Making My Product Range.

As the brief says that we have to incorperate slip casting into our range of products I decided to look at english tea and produce a slip casted teapot, teacup and saucer and a copper spoon used to lift your tea bag out of the teapot. I also have thought about creating a felted soldier jacket, complete with medals, to work as a tea cosy around my teapot and ceramic charms which will ba able to attach to the teacup to help you when trying to remeber what each person wants in there cup of tea.
To create this I needed to produce a series of plaster moulds which will then allow me to create the same products over and over again.I also started to look at the patten on my spoon and how I can create a well fitting teacosy.

My Second Brief - 'Rule Britainia'.

For this brief I was first given six different themes to chose from, from these I chose 'Rule Britania' as it was the most inspiring theme to me. I was given a live brief for which we had to produce a range of products fitting with our theme making sure they where useable.

From this I used my sketchbook to think about all things British such as British bulldogs, English tea, Royalty and Soldiers. I looked on google images for the pictures and created my own sketches and markmaking from them.

As my thought prosesses progressed I jotted down some of my ideas as thumbnails thinking about materials and techniques I could use.

'Cakes' - My first Textile Brief.

For my first brief I had to make a pin cushion using the theme 'Cakes'.
To begin the project I learnt, practiced and took further new techniques. One of my favourites was rag rugging, this meant that when it came to creating my cake product I knew I wanted to use this technique. I love to feel and touch products which means I always think about texture and surface while doing my work giving them a tactile quality.
I created a forest fruit gateau using a range of purple materials including, plastic bags, fleece, cotton and wool to construct a textural top. I also dry felted the bottom half giving it a soft to hard contrast.

'Layers' - My first Ceramics and Jewellery Brief.

My ceramic plate using earthenware clay created for my 'Layers' brief. I was taught a range of differnt techniques and decided press mould would be most suitable for the look Iwanted to create.

My inspiration for the textures and shape came from the inside of a tree.
I looked at images like this...

...from http://www.heartwoodconstruction.co.uk/about.

For the jewellery part of my brief I first learnt many basic techniques creating different shapes thinking about what I could create. Our brief specified that we had to produce a brooch showing off our skills.

I used sweat soldering, polishing, pationation, drilling, sewing into metal, creating texture in the rolling mill and creating a brooch back to construct my brooch.

The begining of my life as a university student.

I have now been at Cleveland College of Art and Design doing a Foundation Degree course in Applied Arts for about 6 months and I LOVE it! ...making new friendships, learning new things and putting what Ive learnt into practice.

My course includes doing ceramics, jewellery and textiles, I enjoy doing all three of these and aim to be a jewellery maker in the next few years. I hope to learn everything I need to create a successful buisness to enjoy my craft as a full-time occupation.