Showing Tag: "art" (Show all posts)

Reflections on the end of year folio review and graduation

Posted by Sally Cummings on Thursday, December 1, 2016, In : Creativity

A few weeks ago, classes come to a close and it was time for the final folio review for my visual arts course. We had worked all year towards this point, and it was wonderful to look back on the body of work created over the year and take in what we had accomplished. There was such a diversity in the student work - you could really tell that each person had travelled their own path in their own way.

End of year review week (can you believe it?!)

For my part, when I saw my selected pieces displayed together, I could finally see what others ...
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Three black dogs (and working fast)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, In : Creativity

Sometimes a short, fast creative session can yield great results. These three black dogs could easily have taken me weeks of agonising over creating the designs and carefully painting them. But instead they were completed in a single afternoon. And they're amongst my favourite pieces from this year :)

We were given a brief in our last studio drawing class to design a set of three pieces featuring either cats or dogs, that would be of an appropriate nature to emblazon the sides of a large trans...
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LOL cats (in felt)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Thursday, September 29, 2016, In : Creativity

If you follow me on Instagram or Flickr, you might remember seeing these guys earlier in the year ...

I created these LOL cats for a 3D typography assignment. I was (and still am) really happy with how they turned out. I think they're colourful and cute and fun :)

I also enjoyed the whole process of making them - coming up with the designs, brainstorming different ideas for construction, creating the pattern templates, choosing the colour scheme, drawing and stitching the embroidered details, a...
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There was a crooked man

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, In : Creativity

One of the elective subjects I chose in my arts course this year was Illustration & Imagery. Fairly early on, we were given a brief to complete a series of illustrations to accompany a nursery rhyme. I chose "There was a crooked man". If you don't know it, I've included the text below:

    There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,
    He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
    He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
    And they all lived together in a littl...
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Japanese collage postcards

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, August 8, 2016, In : Creativity

This project was one of the last assignments in first semester, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Our task was to create a set of postcards using mixed media collage. They could be created manually or digitally (or both), and we needed to incorporate the following principles of design:

Colour (colour theory / schemes)
Contrast (dominance / subordinance and emphasis)
Movement and direction
Pattern (repetition and rhythm)

Japanese postcard collage - set of three

You can click on the image above to see a larger version of my set of three c...
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Triptych

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, July 10, 2016, In : Creativity

For one of our assignments in first semester we were tasked with creating a triptych (a set of three works that are designed to be displayed together), with a focus on the principles of composition, including balance, proximity, use of positive and negative space, etc. The subject matter was completely open, but we were restricted to using black, white, and one colour only.

It can be so hard sometimes to come up with a creative idea and get started. For this project my mind was stuck on wantin...
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UTS Library Artist-in-Residence Program (30 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Thursday, June 30, 2016, In : Professional

Last night I attended the VALA AGM and 2016 Williamson Lecture at the University of Melbourne's Baillieu Library.

Mal Booth is the University Librarian at UTS (University of Technology Sydney), and the 2016 Williamson Award recipient. He spoke about the UTS Library Artist-in-Residence Program that he began in 2012. I loved hearing about this program - such a great initiative that has reaped wonderful rewards in terms of cultural engagement with the library and its collections.

Mal has a great s...
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A History of the Future: Imagining Melbourne (28 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 28, 2016, In : Travel

There's a lovely little free exhibition on at the City Gallery in Melbourne Town Hall at the moment, called "A History of the Future: Imagining Melbourne". It runs until 12 August 2016 and features stories and images of ideas for development in and around the Melbourne CBD over the years.

There are proposals for elevated pedestrian walkways, canals, bizarre building designs, underground trams, pyramids and autogiro buses. There is also information about some design proposals that actually did ...
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More about charcoal (27 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 27, 2016, In : Creativity

My blog post from yesterday was all about the first time I 'got' charcoal. I mentioned in it that the following week I really got stuck into making the most of the medium. This post is a quick one with some pictures from that class.

The podium in the drawing room was covered in a random assortment of objects, and depending on our position in the room and proximity to the podium, we were to draw a section of whatever we could see. I took a quick photo of the view from my easel. It included a to...
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Learning to love charcoal (26 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, June 26, 2016, In : Creativity

In our first drawing class at art school, we were given sticks of charcoal to draw with. I had never used it before, and I hated it. Charcoal sticks are fragile, and dirty, and not pointy. You (and everything else) get covered in black dust when using it. It smudges easily. It's hard to draw clean, straight lines, and the width of the line isn't consistent as the charcoal constantly changes shape while it's being used. You need to seal drawings with fixative afterwards to stop it from smudgin...
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Reflections on the mid year review (23 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Thursday, June 23, 2016, In : Creativity

Thanks to all who offered kind wishes for my mid year review at art school yesterday :)

I was really happy with how it went. My display table looked good (see previous post), and although I didn't love every single piece that I produced this semester, overall I was pleased with my progress and how much I'd achieved. In fact I am quite chuffed.

In the formal review, I got some really good feedback about my skills development across the semester. The teachers said that pattern, colour and a dev...
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First semester nearly done (21 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, In : Creativity

Yesterday I submitted my last assignment for the semester. It's been hard yakka all semester long, usually with five or six assignments on the go at any one time. It's such a relief to have a short break to look forward to! But the holidays aren't here yet ...

Today was the first day of our mid year review. In the morning I set up a table and display space with a selection of the first semester's work - all of the assignments, plus my six best pieces from life drawing and five best pieces from...
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Cherry Tree in Autumn (13 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 13, 2016, In : Creativity

I'm totally in love with the colours on my cherry tree right now. Every time I catch a glimpse of it through my laundry window, or step outside my back door, it makes me feel happy. A reminder of the beauty in the world.

Love the golden colours on my cherry tree right now!

Last week I desperately needed some inspiration for an assignment on modernism that I was really struggling with. I had ideas, but just couldn't pull them together and move forward. One of my friends suggested taking inspiration from a landscape, and suddenly everything came t...
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The first assignment (12 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, June 12, 2016, In : Creativity

Well, I guess I really have been nervous about sharing my artwork, as it's nearly halfway through June and I still haven't posted anything from my course yet!

It's funny - I don't feel any hesitation about sharing the results of my daily creative challenges. I suspect it's because they're quick and small, and of necessity there are limitations on how much time and effort I can spend on them.

My art school assignments are a different matter. I've spent more time on them, and put more thought and...
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The Light in Winter (3 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 3, 2016, In : Travel

Last night I caught up with a good friend for dinner in the city. As we walked towards Flinders St Station at the end of the night, our eyes were caught by the illuminated buildings of Federation Square, which were covered in colourful patterns. I wandered over for a closer look, and learnt that the light installation was part of Fed Square's tenth anniversary The Light in Winter.

The light projections on the building facades are called Federation Squared, created by Reko Rennie and The Electr...
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Art student

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, May 30, 2016, In : Creativity

Wow, time has really flown this year! All of a sudden #blogjune has come around again and it's time to dust off all the draft blog posts that I've been cogitating on (sometimes in writing, but mostly in my head) and hit that publish button again and again. But before that starts, I just wanted to share some long overdue news properly ...

This year I've taken a year off work to study visual arts full-time :)

As many of my friends will know, I love creating and making. Although for many years I'v...
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Prevaricated Frequencies (26 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 26, 2015,

I popped into the city to run some errands yesterday, and as I'd heard of a new art installation called Prevaricated Frequencies by Victoria University's Skunk Control in the Flinders St station / DeGraves St subway art space, I decided to make a detour and check it out.

Although the sign had a start date of 24 June and a few pieces were already set up, they were still in the process of constructing some of the displays. Skunk Control's Facebook page says the installation begins on 30 June, s...
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A day at NGV International (19 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 19, 2015, In : Travel

I had a fantastic Friday last week, catching up with my friend Julie at NGV International.

After a short pause to stick my finger in the water wall (very important), and gawk at the Great Hall's beautiful stained glass ceiling, we headed to the NGV cafe for a cuppa and a chat. We went to the fancy one upstairs, which is a bit quieter than the ground level cafe, so we had a lovely long chat :) The drinks (tea and hot chocolate) were lovely, and generous.

Stained glass ceiling of the Great Hall, NGV International

We visited the NGV to see the Exquisite T...
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Molecule of Light (4 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Thursday, June 4, 2015, In : Travel

Last week I posted a couple of photos of a strange new art installation in Federation Square (known locally as Fed Square). It reminded a few people of H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, for obvious reasons! The information signs were mysterious, simply saying that more details would be revealed soon ...

Well now it has a name! Officially launched on 1 June, it's called "Molecule of Light" by artist Chris Levine. This laser installation radiates a constantly moving series of colours and patterns,...
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Crochet lesson (13 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, June 13, 2010, In : Creativity

Thank you so much to Kim for giving Ruth, Zaana and I our first crochet lessons on Saturday!

We were all terrible fumble fingers to begin with, but one by one we started to get the hang of it :)

My first attempt is pretty wobbly looking. I accidentally twisted it at some point, so I'm pretending that it's a crocheted Möbius strip ;)

I've been itching to learn crochet for *so* long! The technique feels very strange, especially for an ex-knitter (though not a very good one). I can see a lot of pr...
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Creative Barter Mark II (12 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Saturday, June 12, 2010, In : Creativity

Today I spent an awesome afternoon with fellow Twitterers, librarians and crafters Ruth, Kim and Zaana when we met up for a #creativebarter swap session.

I've described #creativebarter in a previous blog entry - basically we swap items that utilise our own special creative skills. Kim creates amazing crochet pieces, Ruth makes gorgeous pottery, and Zaana is a talented artist and print maker. Oh, and I cross stitch amongst other things :)

I'd like to extend my personal thanks to Zaana for being ...
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Advent Calendar - Day 17 (Creative Barter)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, December 18, 2009, In : Creativity

Sorry about the lack of a blog post yesterday - I was stitching to a deadline and ran out of time!

I've been meaning to post here for some time about crafty stuff - crafts that I currently do and crafts that I want to learn. That blog post is still in the pipeline, but for now I'll show you my latest cross stitch project of robots mucking around in a photo booth :) (click on the photo to see a larger version on Flickr). The pattern was created by Krupp at Mr X Stitch. I loved the design as soo...
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6 days in Hobart (Part 2)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, In : Travel

Sunday was museum day, and we started out at the Maritime Museum. I have a thing for swashbuckling tales of adventure, so was interested to find out more about Hobart's rich maritime history. More models of ships than I personally needed to see, but great stories made it a worthwhile visit.

Mum and I then went on to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, which provided an interesting combination of fact and fantasy. I loved the Antarctic exhibition, which included a 3D theatrette for viewing so...

6 days in Hobart (Part 1)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 8, 2009, In : Travel

A couple of weeks ago, my mum and I took a trip together to Hobart, Tasmania. I figured I'd better write a blog entry about it now, while I have access to a working computer :). I've also uploaded some pics to my Flickr account.

We had a slow start, with fog in Melbourne delaying take-off for almost 3 hours. But happily that did not foreshadow any further problems! We stayed at Hadleys Hotel in Hobart's CBD. This historic hotel was built in 1834 by convict labor, and we found it to be well lo...

My reduced online activity over the last few weeks

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, May 31, 2009,

No, I haven't forgotten my blog, although it's been quite a while since I updated. My tale of woe follows...

First there was my shoulder injury. Although it's feeling heaps better now, it still tends to feel sore at the end of a long day on the computer. So my optimism about it being a short-term injury was slightly misplaced. I would now say that it appears to be a result of over-use, possibly/probably mouse-related. So I will have to be careful in future to ease off when I need a rest, and ...