Trying something new

I have finished my photography course and now have time to give rein to all my other art projects. I try to do something everyday, but I still feel as if I am indulging myself and should be carrying out a domestic task so I try to do something worthy round the house or garden before allowing myself an art session.

I have been fascinated by the collages, art journals, art cards and so on which abound on flickr and numerous blogs, so determined to have a go myself. This little picture is made in a cheap 6"x4" photography frame with the glass removed. I covered the whole thing, frame and backing with torn news print and layered it with gesso, acrylic colour washes and neocrayon. The collage consist of some leaves I have collected from the garden, magazine and paper bits. The little girl comes from the suzie que flickr free download pages. Flourishes were added with felt paints and a bit of stamping ink. I wasn't sure it worked until I photographed it, but looking at this it I am quite pleased. I pressed the leaves by ironing them between cartridge paper and them leaving them under a weight for a couple of days. Traditionally pressing flowers takes several weeks, but this seems to have worked - only time will tell if they last. I have a nice selection to use.

TAoP Assignment 5: applying techniques of illustration and narrative

I was not looking forward to this assignment as photographing the general public is not my favourite activity, but I thought it was something I should do. I chose to create a brochure illustrating the attractions of the local park, which is very popular. My final piece was an old fashioned cut and paste job -with scissors and glue, as I haven't got publisher, and embedding photos in a word document where you want, and the size you want is an extremely frustating exercise (well it is for me). Here I show just four of the 12 shots I used in my final assignment.

The local park is a very popular place with all ages. I had several shots of this couple strolling round the lake.

Photographing children playing is always awkward. However with a bit of zoom I felt comfortable photographing these youngsters on the roundabout. I wanted to capture the colour and movement.

I made many visits to the park to shoot the museum, but it always seems overcast and a soft light did little for this building. On this afternoon I struck lucky, the low sun cast interesting shadows, and the sudents walking up the path animated the view. I learned here that it is worth persevering until conditions are right.

Basketball practice - these lads were quite happy for me to snap them playing, but quite bemused. The light levels were low as it was cloudy and shaded so not ideal conditions for action shots. Although I took a lot of shots I did not managed to get a better one.

I did not submit my work for assessing especially at the time I had enough stress in my life, however my tutor assured me my level of work was up to standard, so although I have no grading I am quite happy to feel I achieved a pass level.