Curious Clare’s Studio

I have decided to write a post on my studio today as it has been featured by the lovely Katy Cowan on Creative Boom this week. If you’ve read some of my previous blog posts you will know that my studio can be found at Local Creation in Altrincham.

I fit in studio visits around being an Art teacher and Community Co-ordinator (and writing this blog!). The studio has to given me space to focus upon my own work. I have spent time decorating it as I wanted to create a haven that I would want to take myself off to.





Alice Melvin's Cut Out and Make Menagerie can be found here
 

 

I aim to use the studio two days a week. One evening a week, I meet up with friends for an informal art club where we chat and ‘art’ (although this involves much more chatting & chocolate eating than doing!).

 

As was mentioned on Creative Boom my own art work is quite varied as I love trying out new things and like to use materials to suit my ideas. I work with Ceramics, Textiles and digital media such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

Since acquiring the studio I’ve designed flyer a for Vintage Afternoon Teas , designed a postcard for French Knots Craft Studio and I am about to create their new logo.  I am currently making laser cut Perspex trophies for The Joshua Tree’s Fun Run and I have been approached by a magazine to produce some illustrations for them (fingers crossed).

My Upcycled Jam Jar Tutorial can be found here

I am also working on a new personal project called ‘Paper Conversations’ that is a mix of illustrations and three-dimensional objects. Last but not least, I’m playing around with a series of quirky badges that I hope to start selling soon.

 

Feathered Friends: Eden Project's Rainforest Robin

It is no secret that I love birds and in particular robins. I like hearing their bird song early in the morning on the way to work and unexpected encounters with them whilst out and about. They lift my spirits on the dreariest of days. Initially, I hesitated to include birds in my work as there are lots of artists who use their imagery. However, I think that you have to be true to what inspires you and initial sketches can lead to all sorts of different outcomes as you can see here.

Meet the Eden Project’s Rainforest Biome Robin.

I first came across this friendly little robin in late August 2011 in one of the hottest parts of the Rainforest Biome on a beautiful sunny day (remember those?). I was really surprised to see him hopping around in there as we all associate robins with cold winter days. Maybe this one had come to its senses and realised that the sunny, hot climes were much more appealing? When I visited a year later he was still there and must have found that the biome suited him very nicely!

The images above represent how much this one robin inspired my work and has formed an important part of my Curious Clare image (see above banner!). The painted robin study in my sketchbook has led to digital illustration, relief ceramic tiles and laser cut details on my wedding stationery and bunting. It also highlights the importance I place on drawing when embarking upon new projects!

The First Cut

The First Cut exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery is a stunning celebration of artists who use paper in original and exciting ways. There has been a growing trend of artists cutting and sculpting paper over the past few years and this exhibition brings together some of the most important names in one place. 

I was fortunate enough to be invited to a teacher’s preview evening in July where we found out about the concept of the exhibition and worked with two of the exhibiting artists – Nicola Dale and Andrew Singleton. As I am a such a huge fan of cut paper work (whether it has been cut by hand or by laser), it was a real treat to be able to work with Nicola and Andrew. Both artists took time to carefully explain the influences behind their sculptures before showing us their working methods. For me, it is really important to know how a work of art has come about as it places the work in context and becomes much more meaningful.

Watch a short interview with Andrew here

Watch a short interview with Nicola here

Paper sculptures in ‘The First Cut’ are dotted all over Manchester Art Gallery but the main exhibition area is on the top floor where artists have got the advantage of the vast rooms to display their creations. Walking in to the first room, I was immediately greeted with the surreal hanging sculptures of Manabu Hangai. Manabu’s ‘Wonder Forest’ is a series of enormous tree like sculptures that are suspended from the ceiling. As I wandered through his gently moving forest it conjured up feelings of being a child again. Manabu has created the installation from locally sourced branches and autumnal coloured leaves made from Japanese seaweed. The leaves are made from ‘hosojuzumo’ which is a seaweed based raw hemp paper pigment native to Hokkaido, Japan. The leaves have a lovely lace like quality to them and cast beautifully patterned shadows on to the floor as they slowly move around. Magical!

I was also thrilled to see two of my favourite paper artists in the first room, Rob Ryan and Peter Callesen. The scale of both artists’ work surprised me. Rob’s work was cut on a much larger scale than I had imagined it would be and Peter’s work was exceptionally small (being fashioned from a single sheet of A4 paper). It just goes to show the importance of seeing art work first hand (Year 13 take note!)

Claire Brewster has cut birds on display in the main exhibition area and butterflies on the first floor in the Pre-Raphaelites gallery. Here, on the dusky turquoise walls and amongst work of another time, she has pinned exquisitely cut butterflies. Claire has used vintage map paper to create the butterflies which range in size and shape – some look like they are resting whilst others are in flight. I like the reference that she has made here to the Victorian’s act of pinning and classifying nature.

There are many other equally talented and interesting artists in this exhibition – far too many to mention in this post! You can see a great clip of the exhibition installation here. If you are in the area, it is well worth a visit. The exhibition is on at Manchester Art Gallery until Sunday 27^th January 2013 before moving on to Djanogly Art Gallery in Nottingham (from April).