Category Archives: 3-D

Grey velvet and purple satin

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Every now and then I like to make things in 3-D – it’s a good way of developing a character and getting to know it from all angles. Recently I’ve been writing stories about rabbits and had an urge to make one, and here’s the result. I started with a little plan in my sketch book to match the drawings I had been doing, then made a rough pattern out of scrap fabric and pinned it together to see if it would work. I had a lovely bit of grey velvet and some purple satin that seemed just right to line the ears and underneath the feet. Next I tacked it and turned it inside out to check it was still in order – at this stage I had to make a few adjustments around where the legs meet the body – tricky business, the gusset. Chain stitch made the mouth and nose and detail on the paws, and the finishing touch was the tail. I couldn’t think what to use and finally hit on the idea of an old sheepskin glove which had lost its partner – trim the fingers and turn it inside out, and it makes a perfect rabbit tail. The whole rabbit turned out rather enormous – you can see the scale when he’s standing on my desk! But a nice armful to hug. Maybe he will have a book or two to go with him one day…

Smelling triangles and tasting lullabies

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While having a clear-out at home, I came across these three funny characters. I made them a few years ago when I did an MA in Illustration and Animation at Kingston University – they were part of a project about synaesthesia, a strange medical condition in which senses get mysteriously connected, so that people taste shapes, feel flavours, hear colours or any other crazy permutations.

 

Each of these three has a zip for a mouth, and when you unzip them you can turn them inside out so that they turn into a different character – each one represents a sense so that they are connected, and can also ‘play’ with each other.

Here’s ‘Feely’: (linked to taste)

And this one’s the hearing one, with his listening trumpet:

When you turn him inside out, he becomes ‘sight’, with lots of eyes on curly silver feelers:

Then there’s smell, who comes with a hankie ready to use – there he is, on the right hand side:

As there are only 5 senses but they needed to be in pairs, I had a problem – the inspiration struck – the final one is, naturally, the Sixth Sense, who I named Mr Six. He’s a bit special with a green silk bow tie and crazy antennae, and six velvety toes:

I haven’t looked at these creatures for years, but it’s been great fun getting them out again.

Snout, claw, tusk, paw private view

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Lots of people came and enjoyed playing with the giant cubes and looking at pictures at the private view at The Old Sweet Shop on July 17th.

Recycling project

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Tolworth Girls’ School wanted to create an artwork using recycled materials and involving everyone in Year 9. I took inspiration from artist El Anatsui and devised this wall hanging made from recycled juice cartons. Each girl made a segment of 25 tiny squares linked with wire, and they also etched their own designs into the silver and gold packaging material. The result is a flexible hanging that can be hung in folds to catch the light. Sue Edkins also worked on this project.