2 birds, one stone ...

On my walk into uni today I came across 2 dead birds -- one fully feathered and the other a carcass. (I would just like to point out I did NOT kill them myself!) Anyway, I have been examining the wings and how they move. The colours in the birds are lovely -- when up close you can really see the green/pink/blue that runs through the feathers! I am so interested in the layers of the feathers especially in the wings -- how it is constructed is so interesting!

Life Drawing

Some of my drawings for Life Drawing earlier this week - it is so nice to get back into it again - I haven't done proper life drawing since school and I have really missed it.

Cleopatra

I have realised my main costume focus is on ballet - as I love the way the body moves and the way the fabrics move with and against the dancers. Last night I went to see the ballet of Cleopatra at the Royal Theatre Norwich -- it was incredible! The performance was memorising. The dancers grace and beautiful movements were fantastic and the costumes were perfect!

I was so lucky as I went backstage before the performance and saw some of the costumes. The fabrics were so interesting up close and moved beautifully on stage. I felt so inspired being backstage and watching the performance.

http://www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk/
http://northernballet.com/

Start Rite ... End with Feathers (...everywhere)

Today we had a great seminar with Sarah Angold about our Start Rite project! After 3 mins of very quick crazy idea "drawings" we got into our wee groups and discussed different possibilities of our ideas. Although I still don't have an absolute idea I feel more confident that I will get there in the end. This weeks task is to research into the brief and see what we can come up with.

After the seminar I got back onto my Bird wagon, playing with the different feathers and making some drawings from them :) ... I left my drawings in the studio but here is a photo of a few of my forever growing feather collection

227days ...

It has been a crazy first two days back at uni! We are into third year now and boy has the pace picked up. We’ve been thrown straight back into it all and I am loving it! Not only do we have our main focus project and essay, but we have a fantastic opportunity to show work at Indigo in Premiere Vision Paris next year and have a live project from another company. Honestly it is all a bit over whelming but I can’t wait to get straight in … Following on my project from last year I am continuing to look at birds, costume and movement. I have been drawing a few Eagles recently and I am in love with their huge wing span and how they soar through the air. I find the idea of feathers so interesting as they are so fragile on their own but so strong when layered up as a wing. I would like to look into feathers and wings and possibly make a costume with this. Hopefully filming and photographing it. I also want to explore different materials and the different qualities I can create with them. I would also like to research and learn more about the rituals and dances influenced by birds … it’s going to be a busy year … bring it on!