Blackboard Wall (and more animation)

I've been busy redecorating Nelly's room over the past week.  I've painted one of her walls entirely in blackboard paint (which was quite nervewracking - I kept having visions of Adrian Mole's attempt).

But it looks brilliant!  It turns out that everything looks good against a black wall.  Even really ordinary things like chairs and wall lights suddenly look very cool.

And then the best part was letting the girls loose on it with a box of chalks...

Chalkboard Animation from TheRoundWindow on Vimeo.

P.S. If you haven't already seen it (it's been around for a while) THIS is a beautiful blackboard animation.

At the moment, I'm...

Making plans for a weekend away.

Making a start on converting this room from a dumping ground to a studio/office.

Painting a wall black.

Jung Koch Quentell Vintage Anatomical Chart

I've had my eye on these beautiful vintage Jung Koch Quentell educational charts from Etsy seller Bonnie and Bell for a while, but didn't have any wall space for one (they're pretty big).  Then we bought this nicely tatty office chest of drawers and ended up rejigging the whole house to accommodate it.  We were left with a perfectly-sized vacancy for a giant anatomical squid diagram.  Now we just need to find a spot for the house fly.

Animating Glass Pieces

SMALL FACES from TheRoundWindow on Vimeo.

After helping the kids with their animations, I wanted to have a go myself.  And it turns out that animating things is FUN.  These are some pieces of my hand-painted glass that will be turned into a host of angels, but I thought I'd have a play with them first.

I used a really basic programme called Smoovie (I think you can try it for free for 2 weeks, but the full version is only about £20).

To make this short animation took me just over an hour (including putting together the music on Garage Band).  I know it's a bit rough round the edges, but I'm really pleased with it for a first attempt, and it's something I've always wanted to try.

I'd like to work on some more abstract animation next, using coloured glass shards.

I've always been so inspired by this brilliant animation by Sue Doeksen in collaboration with Maxmana.

Paper Jam from maxmana on Vimeo.

Blogging (not blogging)

The kids wanted their own blogs, so I've been busy helping them with theirs, which explains the lack of activity on here.

This Week.

A little post to fill in the gaps.

(If you like pictures of works in progress, foraged mushrooms and burnt toast crumb faces, these will be right up your street.)

Jerwood Makers Open 2013

A quick post to spread the word to anyone who might be interested in entering the Jerwood Makers Open 2013.

Jerwood Makers Open is designed to commission and showcase new work by emerging artists working in the applied arts. Five commissions of £7,500 will be awarded to artists to create new work, which will be exhibited as part of the JVA programme at Jerwood Space, London.

This initiative offers makers at the early stages of their careers an opportunity to develop their creative ideas independently of specific commissioning structures. Artists will be chosen by an independent selection panel and must be UK resident and within 10 years of graduating or setting up their practice. The deadline for entries is 12th November 2012.  Further details about the Jerwood Makers Open and how to enter can be found here.

Launched in 2010, the Jerwood Makers Open follows on from The Jerwood Applied Arts Prize which ran for 11 years (1999-2007) in partnership with the Crafts Council, and Jerwood Contemporary Makers (2008-2010).

I've always found the work of Jerwood prize winners to be innovative and progressive, and have particularly kept my eye on the glass artists. Two of those that have interested me the most have been Heike Brachlow (2011) and Helen Maurer (2003).

Theme & Variations III - Heike Brachlow (2010)

Theme & Variations I - Heike Brachlow (2009)

Theme & Variations I - Heike Brachlow (2009)

Heike Brachlow works in cast glass, which she colours herself in order to get the subtle variations in tone.  Often her pieces seem to defy gravity and have a temporality and fragility which is deftly counterbalanced by the chunky, solid glass components.  You can read more about her process and inspirations here.

Helen Maurer works with glass and projected light.  Glass pieces and found objects are placed together on a horizontal glass shelf, like a stage set, and when light is projected through them, a new image is created on the wall above and below.  She explains her work in further depth here.

Relay Overlay - Helen Maurer (2012)

Eclipsed by the Boy - Helen Maurer (2011)

Loop - Helen Maurer (2002)

Vintage Book Find - Do You Move As I Do / Helen Borten

I found this wonderful vintage book yesterday.

Gorgeous illustrations and lyrical text - it really is quite inspirational.  This is one of a series of three books that Helen Borten wrote and illustrated for children, designed to "challenge the child's senses and increase his awareness of the beauties in the world around him".

I'm now on a mission to track down the remaining two - Do You Hear What I Hear? and Do You See What I See?

Contemporary Stained Glass Cactus/Succulents

Just finished making this set of 3 little plants in their pots.  They originated from a page of cactus / succulents doodling I did a while ago, but then I cut my hand doing a repair job and couldn't finish making them.

So it feels good to get them listed finally, and now I can move forward with my next new design which has also been hanging around on the back burner for ages.  More of that soon.

Some other nice plant-y things....

from here

from here

from here

I'm also really enjoying Little Green Shed Lou's Nature in the Home series - have you seen it?