Foraging for Flora and Fauna in the rain!

Having used a lot of my prints already in designs, i need to briefly go back to the print room to generate some more imagery to designs with. I wanted to use similar plants and flowers to keep in touch with the theme and also so that the final collection is cohesive. Some of the florals i picked a while ago when it wasn't raining so much. The natural colours, patterns and textures are inspiring.

Scanning in a few pieces

Today, i went to Kirkstall in the rain to forage for some fauna with beautiful textures and form. I was amazed how much stuff i came home with! My house currently looks like a botanical museum with dissected plants and flowers covering any surface! I wanted to get a good quantity of quality pieces to print with as often once you have printed with a pieces once, they either tear when removing them from the printing plate or they curl up and dry out very quickly. Here are a few images of what i found. Hopefully i can start printing with some of my crop tomorrow!

All imagery Copyright Daisy Waite, 2012. 

The Crookes

Quick update about The Crookes, my brothers band based in sheffield. They have a brilliant new single out at the moment called 'Afterglow' available to download on iTunes along with their previous album. They are touring the UK throughout May and any of you heading to Benicassim, InsideOut or other similar festivals this summer, you will be able to catch them there!! If you haven't heard of them before they're definitely worth a listen!

thecrookes.co.uk

Drapings.

I have also been draping a few of my preferred designs into interior scenes or onto suitable products. I find doing this really helpful in terms of working out scale, proportion and whether or not the distribution of the design is balanced. For some reason, i've found i much prefer my designs when draped on objects and products rather than walls. I am going to look into having some of my designs professionally printed onto phomeware products for my final show. Here are a few of my favourite drapes so far.



Large scale original fabric print.

All imagery and designs copywright Daisy Waite, 2012.

New Ideas...

Having had a quick chat with the tutors yesterday i have been testing out a few new ideas which use my original prints as inspiration. I really want for the design in my final show to be crisp and beautiful combining classical documentation and process with contemporary finish and vision. Here are a few things i've been working on today.

Cropped and composed fabric prints.

Cropped textures.

Fabric print in repeat.

All imagery and designs are copywright Daisy Waite, 2012.

Printing and Pressing.

Having collected a variety of flora and fauna i wanted to use these to create beautifully accurate prints to hopefully use within my designs. Achieving perfect prints definately took some practice. I quickly learnt not to put whole, fresh flower heads through the press as they exploded and printed a lovely mush on the paper. I learnt to dry my pieces out for a few days before printing and to try to press them prior to printing with ink so that the shape was slightly more crisp.

Once i got the hang of it i began to experiment with placement, layering and even adding a bit of text using John's metal letter stamps (thanks John!). Here are a few i made earlier!

All images Copywright Daisy Waite 2012

I am really pleased with these prints. The hardest part is finding intersting pieces to print with and then not ruining them in the press before you have created a nice print! The lat of the three above shows the direction i want to head in really referencing botanical documentation. Here are a few more from my second print session.

Development has been made with this second batch of prints in terms of selection of pieces and their composition has been more carefully thought about. At the moment i am printing to create a varied body of imagery to design with however i feel some of these prints could work really well on their own at a very large scale. I am particularly pleased with the quality of lettering achieved using metal letter stamps. All the text is printed and lined up by eye. This 'Vulgaris' print is a very successful print, others werent so good!

Continuing on from this session, i went onto experiment further with the styles of composition and what i was printing onto. I decided to see how fabrics worked through the press and much to my surprise they worked jst as well as paper providing a clean, textured print.



I am really pleased with the additional textures and details achieved when printing onto fabrics. These prints were on cotton duck, quite a thick, speckled fabric.



Final Major Project !

Final major prject has finally arrived and is already going far too fast! It's bitter sweet really, i'm looking forward to not stressing about image sizes, wonky headers and PPD although at the same time, once its gone i will miss the uni life, Paul and Julie and i will have to find something else to write daily lists for!!

My final major project is an extension of all the best aspects of my previous project 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'. I found a really efficient way of working in this project so i am going to stick to this as well as my subject matter. I want to focus again of British flora and fauna paying close attention to botanical styles of documentation. Unlike the majority of my last project, i want my final major project to be a celebration of my skills in print and CAD combined rather than just CAD. I want to create a beautifully crisp and delicate collection combining traditional subject matter and processes with contemporary colour palettes and presentation.

At the moment i am intending for the designs to be printed onto paper and fabric, both for use within interiors. I am also playing around with the idea of producing designs for homewares as i always much prefer the look of my designs on functional objects rather than walls or curtains.

The initial stages of FMP will be consumed with documenting real life british flora and fauna. I will also be forraging for specimens to draw, print with and preserve. This intial stage will hopefully provide me with a varied body of imagery to work with in the later design stages.

Crocus's picked from Hyde Park

Dissected flower head.

Botanical style dissection and layout.

These initial photographs represent the botanical style of documentation i am aiming to achieve in my designs as well as the colours i want to use and the crisp, delicate quality of the florals. From here i am going to collect further flora and fauna to print with so i can experiment with different processes. As well as that i am going to play around with lettering and try to press some of my favourite collected pieces to use in the later design stages.

My Darling Dissertation!

Just thought i would post a little bit about my dissertation as it makes up for quite a large amount of marks in the end total of our degree and i actually really enjoyed it! At first i was torn between art used within prisons as a means of helping inmates to express their angst and inner torments and the debate over 'Art vs Science'. The later of the topics i found particularly interesting as the subject of science is often subconsciously incorporated within my deisngs. I am still unsure whether i do this because of the similairies found within natural structures and those which make up textile fibres and eventually patterns etc. After much thought, i decided to focus on a topic which almost encapsulated both of my initial subjects. My title was,

"Creativity as Therapy. Using Art to treat Trauma'

Under this topic i researched a vast amount of sub-headings. My first chapter explained the use and capacities of creativity as a form of therapy. It explored the ways in which creativity could help those suffering from traumatic events overcome such difficulties without having to speak about it. Creativity allows people to express themselves and re-visit traumatic memories in a safe environment. The act of making is therapeutic in itself and used by many Art Therapists as a tool of expression.

The second chapter was a case study focussing on the well known artist Van Gogh who suffered a variety of traumatic experinces eventually leading to conditions such as Epilepsy and Schitzophrenia. His story outlined the benefits of creativity and underpinned its success as even in the days of Van Gogh people were using creativity as the earliest form of Therapy.

The final chapter looked at contemporary artists suffering from mental health issues caused by trauma. This chapter allowed me to emphasise the importance of well-being in society today and to really try to make people aware of mental health and know that you can talk about it. The dissertation also looked closely at the link between cretaivity and insanity, eventually arguing that heightened levels of creativity could lead to episodes of psychosis and lucidity. This knowledge available today means that people in places of education and within the design industry are aware of such potential influences to mental health and are therefore able to mointor vulnerable people closely.

I found the whole process of researching and writing my dissertation really rewarding. I loved the subject i was writing about and found a change of process really refreshing. Art Therapy is something i will always be interested in and possibly something i will look into getting involved with. For now though it's back to the drawing board and onto Final Major Project!!!

All Things Bright and Beautiful

The first project of third year focussed on British flora and fauna with emphasis on their botanical nature. I thoroughly enjoyed this project as it was the first time i used my own drawings within final designs. Previously i wasnt confident enough to feature my drawings in my work but this project allowed me time to get into a specific style which suited my concept.

I began by drawing from still life, photographs and a number of amazing botanical books. The Concise British Flora in Colour became my bible with each page illustrated beautifully with a new species of flower. If i had another copy, i would tear out the pages and use them as wallpaper they are that lovely!





Inspired by my bible and other books, botanical documentation and collected flora, i plunged into the world of botany carrying out drawing, experimentation and processes like a scientist. Funnily enough, i really enjoyed this way of working and i have continued to work this way ever since. Here are a few pictures of my drawings from the early stages of the project.

I continued to draw looking closely at composition and referencing the traditional  botanical documentation of flora and fauna throughout. I developed my style into creating composite motifs bursting with different elements. I think these drawings are really successful in their own right but also lend themsleves well to being repeated or used as statement pieces on scarves and tiles etc.

Once i had decided this was the direction i was going to continue following, i began experimenting with colour palettes. After trying various methods of application of colour, i achieved the best finish with Pantone Letraset markers. The colour aplettes were intended to reference the accurate colours found within the flora and fauna with a few tones added to give more of a contemporary feel.

At this stage in the project i was intending for these delicate drawn designs to become my main final collection. As it turned out, these became one off fabric prints which inspired further drawing for a slightly different, more CAD based collection. Even though they are different, both collections incorporate botanical drawings and references using the same body of flora and fauna, it is just the way in which they are presented that differs.

The final designs from the second collection are bright and lively echoing the concept of the whole project, 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'. I am really pleased with the colours and style of repeats i have generated.

All Designs Copywright Daisy Waite 2012.

These collection sheets outline which designs sat in what collection as well as providing the colours used within them. This made it easier for both myself and others to recognise designs within collections. The final stage, after i had finished designing was to drape my designs into settings and onto objects in the interiors market. I always love this stage.

Seeing my work draped in scenarios such as these is really rewarding. I would love to be able to manafacture and print designs like these one day for purpose rather than just proposing ideas!

The Crookes

My brother George is lead singer and bass player of the up and coming British band, The Crookes. The Sheffield based band have already successfully completed a number of UK tours as well as playing a number of british festivals such as Reading and Leeds, Secret Garden Party and Latitude. They are currently in Europe playing exciting new venues and cities every night. I can only imagine what an amazing experience they are all having!

Whilst in Holland the band did an interview and live performance for a local radio show. They were asked to cover a recent pop song, a bit like Radio 1's Live Lounge. They chose Adele's, Rolling in the Deep'.

Have a listen... It's just lovely. x

The Crookes live cover of Adele's, 'Rolling in the Deep'.

Home Staright...

Its almost only a week until i finish my second year at uni! This year has been jam packed with challenging projects including our business module, competitions and contextual studies. Now we're in the final two weeks and the pressure is on. The judges from the Wallpaper History Society will be coming into the studios tomorrow morning to look at our collections. There is a really good standard of work throughout the studio so the competition is strong but hopefully mine will stand out.

Heres an image of one of my pieces from the collection in situ.

At this scale the designs look really impressive. I really like the quality of colour and the structural forms throughout. The whole collection embodies a british summer with beautiful blooms and brilliant colours. I am really pleased with my final collection.

Plodding on . . .

Since my last post, my project has changed direction swiftly. I began by looking at the human body and things gory!! I really liked this subject matter as it contained beautiful natural patterns. I was also really interested in the structures within these substances and how they had been formed. However, after playing around with a few images I decided that the subject wasn't going to provide me with enough source material to work from unless I went out and became a scientist for a week!

So, seeing as I am also entering this project into the Wallpaper History Society competition, I decided to look at age old florals. Always a winner in printed textiles! I found they encompassed much of the same qualities as the cells and substances i had looked at previously. I spent a few days taking lots of pictures and then I got aquatinted with Photoshop. Heres a few more I have played around with. I am a lot happier with these designs.

Pansies

Pansies

Poppies
Copyright Daisy Waite.

This style of reflection really works well with such colourful and beautifully formed flowers. I am on the right track now and I just need to keep working away until i have a collection of six that I am really happy with!