Planet Ruby Starrs

mono print recoloured on Photo shop Very pleased to say I got excellent marks for my Digital Design module and also for my Material Cultures essay - both gained good encouraging constructive feedback and this is a welcome confidence boost especially as my dissertation is looming in what feels like the distant future but will be upon us before we know it.  I have been working hard on my next interiors assignment, getting my drawings into photo shop and cleaned up so I can continue playing with placement ideas.  There are so many drawing ideas and ways to execute them.  I was really pleasantly surprised and pleased when I scanned my mono prints in and just did a little tiding up as I quite liked the texture the surplus ink gave - I think these designs will lend themselves to being abstract prints and potentially some back ground prints when I have had a play around with colours. Its been half term for schools - us hard working art students don't get that luxury but...

Moderately successful mono printing session - They don't all look so marvelous at the moment but once these prints are scanned in and cleaned up on photo shop they will make interesting lines for collage pictures... its a variation on line drawing.  I think the trick with mono printing is to relax and not worry about the messiness - there are no clean lines but there are interesting ones! As I continued I started to get the ink ratio a little better, and the prints got clearer, its a gloriously untidy process and I'm going to do more tomorrow.  Practice makes better... there is no such thing as perfect mono prints! I'm also going to try some simple printing on paper with found objects- again I'm looking for interesting lines, I'm hoping to use them in final designs for borders and backgraounds.

I've been drawing - using photos I've taken over the last year or so. I've collated all the ones of castles I have either visited or stayed in and the drawings are of the buildings or of the rich and varied artifacts found in the buildings.   quick sketch of floor and stones outside The Old Place of Monreith Its an eclectic mix from useful objects like giant chains or brass cat candlesticks to everyday objects like fancy bedheads and table lamps. mess about no 1 hardware hanging on wall!!! I used a fine liner for outlines but have enhanced original drawings with a sharpie for boldness and some graphite pencil to add some texture, and in some places there is touch of charcoal and promarker - what ever comes to hand and feels right.   Once drawn I have scanned them into the computer and cleaned up all the scratty bits dirty finger marks etc and then they are ready to play about with.  At the moment I am just experimenting with layering ...

It started with a few interesting few days helping to hang an art exhibition at college.  It looks really good a fabulous eclectic selection of art, including two of my own, from textile students and staff. Today was the exhibition opening with a private view being held after a symposium day event of speakers on the theme of  'Discovering Your Visual Language'. This symposium introduced a range of extremely interesting speakers promoting a general debate about what is visual imagery and how it can be used and interpreted in so many different ways within design generation. thats me in the corner... . We heard about how ideas generate from the most unlikely places, some physical and some less so - more contextual and some instances even dreams.... Locations, backgrounds, upbringings, make powerful images that can really influence design.  Imagery in its widest sense can reflect so many different facets like growing up, growing away, returning home and how...

Back into the fray at college.... I've emptied my work bay and have started to collect inspiration for my new brief.  This time is based on interiors, a fairly loose brief left very much up to ourselves to come up with a concept and then a design which will translate into an interior kinda space...  I'm very keen to - surprise surprise - ramp up the colour action... research indicates this and next years colours are vibrant hues bright gaudy yellows and greens with splashes of purple and pink - well they are in my house at least - Dr Fred doesn't know this yet but when its a done deal he will learn to live with it....  Hes working away quite a bit in the coming weeks... So keen to stay with vibrant colours I decided the best place to start was with a mood board.  I've been following some seriously funky decorators and interior designers on Instagram so I started there for  colour inspiration.  When I had picked my favourite colour schemes I wrote to the ...

Another frolic in the damp wet cold depths of Teesdale with a enthusiastic group of foolhardy stargazers who love tunes.   Friday night was cold cold and got colder... Dr Fred and I were in the Beryl the yellow peril - known locally as the dirty tatty filthy (racist term) eyesore and we almost got toasty but it was down to sleeping almost fully clothed with a onesie on top and then my down gillet on top on that under a duvet and a couple of blankets... it rained and rained and the van was sat in a very large lake by 4.00 in the morning... too late to worry about sinking in the mud an we just had to brave it out.   The completely fearless in our party had intended to sleep in a tent!!!!! but in fact the tent fairly much dissolved in the rain and wind and they ended up in the bunk barn! But .... in spite of the weather we had a great weekend - a really good talk about exploring the solar system from Dr Fred - a new one for me so it was quite interesting  and the...

Well the holiday season is long gone, degree year half way through, lousy weather looms, and its that time of year when it all feels a bit flat so....Wilderness beckoned... a much needed respite from the real world - a small cosy Scottish tower house castle located up in Dumfries and Galloway, booked through the Landmark Trust.  There were (not so secret) seven of us that hit the high life in the lowlands of Scotland for a few days of r&r, good food, good company, silly games, wind swept walks and generally a very pleasant break. There was no television, no internet and not very much phone signal unless you contorted up and out of a second floor window so a real cut off from the outside world. We didn't need external influences -we are all well practiced at entertaining ourselves and each other ...and the stunning scenery more then compensated for the lack of electronic devices. Do not be deceived by the austerity of this building - it was wonderfully comfortable and...