Enterprise module. I have taken this with the hope that I will gain a better understanding of how to start up and run my own business. Out tutor Professor Mike Press had organised talks from some really inspirational people including Hayley Scanlan, a Scottish womens wear designer and winner of the Scottish Fashion Awards 2012, Jane Gowans, another Scottish creative and Scottish Fashion Awards, Accessories Designer of the Year finalist and Dylan Drummond, owner of Son of the Sea photography & film making and establisher of Humans of Dundee. Being surrounded by such inspirational creative people, all from Scotland and based in Dundee gave me hope that it was possible to become a success staying in Scotland. Although I had thought about staying in Dundee after I graduated I wasn’t sure about how much support their was and how strong the creative community was; the answer to this was that it was strong, and vast! I am now thinking there is the chance to stay in Dundee, potentially joining Vanilla Ink to develop my business as a jeweller. However, working through the Nesta toolkit and taking in everything from lecture Mike Press gives us I am now looking into starting up a completely different kind of business. One which will play to my organisational and creative side but also work with my ‘thrive under pressure’ behaviour! Its decision time!

Prepping for final pieces: Touchpoint 3.

For the past few weeks I have been living in the wood workshop setting things up for a few pieces I have been planning for a while. I sourced the wood from around my house in the Borders, making this connection to the home as Bilenker does.

I then prepped the wood in the general workshop through thinning  and then shaving a section off the top so that I could create the effect I wanted of the acrylic sunken into the wood. I then had to (somewhat painstakingly) saw the exact contour of the acrylic piece and file it so that the two fitted snuggly together and the acrylic and wood were flush on top.

I have also been working on other pieces which have involved me saw piercing and burning and using chemicals to add a pattern to the surface. If nothing else it all smells great!

Walking in search of wood behind my home in the Borders

The wood we found

Thinning the walnut

Having a helping hand to cut a thing 3mm section

Sawing out the half moon

Sanding and prepping the wood.

Fitting the acrylic to the wood.

A piece I cut, disk sanded and saw pierced.

Melanie Bilenker correspondance

I was so excited to check my emails the other day and find that the designer my tutors has paired me up with had gotten back to me. Reading over her answers I couldn’t help but think I would have chosen a different route to go in my work had I had her answers earlier. Some info about her pieces was really interesting, her techniques and influences outside Victorian hair jewellery.

The first question I was really intrigues to find out about was how she had come about ‘drawing’ with hair.

1- How did you come about ‘drawing’ with hair?

I had made work with hair prior to the drawings, using locks and tufts and such.  I was also reading up on historic jewelry, particularly portrait miniatures and Victorian hair work. Upon reading “Love and Loss” (a catalogue of a miniatures exhibited at Yale) I learned that many of the mourning miniatures I had thought to be painted with sepia were in fact composed of a pigment from hair dissolved in acid. This interested me, the idea of creating a remnant/likeness of a person using their very own remnants. So I began to draw self portraits using strands of my hair set into epoxy resin.

2- Do you have any other influences other than Victorian hair jewellery?

Yes, I look to photography as well. I have a collection of snapshots found at auctions and junk shops. I enjoy seeing what people choose to record and commemorate. It is sometimes a special event, but very often it is quite mundane. I also find much inspiration in contemporary photography dealing with evidence of the everyday like Sophie Calle’s “Hotel” series, Hans Peter Feldman’s “All the Clothes of a Woman”, or Larry Sultan’s “Pictures From Home”.

3- Roughly how long does it take you to create one of your brooches? They       look so delicate! I watched the 40 under 40 video and it looked amazing.

It depends on the complexity of the drawing as well as the jewelry fabrication, so it could be anywhere from 15 to 40 hours.

4- Have you ever tried to get the same sort of result with different materials, even if it failed? Or has the use of hair always been really important to you?

I took on a material shift a few years ago abandoning resin in favor of non-toxic glues and papers, but continued to use hair. I have experimented with other drawing mediums from time to time, but still I love the historical references and intimacy inherent in working with hair.

5- Thinking about what I’m going to do once I graduate, I am curios to ask what it is that keeps you driven to continue making these beautiful detailed pieces year after year?

I really enjoy working in this manner, the slow and careful method. When you draw something you are truly able to know it and remember it. Making the miniature in fact magnifies it.

Conjure a sense of home..

Last weekend I took a trip home, mainly to recoup as I have been ill but also to have a chat about my designs with my family. My parents, both teachers, though neither in art, always have a great insight on things and are great at helping me see things differently. We went on a few walks, doing some scavenging along the way to find materials that I could incorporate into my work that could bring a sense of home to my pieces. This is something that I have always felt important but which also Bilenker has been quoted as finding key in hers; ” I always want to conjure a sense of home”, and create a piece which relates to the individual.

Living in the countryside wood seemed to be a natural progression for me. It has been something I played with regularly as a child and can be manipulated in so many ways. I have spent this week playing with it, sanding, sawing, filling, drilling and ‘attacking’ with chemicals usually used to stain metals in an attempt to find something unique in it.