Mintfest

Minfest is an annual celebration of street art, based in Kendal over a whole weekend. There was so many crazy things going on (that weren't necessarily my thing) but I took some inspiration from the wacky costumes, and the interesting characters among the crowds of people. Much more up my street was the vintage fair, part of the 'Wool Is Our Bread' event, which on the Sunday included yarn bombing. It was interesting to observe how people reacted to street art in what is (on most days of the year) a rather quiet Cumbrian town.

Cornelia Parker

Here is another artist featured on 'What Artists Do All Day'. As a lover of pattern, I like the way she constructs her sculptures in a logical, well-thought out manner - each piece could almost create a pattern itself, whether through objects or shadows. I thought 'Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View' was a really clever was to challenge how we view objects. Whilst the film of the shed being blown up felt like an art piece in itself, they way she displayed the fragments as if they were floating has a mesmerisingly beautiful effect, totally changing the view of a rather boring everyday thing. I think looking at shadows could be a great way to inspire abstract pattern making.

I actually saw her piece 'Thirty Pieces of Silver' a while back when it was at the Tate. I like how the steam-rollered pieces take on a whole different quality when they are hung in such an unconventional way; sitting just above the floor they almost look like fragmented pools.

Art House Co-op print Exchange

Over the summer I worked on an entry for the Art House Co-op's Print Exchange, where 500 different artists created an edition of 12 prints based on the theme 'The Drive Home'. I decided to use lino cutting at my chosen medium, as I thought this would create a bold print that would stand out. After being so inspired by Angie Lewin's work, I used my own photographs of seed heads to create this stylised design. I really enjoyed lino cutting as it was quite a speedy process that created instant results, and I think I would really like to use it again in my summer project.

Angie Lewin

I have always really liked the prints of Angie Lewin, but it is only reccently I managed to read a book about her work and saw some of her sketchbook pages too. Whilst her final pieces are usually lino prints, I discovered that her early designs are often pencil and watercolour, a combination that is my favourite to work with. It was really inspiring to see how she takes seed head and flower shapes and turns them into something more graphic and stylised. What I really like about her work, other than her impeccable use of colour, is how she combines drawing some elements true to life, and others in a stylised imaginative way.

Sewing projects

As most of my work is concentrated on surface pattern and drawing designs, I rarely get a chance to work on something 3D. So this summer I was determined to try making patterns from my own clothes, mainly just to test my skills and see whether I was capable of it (I'm usually not very good at transferring 2D to 3D).

I have a particular jersey dress that I have owned and worn for years that is a style I like and seemed a simple enough shape to start with, and I actually found the process of making a newspaper pattern from it rather enjoyable! I was pleased with the final piece, and I think it has helped me to understand my own design process a bit better, actually being able to visualise the next steps in the production process.

Blendscapes

I love looking at fashion illustrations (or at least just illustrations of faces), especially those of a whimsical watercolour nature. So I was made up when I spotted these drawings from Oriol Angrill Jorda's series 'Blendscapes'. I like how landscapes and faces have been merged together so carefully with that slightly wish-washy battered effect, so that they almost look like double exposed photographs rather than paintings.

Polly Morgan

I have always liked the macabre work of taxidermist Polly Morgan and recently watching the documentary 'What Do Artists Do All Day' gave me insight to the way she works and the inner workings of her pieces. Living in a house where there are several pieces of taxidermy, I found it very interesting to see how her artworks were created and shaped into her unusual creations. What I like the most about Morgan's work is the unusual and unexpected nature of her work, the way she challenges traditional concepts surrounding taxidermy. On a lesser level, I simply like the shape of birds themselves and how she lets the animal dictate the final piece.

Another Space Project

Tame Impala video

Tame Impala - 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards'

As soon as I saw this video, I loved the vibrant colors and bold simplistic shapes, immediately assuming  that digital techniques had been used to create the thick brush-stroke style. I was amazed to find out that the video, directed by art duo 'Becky and Joe' was actually made up of over 1000 separate hand created plasticine collages. I love the overall effect of blurring images and globular shapes merging into one, and the way the plasticine colours never quite stay true gives it such a wonderful handmade feel.

Manchester Museum

Visiting the museum again with my family gave me a chance to look at different exhibits in a new light, especially from the sense of colour, pattern, shape and texture.

I like the terracotta and blue hues coming through in both the eygptian and butterfly pieces. The formation of butterflies had a wonderful sense of pattern, in a rigid way; and in contrast I liked the flowing gradation of the pottery pieces.

And I particularly liked how these beetles were grouped by size, creating a neat pattern.

Maryport carnival

I saw several cultural events throughout the summer, but one of the most fun and colourful was the Maryport carnival. Every year, different groups of people get together to create pieces of street art and dance as part of a parade through the town, but there is always rivalry and competition to see who can be the most hilarious, ridiculous and outrageous.

Favourites included the local rugby team who arrived dressed as mexicans, but soon undressed and launched into an amazing dance routine to LMFAO's 'Sexy and I know it'; and perhaps more inventive was 'Adam Ant and his Army of Ants' featuring various 'ants' in morph suits lead by a middle-aged Adam Ant.

As well as the main dance groups, there is always a fancy-dress style competition for individuals in Flemming Square, who later join the parade. My favourite was this bed bug below, wearing a ludicrous concoction of foam and black plastic.

The carnival is always fun as it brings the whole town together, uniting Maryport and its often un-PC sense of humour. From a creative sense, I love the element of costume which is always the bigger, the bolder, the brighter, the better! Often much more interesting than the parade itself is catching the performers beforehand, various beer-bellied men in morph suits wandering around drinking from cans, women dressed in army gear huddled around having a fag and various wild characters posing for photos. A bizarre experience but a fun day by the sea none the less.