Mildly Irritated

I work in a cafe with a lot of girly girls who go crazy for Jimmy Choo's and now PANDORA BRACELETS! Not only did one of these girlies get their boyfriends to buy them a pandora charm bracelet a couple of weeks ago, she's now on about a Tiffany one! How different can they be!?!?!

This is Tiffany...

And this is Pandora...


OK so they are a little bit different but still, does one boyfrriend really need to buy both?

A bit of photography!

I've been trying to get a little better at photography and as well as it being really fun, I think my photos are actually improving! I hope that by the time I get to uni in September I'll be able to get by well enough. I'm off to Loughborough by the way to study 3D Design!!!

Please leave comments if you have any, good, bad, or constructive.

DONE!

Everything was handed in last week after a lot of ridiculous surveys and evaluating. But it was all worth it (I hope!). I'm really proud of my exhibition piece and am so grateful to all who helped me!

I've made a short slideshow of my project progressing but I did it on windows DVD maker, which won't let me upload to my blog...

But here's a picture of my display

Back soon x

Project evaluation.

The following in italics is my statement of intent (my brief). The following evaluation is a personal identification of whether I have adhered to my initial aims.

I think that I have used my brief well, as a starting point, and also as a point of reference throughout my final major project. I believe that I have acted upon every intent in my statement and that each of these intents have been useful. For example, I stated that I would use paper and tin to test ideas, before committing to copper as a material, based on the expense of such a material. I think that I also went a lot further than just using cheaper materials, as I used donated materials in my final piece, such as the copper wire that I stripped out of the cables, and also the glass that I used was from the scrap bin.

I am very pleased with the way my final piece turned out, after having so many problems along the way with the glass, and on top of this I feel I have learnt much more about my chosen materials as a result. For example my skills with the working of copper had to grow immensely as a result of the mishaps with glass. I really enjoyed using the processes that I learned and I know they will come in useful in my future education. 

Where my final piece has been challenging and has changed dramatically over the projects course, I actually prefer the outcome to my original design. After having done a lot of research into shoes made as sculptures, I now know that my shoes have definitely benefited from my steering away from tradition, and that the heels not working was probably a blessing in disguise. By forcing myself to think of alternative designs, they have turned into a much more interesting outcome.

SECTION ONE – Your Final Major Project (guide 150 words) What is the title of your Project? What will you work towards producing and what is your proposed end point? Explain how this relates to your work and ideas from the Pathway Stage and how it extends your knowledge, understanding and creative ability. The great Gatsby encapsulates the beauty of the roaring twenties, an era where the wealthy few were carefree and stylish. Their fashions and attitudes to life inspire me immensely and in my opinion, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is the best ever written about this group of young people. I intend to create a pair of women’s shoes, which could be worn today in an attempt to revive the atmosphere created by these youths in the 1920s. I will use the character Daisy as a source for inspiration, as she has the image that I would like my model to have when I photograph my final piece. As well as this I will use the language and potentially the plot from the book as a source, and I will turn these words into something visual, my shoes will show the essence of the book, in their overall style and in smaller details which will derive from minute aspects within the book.

SECTION TWO – Influences, Research, Sources and Ideas (guide 150 words) What are the influences, starting points and contextual references and why are they relevant to your ideas? Indicate the subject areas you intend to research and the likely sources of information including any museums, specific locations, performances, etc you plan to visit. However you should not make extensive lists in this section. Instead you should compile an accurate bibliography correctly acknowledging all references including texts, periodicals, websites and video/DVD’s etc. Enter your bibliography in the APPENDIX .  Having read the Great Gatsby, I shall go on to read a lot more novels from this era such as Babylon Revisited by Fitzgerald, and also in an attempt to achieve a better understanding, i will watch films such as Sunny side up and the Lights of New York, and some Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd movies. I will also visit museums such as the V&A, where they have a displays including fashion, jewellery and a 20th century section, which includes decoration and style, also museum of London which holds the same sort of collection. I will also visit Colchester’s hollytrees museum which is home to a shoe display.

SECTION THREE – Techniques, Processes and Timescale (guide 150 words) Refer to any techniques and processes you intend to use. Describe the range of media and materials relevant to your project and how you may use them to explore and develop your ideas. Include aspects of studio practice, workshop procedures or the use of particular equipment and software etc. Provide an indicative timescale for your project and indicate the manner in which you intend to divide your time in order to investigate, develop, produce and evaluate your project appropriately. This should be a meaningful plan to you and should be personalised to your project. You may wish to write your plan as a daily or weekly schedule in which case enter your timescale in the APPENDIX .

I will be researching and experimenting with plastics with a view to eventually involving glass in my footwear. I am very interested in using copper but I will test techniques and processes on cheaper materials such as tin and paper before committing.

SECTION FOUR –  Method of Evaluation (guide 50 words) How will you critically review and analyse your work and determine if it is successful? How will you identify directions for ongoing development? Do you have a method to record the critical response to your ideas? How do you propose to assess the success of your Final Major Project and what will be your methods of evaluation? Unit 9 requires you to produce a supporting statement at the end of your project. This section can inform your analysis. I will use an ongoing blog to exhibit my research, my reflection and self evaluation and also all processes and techniques that help me towards my final piece. I will upload photographs, scan in pages of books and periodicals, and paste items from websites in order to make sure my blog is full of points of interest that have influenced my work in any way. I will also be very critical of my work on my blog, showing photographs of my successes and failures and commenting on them. As well as my views being exhibited, others will be able to comment which will hopefully lead to constructive feedback which may help me.

Final Photography

Everything is done now so here's my photography!

 Thank you so much to Emma who I have been using right from the start to help me get an idea of proportions etc, and who looks amazing in my shoes. I think she really completes the style that I was going for, and thanks to the Minories art gallery for letting me use their stairs!

An idea for a bit of a finishing touch!

I went looking for something called copper patina, on the instruction of a friend who has experience in stained glass, it is what she used to colour the lead in between the sections of glass. Where she used black patina, she said that it is also available in copper, and that it would be useful for me to cover up the lead solder which is gradually turning really grey and dull.

I was advised to buy it online but when I was in town I went into an art and craft supplies shop, where I asked if they had it. They directed me to something very similar which I bought!

I will probably solder on another spire to the shoe which is missing one, and at least paint over that bit of grey, hopefully masking it, and I will use the paint to cover up the soldery mess on the underside of the toe caps, where they are attached to the glass and where they are attached to the wire.

                                              See how it turns this rusty bike part all coppery!

 Just paint it on!

                                           

Oh and some little bits of shoe related research!

 Big fat shoe sculptures by a dutch artist I think!

And this is definitely dutch as I think these are the shoes of Rem D Koolhaas, but I found this in a mag called Glas Van Kanten (think that's its name?) and I think the focus is meant to be on the weird plastic body suit!

The images below are in my friend's Beth Levine book and I think these are her father Herbert's designs! Shoes without uppers, they just have sticky pads that your feet hopefully cling too!

And I think these are Beth's, made of perspex!

I'm in love with the shoe world at the moment as it's so challenging to try and design something chic and statement but at the same time try to make it work, which I have not achieved! I have definitely made a statement accessory but not really a wearable one, I think that in the future I would like to make the same shoe again but maybe try to use less fragile or heavy materials. As it draws to a close, I am looking back on this project wondering a) where has all of it gone, and b) why the hell did I set myself such a task! However if I hadn't set myself that brief I would have not challenged myself at all, and never would have grown more knowledgeable in the areas of metal work and glass. My skills have grown immensely but there is still a lot of work to be done before I can sell anything that I make, so in that case I'd better wait until I go to university (September if I pass this current course) and I don't think I can wait! 

  

1 day to go!

OK for starters I got the deadline a little bit wrong, tomorrow is the last day I will be allowed back in the workshop, not my official deadline... but still I can't do any practical work outside the workshops anyway!

Today was the day from hell. It started off with a big chat about painting our studios for exhibition, and plinths and shelves to display our work etc, which was not a bad strat to the day. Then I did some drawing and waited for my tutorial time. The tutorial was very positive, with both tutors telling me to just go ahead and stick all of the components together, that it would look great and to just do it! But it was the actual realisation of this that brought me to complete despair.

I started off with the attaching of the glass sole to the copper toe cap, placing copper tape on the areas that I wanted to solder the cap onto, and then doing so. This worked well but was the stupidest idea I have ever had as that meant the the attachment of everything else had to be done even more delicately and made it even more fiddly. I then went on to attach the copper wire to the top edge of the toe cap, which took ages as the inside was really smooth so all of the flux just kept burning out and the solder just dripped away. After about an hour of doing this it finally stuck. The spires were then on and all components are there but the spire looked reallywonky, wobbly and really badly made. I had remembered someone saying to use the metal rollers to get it really curvy and I tried this but it it flattened the end so much that it stretched it and it looked horrible. I cut one end off, so effectively I have ruined my own final piece... again.

Terrible photography sorry:

  

2 days left!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate glass! The heels came out really badly, looking really clunky and 1990s, this morning and now I'm back to the drawing board to see what to do... there is not enough time to remake them so I think I am going with what I have already. Need to produce some new sketches of ideas to correct my issue! 

 Positively though I have completed my toe caps which look really amazing, I've left them quite rustic so they look a little bit worn, but shined the very end of the toe LOADS to really bring out the peachy, coppery tones. I'm so pleased with that and also my spires look great too, I've filed them too and polished them with the polishing mops!

Aside from the heels being HORRIBLE, I have had a lot of success with the soles, using diamond pads to file them down to a really beautiful finish. I think that they would look amazing just on their own with no heel at all. They have a lovely light aerodynamic quality to them which is also complimented by the spires, so I think I'll leave my new designs very simple. I did have a backup plan to use the necks of champagne bottles as heels as the technique for cutting them is do-able, however I will leave it as there is limited time and I'm not too keen on the colour of the bottles.

Some initial ideas to redesign the shoe.

 

3 days to go!

I'm very nervously counting down now as I am very very VERY tense! The positive aspects of this experience are that the upper of the shoe is almost done, and my sketchbook and blog are looking healthy (I think!). However there is still the matter of making the glass pieces AND fixing it all together, so the pressure is on!

I hope to get it all done by the end of Thursday so I can allow Friday for either celebrating, panicking, or amending any ridiculous mistakes, like smashing glass.

I spent this morning shaping my copper toe caps with various anvils and I think they've come out really well! I'm really happy with the shape and I've pickled them too so they're a really lovely peachy colour now. I still need to shine them up a little more as they have a lot of marks on them from the hammer, and also some dents but I can get them out using a dremel, which I will have to learn how to use... 

I didn't take any photos today because I'm stupid and forgot, whilst getting very carried away with the hammer and anvil! I will take some tomorrow of what I've done so far!

Oh and I cleaned up the copper wire spires which I forgot to mention that I completed yesterday, I'll takes some photos of them too!

4 days to go!

Only 4 days left now and luckily I was slightly ahead of where I should be, as I am very clumsy and cracked one of my soles! It came out of the kiln, I filed it nicely and then dropped it on the floor! I am stupid... observe...

 I glued it but t still looks awful so I've stuck another one in the kiln, I really hope it works! Otherwise I am doomed!

This is the mould for my heels which hasn't really worked as the glass slipped when it was in the kiln and produced the weird shape below! 

I have put them in the kiln again but just on a piece of steel that's only slightly dipped so as to ease the glass into the right shape, then tomorrow I will but the pieces onto the mould above, hopefully getting the right shape. Oh and there was two heels but I smashed one of those as well! I have made a pledge never to use a material again that I can possibly break with my own hands! :)

New heel method

My ceramic mould has come out terrible with loads of undercuts and wonky bits so I have shaped this steel instead to get a smoother heel. I have built up the curve with ceramic fibre (not shown in this photo) and covered it with kiln paper... so hopefully the glass should slump into this shape! YAY!

I am really optimistic now, and providing there are no disasters in the next week or so, I will be alright to finish all in time for the deadline! But that doesn't stop me being stressed! 

Wednesday 18th in the workshop!

I had a really successful day yesterday both in the workshop and in my sketchbook.

I got on really well with the soldering today and I actually love the process!

Here's a picture of me having a lot of fun!

Once I got the technique right I think I was doing well, I absolutely loved every minute of it and I want to do more!

This is my last (which has come in very handy) and the crazy copper leg spire which I LOVE! The last is really helping me get just the right shapes for the upper and the sole, only having one is not too much of an issue either as I can make one shoe directly and just reverse everything over for the other shoe.
I also really like the fact that it bends as a 2D item, rather than in the shape of a leg, which makes bits wonky and really creates a great effect! 

Tuesday!

I went to the workshop at college for a little bit today to try some fixing methods, I only got as far as soldering as it is rather challenging! I completely forgot to take any pictures but here's some I took of the pieces taped together beforehand so I knew where to solder them.

Also I found this, a snippet of someone else's blog which is awesome! Totally relevant to my project... I love it!

Friday, 17 April 2009

Style Snippets: Balenciaga Jackets, Walking in Nina Ricci, Marc Newson for G-Star, and more...

1) Balenciaga SS09 Runway Jackets

Runway images from Style.com - click to see entire collection.

For spring/summer 2009, Nicholas Ghesquière produced an extraordinary collection for Balenciaga which, aside from being a visual adventure in sci-fi, displayed lots of innovation in cut, structure, and material. Along with the eerily beautiful, softly layered metallic dresses, the metallic, pleated, 'robot' jackets were easily the most covetable (and extreme) of the pieces shown on the runway. Brown's has just got in stock two variations of this jacket, which we've been marveling at:
They're totally extraordinary pieces (despite the structured, metallic look they are, in fact, 100% silk), and you really can't help but marvel at them, but we're not sure if we're totally converted to the rather boxy silhouette, which isn't the easiest to wear. Don't get us wrong, we're big fans of extreme fashion, and we certainly don't expect everything to be dull and wearable in the way that a cropped black trench coat is, but with a price of £3,260 (approx $4,800 - but probably a little less because of the exchange rate) you really would have to consider buying this jacket as an "investment piece" (as the magazines would say), something that you'd treasure and wear for years, yet there's something about the cut which rather throws us.

As stunning as this jacket is, with its simultaneous allusions to Art Deco glamour, 1930s visions of the future, and indeed a sci-fi vision of the future itself, and with its groundbreaking design and incredible craftsmanship, when it all boils down to actually wearing it, the cut still gets to us a bit, which is a shame really, considering how otherwise amazing it is:
What do you think? If you had the cash would you dress as a sort of humanoid version of the shiny Chrysler Building? Admittedly it isn't styled very well in the picture above, so perhaps we're being unfair - how do you think it could be worn better? Or do you find the shape problematic?
Those dresses also from that collection, though, those dresses... flawless!

Jackets available from Browns.

 

I find it amazing how this was written 2 years ago and I'm only just realising this project thinking it was an original idea, A) I'm annoyed and B) it shows how little there must be in fashion that inspires us, for it to all be recycled!