Week 24

I'm still feeling quite low and was pleased to make it into university to use the laser cutter this week, if nothing else.  I used the bark pattern to engrave on to the white vinyl again but enlarged the pattern.  Unfortunately this meant that most of my allocated time was spent on this one piece due to the size and detail involved.  I used the remainder of my time to engrave a section of the pattern onto some ply but with a few sections cut out.  This worked well and I would like to explore this further - cutting out more of the pattern and perhaps using the spaces left to introduce different materials and/or textures.  I have booked the laser cutter for the week after the Easter holidays in order to develop this idea further.

I am relieved to have been given an extension to the deadline for the submission of my journal and tasks and just hope I am well enough to complete these over the holidays.

Week 23

I made it into university at the beginning of the week in order to present our PCC2 Powerpoint Presentation.  The fact that I didn't want to let Vasso down was my main motivating factor in coming in and although it was a struggle I was relieved to be able to complete the task at last.

I didn't feel nervous about presenting, as it was a small audience and very informal, but was not looking forward to it due to the fact that I felt the contents of the presentation were not of a particularly high standard.  In the end it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated and I agreed with the bulk of the feedback we were given:

• there were far too many images  - we had put too much focus on the visual aspect and not enough on the explanations and reasons behind the collaboration and/or images of pieces
• there were far too many slides and as a result we flicked through them too fast, allowing the audience little or no time to appreciate them - mulitple images should have been placed on one slide
• the video clips had not worked - this was a blessing however as this required us to explain in our own words what the video was about and thus provide more of an understanding behind the collaboration
• the presentation ran over the 10 minutes alloted - just as well then that the video didn't work as this would added another 4 minutes at least

I found the challenge of presenting empowering and although still disappointed with the standard of the contents of presentation I was pleased to have been able to see the task through to the end.

I had booked the laser cutter again on Friday and was able at last to engrave the bark pattern I had tried to use a couple of weeks ago.  I was pleased with the result although I hadn't realised how time-consuming the engraving process would be - I was only able complete a fraction of what I had planned.  The bark pattern was very intricate which was part of the problem - more detail equals more time.  Plus nearly half of my allotted time was taken up by engraving onto white acrylic, for which the result achieved was hardly visible and seemed a waste of time (I'll try and bring out the detail by rubbing a coloured substance, eg. shoes polish, into the grooves).  I was pleased with the result achieved with the plywood and the white vinyl especially.  I had hoped to be able to cut some of the shapes out of the engraving but realised too late that I was using the CMYK and not the RGB red colour and the laser cutter would not recognise this.  Would like to try this next time.

Week 22

I have come to a complete standstill.  I am feeling extremely low, have no energy and at the very least feel like taking a break  from the course.  Hope it passes.

Week 21

I feel like I've come to a bit of a stand-still this week after devoting much of the past couple of weeks to the powerpoint presentation, which is now in thankfully.  If I'm honest with myself I haven't done much this week at all, having spent much of the week at home rather than uni. As a result my mood is quite low although has picked up a bit towards the end of the week.  It's not that I've lost interest in the current project; I've got plenty of ideas but just don't seem to get around to putting them down on paper or develop them to any real extent.  I've booked the laser-cutter for next Friday in order to hopefully give me some sort of  focus or a deadline at least.

The little bit of work I did do this week involved buying some more fabrics from Abakhan, based on my finds from the beach.  I bought some green vinyl type material which I started to hand-stitch in order to recreate an egg-case although it was too small and didn't resemble the form at all.  I'll try increasing the size.

I also bought some off-white organza to recreate the gauze-like seaweed, it had a lovely light-weight, floaty quality but could well be too light.  I tried a few layers together but the shape lost some of its definition and its float-like quality.  I'm not sure whether I'll be able to use this or not, although I might try a light layer of latex on the organza to see how that works.

I had hoped to get back to the beach this week in order to take some photgraphs (of the sand mainly - the shapes and marks left by the outgoing tide and various sea-creatures).  I like the idea of etching these onto wood (possibly using the laser cutter).  As with a lot of things this week I didn't get around to it but there's always next week.

Week 20

Week 19

Week 18