06.10.19

As I received an email from Curatorspace.com that my proposal had been accepted on the morning of Thursday 26th Sept, it only gave me 9 days to get the sculpture made and dropped off to their storage site on Friday 4th Oct. So after my lectures on the Thursday morning, I went straight to the metal work room to speak to the technician and get some advice on the next steps for making. I then bought and cut to size the materials ready to start building the sculpture. 

I started with 2 31cm square sheets of 0.9mm Brass, which I then marked out and cut into circles. Filing the edges and using the process of annealing (blow torching the Brass to heat it, and dunking it into cold water) to help soften the metal, making it easier to hammer into shape. After hours of hammering and repeating the annealing process, I was happy with the shallow shape of the bowls; which would hold a pile of coins in one, and the tree in the other.

On the Friday morning I got back to the metal work room early and with the assistance of the technician Warren, cut the Steel poles to size. Using a 150cm long 2cm thickness Steel pole for the upright and 120cm long 1.5cm thickness for the horizontal. As we discussed different ways of securing the metal poles together and into one position such as creating a bracket, we then decided on drilling a hole through the upright pole at an angle, creating a very solid structure. Once I had decided the angle and marked it out, Warren drilled a hole the thickness of the horizontal pole. This worked extremely well, and reduced the amount of work needed to install on the day. The horizontal pole now just slides through the cut out, securing/clamping into place with a short screw. 

I then got 3 pieces of MDF board with a thickness of 18mm cut. 2 pieces at 50cm and one at 25cm. After adding glue and clamping into place, they will be ready and dry after the weekend.

In the afternoon of the Friday, I then had the task of sourcing elements such as metal gold chain and metal hoops to secure the Brass bowls to the poles, and metal primer and spray etc. 

On the Monday after having sourced everything else I needed to finish the structure, I returned to the work room to finish what I could. After drilling a 2cm hole through the wooden base and erecting the Steel structure, the scales were beginning to come together. As I had the metal chains for the Brass bowls, with the help of Warren I measured out 3 equal spots where the chains would be attached. After drilling the holes through the Brass bowls and through the horizontal Steel pole, I attached the metal chains and hoops to the structure. 

I was really excited to see my vision come together and was extremely happy with the results. I have never worked with metal before and have enjoyed how labour intensive and difficult the material has been.

As I returned to my lectures for the week, I made preparations for the weekend to come. I primed the wooden base with pva glue during the week to ensure that it would be weather and rain proofed, and early Thursday after a meeting, got the train home to London. 

After speaking further to the organisers and finding out more information about what they would like and what the set up would be, we decided that a black plinth would work well with the piece. So when I got home I went straight to B&Q to get some wood cut to make the plinth. As the scales would have one half hanging lower than the other, I had to work out what height the plinth could be, still allowing an easy view into the Brass bowl to see the coins. Deciding that a square plinth at 80cm x 80cm by 50cm in height would be perfect. I then picked up some oil base exterior paint in black, with a metal primer spray.

With the metal and wood primed and sprayed/ painted black, everything was going to plan. 

I then had the task of sourcing the tree for one half of the scales and had come across a tree that had fell down a couple roads away from my house. So I took a saw over there and cut off a couple sections with a strong and thick bottom branch. 

After deciding what branch worked best, using a Stanley blade I began to peel away some of the bark from the branch. This revealed a beautiful orange which reminded me of flesh tones, leaving cuts and scars on the branches skin surface.

Once I had removed some of the bark, I burnt the tree using our BBQ. This worked really well as I was able to rotate the branch and choose a particular area to burn. At first I was really disappointed as it seemed I wasn't achieving the charcoaled finish I was hoping for, but as I spent more time on it, realised the tree just wasn't getting hot enough. 

Once I had burnt the tree enough, I created a hole in the middle of the branch's bottom and a hole into the Brass bowl. Then using a long screw and a seal of metal adhesive, I secured the tree to the bowl. Using the same adhesive I glued a selection of foreign and English coins in a range of colours to the other Brass bowl. I tried to make the coins look as if they were just dropped into a pile, creating a natural looking overlapping composition. I am very happy with the final achieved look and couldn't wait to see it all pieced together.

As the forecast was looking like a lot of rain for the upcoming week of the protest, I had to come up of a way around the rain and not flooding the bowls. My way around this was drilling a couple of fine holes into the brass bowls to allow the rain water to drop through, hopefully not allowing the bowls to fill with water. 

It was now noon of Friday, the day I was supposed to drop the sculpture off to the Extinction Rebellion's storage and build address, but had a minor disaster of the paint on the plinth still being wet and in no sight of drying any time soon. After speaking to the site manager and asking if we can delay delivery until the Saturday, I had to quickly come up with a plan. I didn't want to risk the paint not being dry on the Saturday so decided to remake the plinth completely. After getting some more wood cut to the same sizes and purchasing a quick drying fence paint instead. The disaster seemed to be averted. 

After quickly making the polymer clay world sculpture topper and painting it black, all the separate elements were finally complete.

On Saturday morning I quickly mounted everything together and took some images to test what it looked like. I am very pleased with the outcome and think that it will work very well in the space and with the cause. 

30.09.2019

On Tuesday 24th September, following a lecture at my University discussing where you can look as a working artist for work, I was suggested to have a look at Curatorspace.com. As I was scrolling through the homepage I came across a call out for artists for 'Art for the climate crisis'. As the climate crisis and effect humans have had on the environment has been the content of my enquiry for over a year now, it instantly caught my eye. The call out was for Extinction Rebellion's International Rebellion on October 7th, requesting existing artworks or proposals for artwork ranging from large 3-D sculptures, to performance pieces. It read:

"A unique opportunity to inspire the public with the scale and urgency of the climate crisis and the need to pressure governments to take urgent action. The artwork will be displayed at an Extinction Rebellion central London protest site for two weeks in October, which will receive significant media attention. The theme of the site is 'Burned Earth'. Deadline, noon on 25th September."

As I only had less than 24hours to create a proposal I didn't want to get my hopes up too much if I didn't get it, but instead would use the experience of answering an ad for an Artist for future reference. I worked really hard and put together an idea, watercolour sketch, artist statement and filled out the online application form. The application asked for an Artist statement, commission proposal, relevant previous experience, additional requirements, performance works, an upload of my CV and 5 images. 

My proposed idea was for a sculpture called 'Injustice Scales' where I would transform the traditional justice scales into a large and commanding sculpture. On one half of the scales, a burnt, leafless and lifeless tree or branch, and on the other a pile of money/coins, hanging considerably heavier than the tree. This represents the prioritising of money over the health and conservation of the Earth itself. 

1.5metres heigh and 1.5metres wide, the scales will be made from hollow steel poles and will be fixed into position. Metal bowls will hang from chains either side of the scales which will hold the tree and money. The tree will be fixed into place by attaching it to the bowl using a screw, and the money will be secured into place by an adhesive. 

My artist statement read: 

"The Amazon is vital to our survival, and now more than ever. An ecosystem of extraordinary riches, from timber to gold, wild animals and biodiversity to live stock. The Amazon is under threat, and so are we.

2019 has been a record year for wildfires burning in the Amazon, and someone is capitalising from the destruction. 

We need to shed light on the crime behind the crisis, and fight back to end this injustice."

 

After sending off my proposal late Tuesday evening, Thursday morning I got a message to say my proposal had been accepted and they would like to use my sculpture. I was given the email address of the Trafalgar Square site manager and build team, and had a phone call the following day. 

My sculpture will be in the Trafalgar Square site of the Rebellion, and will possibly be with other artworks. When speaking on the phone I got some feedback that they instantly liked my proposal. They all agreed how simplistic but impactful it was and that it would be a perfect fit for the space and event. She explained that the other artworks have had issues arise so it is uncertain if my artwork will be on its own or not. We discussed the possibility of having the sculpture slightly raised and on a plinth which I could make out of wood, along with other minor details about the beginning day. 

I am extremely excited to be apart of Extinction Rebellion and contribute to the protest in whatever way I can. I am also really excited to see one of my sculptures in the surrounding of Trafalgar Square, an important touristic area of London but also an important area for historic and contemporary art. 

14.09.2019
Saturday marked the first day of Freshers at Staffordshire University and the first day my Green Week tote bag competition winning design went on sale. The tote bags will be on sale throughout all Students Union shops, encouraging the use of re-useable bags instead of plastic. 

It was a very exciting moment seeing them behind the counter and I can't wait to see students or staff around campus using them. 

As well as being on sale within the SU shops, for the first years move in day on Saturday there was a stall in the Brindley building selling the competition winner's bags, along with other Staffordshire University merchandise.

The tote bags were paid for using the money made from the sale of plastic carrier bags. The proceeds from the tote bags will go back towards further Green Week competitions, and making our University more sustainable and greener.

I am very pleased with how the bags have turned out and the opportunity the competition gave me, and I look forward to future design competitions. 

09.06.2019

Today I took a visit into Manchester to see their Metropolitan University’s degree exhibition ‘Everything starts from something’. I was really looking forward to see how a popular city’s University competes with my own, and gain some ideas and inspiration for my degree show this time next year. 

MMU had buildings with multiple sections for BA degrees in their School of Art such as Sculpture, Fine Art, Media, Photography but also more specified subjects such as Interactive Art. I was pleasantly surprised with just how big the exhibition was and how much exhibiting space they have access to. It was a really interesting mixed media contemporary exhibition, with some pieces obviously more successful than others. I was expecting to see the work presented and become overwhelmed with a daunting feeling of how unprepared for this stage I am, but instead was excited and thought I stand on a similar level to these artists and works. It hasn’t lead to any inspired ideas as yet, but it has reassured me that I can produce a final show that is as exciting and as ambitious as I hoped. 

A few works that stood out for me would be this make up wipe cape/blanket. The concept jumping right out at you for makeup being a safety blanket for so many girls. Something we tend to hide behind and cover up all our insecurities with. 

I also loved the political taxidermy mouse group with what appeared to be suicide bomb vests on. The artist had made mouse doors into the wall with taxidermy mice with vests plotted throughout, along with a small projection playing inside complete with sound. As the mice were life size and the exhibit was relative to the mice, you had to get on your hands and knees to be able to hear or see the projection. 

I also found amongst the photography section, a display focusing on the effects of and companies/products that use the ingredient of palm oil. This was a really well thought out piece as the wallpaper used was a selection of products that use the substance, and in a glass museum-like display cabinet held the products. On one side you looked through the cabinet face on at the products and labels, and as you walked round you could see the list of ingredients on the back. A really effective and powerful exhibit, along with a handout that has information about palm oil, the effect it has on our environment and the products and substance names so that you can check items in the future. Having an informative hand out that the audience can take with them and learn from is similar to what I tried to do with ‘Pollushie, Is It Worth It?’, so it was great to see others doing the same on topics that are in need of conversation. 

After seeing the whole of the exhibition, I was impressed with most of the content, but the sloppy finishing touches of the exhibition throughout distracted immensely from the work. At my University, the lecturers and tutors are very picky about minute touches like small marks on walls or making sure supporting elements are painted the right colour, whether that be to make them unnoticeable or to become part of the work, touch ups like that. Well, walking around that exhibition the tutors and students obviously don’t take as much care as we do. It felt messy and sloppy and distracted the viewer and audience from the work displayed to wires hanging out or wood and floor not painted at all or properly. 

Now I have seen first hand what a difference care to details makes, I will double check my future work and installations with a fine tooth comb. 

29.05.2019

Today was workshop day with kids from the University’s Nursery and the Students Union to raise awareness about plastic pollution and get crafty with some bottle tops. Although I was really excited, I was nervous as I haven’t been involved with workshops before, but also as no one had even communicated a time or place where I needed to be. 

Upon arriving to the Students Union office’s I had found out that the staff member I had been liasing with and organising this whole project/day with, wasn’t going to be in and instead someone else was filling in. This was an issue as there was meant to be learning activities and an introduction to be completed before I took over and completed the craft side of the day. I had prepped a sheet with some kid friendly facts and questions to ask them, but as the participating kids arrived in two separate groups (4 kids of 6, 7, 10 and 11 years old, and Nursery children from 1-6 years old) it was clear the facts I had produced were not age appropriate. This was upsetting for me as I tried to prepare for the workshop but was given little to no information, meaning on the day I was unable to make the most of the time we had. 

Another issue that arose was that no materials had been bought for the sessions and I was informed that an A4 sheet of foam had been purchased for each child as well as lots of pva glue. When I had asked for these materials I was told that they hadn’t been bought already and we had to wait until the art shop reopened. 

This was quite unfair to me as I had to make the most out of a difficult situation, with no previous experience to draw on. As it was advertised using my name as the artist working with the students union (staying anonoymous) it looked as If I was the unprepared one. 

But, with all the things that went wrong, the kids didn’t seem to mind or notice and we did have a really fun afternoon. This is a massive learning curve as now I know the importance of communication. Multiple emails I had sent to a few members at the Students Union were left un-replied to, if we were able to have a quick meeting prior, it would have meant a smoother and more successful workshop. It has also taught me what details need to be considered to pull off a successful workshop, and the prep needed. I am gutted that I couldn’t offer more than I could on the day but will make sure that for future workshops and public interactions, I will be over prepared. 

During the day I also received a visit from a fellow student asking whether I would be able to come to a local community school and create a one hour workshop with them, teaching them about plastic pollution, and after create something out of plastic bottle tops together. This project is continuing to open doors to community and public art sessions, and I am excited to continue teaching kids to consider the effects were having on our planet, animals and oceans.

20.05.2019

After finding out last week that the image I had taken and edited/resized for my piece Plastic, The Slow Tsunami, isn’t of good enough quality to be printed on weatherproofed board at 2metres in size, I had to re-take the photos. I had already moved the mural over to the Students Union office, (as they are now going to have the mural in the downstairs hallway by the entrance of the building) so I gathered a couple friends who helped me take it across to the photography studios where we took a different image with a higher resolution.

I then had to resize the image so it was 2metres square, and inserted a white rectangle on photoshop with a short statement giving some context to the piece. We then ran into some further issues, but once I spoke to the printers directly communication was easier and the image was finally sent off in preparation for print. Unfortunately; due to delays and mishaps, we were unable to meet the second deadline of the degree exhibition. This was disappointing but after all the issues I have faced throughout the project, I am just relieved it has reached the final stage.

03.05 - 05.05.2019 Amalgamation 
'Plastic: The Slow Tsunami' 1.5 Metre square. Bottle tops, glue and board

An artwork commissioned by Staffordshire University Students' Union, reflecting on the unnatural disaster of a material that is consuming our oceans; plastic. I have been working alongside the Students Union, to encourage peers to reconsider the quantity of plastic bottles we go through as a University. Bringing the global problem of plastic consumption back to the individual and their responsibility. 

These bottle tops have been collected across the University campus, as a material for making the work but also with the aim of raising awareness; encouraging staff and students to consider alternatives to become a more sustainable University. 

03.05 - 05.05.2019 Amalgamation
'Pollution Debris', polymer clay sculptures, fish hooks and found consumables. 

This installation aims to highlight how barbaric and damaging the human race are being to marine life and surrounding species through pollution debris in our oceans. Less than 20% of all plastic is recycled globally, with 40% of plastic produced being single use packaging (National Geographic, 2018).

An estimated 640,000 tonnes of nylon ghost nets, lines and          discarded fishing gear is abandoned in our oceans each year; ensnaring, maiming, drowning or simply starving hundreds of thousands (World Animal Protection 2014).

This installation is a call to arms, recognising the need to work together to create change. Each sculpture represents a real circumstance, a painful reminder of the destruction we are leaving behind. 

06.05.2019
Back in February as part of Green Week at Staffordshire University, our Students Union held a design competition using a short brief that was sent out to the School of Creative Arts and Engineering students. The brief explained the design will be printed onto tote bags and sold in the Union shops, encouraging students to use reusable canvas bags instead of plastic. 
The theme was love your planet, and the design could be anything from a comic strip, to a pattern or pun, but had to be no bigger than 250mm x 250mm. The closing date was 15th February, and I entered 3 designs. 
Out of these 3 designs, 2 were chosen within the final 6, and were to be voted on via Facebook likes. The design with the most likes would have the opportunity to have their design printed on 100 bags and sold, and this was an opportunity I didn't want to miss! As this semester I have been focusing on plastic pollution and the impact human behaviour is having on the environment, this was another opportunity to raise awareness and reduce the amount of plastic being produced/sold on campus.

The deadline for voting was up and the competition was complete. I won First and Third place. This was a fantastic achievement as I had never ventured into design before and can't wait to see my design printed and sold. The winning design (say no to plastics) received a total of 68 likes/votes, and the third place design (save your 10p), 23. 
I am still currently waiting for the design to be printed and put in shops, but I am looking forward to having my design mass produced and commercially sold. Being able to purchase my first professionally printed design is another great opportunity I was able to gain this semester. 

https://www.facebook.com/staffsunion/photos/a.10156124214717548/10156124214782548/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/staffsunion/photos/a.10156124214717548/10156124214982548/?type=3&theater

04.05.2019

Since emailing the photograph of the bottle tops mural to the students union for printing, some issues and confusion with payment had arose. Because of this, now the printed board couldn't be up by Friday 3rd May. This was disappointing as I had family coming to the end of year exhibition, Amalgamation, and would've been great to share the success with them, but a minor set back at that. With the help of Anna, one of my lecturers, the project has been put back on track and the order has been placed. We are now hoping to use the Degree show as the opening instead. 

There were also some re-arranging of dates for the workshops with the nurseries, as we are now hoping to get an early years education student to put together a lesson/workshop plan for the day. Pushing it back to Wednesday 29th May, a day in the middle of half term for schools, also coinciding with the National Children's Gardening Week event outside the Students Union. This will hopefully lead to a really fun and exciting day of activities with the kids, teaching them important lessons about the fragility of our ecosystem.

As the public printed artwork wasn't ordered in time, I was glad I had brought the piece back with me to be in the exhibition, as we could still present the work to the public in a different form. We had found room In the exhibition in the front hallway and gave the public a bright and colourful artwork to be greeted by. 

I had brought in the bottle tops mural on Tuesday in the afternoon, and on Wednesday morning I used the assistance of artist David Bethell for the install. As the bottle tops varied in size and height, flipping it on its front to drill the two boards together would've caused damage to the work. So to reduce the breakage of bottle tops we used two tables, slightly separated. Once the two boards were connected we made measured markings on the wall in the hallway so that the mural would sit in the middle. As the wall panels weren't strong enough, we had to attach the mural to the vertical wooden joists, to insure that the boards would be secure. To do this without any screws on show, we measured the distance from the edge of the board to where the joists would sit, and removed plastic bottle tops vertically along the line. After then getting help from 4-5 other students, and glueing the bottle tops that had been taken/ fallen off, the tricky and fiddly install was complete.

I was overall pleased with the positioning of the board, but as only one light in the hallway was working sufficiently; it was quite dark and poorly lit. To improve the end result of this work, I should have sourced/brought in some external lighting, to help accentuate  the colours and details within the piece. 

The feedback I had received throughout the night, but also during install and setting up was beyond positive. Everyone loved the colours, and was impressed by the different tones and shadings I had achieved, whilst also reflecting on the important message of the work behind it. Picking up key themes of plastic pollution, tsunamis, climate change, and recognising Hokusai's The Great Wave as well. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of this project, and although there was a delay in the printing and installing of the permanent board, I am pleased that it was out of my hands, and I still reached my personal deadline in time. I am still looking forward to the opening at the Degree show, and will start to gather some more ideas for activities for the workshops.

04.05.2019

Now being the day after the opening of Amalgamation, I can reflect on the week, and review how successful my installation was/went. 

On Monday I begun by bringing the work into the space and measuring sizes for the plinth for my 'turtle nose stud' sculpture. Once I was happy with the measurements I got the wood cut to size, and glued/taped it together. I was painting my plinths a rich blue, and completed my tasks by 3pm. I then was able to arrange my installation in the way as described in my proposal. 

Once the work was set out in the way I had intended, I realised it didn't quite work with the space. The exhibiting room I was in has a wall to the left of my installation, a door on the same wall to the right, and a wall sized window on the right (according to the image below). As the sculptures were front facing, this meant they were facing away from the door and window, meaning the viewer would have to be in a particular position to observe the work fully, making it awkward for viewing. 

It also felt pushed up against the wall. I was in a room with wall based work, paintings, and after a peer pointing this out, I realised I had an opportunity to occupy more space than I was using. 

Now Tuesday, I decided to completely mix up what I had originally planned. I had started by moving the plinths into the middle of the room to see roughly what it would look like in the middle. Straight away this arose issues with how you could view the paintings on the other walls. As the artist I was sharing the room with had multiple paintings making up a grid, it encouraged the way you view it to step back and have some distance from the paintings. By having the plinths in the middle it was restricting the viewing of this work, and overlapped/blocked them when from a distance. I had to think of another way I could use space, whilst not interfering with the other artists paintings. 

After negotiating a space swap with the other artist in the room, this gave me a cornered space which would fit better for what I now envisioned. 

I had then experimented with different compositions and decided on using the plinths/sculptures to create a symmetrical line in ascending order of height, similar to the lines and curves of a wave. I was happy with this decision as it is quite minimal yet pleasing on the eye. 

As I had now changed the spacing with my sculptures, I could no longer use the net as it was, in the way I had wanted to, so begun testing out different ways I could use it. 

Using pins I then hung the net on the wall. Although I thought it was effective in making the viewer/sculptures feel so small and consumed in comparison, it felt very fussily placed rather than a more natural swept feel I was after. So on Wednesday I removed the net and started again, now having the net protruding from the floor. This still didn't feel right to me so I took a break and painted the square on the floor for my penguin to sit in. 

I then sought out advice from my peers on other ways I could display the net that doesn't overlap into the 'seagull raincoat' sculpture's space, and potentially away from the wall as I wanted to have the viewer see the net as a physical, heavy sculptural object, rather than a more two dimensional form.

After getting some suggestions, I decided I wanted to keep the net in a similar state to how it would wash up on shore, or be tangled within the ocean. I wanted to have the net half hanging from fishing line, with the rest gathered and touching the floor. This proved difficult as the ceiling in the room is roughly double the height of a standard building ceiling, meaning it was unreachable to suspend something from. With the help of another artist on Thursday, we were able to use nails to attach fishing line from one wall to the opposite, which allowed us to then attach and suspend the net from the line. This was a perfect solution to the problem as it was hardly visible and allowed me to suspend the net away from the wall and make it look free standing. 

I am still really pleased with the impact the net creates as the height of the object is around 5 foot, giving an intimidating and overpowering feeling, and creates a really heavy and bulky impression to the net. I also added small details like sewing on fish hooks in different sizes, intertwined within the net. 

Overall it has been a tough week full of decision making and trial and error, but has been extremely rewarding. I am really happy with the final composition of the installation, and although it has been stressful at times, have really enjoyed making the most out of the space and sculptures. 

28.04.2019
As I was making progress on the bottle tops mural for the Students Union, it was clear I was running out of different colours and tones. After collecting from the Union but also neighbours, family and friends, I had to think about different ways I could accumulate quantities of plastic bottle tops. I had found a local manufacturer that donated 100 whites and 100 oranges, but I still needed hundreds of warm tones and whites. I then found on eBay there was a small market for selling used plastic bottle tops for craft projects, so I was able to purchase hundreds of different sizes and colours. This really saved the project as I was working to a strict deadline for the work to be photographed and finished during easter, so that the mural can be printed and installed for the opening on Friday 3rd May. 
Whilst the bottle tops were arriving throughout the week I managed to finish the wave, going through one by one attaching them to the wooden board. I removed all the reds so that I could stand the work up and get a better view of the piece. Once I was satisfied with the blue tones I placed it back onto the table I was working on, and begun the background and placement of whites and silvers.

The long process of getting the different colour and size bottle tops placed on the board was complete, and I then had to go through and individually glue them to the wooden board. Once all the bottle tops were secured, I was able to stand the work up and check over the colour distribution. I was able to then remove and shuffle around certain bottle tops and edit the work. 
I am really pleased with the finished composition and transition of colour within the piece, achieved by placing bottle tops within bottle tops. Adding a sunset colour theme to the background gives a strong colour contrast to the wave, making it a very bold and colourful mural. I also have clearly translated Hokusai's, The Great Wave, within the mural whilst making it unique at the same time. 
I had some trouble photographing the piece as the lighting I had was creating too many reflections and shadows within the work, as each bottle top is a different size/height. I decided it was best to bring the mural outside into the natural lighting and used a white sheet to reflect some light.

 

The final photograph has turned out very crisp and I am pleased with the quality. As the board is 1.5 Metre square, and the print will be 2M square, the image quality is extremely important as it will be enlarged by 25%. I am really looking forward to seeing it installed in the Cadman Courtyard, and hope it is done in time for the reveal at our exhibition Amalgamation on Friday 3rd May. 

18.04.2019

Today I started my plastic bottle tops mural by sorting all the warm tones into piles of colour and begun with the background. My aim is to create the background similar to a sunset using all the reds and yellows etc.

Once I had separated the colours I then created a central area of yellow, adding oranges and reds as the colours extended outwards. I was really happy with the effect but quickly run out of bottle tops. This is a big issue as I had only managed to cover half of the surface of the background and will need to source some more as soon as possible. 

I then added to the wave and managed to finish all of the blue section. Again I am happy with the different tones achieved and think the work's starting to come together nicely. I am expecting some more white and oranges to arrive after being in contact with a local manufacturer who will be donating 100 of each. Hopefully this will be enough to finish the white foam of the wave, and I will look on eBay to purchase some used plastic bottle tops in warm tones for the background. 

I also received a notification from a lovely post on the Staffs Union Instagram page of an update with images of the piece, and also recognition for the sustainable union tote bag competition I entered and won. It also suggested that I be nominated for this years Proud To Be Staffs Awards which was a lovely sentiment! It has given me an extra boost to make sure the outcome of the piece is everything the Students Union has hoped for, and I'm looking forward to them seeing the final outcome.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwZOBpZB31b/

17.04.2019
Mary Ellen Croteau is a fine artist who uses plastic bottle tops to create portraits and artworks. Mary's work asks what should we do with all the plastic waste we are creating? "It is made from petroleum. It doesn't compost or decompose. And what little is recycled creates it's own pollution. So I make art with this waste". Mary has produced multiple wall-based installation using plastic bottle tops, her self portrait 'CLOSE' took over 7000 bottle tops which were collected over the period of 2 years. 
With 'CLOSE' being a self portrait, and the bottle tops being personally collected from products that have either been her own or those around her, this is another form of collecting personal data. A personal reflection of Mary's consumer history of the two years.
Seeing Mary's work helped me with understanding how to create more detail and depth by placing bottle tops within bottle tops. By using this as a technique it allows you to blend colours and create a smooth transition and balance between colours. It also adds more interest and makes it more technically impressive.  
Mary's bottle top artworks aim to bring light to the amount of single use plastics we use, excessive packaging from products and the danger of our throw away culture. It was very helpful to see how  Mary uses bottle tops in a fine art context as most of the other research I collected on how others manipulate the material were more on a craft level. 

17.04.2019

For our end of year exhibition, Amalgamation, I will be using the sculptures I have previously used for my exhibition 'PolluShine, Is It Worth It?' at AirSpace Gallery. The sculptures will be consumed by a collage of different nets, ropes and lines. To make this patchwork style net I used both of the fish net dresses I had also previously made, along with a few other nets cut into sections and then laid out to create one combined net that was evenly colour distributed. All the nets used were a mixture of 4 different colours, black, red, blue and white. Once I was happy with the composition of the nets, I hand sewn them together at the seams. As for my exhibit I wanted to have the sculptures poking through above the surface of the nets, I used placement of the nets which already had wear and tear holes, staggering them so that the sculptures would sit through them. 

Once the nets were made into one, I wove the fishing line and ropes  so that they appeared and became tangled. The ropes I used also fit to the colour scheme and were placed so they looked naturally caught up in the net. I'm really pleased with how the net has turned out and am looking forward to seeing it with the sculptures.