Helen's Artwork Sale (in aid of MFA tuition fees!)

It may not look like it, but recently I have been having a sort-out in my studio. As I prepare to move to Newcastle to embark on a Master of Fine Art postgraduate degree at Newcastle University, I am packing up the contents of my studio and trying to earn a few pennies to add to the tuition fee fund!I have been debating what to throw out, what to sell, what to keep, what to put in storage, what to take to Newcastle etc. As I am not a good decision-maker, and a bit of a hoarder, this task has been very difficult!

TODAY I will be selling my artwork at a discounted rate, and there will be a variety of art materials that are up for grabs (any donations welcomed!)

Sunday 7th September
12:00–17:30


Studio 312,

3rd Floor,

Wasps Artists Studios,

South Block,

64 Osborne Street,

Glasgow, G1 5QH

When you are at the outside door, either phone me or buzz the buzzer and I will let you in. Then take the lift or stairs to the 3rd floor, where I will meet you.

I hope that you are able to come along, pick up some art to add to your collection, and say goodbye to me!

Helen Shaddock Artwork Sale - in aid of MFA tuition fees!

As I prepare to move to Newcastle to embark on a Master of Fine Art postgraduate degree at Newcastle University, I am packing up the contents of my studio and trying to earn a few pennies to add to the tuition fee fund!
I will be selling my artwork at a discounted rate, and there will be a variety of art materials that are up for grabs (any donations welcomed!)


Sunday 7th September
12:00–17:30


Studio 312,

3rd Floor,

Wasps Artists Studios,

South Block,

64 Osborne Street,

Glasgow, G1 5QH


I hope that you are able to come along, pick up some art to add to your collection, and say goodbye to me!

De-cluttering

One of the problems of making rather large sculptures is storing the work after it has been exhibited. My studio is becoming rather cluttered, and its proving more difficult to find space to work, so I have made a decision to use the materials that I have got before buying anything new.

I have a range of different papers, of different sizes, and so am going to use these to make an installation of drawings.

Back in the studio

My studio time of late has been taken up with funding applications, writing, proposals and paperwork. Although I would like not to have to divert my attention from making, I accept that this is the way things have to be, and realise that in order to be able to continue making work and exhibiting, the administration and paperwork is necessary. At times, a break from making ones own work can be beneficial and prompt a period of reflection and evaluation, allowing ideas to flourish and reconfirm one's desire to make artwork.

It can be slightly daunting or nerve-wracking to begin making work again, even after a short pause. 

I am still teaching myself to stop putting pressure on myself, and to relax in the making process, acknowledging that there are no failures.

I've really enjoyed getting back into the studio, and have picked up from where I was, using colour swatches to make collages & small studies.

Collage

Wrapped and moved

Today was the final day of destall of BRIMMING at 1 Royal Terrace. All the casts were wrapped in bubble wrap and transported out of the gallery, into my friend's car and then driven to my studio. We then loaded the casts into a number of shopping trolleys and wheeled them into the studio. 

Unfortunately, the lift that connects the ground floor with the main lift is not operating at the moment, meaning that I had to transfer the casts from one trolley, up a few stairs and into another trolley.

With over 100 bricks being moved, it was rather a time-consuming and laborious task, but I am pleased to report that all work arrived safely without any breakages.






















As I was filling and emptying the trolleys, I was reminded of a performance I did called Helter Skelter (video documentation can be seen on my website http://www.helenshaddock.co.uk/portfolio/index.php?sub=performance&link=helter-skelter) in which a similar cyclical process was followed, this time it being one of creation and destruction.



I was also reminded of a work by the artist Liz West in which she filled shopping trolleys with products of the same colour.

http://www.liz-west.com/index.aspx?sectionid=1206216

Moving into 1 Royal Terrace!

Yesterday I placed a large order with Special Plasters for materials I will be using to make the work I am installing at 1 Royal Terrace in my forthcoming solo exhibition.

I am fortunate enough to be able to spend the next few weeks in the gallery in the run up to the exhibition. This will allow me to make the work in situ, and therefore reduce the risk of damage to the artwork in transit. I gathered together the equipment and belongings in my studio that I will be needing for making the work at 1 Royal Terrace.

Ruth and I then took at trip to B&Q to purchase some more materials. I bought a large sheet of tarpourlin to cover the floor so I don't damage the tiles flooring when casting.

We then packed the car with the belongings from my studio and took them to the gallery, my new studio home for the next few weeks. I've left the 'clean' stuff in my normal studio so I will be doing my drawing etc there, and keeping Royal Terrace as a place predominantly for casting.

I'm looking forward to the plaster delivery arriving so casting can commence!

Outcome of my bubblewrap casting experiments

Today I removed the casts from the various moulds that I had covered in bubblewrap. This is how they turned out:

These were from the mould covered in bubblewrap with large bubbles.

These were from the mould that was covered in bubblewrap with small bubbles.

The cast below was from a mould that had been covered in large-bubble bubblewrap and then a layer of parcel tape.

I was surprised by how easy the cast could be removed from the bubblewrap. The bubblewrap texture is fairly distinct, but I am not happy with the rough edges.

I think that the cast above looks unconsidered and messy, as there is no defined pattern.

All of the casts above were made from layers of different coloured plaster. The test piece above shows one of the colour combinations used. I think these colours work really well together, so will use this again.

South Block Wins Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award

I was pleased to read that South Block, the building that is home to my studio, has won the Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award.

Nord architecture, the practice that redeveloped the building were awarded the gold medal at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 7th November by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop. She said: "The winning scheme is a tremendous and inspiring focus for creativity and innovation and, like previous winners of the award, it is a building of which Scotland can be proud."

Wasps Chief Executive David Cook said: “South Block is now 100% occupied, a great achievement in this economic climate, and we have received fantastic feedback from the creative community. The new venue is also making a huge contribution to the regeneration of the Merchant City.”

Judges stated: "Nord has crafted and choreographed the renovation of this existing building with extraordinary rigour, With great sensitivity and the slimmest of budgets, the architects have produced a specific environment for creative industries. Normally office buildings speak of generic environments. Here, within a tailored set of spaces, interaction and the promise of collaboration is easy to imagine."

South Block was chosen from a shortlist of 12 other projects around Scotland.
The project provides an exciting mix of low-cost studio space for fine artists and craftspeople, plus offices for social enterprises.  High-quality office space is also occupied by commercial businesses from Scotland’s vibrant creative industries.

This project was different for us because the money raised by renting space to commercial businesses is used by Wasps to reduce the rents for artists and arts organisation enterprises to around half the market rate.  This can make all the difference to arts and crafts practitioners who would otherwise be unable to afford the spaces they need.

South Block received support from:
Creative Scotland
Social Investment Scotland
Scottish Enterprise
European Regeneration Development Fund
Glasgow City Heritage Trust
Glasgow Merchant City Townscape Heritage Initiative
Glasgow City Council
And loan finance from Triodos Bank.

www.southblock.co.uk
www.nordarchitecture.com

Scotsman: Glasgow Tenement Scoops Building of the Year Award
BBC Scotland: South Block in Glasgow Wins Best Building Award

New batch of moulds for casting

I've been making a number of new moulds with different surface patterns and textures.

I enjoy working with mundane materials, and for these tests I have made the moulds from cardboard. I like the subtle texture of the corregated cardboard, and at this experimental stage, cardboard is a cost-effective material to use.

I have made the moulds larger than any of the other square forms I have produced.

The mould below is a larger version of the moulds used for the Groovings exhibition; corregated cardboard covered in parcel tape.

The mould below has sides that are different to those ever used before. I made the sides by building up strips of cardboard and then taping them together. I then attached the sides to the square back. I am hoping that the layers of corregated cardboard are visible at the edges of the form.

To make the mould below I wrapped  the sheet of cardboard in bubblewrap, with the poppers towards the outside, so as to imprint on the parcel tape.                                                                                                                                                                        

The mould below was covered in bubble wrap with large bubbles. The bubbles are facing towards the inside of the mould, with the intention being that the imprint will be on the surface of the cast.

The mould below was covered in bubble wrap with small bubbles, in just the same way as the one above.

I poured the first layer of plaster in the moulds, as below.

Monday 2nd September - Batons attached!

As the start of my exhibition at Motherwell Concert Hall and Theatre and draws closer, I am now doing the final preparations to the work ready for the install on Wednesday.

I drilled holes in the batons to be inserted into the back of the casts. The screws on the rods that the work will hang from will then go into the batons.

Some of the casts needed a bit of sanding on the back, so I made good use of my rasp.

Batons have been glued into the backs of the works

 

I glued the batons into the majority of the casts, and coated the backs of the remaining four casts in diluted polymer.

I tried to match the front colour of each of the casts with a paint sample card and experimented with different orders of colour. As much as it is useful to do such an exercise without the work (the more I move the casts, the more likely they are to get damaged), the final order will ultimately be decided upon on Wednesday when I have them in the space and decide how many to include and see how they interact with the gallery surroundings.

 

Experimenting with the order of colours

Sunday 1st September - casts revealed

The moment of truth - taking the casts out of the moulds - is always rather daunting, but exciting too.

Casts removed from their moulds and left out to dry

 

Thankfully, yesterday's fears of the plaster not setting were not necessary. I am pleased with the colours, and they work well with the other casts.

I wrapped the other casts to protect them, and when they were piled on top of each other, the layers really complement each other.

 The casts wrapped and piled on top of each other

  The casts wrapped and piled on top of each other

  The casts wrapped and piled on top of each other

I applied more of the diluted polymer to the casts, doing the backs of the casts that I had added polymer to yesterday, and coating the fronts of the casts that I removed from the moulds earlier today.

  The casts laid out to dry after they had been coated in diluted polymer 

I am slightly concerned that the newest casts are still fairly damp as they were only just removed from their moulds. In an ideal world I would wait until they have fully dried before installing, and I hope that adding the polymer to the surfaces while they are still moist will not be problematic.

Saturday 31st August - casting continues

Since my last batch of casts did not set properly, I have been slightly set back from my intended production schedule.

I spent today producing some new moulds, and then creating another batch of 'object paintings'. Hopefully these will set in time!

 Base layer of plaster in the new moulds

I also coated the surface of the other 'object paintings' that I intend to exhibit with diluted polymer. I wiped this on rather than brushing it on as I don't want any brush marks showing.

 'Object paintings' drying once they have been coated with the polymer dilution

There are a few reasons why I am coating the surface with the diluted polymer:

- the surface develops a slight sheen which then emphasises the texture of the mould
- the surface becomes stronger and does not scratch as easily
- the surface becomes waterproof
- the colours retain their vibrancy and tone (as opposed to fading)
 

'Object paintings' drying once they have been coated with the polymer dilution 

As is usually the case before an exhibition, my studio is rather full, and it is getting more difficult to find places to leave work to dry. I certainly need to be careful when walking around the studio.
 

Troublesome Thursday

I've come across a few technical problems today.

When removing the most recent casts from their moulds, I noticed that a couple of batches of coloured plaster have not set properly, and so they would not be of good enough quality to exhibit.

Unfortunately, the pale beige colour is one of the dodgy mixtures, and I included this colour in most of the casts made this week.

I have opened up most of the moulds that I have been able to, and hope that they will dry out now that they are exposed to the air. If the plaster sets as it should, then it will be a huge relief!

Otherwise, I will have to carry on making more casts this weekend in order to have enough to install in the exhibition next Wednesday. I had planned to spend the weekend tidying up the edges, coating the casts in polymer and attaching the hanging fixtures to the work, ready to be packed next week. However, this may be delayed if I need to be doing more casting.

 Casts drying out

 These are a few of the casts that could fully be removed from the moulds. Unfortunately the dark teal front layer of the cast (far left) separated from the other layers, and so can't be included in the exhibition

These fragments came off the edges of the cast with the dark teal front layer

Wednesday 28th August

Today I added more layers to the ongoing casts, and took a couple of casts out of their moulds.