I seem to be on a roll!

So, I am now in total panic mode, the day I wrote my panic list was just the early stages! I have had a full and totally manic 10 days and, although I’m beginning to see glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel, it may all be an illusion.

The panic list currently looks like this -

Deadline	Task
12/8/11	Buy fabric for printing
13/8/11	Put sweetie lamp together
14/8/11	Finish stencilling wall
15/8/11	Photograph stencilled wall for portfolio
15/8/11	Make lampshade for sweetie lamp
15/8/11	Photograph sweetie lamp for portfolio
16-17/8/11	Go to print workshop and print fabric for cushion covers and seat cushion – this will not get done
23-24/8/11	Go into uni and design banner – submit for printing if approved by Michael
24/8/11	Order memory stick – probably 16gb
31/8/11	Submit banner for printing
1/9/11	Make cushion covers and cover seat cushion on Lloyd Loom chair
9/9/11	Finish putting sweetie table together
9/9/11	Have finished hand printed wallpapers
9/9/11	Take report for printing and binding
9/9/11	Take business plan for printing and binding
11/9/11	Put final submission together
14/9/11	Final submission

The items that are in red text have been done. Although I’m further than it looks on the list because I have made 2 drafts of the banner which I have sent to Michael, and I’m meeting up with him tomorrow to discuss it. I’m really pleased with it – it is a teaser which will hopefully persuade visitors to the exhibition to go downstairs to see my work, but I fear that Michael may be of the ‘less is more’ school of thinking… I have put all my images onto a USB memory stick just in case I have to start all over again. Also, my portfolio will be going to the printers today – and should be back in 7 working days – fingers and toes crossed!

I guess you are wondering what else I have been up to so…

Sweetie Lamp

The Sweetie lamp is totally finished and looks brilliant, even if I do say so myself. I hand stencilled the pattern onto the lampshade, put the lampshade together and it really looks like a quirky table lamp.

Sweetie Table

And again, the Sweetie table is completely finished and I love it. It reminds me of a Memphis Group design, you can see it is a table but it is nothing like anybody would imagine… it is almost surreal and totally fun, but also functional.

Lloyd Loom Chair

Now you will realise how much work I have actually managed to do in the last 10 days – the Lloyd Loom chair is… finished! I wished that I hadn’t decided to do this part of the project because when I was re-covering the seat I discovered that it was rather smelly – yuk! Anyway it has now been Febreezed. I ended up hand-stencilling the fabric which I used to cover the seat cushion and I’m very pleased with it. Obviously I had planned to go into uni and screen print onto the fabric, but time just didn’t allow that to happen. My alternative solution looks lovely though, so I can live with it.

I don’t think I will rush into further upholstery repair though - my fingers were very sore after sewing the cover onto the frame!

The cushion on the chair isn’t actually finished yet, I am hand stencilling the pattern onto the fabric, and there is another layer to add yet, but I pinned it to the cushion for photographic/artistic purposes – looks lovely, doesn’t it?

Stencils

After finishing the Clematis stencil, and photographing it, I very quickly went on to cover it in paint and start again with the next stencil…

I was really excited by this pattern and the ‘Op Art’ aspect of it became very obvious as I walked past it – it almost appeared like the recessed panels on old doors. The way the pattern sits on the wall inspired me to create an overlaying pattern, in stencil, which I then added to the wall…

This overlay made the pattern more exciting and exaggerated the ‘Op Art’ element to the design but, this would definitely only be suitable for a feature wall!

There are only 14 days until final submission; I am almost totally wiped out – but I will get it all done and submitted. I may sleep all day on the 15^th though. In the meantime, I have lots more to do so, speak to you soon.

Busy Weekend

I managed to pick the Squares stencil up last Wednesday, I think that it will work really well, the breaks across each square lessen it’s flow but I think it will stencil successfully.

Additionally, I have been looking at all the ‘sweeties’ that I have painted and some of them already have scuff marks on them, just from sitting on a table! So I have made an executive decision to varnish all of them. I hadn’t intended to do so because I was very happy with the very flat matt surface that I was achieving but, to create a professional impression at the exhibition I will have to overcome this issue so, I am using a matt varnish to keep the shine down and it has added a rather nice subtle sheen which seems to have deepened the colours that I have used. The use of varnish may prove to be a successful move.

In the meantime I have had a busy, but very productive, weekend. I am on a roll, but I have definitely run out of time to go into uni to do some screen printing, which is very disappointing. It would appear that everything takes twice as long to do as I had expected… this may not be a good sign or, it may just mean that things would speed up once routines were formed. Only time will tell.

So, I hear you asking, what did you get done during the weekend? Well, I took some more photos of the stencilled wall, using various cameras and taking advantage of different lighting and shadow and got some interesting photos which I will be adding to my portfolio…

Having obtained some photos that can be put into my portfolio I have now painted over this first stencilling and have started applying the second stencil. So, more images to follow.

The base of the Sweetie lamp has now been put together and it is looking fantastic, even if I do say so myself! I will take it into uni on Wednesday and ask to have it PAT tested.

Now that I have varnished the sweeties they have stopped developing scuff marks, which is a bonus, because I was getting worried about the impact of transporting the lamp and table into uni for the exhibition.

To move the lamp onto the final stage I have started painting the fabric for the lampshade today. I bought several off-cuts in a local shop last week, all of which were suitably coloured for this project. The fabric I have decided to use for this lampshade is a grey/blue moiré style fabric…

The table has started coming together too. I have finished painting and varnishing all the sweeties and I have also decorated and varnished the table top. I am totally thrilled with how the table top looks; it is exactly how I wanted it. The Op-Art effect works very well too. I think I can honestly say that it is one of my triumphs.

Despite all the stress and panic I am really looking forward to the exhibition and seeing everything on display together. In the meantime I need to photograph everything to include them in my portfolio and banner, both of which need to be sent off for printing as soon as possible – hence the sense of urgency! So I need to go and get on with more painting now. Talk to you soon.

There's more!?

So, I know it is unexpected that I should write anything again so soon, but here I am… I finished stencilling in the bedroom this afternoon – yay!!! Following which I took some photos – this is in preparation for getting my portfolio completed and printed. I am uploading a few of them onto here in the hope that I will get feedback from some of you lovely people out there, as to which photos are better for my portfolio and which ones aren’t. Thank you!

News!

Well I have been busy working on painting stencils and sweeties all weekend, and it looks as though I may be doing the same for the rest of the week! Progress is very slow due to a combination of a) quantity of things that need doing b) waiting for layers of paint to dry. I had hoped to go to the Print Workshop on campus and get some screen printing done, but at this moment my hopes are fading fast.

I went in to uni last Wednesday to collect my ‘Squares’ stencils but… I hadn’t allowed enough support within the design and it looks more like a retro form of decorative hanging rather than a functional stencil!

Anyway, Julian has gone on holiday this week, but I did manage to re-draw my stencil and get it to Julian in time for him to cut it before going on holiday – phew! The new stencil has 4 joints instead of only one; this will keep each of the squares in place. So I will pick that up on Wednesday when I go in for the next Exhibition meeting.

I have now made a final decision on the base for the sweetie lamp, after a great deal of thinking about it – I hadn’t been happy with how I had been planning to lay the sweeties out, everything had seemed too heavy. The new layout has only three colours and is much simpler in shape…

The sweeties will form a spiral when they have been properly joined, which will be at the same time that it is wired up. Once it has been wired up I will take it into the Athena Building at uni to have it PAT tested. It makes sense to have done this before adding a lampshade.

The sweetie table, which I am making for the AD11 exhibition, is coming along slowly. I now have a table top, which has been reduced in size to 600mm across. The original had been 750mm across and it was far too wide and liable to get knocked over. I have been trying to work out how to create a base to the pedestal of the table, which is wide enough to avoid imbalance…

So, this is how I will put the pedestal together… obviously I need to get on with filling, sanding and painting in the meantime or it will never be finished! So I think that is enough writing and time to get busy with the paint brush…

p.s. only managed to change one item to red on the panic list so far!!!!

Don't panic!

I couldn’t sleep last night because I was worrying about everything that I need to get done before final submission. So, today, I decided to write a list of jobs that I need to get done and then prioritise the jobs so that I have a schedule to work to:

Panic List 6/8/11

List of to-dos

Buy a memory stick to submit all digital files

Decide on size of memory stick – 8gb or 16gb?

Buy fabric for printing

Print fabric for cushion covers and seat cushion

Finish stencilling the walls

Photograph walls for portfolio

Put together sweetie lamp

Put together sweetie table

Make lampshade for sweetie lamp

Photograph sweetie lamp for portfolio

Finish banner ready for printing

Finish writing report

Take report for printing and binding

Write business plan

Take business plan for printing and binding

Make cushion covers

Cover seat cushion for Lloyd Loom chair

Hand print 2 wallpapers

Put together final submission

Decide upon photo book or individual pages for portfolio

Submission 14/9/11

24/8/11 - Order memory stick – Realisation file is already 5gb so it may need to be the 16gb

12/8/11 – Buy fabric for printing

16-17/8/11 – Print fabric

14/8/11 – Finish stencilling wall

15/8/11 - Photograph wall

13/8/11 - Put sweetie lamp together

15/8/11 – Make lampshade for sweetie lamp

15/8/11 – Photograph sweetie lamp

23-24/8/11 – Go into uni and design banner

31/8/11 – submit banner for printing

9/9/11 – Put sweetie table together

9/9/11 – take Report for printing and binding

9/9/11 – take Business plan for printing and binding

9/9/11 – have finished printing hand printed wallpapers

11/9/11 – have put submission together

1/9/11 - Make cushion covers and cover for seat cushion

Deadline	Task
12/8/11	Buy fabric for printing
13/8/11	Put sweetie lamp together
14/8/11	Finish stencilling wall
15/8/11	Photograph stencilled wall for portfolio
15/8/11	Make lampshade for sweetie lamp
15/8/11	Photograph sweetie lamp for portfolio
16-17/8/11	Go to print workshop and print fabric for cushion covers and seat cushion
23-24/8/11	Go into uni and design banner – submit for printing if approved by Michael
24/8/11	Order memory stick – probably 16gb
31/8/11	Submit banner for printing
1/9/11	Make cushion covers and cover seat cushion on Lloyd Loom chair
9/9/11	Finish putting sweetie table together
9/9/11	Have finished hand printed wallpapers
9/9/11	Take report for printing and binding
9/9/11	Take business plan for printing and binding
11/9/11	Put final submission together
14/9/11	Final submission

I have called this my ‘Panic List’ and now that I have made it I can check it every time I start panicking. I have kept the ‘Word’ version of the list and whenever I complete a task I will change the text to red - this will work as a reassurance when I start to see more red than black text. I hope this will help to keep me calm.

I have also spend several hours looking at the beginnings of my report and working out what I wish to communicate within its contents and how I will put it all together.

It has, all in all, been a productive day but I haven’t managed to change any of items on my list red yet...hopefully that will start tomorrow! I think that this is a do-able schedule, but it certainly will not be easy to achieve.

Stencilling update

I added a second colour to the stencilled wall on Friday afternoon and I thought that it would be a good idea to share my thoughts with you...

I used the repositionable spray mount this time, which gave a much better attachment between the stencil and the wall, unfortunately I cannot find my stencil brushes anywhere - so now I’m going to have to buy some more - because the paint brush I’m using is applying too much paint and it is still seeping under the stencil. It is so frustrating!

Anyway, I must keep going, time is running out.