Wednesday 29 February 2012

The early bird...

Okay, so first off I should appologise for the delay in an update!! I realise it's been a few months since my last post and a lot has happened...

I had a major breakdown in November/December which affected my work and my general mood. However I had a break of three weeks over Christmas and the New Year and have started off this year on a very high note!
My main resolution for the new year is to learn a new musical instrument every month. In the morning I say goodbye to the chromonica and hello to the flute :D
Now you might think that this is a rather strange resolution, but it brightens my day to think that I am actively trying to learn new things outwith my degree and as all of my work relates to music anyway I feel it will only make me happier than I already am.

For the past month or so I have been getting up at 5am and doing my back excercises then working on my dissertation for a while before heading into college for about 8am. I love the early mornings there because I can do sketchbook work in peace, listen to music if I want to, whistle or even sing out loud to myself without disturbing anyone :D
I handed in my last project on the 6th February after a lot of hard work at the forge. 8am start with the longest day finishing at 9.45pm!!! Not recomended for any length of time, but the hard worked paid off as I was able to hand in a finished piece of work along with a few other pieces which could be considered as final design outcomes.

After the hand-in my dissertation has become my main focus, and with only two weeks remaining I have been putting in the hours to make up for the lost time during 'the breakdown'...
I have started some initial research into what my final project is going to be, though it is 'Resolution of Practice' so really just resolving any issues and pushing towards creating a final body of work which (for me) will be a continuation of the last project.

Above is an image of my working drawing of my final design for a music stand. Although the final piece was altered a little, I think it's a great wee sketch on some sheet metal out at the forges! This next photograph is just some of the forged bars positioned in a shape which I was considering for a panel or partition of some kind, either for a fence or gate or even the back section of a bench.

Below is another simple formation of the forged elements I was working with. Sometimes it's good to just play around with the bits of bar you have because 9 times out of 10 you'll spot something which really works!!


There shall be more photographs to follow, but for now I think it's time to get the sketchbook out and do some work!