Sheila Pepe

'Mine Ayn, 2006'  Is a collection of work by Sheila Pepe, I feel that using my images of the city I could create some great drawings inspired by the style of these. They are very clean in terms of line quality but at the same time there is a childlike essence to certain parts of each drawing. In particular I like the drawing in Fig.1 as I can relate some of my images of the city to the shapes that are used. (Drawings to Follow)

Fig.1

Fig.2

Fig.3

I have also looked at 'Detail. Josephine', I feel that this piece has a web like effect and could have some great inspiration towards my work.

Fig.4

Fig.5

The looseness of this piece is what makes me interested in it, I think this is because it almost comes alive with movement. I created some small neutral coloured samples using some of my collected items, in one of my samples I knitted with string and cable ties, the way I photographed it reminded me of this piece see Fig.6.

Fig.6

Although this is just a sample I believe that it could be a strong starting point for working towards my final outcome.

Relating my work to the city continued...

I found these images interesting as they are both on the corner of a street, bearing this in mind they have a sort of contrast that makes them both appeal to me in different ways. They also remind me of a piece in the 'Creation Destruction' exhibition in the Holden Gallery, Manchester.

'Mark Lewis, Isosceles (film still, detail), 2007.'

(please excuse poor photo quality as I did not have my camera when I saw the exhibition. Photo taken of picture in booklet.)

The reason I liked these two buildings is that the windows are like patterns, and they have a certain order to them both. I'd like to think that my final pieces have an order maybe in a similar way to this.

After relating my work to the city I feel much more confident and positive about this project and I hope that this continues throughout. 

Relating my work to the city...

After having a tutorial and being informed that our projects had to relate back to the city, I decided to go into town and photograph the buildings that I found most interesting. In this blog post I have included my favourite seven images, the rest will be posted with drawings as i progress.

Manchester Starflyer- I feel that this image shows a brilliant perspective of the new addition to Manchester City Centre, the way in which I have captured some of the essential 'parts' of this structure has inspired my ideas involving connections and structure. I will definitely keep the idea of a structure based outcome in mind and will refer back to this.

I feel that these two images have quite similar elements in a sense of their structure and layout. To me these stand out as I really like the way that you can see the different 'layers', I find this quite interesting and I think I will use these elements to inspire my drawings and samples.

Patterns?

After making the patterns in the sand, I feel like i could make something interesting from sets of patterns or small motifs made from 175 items.

I have started this by testing nails with glue on a small scale to see the kind of effect it will have. Here is an image:

Looking at this sample I think that the glue was a bad idea, from this I will keep in mind to experiment and try different ways of putting things together. Look at 'Connecting, Attaching or Joining' in terms of how things can be put together.

As part of this idea I set myself a mini task to get some items that could be used as a possible way of 'Connecting, Attaching or Joining' my samples/pieces or objects together. To make this more interesting I have decided to go to a pound shop and give myself a budget of £5 only.

Task Outcome: For my 'pound shop task' I ended up purchasing 3 Packs of Cable Ties, a box of Cable Clips and 3 balls of string.

My own 'Circles in the Sand'

After I found the article about making patterns in the sand I arranged another trip to the beach to do my own patterns in the sand, instead of using pebbles I used the 175 shells that I collected previously. When I got to the beach I decided to start my patterns by writing the number 175 with pebbles, shells and a stick in the sand. I felt that this would be interesting to look back at and compare the different qualities of each media.

Pebbles-I don't think the pebbles have a particularly interesting look about them in any way, for this reason I was even more sure that i wanted to use shells to make my patterns.

I wasn't really impressed with how the stick writing turned out either so I will remember this for next time.

For the shell number I decided to do two versions. (shown above) I feel that the bottom image shows more potential for ideas relating to patterns.

When I started to think about the patterns that I wanted to create I walked around for a bit to find the best place, somewhere out of the way. I came across this wreckage and thought it would be perfect, so I started to make patterns and here are 4 images showing my personal favorite parts... 

Fig.1 

Fig.2 

Fig.3 

Fig.4

Out of these images I prefer the pattern with part of the spiral left in (Fig.3) as it really stands out to me, I feel that it has some similarities to the old cave drawings that you see in films/on historical programs. After doing this I am feeling more positive about Unit X, I think I may consider using patterns as a new starting point.

Circles in the sand

After clearing out a room for new furniture I came across some of my old selvedge magazines...

These kept me busy for a while as I found some interesting things, in particular a little article called 'Circles in the Sand', it said:

'Stop sleeping in the sun and get involved with two projects that capture the beauty of sand and sea. Sue Lawty invites you to take part in a global project and use the natural canvas of the beach to create a stone drawing. Images of your artworks can be uploaded to the V&A website.' Examples can be seen at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/lawty/world_beach/map_gallery/index.php?section=1
As I have already been to the beach i'm disappointed that I didn't see this sooner as I would have done my own patterns. (Try and go back to the beach!)

In case I don't get another chance to go to the beach I have created an A3 poster imitating the image from the circles in the sand article using shells instead of stones.

A Trip to the beach?

As the weather has been much nicer here in Wales I decided to go to the beach, I thought it would be good to get out of the house and stop stressing about unit x. When I arrived at the beach I was reminded of the natural beauty that is so close to home and I felt a little inspired! Here is an image I took of the Lighthouse in Talacre Beach...

Beautiful View?

Whilst walking along the beach I decided to 'Play a game' and challenge myself to collect 175 shells without counting.

Me collecting my shells.

When I got home I counted my shells to see if I had reached my target... I counted out 175 shells and was left with quite a large pile of extra shells which i'm sure I will find use for.

Close up of my shells.

Research

I started to try thinking in a logical way about this project and since the theme was in relation to the 175th anniversary of the Manchester school of art I thought that looking at what was going on 175 years ago could be quite interesting. From what I could find nothing really caught in interest or sparked any inspiration, here are 10 of the facts that I found:

(the rest of the facts can be found at http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1838)

• Jan 1st - 1st official horse race in South Australia-Adelaide
• Jan 8th - 1st telegraph message sent using dots & dashes (NJ)
• Jan 8th - Rebellion at Amherstburg, Ontario breaks out
• Jan 26th - Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
• Feb 16th - Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions
• Feb 16th - Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
• Feb 25th - London pedestrian walks 20 miles backward then forward in 8 hours
• Feb 28th - Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Québec)
• Mar 3rd - Rebellion at Pelee Island, Ontario Canada
• Mar 6th - Franz Grillparzer's "Weh dem, der Lugt," premieres in Vienna

After looking into some of the more interesting facts I am still struggling to find inspiration or think of any ideas. (stress mode kicking in) I even tried looking at what happened 175 years before I was born but again I had no luck for inspiration or ideas.

Initial ideas...

After we created our posters and had various meetings, as a group we created a list of 175 children's games by asking our friends and family what games they remembered playing. A member of our group then typed them all up and this is what we ended up with:-

 175 Kids Games:

1 monopoly                                                                 91 furby’s

2 bulldogs                                                                    92 hungry hungry hippos

3 tag                                                                            93 jigsaw

4 kiss chase                                                                 94 barbies

5 chess                                                                        95 arm wrestling

6 kerplunk                                                                   96 dens

7 twister                                                                      97 capture the flag

8 curby                                                                        98 chinese whispers

9 hide and seek                                                           99 knuckles

10 knocky hideo                                                          100 dodge ball

11 scrabble                                                                 101 jinx

12 buckaroo                                                                102 red car, yellow car

13 house                                                                      103 marco polo

14 tennis                                                                     104 catch

15 badminton                                                              105 pitch and toss

16 netball                                                                    106 rock, paper, scissors

17 rounders                                                                 107 skipping stones

18 football                                                                   108 thumb war

19 dance                                                                     109 tiddly winks

20 mouse trap                                                             110 hangman

21 backgammon                                                        111 charades

22 trivial pursuit                                                          112 noughts and crosses

23 jenga                                                                      113 solitaire

24 cluedo                                                                    114 soft ball

25 cranium                                                                  115 pac-man

26 marbles                                                                  116 pool

27 pairs                                                                       117 club penguin

28 guess who                                                              118 snake

29 duck, duck, goose                                                 119 GTA

30 sonic                                                                       120 Harry Potter

31 crash bandicoot                                                     121 lego

32 pokemon                                                                122 trial bike pro

33 heads down, thumbs up                                       123 roller coaster tycoon

34 stuck in the mud                                                    124 bean bags

35 handstands                                                            125 Simpsons Hit and Run

36 pick up sticks                                                        126 Tony Hawk

37 hedge hopping                                                      127 beehive bedlam

38 red rover                                                                128 boppit

39 what’s the time mr. Wolf                                       129 screwball scramble

40 kick out ball                                                            130 boggle

41 clapping games                                                    131 assault course

42 egg and spoon                                                      132 space invaders

43 connect 4                                                               133 spirograph

44 tins of                                                                     134 betti spaghetti

45 murder in the dark                                                135 my little pony

46 blind date                                                               136 bratz

47 tik, tak, toe                                                             137 army men

48 tetris                                                                       138 wink murder

49 pictionary                                                               139 sleeping lions

50 twaddle                                                                  140 paint by numbers

51 lara croft                                                                141 etch-a-sketch

52 spyro                                                                      142 spin the bottle

53 tarzan                                                                     143 truth or dare

54 mario                                                                     144 rayman

55 worms                                                                    145 top trumps

56 pogs                                                                       146 bayblade

57 sims                                                                       147 trust

58 premiere manager football                                    148 battleships

59 skipping                                                                 149 fruit salad

60 hop scotch                                                             150 musical chairs

61 dolls                                                                        151 chase the ball

62 ludo                                                                        152 hairdressers

63 scarecrows                                                            153 bakers

64 mini golf                                                                  154 pin the tail on the donkey

65 eye spy                                                                   155 pinata

66 dress up                                                                  156 swingball

67 sandpits                                                                  157 the farmer wants a wife

68 arts and crafts                                                        158 piggy in the middle

69 paddling pool                                                         159 queenio

70 snakes and ladders                                               160 kirby

71 sardines                                                                  161 chicken (run)

72 guess who I am                                                      162 maypole dancing

73 simon says                                                             163 morris dancing

74 musical bumps                                                      164 lifeboats

75 musical chairs                                                       165 traffic lights

76 higher or lower                                                      166 leap frog

77 pass the parcel                                                     167 wheel barrow racing

78 follow the leader                                                   168 hoop-la

79 ringa ringa roses                                                  169 ball-in-a-cup

80 stuck in the mud                                                    170 stepping stones

81 hot potato                                                              171 blind man

82 piggy in the middle                                               172 creep mouse

83 simon says                                                            173 treasure hunt

84 tiggy 123                                                                174 slinky

85 hostage                                                                  175 yes or no

86 ropeswing

87 cowboys and Indians

88 cops and robbers

89 wallie

90 conkers

We then went our separate ways and started to think about our individual ideas. 
My first few ideas are not great but I think some interesting concepts could come from them.  I am thinking about looking into the following:-

• Children's games
• Mind games/ second meanings of the name of a game
• A Play on words
• Thinking out the box
• Misinterpretation
• Challenging the mind with multiple concepts
• Collections (following on form 175 games as i feel it could be seen as a collection of games)

From these I aim to narrow down my ideas and start focusing on one particular concept.