Danse Macabre

As part of my current personal design and customization work I have recently started developing a number of ambitious jacket projects, one featuring entirely my own artwork, and the other themed around a subject/attitude which interests me greatly; Danse Macabre.

Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) is a Medieval allegory which focuses upon the premise that no matter ones station or virtues in life, death, inevitably, comes to us all. During this historical period this was an intensely important message and consideration, as plagues and pestilence ravaged the population it was always important to remember that whether King or Laborer, none are exempt from the inevitable. I feel that this harsh reminder of mortality is still an important message and, like Memento Mori, reminds us to use our time and lives wisely.

I chose to base the jackets illustrations upon the Woodcuts of Hans Holbein the Younger, which in the true tradition of Danse Macabre show death spares none, despite their faith, power or wealth. The jacket is intended as both a homage to the artists skills, as well as the message, and truth of Danse Macabre.

'The Abbess' and 'The Abbot' are the main features of the reverse of he jacket.

Petite Portrait

I recently spotted a small plaster cast frame in an antique shop for a few pounds. Unable to resist the appealing petite piece I purchased it, removed the hideous art from its frame, conducted some minor repairs and finally painting a small Rhinoceros Beetle within the frame.
I found the strange, bizarre idea of featuring a beetle in the frame very appealing, especially after visiting the Natural History Museum and seeing many specimens first hand. I look forward to displaying the little fellow in my own home along side my other eerie artistic creations.

Graduation

After many months of eager anticipation (and more than a few sleepless nights) the day of my Graduation finally arrived. Thankfully, a deluge of snow failed to postpone the awards ceremony and the presentations went ahead as planned.

It was a great honor to receive my Degree surrounded by so many deserving and hard working individuals (and friends), I hope that they found receiving their degree as rewarding as I did. To receive such a high level of recognition for the fruits of ones labor was a fantastic achievement.

Many thanks to my family, loved ones and fellow Graduands for making the day a perfect one!

May I wish my fellow graduates all the success in the world!

Restoration

As I have enjoyed completing a number of restoration and repainting projects in the past few months I decided a new and more ambitious project will be my next undertaking. I purchased a large gilded frame from an antique shop, which I intend to repair to its full glory.

Repairing the frame will involve creating molds of the decoration to replace damaged sections of the frame, as well as repairing general wear and tear which the frame has suffered before finally repainting  the frame and displaying my own artwork within it. This extent of repair is not something which I have attempted before, but Im always eager to undertake a challenge and learn new skills!

Pre-Raphaelite Reads

Ever the avid reader I am always striving to expand my library and seek out invaluable reading material with which to expand my knowledge. Books are certainly my favourite gifts to both give and receive, so I was overjoyed to receive two beautiful books for Christmas, both on the subject of my favourite art movement; The Pre-Raphaelites.

'Pre-Raphaelite Drawing' focuses around the lesser seen Pre-Raphaelite studies, which were the subject of the 2011 exhibition 'The Poetry of Drawing' at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. 'The Pre-Raphaelite Language of Flowers', is an utterly fantastic insight into the Pre-Raphaelites extensive use of floral symbolism. Having been engrossed in this specific subject for a number of years, it has had an immense impact upon both my design work and my personal art work, so a well researched observation of The Pre-Raphaelites use of the Language of Flowers is both a wonderful reference tool, and a joy to read!

Mimaki

During my Print Technician internship I have thoroughly enjoyed advancing my existing technical skills. One of the most rewarding aspects of my internship has been becoming a competent operator of the Mimaki TX2. I have enjoyed learning how to operate the Mimaki, change its inks, fabric/paper, perform general mantainance and set up, and use RIP software to create layplans. Printing students work and helping them to achieve their goals and their digital design dreams has been a very rewarding experience, and today on the final day of my internship I have had the opportunity to use my beloved Mimaki again to print my own design for the first time since completing my degree.

I would like to thank all of the technical staff, textiles students and Design lecturers at The University of Derby for making my 13 week internship a delightful experience! I have enjoyed working with you all immensely!

Lord of the Flies

Of late I have been working on an utterly unique, one-off print called 'Lord of the Flies', which incorporates both my love of symbolism and nature (but in a very different manner to which they have been combined previously). This highly personal creation strongly reflects my interest in macabre, unusual art, design and literature. The design (created for a wall hanging) features various insects and beetles, all of which historically symbolize evil, the devil or disease radiating from the great, central 'Lord of the Flies'.

Dark Creatures

Recently during my spare time I have been working upon a personal project to create a series of etch-inspired prints based around the theme of animals with a menacing or sinister reputation. I have chosen to use a style focusing upon highly contrasting shading and fine line work to create the monochrome pieces. The series is intended to be a nod to some of my favorite writers; such as Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraf and their creepy creations. I have decided to title the series 'Dark Creatures'.

King Diamond

Now that free time is slightly more abundant I have had the chance to begin working on many personal projects which have remained largely in the shadows during the creation of my final collection, my degree show and new designers.
I have been an avid creator of my own clothing for around 10 years and I am always eager to create and customize in a manner which reflects my own tastes and personal style. Recently I have spent my spare time working on this jacket. The main theme of the jacket is King Diamond's 'Conspiracy' album cover, and is my own homage and nod to one of my favorite albums, and a chance to hone my portraiture skills!

Private View

Visiting the 'Best of the Best' Exhibitions Private View evening was an interesting and different experience, being the first exhibition to feature my work which I have not had full creative control over and assembled myself.
Curated by Jayne Falconer, the small exhibition showcases the Best work from across the 2012 ADT Degree Show. As well as my prints, the exhibition also features some of my visual studies and supporting conceptual work:

Paradise Lost

Recently I was was lucky enough to purchase some utterly beautiful prints of Gustave Dore etchings. The prints, which date from a 1890 edition of 'Paradise Lost' are fine examples of Dore's etchings and are beautifully delicate pieces of art which I have admired for many years. The prints naturally show some minor wear and aging (after all they are 123 years old!), but I look forward greatly to enjoying them every day. Evidently my passion for all things print remains unstoppable still!

'Best of the Best' Exhibition

Im very pleased report that select pieces from my collection are currently on display at the 'Best of the Best 2012' Exhibition at the University of Derby's Markeaton Street campus.
The exhibition is currently running from Monday 17th September until Tuesday 25th October (Monday to Friday), with a special Private View on 3rd October.

The exhibition is open to the public with free entry. It is a showcase of specially selected Art, Design and Technology Graduates work.

Please feel free to visit the exhibition. For more information on how to get there:

http://www.derby.ac.uk/markeaton

Natural History Museum - Architecture

One unexpected feature which struck me upon my visit to the Natural History Museum was its utterly stunning architecture of both the interior and exterior of the building.

The buildings visual impact was immense and boasted excess at virtually every turn. The exhibits of bones and specimens are so impressive its easy to overlook the grand background against which they are displayed. So I felt it fitting to pay homage to the grand feat of design, the beautiful Victorian Waterhouse building which houses these marvels!

The Darwin Centre

Having never visited the Natural History Museum before I was presented with a fantastic opportunity to visit during a day trip to London. With nature being a long held fascination and passion of mine it is certainly a long overdue visit!

 The section of the Museum which I found most interesting was the newly constructed  cocoon like Darwin Centre, which housed thousands of specimens of Flora and Fauna from around the globe. The beautifully fragile insects were utterly beautiful and remain a firm favourite of mine for both photographing and drawing (as can be seen below.

 If you are interested in visiting the Darwin Centre, which is a fantastic experience for all the family visit the Natural History Museum website for more information: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/darwin-centre-visitors/index.html

Eyes of the World

Having finished my degree I have far more time to pursue personal projects which have been on hold for an extensive period while I focused on my degree. Some of the works mid creation here currently are highly conceptual pieces of art, a vast amount of print design ideas Ive wished to pursue for some time (which are in their infancy but will eventually form the basis of my new collection) and a book of illustrations solely focusing upon something I enjoy drawing and find fascinating, but as an artist/designer they are also incredibly important to me; eyes! Here are a couple of eye studies so far (of both a Long Eared Owl and a 'work in progress' Tawny Owl):

Embroidery

It has been many years since I had the time to partake in any recreational embroidery, however this summer has provided the perfect opportunity to utilize an old skill.
As a nod to a largely forgotten Heavy Metal tradition, I chose to embroider (as opposed to paint) the logos of bands onto one of my heavily customized jackets. Though a time consuming labor of love, I have had aspirations to once again pay homage to this traditional method since visiting the 'Home of Metal' Exhibition a few years ago.

Creative Curriculum Vitae

A great many things been achieved since my previous Creative CV post in my second year, and as I am now officially seeking employment as a qualified print designer I decided it was important to invest some time updating my CV.

So here is my brand new up-to-date CV!

If you would like to receive a full copy of my CV via email or post, please do not hesitate to request one.

Fresh Aesthetics

For some time I have considered updating the aesthetics of my blog. After a little deliberation, I decided it would be apt to have a blog header which reflected my most recent work, and an updated, more versatile layout. I echoed certain elements in my new template, as I was satisfied with the overall simplicity of my blogs layout, but it needed a little refining.

So its farewell to my old blog layout and welcome to my brand new header!

Feedback and opinions most welcome!

Arts Thread

My Arts Thread online graduate portfolio is newly updated and fully live to the public. The portfolio features a small selection of my design work which I feel best represents my style, skills and the techniques which I am familiar with.

Please feel free to visit Arts Thread and view my portfolio on the following link:

http://www.artsthread.com/p/alicedurose

New Designers 2012

Last week saw me take up residence for a week in London while I exhibited my work at New Designers along side thousands of the years best design graduates from across the UK.

Having the chance to exhibit my work at the largest Graduate Design Exhibition in the country was a wonderful opportunity and an incredibly enjoyable experience.

As one of 14 students selected from the University of Derby I was allocated one 9ft board on which to display pieces from my collection. Condensing down my show from 4 boards to one was a challenging process, however I feel that I successfully displayed a range of my fabrics to the public.

The theme chosen to display a representation of everyone else on the courses work was the jubilee. This topical theme created a lot of discussion amongst visitors.

Many thanks to the thousands of people who visited New Designers over the week and helped support young design talent in Britain. Thank you to the numerous people who picked up one of my business cards, our exhibition catalogue or asked to see my portfolio, your interest and appreciation of my work is valued very highly.