reluctantblogger's Space http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com Most recent posts at reluctantblogger's Space posterous.com Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:03:00 -0700 Final Blog! http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/final-blog http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/final-blog

I gave up on the plinth at JMU so decided to make my own. I have spent from Tuesday till Thursday working on that. Then my son helped me to take it to the Students Union Building on Friday. I could not have got it there by myself so that was a great help. everything else is ready and now it just remains to take everyhting into Liverpool on Monday to set it all up. I expect it will be very busy. I have spent today getting the CD ready for Wednesday so that I will just have to put the photos of the exhibition on it before giving it in.  Let's hope it all goes according to plan and runs smoothly. I'm just so tired now I can't think of anything to say. It's past midnight.   

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Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:35:00 -0700 The home stretch http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/the-home-stretch http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/the-home-stretch

week - ending  30th March.

I needed to find a plinth to display my model so I went into JMU to find out what I should do. It seems that I will have to leave it till next week, all the plinths available are being used in another exhibition. So I went over to the Students Union Building to have another look at the lounge where our exhibition will be held and also to check out my space. Some students were working in there and it looked quite dark. It's the orange walls that cause the problem for me. That can't be changed so I will just have to make the best of it.

I walked down to FACT in the afternoon to meet Jai. I was there early so had a cup of coffee and then looked at the exhibition which I quite liked although it was a bit surreal but not too much. Then I saw Jai and we chatted for a bit. I went home after that as I was getting worried about my essay.

I worked all day Tuesday and in the evening till I finished the essay. An unexpected visitor and the fact that I took a birthday card to my grandson took up my time on Wednesday. On Thursday when I was checking my essay over I realised that I could not submit it through blackboard as a works wps document. I rang up the students IT help desk and the guy there told me how to save a works document in the right format to submit through blackboard.  

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Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:35:00 -0700 On Track http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/119706272 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/119706272

week - ending 23rd March.

I am picking up work on my essay. I have made a rough draft of the outine I want it to be in, and have divided it into three sections. Now that I have completed the first section, I feel happier about it.

I have now finished my model, I had a small problem with the flags for the patio. I had decided to make them out of very thick card ( like the card that comes on the back of water colour pads) I cut all the shapes out and painted them. However, as the paint dried the layers of card seperated so I decided to try another tack. I made a stencil of the patio and using the compound that I used for the bricks on the plinth of the model, I made the patio directly onto the wood patio floor. Of course, it was the wrong colour so I painted it with acrylic paint till I got the colour I wanted. For the gravel I used pea gravel from the dolls house shop and glued it into place. I had to do this a few times till I was happy with the result. I used the same method for the paving stone path and the gravel going round the side of the model. The trellis at the side of the patio was made with extra long matches and glued together. For the curve on top of one trellis I soaked a match in water till it was pliable enough to bend then I taped it to a small jar to set in that shape. I carved the ball on the top of each post. The only things I bought ready made were the flowers but I did paint two of the roses to get the colour I wanted and also the clematis. The soil borders were made with ordinary bark dried out and stuck in place.

My plexiglass frames arrived on Thursday at Lunchtime so I didn't have to stay in all day waiting for them. The fittings were also with the frames.

The students who were let down by the Wolstenholme Gallery are now going to have the exhibition in the Students Union Building. We have had two meetings there and had another meeting on Tuesday. The walls are orange  and will show through the plexiglass frames. My photographs will have orange surrounds - it is not even a  nice shade of orange.  This is NOT good!!!!

There was no pop up show this Friday. So our last pop-up show of the year will be next Friday 30th March. Also the deadline for the essay.         

     

 

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Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:08:03 -0700 Getting back on track http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/getting-back-on-track http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/getting-back-on-track

My feet haven't touched the ground since I was last on this site.

two weeks - ending 9th March.

Beautiful little Martha was born on the 1st March, weighing in at 6lb 4oz. I went to London on Friday the 2nd of March, straight to the hospital to see our 'new born chick'. she was so tiny at 5 weeks early but doing well and so was allowed home on the Saturday. It was a very worrying time.

I was back home on Monday evening and had to start catching up with my essay for Politics of Representation. I was making good progress before so I was concerned when I couldn't seem to pick up again. I felt I was back to square one although I had done a lot of research on the subject.

The Pop-up show on Friday  was really good. We also went into the gallery on the groung floor to have a sneal peak of the exhibition that was set up in there. It was very impressive. I really liked the way some of the photographs were displayed. they were in plexiglass frames with stand off the wall fittings. I think my photographs would look good in them. I would really like to use them in my exhibition. 

week - ending  16th March.

Its the week of the field trip to Barcelona.

I have spent a lot of time searching the internet for a company that supplies plexiglass frames at a reasonable price and comparing the cost with buying the materials and having them made. There is very little difference in cost so I think it is better to buy them.  I need to do some more checking!

Meanwhile I have been continuing to work on my model having decide to include the patio from where I take the photographs of the sunrise. I also want to include some maps of the area in my CD.  I was telling this to my son and grandson when they came to see me on Mothers Day. My grandson said. you need google earth and immedialely went and down loaded it onto my computer.  So I have now got the maps I wanted to put on my CD.  I have also orderd my photograph frames and fittings they will arrive next Thursday the 22nd. Everything is starting to fall into place.

  

 

 

 

 

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Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:01:00 -0800 February 26th 2012.- Friday Pop-up show - What a difference a week makes! http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/105282827 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/105282827

I was very busy last week, I was in Liverpool 4 days.  What a difference a week makes. I didn't want to go to the pop-up show but as I was in the group that were doing their show I just had to go. 

The day started well right from the word go. Six students arrived with their work and we all showed what we were doing and we all discussed it. We were then allotted a place in accordance with the type of work we were showing and got on with preparing our show ready for the afternoon when the other students were due to arrive. I think there was about a dozen or more students altogether for the afternoon showing as well as the tutors. And we spent a fair length of time with each students show. 

I was making a recording about my project which lasted about three and a half minutes and afterwards tutors and students made comments or ask questions etc. I found it all quite nerve wracking really  especially as it was about me and my presence in my house and how I relate to the photos in my project.-  It was different!

I really enjoyed the rest of the students work and I am totally in awe of them. They are all so creative  and I loved the way they presented their work. I agreed with one of the other students at the end of the afternoon how much we had enjoyed it this week. And we are looking forward to next Friday.

One thing I especially like about the Friday afternoon pop-up show is meeting up with the other students, that's why I make a special effort to get there.  However having said that, my daughter in law is scheduled to have her baby by cesarean section on Thursday 1st March, so it's a question of 'Watch this Space'. 

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Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:18:00 -0800 21st February 2012 - Exhibition http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/21st-february-2012-exhibition http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/21st-february-2012-exhibition

I found out this afternoon that the arrangements for our exhibition at Wolstenholme Gallery have fallen through. Although I am not sure why, I don't know what the problem is. I am now back to square one with not much time to spare.

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Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:21:00 -0800 18th February 2012 - Pop-up show http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/18th-february-2012 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/18th-february-2012

Yesterday I went to the Friday Pop-up show again. What a waste of time! For me that is. There were 11 students there three of whom were presenting there work. I am not for one minute complaining about the work that was presented, It is a bit nerve wracking, and in general I find looking at other students work is a good thing. However for me I find that I can hardly ever hear what the students are saying about their work and so don't know what it is really about apart from the aesthetic appeal or otherwise of the work. For this reason I can  very rarely join in the discussion about each piece of work.  

I do wear hearing aids but no matter how good they are hearing aids never compensate for natural hearing. they are especially bad in places where the accoustics are inadequate and pick up other sounds in the area.

I am amazed that in a comparatively new building such as JMU ADA there appears to be no loop system, or it is not turned on.  Even in the auditorium hearing is difficult. Really all it takes is for the speaker/tutor to wear a clip-on microphone in a place which catches their voice. It is pointless clipping the microphone to the neck of a round necked jumper because then it is under the chin and doesn't catch the voice. Similarly, there is no point clipping the microphone to a lapel if the head is always turned the other way.

I am amazed yet again, that people who should be used to public speaking, ie, speaking in a group seem to speak as though they are talking to the person next to them. Of course they are probably speaking loud enough for everyone else with normal hearing to hear.

I have really 'had enough' of Friday Pop-up shows.  I have only missed two when I cut my hand and couldn't drive.  I now don't see the point in driving 30+ miles to be left with the experience of feeling totally inadequate.  And Yes! I know that I chose to do this course and have to take on board everything that goes with it, and in the main I do. But lack of hearing is a very frustrating thing, you can't keep asking people to repeat what they are saying because they don't like that.

 

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Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:11:00 -0800 Corel Photo Album 6 photos http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-9870 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-9870

Bubbles_photo052_2

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Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:08:00 -0800 Corel Photo Album 6 photos http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos

Photo047_2

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Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:20:00 -0800 Corel Photo Album 6 photos http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-65842 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-65842

Sunrise_17-10

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Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:06:00 -0800 Corel Photo Album 6 photos http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-17325 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-17325

Sunrise_1-10_7

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Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:05:00 -0800 Corel Photo Album 6 photos http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-49103 http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/corel-photo-album-6-photos-49103

Prism

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Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:47:00 -0800 Journey into Art http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/journey-into-art http://reluctantblogger.posterous.com/journey-into-art

Art is an expression of one's thoughts, ideas and passions.

 My journey into Art started with a painting and drawing course. All our course projects were based around things/objects which we particularly liked or thought beautiful. I found myself gravitating towards pencil drawings especially portraits. However I haven't done any pencil drawings since then.

I love crystals and I have one in every window in my house.  I became interested in the transmission of light via the sun throught the crystal and the reflection of the light in the form of a prism. Apparently the reflection of light through crystal is the purest form of light which is why crystal is used in optical lenses. I began to research artists who specialised in Crystals, The artist whose work I liked the most is in fact an architect called Vladimir Prochanska. he has constructed a stunning light fitting in a church in Prague. And has also built an avenue of glass Palm Trees. The photographs are stunning so I think in real life it must be magical. Other prominent artists working in glass are Dale Chihuly who built the Gardens of Glass in Kew in 2007. This was the first exhibition to be held with it's spectacular sequence of glass sculptures. He works mainly in brightly coloured unusual shaped glass. Steven Correia is another Crystal artist/designer whose work I liked.

I continued taking photographs of the prisms and added to this the shadows cast by the sun through the windows onto the walls.

I want to celebrate the joy of life rather than wallow in the misery of life, and so I have tried to develop my observational skills in order to see as much of the natural beauty of life as I can. Such as the sunset, which most people are aware of and also the sunrise which a lot of people are not aware of, or should I say have not seen. The sunrise is particularly beautiful and can turn an ordinary day into a 'glad to be alive' day. 

This is the natural beauty of the world which  doesn't need setting up. It is already there done for me, all I need to do is record it in a photograph.

As I am working on the prisms and the sunset and the sunrise. I am still thinking about the crystal tree and how I can make my own version of the crystal tree.

 

After a false start caused by an accident with a chisel, when I ended up with six stitches in my hand. I expected it to heal a lot faster than it did. I eventually started work on my crystal tree again. I used some prunings off a twisted Willow tree out of my sisters garden. I began by stripping all the leaves off the branches and spraying the whole thing white. I assembled it by cutting three chanels in the main trunk of the tree in order to place the small weeping branches which I then glued into place. I drilled a hole on the top of the trunk and placed the top branch in there. Initially the branches were secured with white plastic ties which I didn't like because they spoiled the line of the tree. However, I was told that they showed that the tree was contructed from scatch. I still didn't like them. I used the tree for my pop-up show and added strings of crystals to the branches. I wanted it to be displayed in a dark room with the tree lit up from the base with small spotlights so that the crystals would catch the light and throw prisms on the wall. In fact it ended up in a white room with a large spotlight which was totally wrong for the effect I wanted. I was very disappointed and felt there was nothing I could say about it as the way it was displayed totally lost the meaning. I really don't want to do another pop-up show although I enjoy other peoples. They are just not for me.

I took the tree home and took the plastic ties off it and then I used polyfiller to cover the joins of the branches to the main trunk of the tree and make it have a more knarled effect. I set it in a black background and took a photograph of it lit up from the base like I wanted it to be.

I chose to write about 'Picasso in Palestine' for my essay for The Politics of Representation. The only problem with that was the computer I had only just received it and didn't know (and still dont) how to use it. That meant that getting it posted through the blackboard was a 'by guess and by God' experience. Anyway I managed it in the end and even sent it through the day before the deadline. And although I am pleased with my marks, I realise from the comments that with a bit of extra effort I could have got better. Hopefully next time.

I had the same problems with the computer when trying to produce my portfolio. Yet again altough I did it in the end I wasn't happy with the CD that I produced.

According to the order for the computer and other equipment I was supposed to have half a days training for which the supplier has been paid. However when I queried that with them they said the traing was for the hearing equipment. Quite honestly I could have trained myself on that with the booklet. It is no more complicated than a mobile phone.  I am now getting to grips with the computer basics but I think I could use everything it has to offer much better with training.   

I am still on about The Diurnal cycle of the sun. So in a last ditch effort to get my point across I made a scale plan of my house showing the northerly aspect. From the plan I made a model of the house. It is actually a bungalow but I always call it a house. I made a plinth out of some plywood and 2" x 1/2" wood. Then I used foam board to make the walls. I left the tops of the doors open in order not to obscure the view. I then stuck thumbnail versions of the pictures I had taken of the shadows thrown by the sun through the windows of the house. Of course yet agin I couldn't set up the photos I just had to wait for the sun. Luckily we have had a few brilliantly sunny days in the last few weeks so that wasn't a problem. I am really pleaded with the model. I also made a slideshow of all the photos I had taken for this project and all in the correct order from sunrise to sunset. Now the computer raises it's ugly head again and try as I might I could not get it to burn the slideshow onto a CD. This is so nerve wracking. Anyway I found that if I had a movie I could burn that onto a CD. then I found a button saying 'export'  so I could export my slideshow to a movie. In actual fact I don't know how I did it but I ended up with a movie so I burned it onto a CD and just to check that it had worked I decided to view it.  OH! Shock! Horror!, the computer jammed up, the CD was stuck in the computer,it 11.50pm on Tuesday night and my assessment was 10am on Wednesday morning. What to do???? I sent an email to Peter , OK, I new he wouldn't pick it up at 12am but I thought if he picked it up in the morning at LJMU at least he would be forewarned that I had no CD to back up my work. I pulled the plug on the computer.  OH! Castastrophe!!!   Well, I couldn't leave it to the morning so after about 30 minutes I plugged the computer in again, it came on as though nothing had happened. I watched the movie then got the CD out of the computer, packed my stuff up for the next day and went to bed.  Up at the crack of dawn packed everything in the car and went off to my assessment. I think it went well, we'll see!

I am really angry about this computer. I don't see the point in giving somebody something and not caring if they can use it or not. It's a good job I'm not thick!

I now need to start writing my essay for The Politics of Representation. 

 

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