Snow and The Light at The End of The Tunnel

The college has been closed now for a week due to crazy amount of snow and council’s idea of being prepared for this winter failing miserably… My car is barely visible under the amount of snow and we don’t own a shovel…I guess we are following the council’s example of (not) being ready for this kind of weather. Still my puppy loves it, runs around like a mad thing, chasing snowflakes and making snow angels (well maybe not snow angels, but is certainly able to leave her mark… ;)

So apart from following the weather updates I’m trying to work on my research. I’m over 10000 words now, I will need to clean up quite a bit of it though. Still have a bit to do including conclusion, referencing, bibliography. I’ve done the interviews, just hope the way I’ve done is appropriate… need some feedback on that. I’ve done my survey charts, looking good, but still need to add some more info to those sections. Lots of work for this weekend.

I’ve changed my mind again about the brief I was going to do. Back to the Charlatan Ink Price. I was looking forward to doing the music brief, however I don’t have access to the equipment needed and don’t know when I would have, so I abandoned it. Then I was considering the RSA Stamp brief. I thought about it a bit and did some research, but as I really wanted to do something quite expressive and fine arty rather than graphic design I decided to go back to my original option of the Charlatan Ink. I thought the stamp brief also considering the size of the images would be a bit too similar to my book, the 1^st project. I feel I need to produce something more expressive and especially larger. I’m still tempted to do silk screen prints, if I get a chance to, but may need to stick to painting.

My ideas for the brief? I’m not really trying to be thinking in a religious way, but this sentence from the Bible always resonates in my mind: “You come from dust and to dust you will turn into.” Very true, and it just shows how very insignificant we are.

I came across this artist – Cai Guo Qiang http://www.jingdaily.com/en/culture/cai-guo-qiang-i-like-things-that-are-hard-to-control/    http://www.colectiva.tv/wordpress/lang/en-us/cai-guo-qiang/

I find his approach very interesting and unusual. It got me thinking  about chemical reactions – (because let’s face it, that’s what we are) I would be quite interested to experiment with heated metal plate and pour various chemical substance, sand etc to produce interesting reactions. Again, it would be good to have access to college as I’m not sure about doing anything like that in my little kitchen.

Another way of looking at our being is also the fact that “We are all trying to make a mark in this world”, are we here to leave a mark? What and who for? Why are we here? What is our journey of life (life cycle) about? Why are we so self destructive? Where do we come from? Do we really know what we are and what are we here for? And where are we going? Are we heading towards self-destruction, or is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

2nd Project

Tried gold leaf and it didn’t work that well – at all ;o) So, leaving the illustrations in their original form, the books is printed, bind, front/back pages are cut…. All looking good. I’ll need to add some photos of it in as well.
GSSmith kindly sent to Enzo a whole bundle of cut paper. Paul thinks it’s a bit heavy textured for the prints, so I may stick with the simple mat card I’ve used. I will try it later to see how it looks.

The case study is going quite well but still tons to do. Richard checked my latest version (just over 4000 words) and seems quite happy with it, which I’m obviously very pleased with. I’m hoping to take some days off to get it done as soon as I can. Find it much easier to write at home, plus have access to internet which is vital…

My second project….hmmmmmm. I changed my mind about doing the Charlatan Ink Prize and now thinking about D&AD Illustration brief or RSA postage stamp….
For the D&AD I was considering Thomas Newman, Clint Mansel but find them a bit depressing… not in a mood to do depressing stuff…. So I may go with Vanessa Mae. Or music used in Circ de Soleil. Richard mentioned today (23/11/10) Elvis Castello (Julliete’s Letters) so I need to listen to it.

It’s looks like quite a full on brief and I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to come up with a good idea and finish it to a good standard….

So…. Maybe the postage stamp, seems a bit more straight forward…
I need to make a decision very soon. I’m hoping to be quite expressive in this project, quite colourful and lively.

Book of Similes - Nearly There

My wee book is getting printed - just hope it looks ok... I'm getting it printed on white 200 g/m2 card in The MinuteMan Press but I've just sent an e-mail to GFSmith Paper Company asking them very nicely for a few samples...

The book of samples was produced in 12/04 so I am not sure if they still have the same paper, however I would really love about 50 A4 sheets of white Accent Fresco in 250 gsm and about 6 sheets of A4 Heartland Juniper in about 300 - 350 gsm. Hope they come back to me soon - with a positive answer ;o)

I still need to design and cut the front and back page, but it is pretty much finished and it was a great fun and experience. Absolutely love printing and wants to do a lot more this year. Paul is very encouraging as well which is nice. He recommended I join a print making studio in Glasgow – will do as soon as I can….

 

Printing Here I Come ;o)

The contents page is good to go. I started to work on the History of e-books.

Gave out more questionnaires, this is the last of the lot. Looking forward to the results…

On Monday 1/11 I printed new pictures, looking a lot better now but still needs a little

more work. I’m using Phtalo Blue and Lamp Black water soluble inks.

I found out today that laser cut costs £75 per hour – a bit too pricey for my student’s pocket…but will see. I’ll give them a call and see what they say.  I tried to cut with a scalpel and it doesn’t look that bad at all.

I am working on the typography for the similes, will keep it quite simple.

I have to start thinking about the next brief – I think I will still go with the Charlatan Ink Price. I have a few ideas, but needs to start putting them on a paper.

Oh – and I have 9 similes/prints to use now, more the merrier ;o)

·         Dark trees bending together as though whispering secrets

·         A fluttering as of blind bewildered moths

·         A lady that leaned on his arm like a queen in a fable of old fairy days

·         A sudden sense of fear ran through her nerves like the chill of an icy wind

·         As a cloud that gathers her robe like drifted snow

·         There slowly rose to sight, a country like a dragon fast asleep

·         His voice was like the clap of thunder which interrupts the warbling birds among the leaves

·         A silver moon, like a new-stamped coin, rode triumphant in the sky

·         The pine trees waved as waves a woman's hair

Printing Press - The Lows & The Highs

Monday 18/10/10

My sketchbook is starting to fill up. I have many ideas for my poetic similes.

I chose the following:

·         Dark trees bending together as though whispering secrets

·         A fluttering as of blind bewildered moths

·         A lady that leaned on his arm like a queen in a fable of old fairy days

·         A sudden sense of fear ran through her nerves like the chill of an icy wind

·         As a cloud that gathers her robe like drifted snow

·         There slowly rose to sight, a country like a dragon fast asleep

·         His voice was like the clap of thunder which interrupts the warbling birds among the leaves

or

·         A silver moon, like a new-stamped coin, rode triumphant in the sky

Thursday 21/10/10

At 10 am I had an interview with a college’s librarian and learned about use of e-books in this particular library. It was a very informative and interesting interview.

On Friday I interviewed a librarian in a local secondary school, the head mistress and one of the English teachers. Again, very interesting and positive experience.

On Saturday 23/10  I started to work on my 7 etchings for the book brief and by the end of the weekend I finished most of them. I was hoping to produce some prints on Monday however the printing press broke down…

I’m thinking of producing the prints but then scanning them into a computer and printing them out on a laser printer. This should eliminate too much paper wastage and also become more suitable for printing a larger limited edition.

I also started to work on my content page for the research and started to type up some information. However on Monday my not very elaborate content page was shot down in flames ;0) I’ve re-done it and handed it in, but I’m sure there will be many adjustments to be made…. Also handed in the mid-term module.

Wahey!!! The printing press is fixed!!! So I managed to do a bit of printing today – 28/10 and the prints are looking quite good. More work to be done but they turned out not too badly.

Oh and yesterday at the Academy I met a writer Mr Tim Bowler – AND he agreed to do an interview with me! A really nice and approachable guy.

University of Stirling Library Visit

Went to the library yesterday with a hope of finding some publications about the use (or not  much use) of e-books in education (mainly secondary) however not much luck…

I spoke to one of the librarians who helped me with the search but even she wasn’t able to locate anything. Only thing she knew about was a research done right at the Stirling Uni under name National E-books Observatory Project. All the work is on http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ so I can access it on-line only – I guess very appropriate since it’s about e-books ;) Only thing is – this research was aimed at the use of e-books in university environment, not secondary.

I did however find journals called “Reading Today” from which I was able to photocopy a some articles relevant to my research and they also have a website http://www.reading.org/ which has quite a lot of info, so it was actually quite a productive day ;0)

I also spoke to one of the librarians in charge about this subject and even though she wasn’t very keen on being interviewed she is very happy to complete a survey and give her opinions on this matter in written form. Happy me – getting somewhere.

I organized an interview with Margo at the college library for next Thursday (21/10) at 10am which I’m really looking forward to.

I’m going to do more research about e-books on-line today and start putting together some words….

And I’m going to do more sketching – loads to do….

And I’m trying to get hold of someone at the education office for the Dean Gallery… I have 3 numbers and no one is at their desk, or on hols…. What’s wrong today – tried to call a few offices to organize things and not getting anywhere – must be one of those days…

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0142.pdf

Feeling Inspired by Chagall

Last week I discussed my case study and questionnaires with the tutors and all seems good to go. I will need to organize some interview questions for the headmistress of the academy and also Linda McKay – the principal of the college, Margo Johnstone at the Library, Martin at KA library and one digital media company I recently approached. I have loads of research to do this holiday week. This Wednesday 13/10 I’m going to Stirling Uni library to go through white pages and journals relevant to my research. I’m hoping to get loads done on that day.

I’m hoping to make an appointment with the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh, tried to call them today, but no answer…. Hmmmm. I’d really like to see the book section, there might even be someone I could interview… ?

The tutors seem to be quite happy with how I am planning to approach my illustration brief, will see. I felt very inspired by Striking Similes by Grenville Kleiser (1868-1953) and I think I made a decision that this is the way I will go. I will need to try various printing techniques which I am really looking forward to.

I started to look at Marc Chagall’s paintings and etchings. Very poetic and his style is just what I had in mind for this brief.

I’ve done some sketches today (11/10). I’m hoping to end up with at least 8 images, so I need to select the similes I will go with so I can work on the compositions.

On 4/10 I work on my Artists Statement and PDP and made my ILP plan a bit more detailed. I also had a chance to discuss the projects with Paul which was good.

I have a huge list of things to go through this week - better get on with it....

Albin Brunovsky

Sod’s Law – got flu on 22/09 so I lost a few days … joy, anyway – back to work now and trying to catch up. I think the case study is going ok so far – just need an approval for the questionnaires so I can give them to people to complete.

I need to start working on the artist’s statement – something I’ve never really enjoyed but wahey – has to be done. That’s the plan for today.

Also, can’t make up my mind about my illustration – book brief. I’ve looked at similes and came across Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases (New York and London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1917) by Grenville Kleiser (1868-1953) "Section VIII: Striking Similes" Many images are popping into my mind when I’m reading through them. They sound so poetic and I think that’s the way I want to go with this book….

Just how beautiful are these???:

“He began to laugh with that sibilant laugh which resembles the hiss of a serpent.”

“Great scarlet poppies lay in drifts and heaps, like bodies fallen there in vain assault.”

“Eyes half veiled by slumberous tears, like bluest water seen through mists of rain.”

“Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid.”

However I also looked at contradictions – crossed it with paradoxes and it’s sooo amazingly interesting as well. I’ve like a quantum mechanics “Schrödinger's cat paradox: Is the cat alive or dead before we look?” for some time now and of course there are so many more…

And today I’m looking at signs – again – just an amazing topic…. We could see signs in anything really. Even thinking of going eastern – japanese way… but also signs in their poetry….

Or classical antiquity on the other hand?

“High on the stern Aeneas his stand,

And held a branch of olive in his hand,

While thus he spoke: "The Phrygians' arms you see,

Expelled from Troy, provoked in Italy

By Latian foes, with war unjustly made;

At first affianced, and at last betrayed.

This message bear: The Trojans and their chief

Bring holy peace, and beg the king's relief."

What to choose, what to choose… I guess a bit more research needs to be done, some ideas sketched out and decisions to be made soon – have to get on with the actuall art work soon. I think I’ll do some perpex etching for this. I love work of Albin Brunovsky… may ‘try’to approach it in a simmilar way – try very,very hard is the right way to put it as he is a genius and my work will never be that standard of quality, but hey, we need to try at least, don’t we? ;)

“How Will Digital Books Affect Children’s Secondary School Education?”

Digital books have been developing for a number of years but only now have they become so user friendly. Digital e ink makes it a lot easier for us to read without any glare from the screen and it also allows for a long battery life. They are incredibly light and you can do a lot more with them than just read books. There are many models available but the one which will probably lead the way is the iPad which allows you to read books, purchase them, bookmark pages, look up individual words in a built in dictionary or on-line, highlight passages that interests you, access internet, play games and so on all in high definition .

Digital books do cost more than the average book but once you have one you have access to thousands of books for free and others you can purchase usually for less than a printed copy. AmazonKindle is claiming to be the most popular product you can buy on Amazon and the Kindle versions of the books are cheaper than the printed books. Publishing houses are closing down on a large scale. In some areas of the UK only 20% of them are still in existence so it seems going digital will become inevitable.

We also need to consider the fact that printed books are very costly to produce. Of course there is an option of printing on demand which is great especially for printing desired books which are out print. These were previously too expensive to produce if there was a need only for a few hundred which is not an issue anymore.

Even so the digital version of a book is becoming a lot more popular. Printing millions of books and shipping them all around the world is also not environmentally friendly which is something we really need to consider in this day and age.

Not all the books are available in the digital format yet but it is well on its way. Project Gutenberg which was founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart is the oldest digital library.  Currently it stores over 33,000 books which are available for free or for a low cost to anyone. The books are set in a format usable on most computers. Also, more and more authors are keen for their books to be available in the digital form. There are many educational books available for free on line just waiting to be used.

It seems that this technology has evolved and is available; however schools have not implemented it yet. If schools would get more involved, how would this affect secondary school education?  How will this technology affect learning of all the subjects but mainly reading and writing? Is a possible closure of libraries going to affect children’s social behaviour?  Are e-books going to make life easier for children as well as teachers? Or is it going to cause problems? I would like to get points of view on this subject directly from teachers, pupils, libraries, digital media companies, publishing houses and the general public.

The need for a school or even a public library may be gone soon as children will be able to search for whatever textbook, novel, poetry or encyclopaedia they need for their subjects online. Copies of all the books will be one day available to anyone so unlike the traditional library, we will be able to access books at any time and at the touch of a screen.

Is going digital in education just the next inevitable step forward or is it unrealistic at the present time?