Degree Show Success

Well, it's been a busy time! After my work visiting London for the New Designers Fair in the Business Design Centre and Art in Clay, Hatfield House I've been applying for competition and exhibition opportunities. I also graduated this week with a First Class Honors and had a lovely day at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.

My work is currently showing in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, for the Contemporary Makers Showcase. It will be there until the 1st of September. I'm proud to be showing my work there, as it was such an inspiration to my work, that of the Swansea Pottery Lustreware and the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea.

I'm setting up my own studio space too, which I'm excited about! Just trying to get all the cobwebs out, then it's time to get making! I will be creating new designs of cups, saucers and teapots hopefully to add to the many jug designs from my degree show. 

I will also be showing my work on the creativeGAPS website, which is a great showcase for people to see my work. www.creativegaps.co.uk.

After the degree show I felt a bit deflated, working so hard towards an outcome and not having anywhere straight away to carry on making, but I'm happy to be continuing my work in the studio I have now. 

I will be exhibiting at the Made in Roath and Cardiff Design Festival, showing my work at the Milkwood Gallery in Cardiff. I love this gallery so it's great to be showing my work there. Here is their website, check them out! :)

www.milkwoodgallery.com/ 

I'm happy with the reaction towards my work, and have had some great comments on how to improve and develop the concept. 

That's all for now. I'll leave you with a picture of my studio, mid-painting and moving in!! Happy times! 

New Designers

I have been chosen to represent Cardiff Metropolitan University at New Designers this year. I will be taking a selection of three shelves of my work from the degree show.

I'm very excited for this opportunity. The work will be shown along with twelve of my peers from the 27th-30th of June. 

Rwyf i wedi cael fy newis i gynrychioli Prifysgol Fetropolaidd Caerdydd yn 'New Designers' y flwyddyn hon. Mi fyddwn i yn mynd a detholiad o tair silff o waith o'r Sioe Radd.


Rwyf edrych ymlaen i'r cyfle. Bydd y gwaith yn cael ei ddangos ynghyd a deuddeg o weithiau eraill o'r 27ain-30ain o Fehefin. 

Minimus Maximus

For my final show plan I wanted the idea of excess and grandeur to be evident. How, although I've looked at minimalistic and modernist ideal for my contextual research, the contrast between this and this collective piece that reflects upon the title 'Minimus Maximus' and how modernism and post modernism has inspired me. As Robert Ventun and Mies van der Rohe both famously argued, 'Less is more,' 'Less is a bore.'

I believe that both movements have inspired me. Another inspiration is the ceramic galleries in the Victoria & Albert in London, how vessels and forms are shown together even if they're from different periods and made in different countries. The pieces that I have bought are re-born to create new forms where the idea of history rubbing against each other and connecting.

I wanted the illusion of height and mass due to the amount of pieces on the shelves. I wanted the collection to look as if every different piece was a different design. Although the work is on shelving, it's possible to see the forms at a 360 degree as the same forms are showing but at different angles. I wanted to fill the shelves with the vessels and create as much as possible with hints or highlighted editions in the deep green glaze to accentuate the form and design.

Gwaith a syniadau newydd / New work and ideas

I have designed these cups to go with not only the jug designs I have been working on, but also I want to create a tea set with a set of saucers and a teapot too.

Rwyf i wedi dylunio'r cwpanau yma i fynd gyda'r jygiau rwyf i wedi bod yn gweithio arnynt, rwyf i eisiau creu set de â soseri a tebot.

Y gwaith yn dod at ei gilydd / The work coming together

I think the jugs together are very successful in showing the idea of excess, I will be putting lustres on the work too, to show fluidity throughout the work.

Rwy'n credu bod y jwgiau yn llwyddiannus iawn yn dangos gormodaeth, mi fyddaf yn rhoi gloywedd aur ar y gwaith i ddangos llifedd trwy'r gwaith.

Centrepiece for my degree show / Darn canolog fy sioe radd

I have been creating these vessel shapes for a while now, and have been getting some good and some bad results from the pieces I was creating. Then, I realized that the main reason that some forms were not working was due to the fact that I was letting my mind get influenced by the colour in the pieces I included in the forms. I wasn't purely looking at the form, and how that could be pushed by using contrasting pieces for the jugs. So, creating this centrepiece helped me to realize what was most important to my work in my opinion, and that's not colour, or texture, but form and shape. I think that's why this next piece is so successful, and I feel as if I've been able to re-create my making process from the first successful jug I created, back in December. 


I'm casting them at the moment and after casting three I still love when it comes out of the cast. I think the form being slightly lop-sided with a slight unease of the front of the jug being heavier than the back, really works with the flamboyant handle and extravagant bottom piece. 




Rwyf i wedi bod yn creu y siapiau vesel yma ers tipyn o amser rwan, ac wedi bod yn cael tipyn o lwyddiant, ond hefyd tipyn o anlwc. Yna, fe sylweddolais y prif reswm pam doedd rhai ohynynt ddim yn gweithio oedd fy mod yn gadael fy meddwl gael ei ddylanwadu gan y lliwiau y oeddwn yn ychwanegu i'r darnau. Doeddwn i ddim yn unig yn edrych ar siap y darnau, a sut y buaswn yn medru gwthio'r darnau cyferbynol gwahanol ar y jygiau. Felly, gan greu'r darn canolog yma mae o wedi fy helpu i i sylweddoli beth sydd mwyaf pwysig yn fy marn i, a nid gwedd na lliw ydy'r ateb, ond siap a ffurf. Rwy'n credu mai dyma pam fod y darn yma mor llwyddiannus, ac rwyn teimlo fel fy mod wedi gallu ail-greu fy mhroses gwneud fel ag y wnes i â'r jwg cyntaf, yn ôl yn mis Rhagfyr. 


Rwy'n eu castio ar y foment ac ar ôl castio tri, rydw i dal yn gwirioni ei tynnu o'r mold. Rwy'n credu bod y ffurf yn llwyddiannus iawn rhwng cydbwysedd y ffurf a'r darnau coegwych ar yr handlen, a'r darn gwaelod a gan ei fod wedi pwyso i un ochr ychydig â tipyn o bwysau ar y blaen i gymharu â'r tu ôl. 

We are getting on with the advertising and booklet for our degree show, Unearthed:2012. Have a look at our online blog:


Rydym ni yn symud ymlaen yn dda â'r gwaith i'r llyfryn a'r posteri hyrwyddo'r Sioe, Unearthed:2012. Edrychwch ar ein blog ar-lein:


www.unearthed2012.wordpress.com


Also the Facebook Event for the Degree Show opening on the 9th of June. The Show runs through till the 15th of June, at Howard Gardens, Cardiff School of Art & Design:


Mae gennym ni hefyd ddigwyddiad Facebook ar gyfer agoriad y Sioe Radd ar y 9fed o Fehefin. Mae'r Sioe ar agor tan y 15fed o Fehefin, yn Howard Gardens, Ysgol Gelf a Dylunio Caerdydd:


http://www.facebook.com/events/322866917778903/

Decal designs / Dyluniadau Decal

I have been designing my own decals recently, I'm planning on using colour and gestural drawings on the pieces.
These are some of the designs.

Yn ddiweddar, rwyf i wedi bod yn dylunio fy 'decals' fy hun. Rwy'n meddwl defnyddio lliw a â ystum fy  narluniadau yn y 'decals.'
Dyma rhai o'r dylunadau.