Intention brief The brief this term is to look at what inspires us over the summer vacation. This summer we visited California and saw the sight and sound this wonderful place had to offer. The main thing that caught my eye was the vibrant colours. We visited an aquarium in hotel we stayed in Las Vegas. The jelly fish in the tank seem to come alive with the colours that could be seen through them.Photographing them capture the colour for others to see.

The reason for choosing these photographs are the shapes and unknown movement that occurs when the jellyfish move. The main genre I picked up on was the organic feel to their form. The sea, beaches and creatures fascinate me and give me the inspiration to look further than just the jellyfish.

Jelly fish ArtistsSarah-Lou Newman

Sarah-Lou is a textile artist who has captured the movement very well in her work .The jellyfish seem to be able to move freely in the water and the threads on her work are a good representation of the jellyfish body and feelers.

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Superfast Jelly fish by Arkhizon

Well I don’t think I could every call them Superfast the way in which the jellyfish move in the water, however I think that these lights are amazing and that they are an excellent example of the colours that my previous photograph showed.

This painting show the organic approach I am looking for in my work. The organic shapes scream out at me. The artists I have looked at the beginning of my brief all use a different media than I used .I feel that give the concept and approach from all angles and helps me explore artists work at this early stage.

Myung Nam An

Myung nam am’s work is of sea creature and not jellyfish,I am drawn to the sea creature forms in her work and although her work does look like glass . the organic shape is repeating its self.

Rachel Wong

Rachel capture day dreams in her installations, glass is the main material used in her work. The colour draws your attention to her work. They remind me of eggs that that have been cracked then left to solidify.

New Borough Beach

New Borough beach is situated in North Wales , it seemed to be the next logical place to move on with my project, the connect between the jellyfish and beaches stood out to me, both things are to do with the sea.

The beach patterns had been caused by the tide moving in and out, thus creating the shape and form on the ground. The photograph above caught my eye, because a small stone has changed the sand when the sea washed over it.It seems to have a purpose by directing the sand to form this shape.

These two photographs have a printed 3D feel them .The sea is able to created so many different patterns each time it changes direction. I’m sure if I returned to the same spot a day later the sea will have created a different pattern. These patterns remind me of site specific artists, who work changes with the environment. A cast of these patterns would make an outstanding 3D shape.

The photographs above and below have a similarity to the stone shaped photograph I previously took.The circular shapes stand out above all the other lines.

Paper Maquettes The shapes are cut from the previous movement of the sand. By using a simple shape I am able to create a continues pattern and 3d form. This is a good starting point , however I feel I still have a long way to go with these shapes and forms .

Manchester City GalleryThe First Cut Exhibition Going to see the exhibition inspired me to see how other artists use the manipulation of paper to form incredible patterns. Whether they are 3D or 2D.

James AlridgeAs above is seen below

This is a large scale installation which filled the wall from ceiling to floor. Each time I looked at the his work, I could see a different animal, shape or form. I think that this has a connection to my photographs .It is forever changing and although no one comes in and moves his work it has a different view point at each time it is actually viewed. Much the same as the sea on the beach.

Noriko AmbeNoriko working is an outstanding carved layered installations. The linear line is capture in his work . This connects also to my work in the layering of the sand.

Andrew singleton

Andrew is a paper artist and illustrator. He studied at MMU , he exploration is very natural and his work adapts into his work into a collection of intricate paper cuttings .Andrew work is the most impressive of all the artists at the gallery.

Andy Goldsworthy Andy is a site specific artist. A small proportion of his work is created on a beach, so with this in mind I decided to take a look at which installations have a beach setting. My essay for this year is looking at the work of Andy Goldsworthy. My essay is based on seeing if his installations that don’t last forever are captured well enough on film or should his work be a everlasting piece not one that changes with the environment.

Penrhyn castle The castle has a mammoth amount of stone carving on walls , pillars, and staircases. The carvings are flamboyant and took many years to create. I wonder where and how they found their inspiration to come up with some many different patterns. Although they are not a direct connection with my brief I think I should show them to all who want to see them as I think they are incredible .

Paper Maquette 2 I have changed the idea of these maquettes,the inspiration comes from the circular patterns of Andy Goldsworthy and the circular patterns of the sand. The shape of these create a more organic feel than the previous maquettes.

Paper Folding

A totally different type of maquettes than the circular ones . The paper is just folded without any cutting involved . The paper has sharp corners and doesn’t represent the beach patterns as well as the circular ones. However it was worth trying it out .

Mod RocUsing mod roc helped me to see the shapes in a 3d way. It allows me to see depth and perception of the maquettes.

Morfa Conwy beach Using Andy Goldsworthy’s work as inspiration, i deciced to go down to Morfa Conwy beached armed with a rake and see what patterns I could make. It was harder work than I thought and I was shattered after. I had so much fun, what a way to make art.

The whole beach as your blank canvas and the idea of see it disappear before your eyes is awesome.

This circular pattern seems to be repeating itself over and over, I needed to think about the different types of materials I could extend this concept. Artist inspiration has helped me to achieve this installation , maybe more artist research will help me move on .

Sandblasting The first two sandblasted pieces of glass to show the movement of the sea on the sand. They are both only 2D and don’t show the full example of the ridges in the beach.

The following two sandblasted pieces show the depth in which the sea moves the sand ,like a site specific artist, nature has a way of creating it own backdrop which can change with each tidal movement.

Conwy Light Show Conwy has a light show on the evening of the Food feast every year in October. The lights are projected on the side of the castle and surrounding building. The photographs don’t do the patterns justice as they are bright and illuminate on the walls. The patterns link into my brief as it is a continuation of shape and movement.

Bark Effect

A lot of shapes in the bark are natural formed and have a similarity to the sand patterns. They seem a totally different type of texture. The contours are following the same way as my earlier stone photograph. When looking around at different inspiration it is fascinating to see so many similarities in nature.

New Mills After chatting to Nigel , the line in the work I am researching connect to the line that is created by sea and water erosion. Taking photograph of river erosion shows a different type of definition of nature way of change the land scape.

I particularly like the rock formation, and how the rocks are left in a saw off way. Water can cause so much damage to the environment. Another prefect example of art work cause by the environment.

Thomas Heatherwick Thomas Heatherwick’s Gazedo consists of stacks of birch plywood layered in an L shaped formation. It is a 6 metre construction with contrasting curved wood that supports each other in a uniformed manner. This installation inspires me as it has the same layered effect as I am researching. The photographs show a definite connect to the beach movement. The 3d effect could work in many different types of material. This inspires me to use paper to try this effect.

Grand Caynon Water is responsible for the erosion of the rock formation of the Grand Caynon.

The Colorado River is main cause of the erosion of the Grand Canyon. The carved mountain range has slowly been worn away by the water. The Canyon is 277 miles long and has a breath taking view. This is a prime example of water erosion at its finest. The colours and depth are outstanding.

Cable Bay – Wales

The beach was another research area that inspires me to look at the layering of my work.The sea has erosive qualities that can be seen in other places than just the beach. If you returned to the beach in a hundred years I think it will be a totally different setting than can be seen today.

In all the water erosion area places I have visited ,the rocks have different colour definition as the erosion has occurred. The lines are a representation of years of wear.

Sand Blasted work These sand blasted pieces are a continuation of line and layering, I wanted to achieve a synchronised pattern that follows through numerous pieces of glass.

Paper MaquettesBefore moving on to glass sampling I wanted to see how these paper maquettes would work out.

The pieces below are the cut off from the maquettes.

I have repeated the process with multiple pieces of paper. The circles were easy to cut. Although the shapes are not organic. I think the actual maquette would look better with un-symmetrical pieces than circles.

Glass workshops

The hot glass wasn’t easy to work with at the beginning and needed to careful handling. The photographs above are off glass that is twisted and the preparation for fracturing the glass.

The hot glass was poured inside the mould to create layered effect. This was a great way of uses the molten glass to respond to my brief.

Glass rods made in the workshop, these have so many different uses and can be used in future pieces of glass. Hot glass moulds

create interesting patterns and this one reminds me off a sea urchin or creature and it connects well to the first photographs of the jelly fish.

Glass blowing First attempt of coloured glass blowing. Looks more like an alien head to me. Not an easy task. Will practice more on the next brief , I want to use the skills more and produce some new pieces as soon as possible.

Tracy Nicholls Tracy explores the darker side, death and disease and erosion in nature. These photographs are a snap shot of her work. These photographs are what cancer cells look like under a microscope. It erosion of the body and not the land, however they are both a process of erosion and mankind is a part of nature. It is a slight different angle, it is an inspiring group of photographs, the uneven of the layers is something I would like to explore further.

The photograph above is a presentation of the eroding bone fragment created in glass. The lace appearance show great fragility , this is a great topic or idea for glass to show the movement and decay in the human body .

Jennifer Ahrens

Jennifer works reminds me off the coves on the beach , which have uneven edges and corners, each one which is a good representation of the beaches and coves I have visited while working on this brief.

Engler GlassThese glass bowls give me a great idea to use sea glass to create a bowl , using recycle glass and sea glass to recreate a similar piece. Thus making us of a material eroded by the sea.

Chris Camilleri Lime stone erosionThis is impressive photograph of limestone erosion taken by Chris Camilleri .Again he is not a glass artist. However I am attracted to the formation and holes that the limestone has become. I am wondering if I could recreate this surface in a kiln, allowing the glass to move freely in a hot temperature.

Abstract Erosion, using Erosion Testing In order to obtain these erosion photographs. Solid particles and erode them by using solution. The results are scanned under a microscope and show these impressive surfaces

I particularly like these examples as the movement of the surfaces t have a glass like quality. It would be interesting to see this movement with colour and heat on a glass surface, And to see if I could make a similar surface myself.

Sea Glass

While researching I tried to find a material to slump with new glass, I came across sea glass. Sea glass or beach glass as it also known is glass that has been physically and chemically weather by the sea, and the weathering causes the frosting of the glass naturally.

The pieces have been produce by the sea, but dissuaded by humans and thrown into the sea. The recycling qualities are very appealing and I have ordered some sea glass to see if I can use it in future work.

Casting Following on from the beach theme this casted shape is of my very first beach photograph of the stone in bedded in the sand. This type of casting has been successful and I will be using it in my next brief. The glass is able to create definition and line.

Three examples of casts that I would like to use to see what the results would be in a glass mould.Being able to draw them first give me a sense of how they would look, before the process was completed. Unfortunately the casts are broken when extracting the glass after firing so they cannot be used again. A mould can be taken of the cast beforehand, however this would give a totally different result and would change the glass to a positive mould to a negative mould.

Glass and paint experimentations

With not having the workshop in university over the last few weeks, I have been thinking of other ways to move my experimentations forward. Moving forward I have taken inspiration from Tracy’s photographs and purchased some glass paint. By mixing the paints with water this speed up their movement and I could take photographs as the paint changed over a few minutes.

These slides have made to show the beginning for my research into cell reproduction and erosion, the results of this photographs speak for themselves. I am looking forward to taking this brief further.

The processes I have learnt this term have been very rewarding. I would like to use them in further experimentation while carrying on the erosion aspect of the brief. Which involves working on patterns, depth and the slow deterioration that erosion creates.Not only is land erosion in my brief. I have also started to look at cell deterioration after researching Tracy Nicholls installations and photographs.Tracy Nicholls inspires me to look further in cell erosion, And how the erosion in the body changes the body appearance either under a microscope or by the naked eye either with or without illness.Water is a clear substance that causes so much erosion in nature over time. This causing irreparable and costly damage to the environment.I hope in my next brief I am able to look further into this subject. I have always played it safe and never looked at something as radical as cell deterioration or disease. And I think it is time to try something new.