Su Blackwell

An artist I have admired for a long time is Su Blackwell, an artist and art director who works predominantly with paper. Her art works are amazing! Many of them are book sculptures, they are really delicate and whimsical.

I have often wondered if there is a market for handmade art as I work in this way myself, and it is very comforting to see that Su Blackwell has been commissioned for many projects. Here are some below:

Amongst her book sculptures and other paper cuttings, Su Blackwell has also designed installations for prestigious shops such as Harvey Nichols in London.

It is my dream to do this!!

Clearly, Su Blackwell's works are exquisite and I can only aspire to be as good as her!

http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/profile/#

My book!!

My book is finally completed! I'm so excited to see it all made up!

 I used flock vinyl for my type and imagery, and I sat for hours sewing little tiny beads all around the edge of my cover..just to add a little something! The whole book is made by hand which I think gives it a certain quality and makes it unique. I added a sparkly gold ribbon as a finishing touch! 

My book will be exhibited at the Salford Zine Library at Salford Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition starts 15th October and runs until 29th January 2012. Have at look at link for times and address! http://www.craigjohnbarr.co.uk/index.php?/salford-zine-library/

Making of my Zine

To create one of my pages for my Zine I made a set of a forest!

To do this I used cardboard...and lots of it! I cut trees and a little cardboard house complete with light inside. Cute! I added my own hand made fairy lights that I made using coloured tissue paper and cotton. It's fiddly and time consuming but worth it for the end result! I only wish it could be seen in its 3D state as its hard to capture the magic with a camera (when you're an amateur)!

I am definitely going to continue with this method of working, I enjoy the delicacy of it and the fact that i can set it up and change bits around easily by hand. I am able to take pictures and then rearrange my elements and shoot again.

 It's really nice to see the set in the photographic studio in the darkness all lit up, I am thinking of taking some footage next time.

Finishing off Zine brief..

Finally, my final page for my book is finished!

Above is my title page.

I am currently working on my cover design and after that I am ready to start binding my book! I have never tried book binding before and  I am very excited to see a product that I have designed and created from start to finish!

Fingers crossed!

Zine brief

I have finished another page for my zine today! I have one more design to tweak and my cover to finish which I will post when ready, (which will hopefully be tomorrow morning ,as I am feeling much better now and can finally crack on)!!

I have used collage for this piece. I hope you like!

'A Small World' by Lyon Forrest Hill and Jennifer Hill

I have been doing some research for my journal tonight and came across this very inspiring video created by couple Lyon Forrest Hill and Jennifer Hill. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10UvUBGW5sI&feature=related

They've been very creative and used lots of different perspectives, making this piece very dynamic. There was something creepy about it, maybe the music, but I loved it!