I am not a motorcyclist but there is something about the aesthetics of motorbikes that has appeal – or perhaps it is the romantic notion of “riding into the sun”. The bright green of this Kawasaki does not have the same appeal as the shiny red of the Ducati in yesterday’s post but it is still, somehow, a fitting colour for the machine.
I saved the images below from those I took recently while away visiting family. I used my iPhone for all my photography while away and posted images to Instagram.
I wanted to post these images here because, despite my familiarity with the design of MIMA and the obvious link in the arrangement of shapes in the interior around the cafe area, the illusion that is created by this arrangement when seen from a specific angle did not properly register with me until I looked back at the photos.
A few weeks ago I took a tapestry weaving workshop over the weekend for the Crickhowell Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. They had asked me if I could do a version of my workshop “Sounding out Colour and Texture”.
The workshop focus was sound and the intention was to help everyone to develop ideas for tapestry weaving by using a medium that may not have occurred to them previously. It wasn’t going to be possible in the time allowed to produce finished tapestries but we were able to experiment with different techniques and materials as a means of interpreting different aspects of sound.
The language used in describing sound relates very well to the language used in the visual arts and crafts. I am not talking of the technical terms connected to audio and tapestry weaving, but rather the interpretive, emotional terms used. Colour and texture, rhythm and melody.
We often hear the term “the tapestry of life” – the wide range of techniques and materials it is possible to use within tapestry weaving make it possible to represent any number of aspects of our emotional and physical lives and sound can be an excellent starting point for exploring those possibilities.
In these workshops I would also ask people to close their eyes and imagine what colour a sound might be or what it would feel like in their hands if they could grab a hold of it. The sound editing program I use, Adobe Audition, can show us the wave form of the sound and it can show us the “shape” of the sound in the spectral display, but it cannot tell us its texture and the colour it shows is only that selected by the user in the program’s preferences.
This is where the imagination comes in and helps us to develop the designs we may use to present an interpretation of a subject that could be said to have an extra dimension to it.
apart from looking at how different sounds appear visually on the spectral display of an editing program like Adobe Audition,
I enjoy both natural and urban environments but when it comes to the urban environment, it is an absolute certainty that it will be enhanced by including natural elements, particularly trees.
StillWalks featured walk videos, until now, have been changed at the start of the week on Mondays. It is now my intention to change these over on Sundays. Therefore this week’s featured StillWalks video, “Deer Park Walk” begins its run today and will be available to watch at full length and 480 resolution until next Sunday. It will revert back to a low resolution sample length on the Monday.
The video features the sights and sounds of the Deer Park in Spring at Golden Grove / Gelli Aur Country Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
The video above is in 480p quality. You can use the Donate button below to pay however much you want and receive a high quality (720HD) download of this week’s featured StillWalks video – “Deer Park Walk” which features part of Gelli Aur / Golden Grove Country Park in Carmarthenshire Wales. Click the image above to watch the video. DVD Collections are also available to order in the StillWalks Shop.
Working in digital print was, perhaps, a natural outcome of the fact that during the design and weave projects I ran with schools, I discovered that I was able to help teachers with some of the problems they had with their PCs when ICT (Information Communication Technology) was being pushed in the curriculum.
I bought a second hand Apple LC III computer in the early 1990’s and a new and exciting world opened up to me. To cut a long story short, it wasn’t long before I was running interactive digital media projects in combination with design and weave. These included communal large scale digital prints. This was something I had built up some skill with over a period of time and training as well as through liaison with printers.
The barbs kept coming back and in these two giclée prints on canvas, I was aiming to bring together a number of different thematic strands I have worked with over the years. Interpretation of the image and its different elements is entirely open.
These works are available for sale. There is only one other print of “Waves” and “Waves 2” is entirely unique. Anyone interested should contact me.
You can find further information on school projects and much more at Design Fibre ICT
“Waves” 95 x 125 cms Giclee print on canvas
“Waves” detail
“Waves 2” 100 x 130 cms giclee print on canvas