Amy Lous Space

Ceramic Workshop

Hello! Me and a friend from my course organised a ceramic workshop for everyone on our row. It was nice to spend a day out of the studio learning a new skill. It was really fun and i am keen to finish my ceramic makes. I made a few tiles using (i think) stoneware clay and then decorated them with embossed papers, smashed sea shells and mark making.

I also made a vase and with left over clay, i made a food bowl for Ruby! I didn't add markings on my vase as i wanted it to be smooth. For ruby's bowl I used lasor cut wooden letters and pressed them into the clay. I aim to paint them both after firing.

My ceramic makes will now dry out over the couple of days and then they will have their first biscuit firing at 1000 degree celsius!!

INNOVATION SAMPLES

My work space

Lately for my Innovation project I have been busy in the print room experimenting with techniques such as Direct and normal Screen Printing with Binder FF and Puff, Natural Dying, Foiling and even hand painted back into different fabrics such as Calico, Cotton, Silk, and furnishing fabrics. I have just began to fuse my samples together using bondaweb and a touch of embroidery.

Furnishing fabric samples

Colour samples are coming together nicely

Natural Dye workshop

Natural Dye samples, dried and cured

Natural Dying fabric with Conchineal - Female Bugs!

Direct Screen Printing

I am yet to experiment with Devore, Ceramics and working back into my prints using the Lasor Cutter. Reflecting on my attitude - i think i have been more organised, positive and have put extra effort in. I truly hope it shows and pays off!

PRICELESS AND WORTHLESS - MINI EXHIBITION

Priceless and Worthless is a mini recycling exhibition where students from my course take something worthless and upcycle it so that it becomes priceless. There was no set brief really, we just had to find the beauty in something that needed a new lease of life. It's really fun and we all ate cake, drank tea and socialised with students from all levels of my course. My piece was a rosette that i put together using applique with odd sorts of fabric and embroidery thread i had collected from charity shops.

Lasor cut wooden flowers and upcycled bottles by Jodie Smith

Screen printed coat upcycled by Amy Hodkin

Train tickets upcycled by Katie Punton

A mug, sauce and plate upcycled by Megan Read

Notebooks handmade from raw materials by Isabella Solito

A sloth made from a pair of socks by Emily Pearse

There were so many innovative ideas, these were just some of my favorites. It'll be fun to see what next year's exhibition brings.

Roisin Johns - Colours, Styling & Material Portfolio

My work is progressing a colour palette with the help from Wilko’s emulsion pots. I used what i learnt in a recent cad workshop to separate my CMYK and Spot colours from paintings and collages. This enabled me to expose painterly marks for possible backgrounds. I feel like a switch has click and i am now getting to grips with screen printing!

Roisin Johns from the University of the Arts London (and also from Leeds College of Art) was a guest lecture today. She spoke about her journey from BA to MA and how she took found materials from landfills, skips and factory floors and turned them into objects of desire. I am really fond of her concept of recycling and i particularly liked her colour palette of pink, purple and orange.

Manchester

Me and Adam were in Manchester over the weekend. We visited the art gallery and went to watch Fink and She Drew the Gun perform live at the Academy 2. It was a nice break for us but now it's back to cray cray at university.