Year 12 Art Exhibition Opening

At last! Here are the photos of the art show which was the presentation of my art practical.

I designed and sewed these two costumes and created the painting in the background for the practical component of my year 12 visual arts course, all based on the play, "The Tempest" by the one and only William Shakespeare. If you are not familiar with the storyline and characters, Ariel is a sprite whom is controlled by Prospero, the rightful duke of Milan who also happens to have magic powers. Whenever he is practicing magic, he wears a "magic garment," which is what the blue, starry coat represents. The production which I designed for was wanting contemporary costumes. My Ariel costume was heavily influenced by belly dancing garments as I felt the actor playing Ariel had this movement quality during rehearsal. The three dark cloaks were designed for the three spirits which appeared numerous times during the play.

There is so much depth and thought which I tried to place into these costumes and as much as I'd love to spill it all out to you, I'm afraid that it would not make much sense. If you have any questions or thoughts, I'd love to hear from you! The entire process was very fulfilling and I am unbelievably proud of them and very happy with how they turned out!

If you would like to see some more photos you can check my Flickr photostream.

My Morning Smile.....

Year 12 Part 1: Tick

I completed my last exam today. I'm pretty drained, but I've got plenty of time to recuperate............

The Formal Dress

So, it's that time of year and everyone is getting all excited about the formal, carefully preparing their hair, makeup and most importantly how their shoes and accessories match a dress which they bought back in February. I am, however, not quite that organised and haven't thought twice about the formal. Although it is an exciting occasion, I just don't understand the copious amount of preparation and effort people place in looking pretty for a couple of hours. Oh well.

I have come to the conclusion that I am going to need a dress. The only problem is that I cant afford to buy a one and therefore I have decided to sew one myself. Cant be too hard I suppose. And cheaper. Much, much cheaper.



I've been listening to.........Angels of the Universe Soundtrack by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson

Hi. Nice to see you here.

Somewhere in the past six months I managed not to post a single entry about my art practical. My school is exhibiting the year 12 art and design works next week. I'm currently setting up...er... 'installing' my work. I'll upload photos of the evening. Two more exams to go.

Decision time

In regard to my costume designs, I really need to start making some real decisions and actually buying fabric. There is a point where sketching madly no longer counts as "back-up" but instead moves more into the "procrastinating-because-it-must be-perfect" category. I am taking baby steps for now, beginning the making process by starting with a method that I feel most relaxed with. I really shouldn't be so surprised. It was inevitable that some knitted embellishment was bound to end up in the finished design...

Speaking of the costumes I am tackling, I really should show my final sketches shouldn't I? Next post.....

shiny and new!

This is my second blog. I used to blog about my knitting projects but I have learned a lot of new skills over the past couple of years and now a blog url with 'knitting' in it seemed somewhat...irrelevant. I still love knitting but at the moment with all the study that I need to be doing for year 12 I don't really have the luxury of sitting down and knitting in front of the TV. Damn. But I do have visual art studies.

I confess, It is still school and still a lot of work but at least it does not involve me writing essays, remembering concepts, formulas and analysing things till they are dead and lifeless. I guess what I am trying to say is that it is.....ahem....'creative'. There I said it.

In the next month I am going to be completing the practical component of my art course. Over the last couple of months I have been designing some costumes for the year12 drama students to wear in their production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. I also managed to get myself the oppurtunity to perform in it. It will probably be the last thing I do but at least I will be on stage. Hooray!

This blog will act as a sort of a journal for the 'peicing together' of my costume designs. I hope that the people who read this blog, if any, enjoy watching it all come together as much I am enjoying the whole process of designing and creating.

:) Becky-Dee