Wolverhampton Art Gallery

I visited the Wolverhampton Art Gallery a few weeks ago. My favourite work by far was the Ron Mueck exhibition. 

The Pompidou Gallery, Paris

To contrast the Louvre gallery I also visited the more contemporary Pompidou gallery, which we had much fun exploring.

L'illustre Boutique

I found the cutest boutique in Paris; it was contained in a beautiful alleyway not far from my apartment.

Disneyland, Paris

While in Paris I finally got my wish to visit Disneyland, it was as incredible and magical as I had imagined it, and surprisingly inspiring!

The New Art Gallery Walsall

Along with Damien Hirst there were also lots of other inspiring pieces at The New Art Gallery.

The Louvre, Paris

While in Paris I went to the Louvre gallery, considered one of the world’s biggest galleries, a title rightly earned as I didn’t even get the chance to see the entire gallery.

Paris

I went on a wonderful trip to Paris for 10 days in August with the bf, where we visited lots of beautiful places. I wanted to share some of the magic of Paris with some photographs I took.

The New Art Gallery Walsall, Damien Hirst

I visited The New Art Gallery Walsall, particularly for the Damien Hirst exhibition, who I've studied in past projects. It was brilliant to see his actual work in person.

Alex Trochut - More Is More

Alex Trochut is a Spanish designer working with illustration, graphical designs and typography. His work uses intricate details and vibrant colours, it is full of elegance with control and beautiful execution.

Olly Moss

Olly Moss is an English graphic design, who creates movie posters and prints.

Danny Gregory

I’m really inspired by Gregory’s illustrations, especially because it’s just something he really enjoys doing, starting in his mid-thirties. He started out drawing his home, New York City, drawing everything from the buildings and people. I too would love to get the nerve up to seat and draw in public.

Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher was a British graphic designer. He founded the design firm Fletcher/Forbes/Gill, creating publications, such as the book ‘Graphic Design: A Visual Comparison’. He also worked with Pentagram in the 1970's. Fletcher along with many others set up the British Design and Art Direction (D&DA) to help raise the standards and profile of design.

KennardPhillipps - Award#10

Inspiration from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.

KennardPhillipps are a collaboration who produces art in response to the invasion of Iraq. Their work is displayed in streets, galleries, the web, newspapers and magazines. They are also used in workshops to help people develop their own skills so they too can express their opinion in a visual way.

Simon Norfolk - A former teahouse next to the Afghan Exhibition of Economic and Social Achievements in Kabul

Inspiration from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.

From a series of photographs showing the war scenes in Afghanistan, how war makes the world we live in and how it changes the landscape. The buildings are results of the war. The buildings give an idea of what’s happened here, the devastation that has affected this area. It does however make you ask what exactly happened here? What has now made this area so different that there are now balloon sellers?

Ross Jones - Exodus

Inspiration from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.

Art allows us to look at war from different viewpoints, either presenting an unusual image, changing the materials or changing the scale. Exodus shows a deserted village affected by the war, in an expanse of white space; the village is a small band showing that the scene is from a distance.

Matthew Picton - Dresden 1945

Inspiration from the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry.

'Dresden 1945' shows how the city was almost completely destroyed in the Second War World. It is based on a map of the city of Dreseden and is made of burnt and partially destroyed musical scores of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, a man who had involvement in the revolution, and was influenced by destructive ideas. The sculpture gives a reminder of all the lives lost in Dreseden and the loss of cultural achievements.

Before Destruction

Picton firstly crafts the map with foam and paper of the buildings, showing how the city was before. This is then burnt to show where the destruction happened, making for a piece with so much intricate detail. There are also burn holes added, which could be showing the loss of life and the destruction of the buildings.

After Destruction

Herbet Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

I went on another gallery visit, this time to the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry for the Caught in the Crossfire exhibition. It explored how artists have responded to the brutality of war and the desire for peace. It examines key themes starting with the tragic events that occurred in Coventry during the Second World War.

Peter Chung

Peter Chung is a Korean animator, he is best known for his unique style of animation and his wonderful approach to visual storytelling. As he has worked and lived in the US, Korea and Japan he has an awareness of different cultures and the visual practice in each.

Helmut Krone

Helmut Krone was an art director, considered to be a pioneer of modern advertising. He spent over 30 years at Doyle Dane Bernbach, the New York advertising agency, where he created advertising campaigns which caught the public’s eye with innovative graphics and unexpected sales pitches.

Lindt Egg Hunt

Inspiration from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

It just so happened that the Lindt Easter egg hunt was in Birmingham on the same day. There were so many different designs and illustrations, i was spoil.  My practical favourites, were as follows. 

Rheannon Ormond – Butterfly Catchers

I admit that I was fond of this egg because it was so pretty. The illustrations of the butterflies

Ormond work consists of detailed illustrations in pen and ink, and experiments with printing and screen prints. As seen in her egg, she takes inspiration from the Victorian era and the turn of the 20^th century, but also animals, nature, romance and dark narrative. With these she creates interesting tales with her illustrations.

Graham Crowley - Blue Lane

Inspiration from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

An idyllic countryside scene based on West Cork, Ireland, where the colours have been altered to reflect the area’s atmospheric light. A milky pale blue tone has been used as many of the houses were painted in brighter tones of the same colour, these contrast with the landscape and Crowley has almost brought them together.

Note that the rural scene has been contrasted with the modern TV aerials.

James O’Hanlon - Birmingham 2012

Inspiration from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Hanlon has created a bird’s eye view of Birmingham in a pure state by reducing it down to lines and perception and not experimenting with lighting.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

I went on a gallery visit to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for the Revealed exhibition, and the John Flazman and Timur Novikov exhibits at the Ikon Gallery. It was a really inspiring day!

I actually found the buildings themselves really inspiring, particularly the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The tiles on the floor and the wonderful archways and ceilings and beams were so detailed and crafted. I found that the colour palette wasn’t what I would expect from the outside of the building, mint green and peach was used on details over a white background. This was a contrast to the deep red and turquoise in a large round display room next door. A wonderful place to stay and seat, of course i had just come in from the cold weather and it was lovely cosy warm in there.

Tim Allen

Feature Film Showreel from Tim Allen on Vimeo.

We had the pleasure of getting a talk from Tim Allen at my university last week. He is a stop motion animator who has worked on a number of projects such as the feature length films: Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and Fantastic Mr Fox (films that I've really enjoyed in the past), to commercial projects and TV animation. 

So- Me

Burtrand De Langeran or more commonly known by his tag name So-Me (from his interest in street art) is a graphic designer and animator. He is the art director of Ed Banger, where he directs most of the music videos, album artwork and t-shirts designs, even producing his own music and DJing. Allowing him to have even more of an understanding of the music he is designing for.

Kate Moross

Kate Moross is another hands on creative, her hand rendered type and experimentation with all sorts of materials is really inspiring.

Stefen Sagmeister

Stefen Sagmeister is a hands on creative, some of my favourite work is he's hand rendered type and the designs which show the physical process of making the design.

David Carson

David Carson started out as a professional surfer and with a sociology graduate, and turned a self-taught graphic designer. With no prior knowledge in design before he started it allowed him to freely break the rules without knowing. His work gives an emotional response from the design before a viewer can read it to get an understanding of the work. This means readers are focused to engage with the design, to work out what it means and get involved. He is exploring how the mind can understand information that isn’t complete and can fill in the blanks. Of course some readers won’t bother, is his work still as effective?

Saul Bass

Saul Bass made his name when he began making posters for the film industry which he would later go on to pioneer in making of title sequences, which would give the audience an idea of what the film would be about.  He became so know for this because he could take a whole film and visualise it in a simple well realised poster, sometimes with only one image, which could then become the films logo, something which wasn't happening before. Theses posters were made in the 50s and 60s yet they are still fresh today.