And here's one I made earlier...

Mississippi mud pie. Was yum but a little sickly. I totally could be a food writer.

Resin tests!

So I finally got my resin and got round to experimenting! After overcoming my fear of opening the dead bee box I managed to pick some out to cast. (Dead bees smell really bad, resin smells worse but bees also float. 2-1 bees grr) I ordered water clear resin and some amber dye, it was a toss up between that and yellow but I wanted the bees to look like they were floating in honey. I could have used actual honey but I think it goes cloudy over time which would spoil it, also I wanted them to look suspended in the liquid rather than all gathered at the top (grr) As you can see I used far too much of the dye in the little jam jar test and it looks far too orange. I did a couple more tests which were slightly better but the thing is the colour intensifies as the thickness of the resin increases so even with the smallest amount of dye in it starts to look orange at a certain thickness and has a horrible tendency to increase in orangeness after the hardener is mixed in so there is a certain amount of chance involved! I think the final piece, which will be in a big kilner jar will look good with a warm light reflected through it, the resin has an amazing clarity and I'm pleased with the tests I've done. Also it will look like a kind of lantern at a shrine which will link in nicely. Very excited about this piece! Excuse the photos of the backgarden!

British stuffs

I've been having a think about typical British "architecture" and making prints and how I like the iconic shape of things like post boxes and phone boxes etc, so here is one of many experiments going on at the minute. I have been having a go at monotype prints and although I'm quite liking the effect I am still finding it not "clean" enough for my liking. I will press on with it though! Am enjoying having a go at different processes.

An art day

Went to Birmingham the other day for a visit to the art galleries with the brother. We went to the Ikon Gallery, a really good venue for seeing some interesting contemporary art. On at the moment in the main gallery is a retrospective: This Could Happen To You: Ikon in the 1970s Very much art of the time there is a lot of work pertaining to the political and social affairs of the day. What I found more interesting however, was the offsite project in the Pallasades shopping centre: Seeing the Unseen: Photographs and films by Harold E. Edgerton Photographs based on the new technology around at the time, exposing unseen movements and actions in everyday life in an appropriate location not far away from the original site of the gallery. Both on until the 5th September. Also there is an amazing exhibition on at the Waterhall Gallery by Steve McCurry Another retrospective, breathtaking, almost painterly images. Some with gorgeous colour and others with fascinating content. On until 17th October it is definitely worth a visit.

The Art Book Book Shop

I almost forgot! I was in an art exhibition at the Oxfam bookshop in Leamington. It was in conjunction with Warwickshire Artsweek and Oxfam Bookfest curated by Annie Carpenter.

A group of artists respond playfully to the idea of the book as both a physical object and a method of conveying information. The exhibition takes the form of an intervention into the bookshop, where viewers will have to seek out the artworks within the existing shop display.

Me and my collaborative partner Katherine Johnson were invited to do our Eat your Words performance piece on the opening night. It was really nice doing the performance in a book shop where many of the edible books we alter come from, a return to the beginning as it were. A really enjoyable evening. Other artists involved were Taneesha Ahmed, Alice Bradshaw, Robert Cliff, Chloe Edwards, Yan Laundy, Amy Mckenny, Hannah Rollings and Lynne Williams.

...more photos, stupid uploader thingmy

And here's the rest! Some from my back garden too.

Some more photos

As school has broken up I have taken the opportunity to get on with a bit more of my own work. I have a box of dead bees in the back of my car waiting to be used when I can get some resin. Some monotype printing on the go and a few other things on my mind too. Here is a collection of photos from a walk I took. I came across an abandoned warehouse which was very cool but a little scary!