I've been trying out emulsion transfers on fabric. First I tried them on a dust sheet. major fail. The weave is too big and the surface isnt smooth enough. The images did transfer but they are indistinguishable. 

So I tried an old curtain I had which was a smooth cotton and this is how it turned out. It still has the old graininess I wanted, but the image is quite clear. I'm hoping to do a series of these and sew over them with machine drawings. 

Militiary monoprints

 It was quite a surreal day...

Firstly I started looking up images of the british army, and monprinting from the print outs. Then I decided to look at my cousins regiment. Just as I was reading, the radio started to play "I Can See Clearly Now"  by Jonny Nash. This was the song Simon picked to be played at his funeral if he was ever killed in battle, and obviously his wishes were honoured and we did. Tears welled up in my eyes...of all the songs to come on while I'm looking at his batalion. It was a wonderful feeling. It was a sign. I don't care if people don't believe.I always have. Things like this happened to me when my nan passed away too and I have no ounce of doubt that they watch over me.

Then on my way home...the first two people I saw as I left the studio were two women wearing poppies, not that unusual at this time of year I know, but then I turned the corner....3 SOLDIERS IN FULL UNIFORM were at the train station. 

This all in the week of rememberance day, and Simons birthday which is saturday. Hes here. I know he is.

Anyway, with me researching my family tree, and the obvious family ties to the military, along with the pain it has brought the subject has been on my mind a lot the past year. It's has also been a regular topic in family conversation. I'm a true believer in making work about what I know best: myself, my family, my friends and the experiences that have effected us.  I wanted to channel this and I'm planning on making a stitched piece, like a tapestry with machine drawings, almost telling a story of my family and our military connection. 

This is a picture that belong to my nan, my fathers mother, Nanny Mary. Its really old...I dont know from which era but y dad says he cant remember a time it wasnt in his house when he was a kid.

I certainly remember it being on the wall in her house and it always fascinated me.  Its  got just a really eerie aura about it.

When she died we kept it...and I recently put it up in my room because I think its beautiful and its rather unusual the way its 3 different images depending on which angle you look at it from. Obviously it has a massive crack right down the glass but I don't want to replace it. It was my nans and I want to keep it the way it always was in her house.

anyway Chloe asked me to photograph it for her to look at as shes lookin at religious imagery.

 sorry abot tthe quality Clo...had to use my iPhone my camera is dead/shit

Artist Books

These images are of a prototype of an artists book I'm working on. I'm trying to get it done for the Manchester Artists Books Fair next month. I want to screen print it but time is ticking and it may be easier to keep it a digital print. 

The fold I've used is called a the Turkish map fold, and I love how versatile it is. As the images show it can be maniuplated into many different forms. 

This is a smaller version I tried out, Its not as flexible as the larger version. 

AND SEW TO BED. PROJECT

I've been sewing a patch for the bed in project at the blue coat. The project I'm involved in is called "and sew to bed" http://andsewtobed.wordpress.com/ 

The project asks for a 7x7 patch that contains a quote on inequality. I considered many quotes and thought about different aspects of inequality and how people strive and protest for equality. Then I thought about how people try different ways to be more equal, when really I think people should express what makes them unique, be proud of inequality.

I purposely made the patch messy,and uneven to further express the point that we arent all equal or perfect.

Stuff I found

Stuff I found that i love and im probably going to nick some of the ideas...

Trees

So this whole family photographs/ research has been leading me somewhere.

The Manchester Artist Books fair is coming up and I wanted to create a book including all these elements. I intend to use this new fold that I mastered today.

The Turkish map fold:

Katherine Venturelli - 'Lunar Journey'

I  intend to use this fold to create a book that can be explored by working through images of family trees, documents, drawings, portraits etc. 

Possibly in a similar structure to this book:

Today I completed a section of my family tree. My Grandmothers' (Mother's Mother) Paternal line. (THE CORRECT LABELS ARE SO CONFUSING)I intend to use this image within the book

Some other images I've aquired:

urgh

Haven't been to the studio this week.

Haven't produced anything.

Must go to the studio tomorrow

Must produce something

Probably wont want to go the studio

Probably wont want to produce anything worth while

but

Will end up going to studio

Will end up producing something....which i probably wont like

Wont go to the studio friday

Wont make anything productive on friday.....because its my birthday and i'll be hungover/ a lot older = more depressed

Monoprints from family portraits part 2

edited and painted in photoshop....i wish i could some how achieve this look on the real prints. obviouslythese are photoshopped. It would be really hard to get all these colours monoprinting. Infact almost impossible i think. I may try water colours.

If not I may get these printed out digitally on good quality paper.

Monoprints from family portraits

I wanted to leave out the faces and distinguishing features, so the images focused on the action or experience within the photo. As I've said I'm intersted in how situations, and experiences affect each person and mould them into the person they are.

Fellowship of the pens

So I started my fellowship program yesterday. If I havent already bored you with what that involves its basically a year helping out on the degree course that I graduated from as well as an opportunity to develope my own art practice to prepare for an exhibition with other "fellows" next year.

The day went really well, We checked out where we are going to be working, discussed the year ahead with other students etc and Its got me really excited to begin working.

As I've said I'm hoping to invovle a lot of family history stories/information into my work as I feel its a new aspect of my work which continues to challenge ideas of personal identity. The past year has been quite a hard one for my family for personal reasons and its brought up a lot of conversations about the military and war and the amoutn of pain ut has caused my family over many generations.

• Last christmas my cousin was killed on patrol in Afghanistan which was obviously a huge emotional strain on my family. 
• While researching my family tree I found that my great great grandfather, died during WW1. I even visited the battle fields of France a few years ago and found his name on the Thiepval memorial. His death, which was preceeded by the death of his wife, resulted in my great grandfather being put into care in an orphanage at only aged 7. 
• My fathers eldest brother was also in the military and has lived in many countires around the world, which has somewhat severed his relationships with his family at different point throughout the years.
• My grandmother, while not in the military, did live through WW2 and told me many stories  of what life was like during the blitz in Liverpool, from sleeping under railway bridges as well as how she escaped from evacuation in Wales and made her way back to Liverpool.

These few key figures within my family story have been strong influences on my  life, and I feel they will come out strongly within my work.

Family Photographs..

I've been working on my family tree recently and generally lookin through old photographs of family and asking my mother questions about particualr people. I've been so interested in exploring my body and myself that I started questioning who I am in a deeper sense. Where have I come from? Who were my ancestors? Is there any artistic links there? do I share any similar traits with members of my family?

I've even been looking at immediate family members and considering what their impact on me has been? Have they ever exposed me to something that has influenced the person I am. That could be in art or many other things. Have they hurt me? Have they been there for me? Has a particular family situation left an impact on me? deaths, marriages, births?

I think this is where I'm going to take my work during my fellowship year. Combining my work of the body with a mental map of the people who have influenced me to bring me to this point.

While researching my family tree I dug out a few old family photographs to get the ball rolling. I also joined up to Genes Reunited , a website with access to census records and births, marriages and deaths records. I've already gone 4 generations back on my mothers maternal line to around 1880...

These first 4 photos are of my nan Pat (Patricia Jackson) my Mum's mother. The first one is her in the 60's with a huge beehive and an amazing orange mini skirt. the 2nd is her at about aged 16 as bridesmaid at her sisters wedding...I need to find oout the date. The one where shes in a pub in a green blouse is probably ealry 90's btu she looks exactly the same as now, My nan never ages, everybody says it. The last photo is her, me as baby and my aunty Kerry, my Mums sister. 

These next photos are of my other Nan, my dad's mother, Mary, Firstly having a great time holding a bottle of barcadi, haha. The 2nd photo is very old from her wedding to my grandfather, who I never met as her died when my father was quite young, I assume its sometime in the 40's.

These next few are of my mum when she was younger. The first she is really young I'm guessing 12? shes so cute and vintage looking, haha so cool.  The 2nd photo is her about 17/18 in a garden somewhere doing a rather sensible leg pose..with a guy I really don't know. The 3rd is her around about the same age In a club I think, lookin a little intoxicated. The last is my mother on her wedding day, it was new years day 1994 If I remember correctly. She still says to this day she doesn't understand why she got married she never had ay intention to...that says it all really.

These next few are of me, my brother and sister.

1. me and gary taking a bath

2. gary, fay and me on her christening day

3. my dad and gary having a bath

4. me with the christmas dude

5. me and gary with christmas dude