Hello again. Thailand

Its a been a while since I last posted, and I apologize for my absence. I have had several major distractions and problems with my account recently that I'm hoping is now fixed.as I would like to return to sharing my thoughts and views again. I have tried my hand at a great deal of things since my last post and will share each on separate posts as I can imagine they will be long posts.

In October 2014 I went on holiday to the beautiful country Thailand with my boyfriend L and loved every moment of it. We spent just over two weeks touring from Bangkok to Koh Samui for the first week then up to Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and then back to Bangkok.

It was so lovely over there, the temperature was hot but felt nice and healing to my whiplash injuries. The people were all so happy and friendly to see you. They couldn't do enough for you, I can understand why they call it the land of smiles.

The landscapes and cultural places were amazing. Some parts were so different to England with the mass amounts of lush jungle and tropical flora including my favourite Orchidaceae (The Orchid) were in abundance. The beaches of Koh Samui were just as I imagined a beach truly perfect to be; white sands, crystal blue water, with palm trees swaying in the breeze. It was like a dream, and was great to spend a few days here truly relaxing.

When we visited the temples they were decorated with beautiful intricate designs of natural forms and many of the Buddhist icons which were lavished in gold- A tradition outlining the importance of the temple to the community. The guardians outside of the temples were also very interesting to look at, as they were brightly coloured and had a character look to them.which made me think they could spring to life any moment.

I found the spirit houses fascinating as they were miniature houses outside of normal houses and businesses, that were used to give spirits a place to rest.  They were filled with offerings for the spirits to appease them which ranged from a photograph of the family to Buddhist statues and small bottles of various liquids. They reminded me of fairy houses and that something magical could live in them like in a fairy tale.

Even the smells in Thailand were quite an experience, with the aromatic food, the Eastern seas, local flowers and even streets themselves had certain scents, some that even now when I smell a similar aroma it takes me right back to there.

The whole holiday appealed to my creative side and I look forward to going back there. I would love to fully explore the islands and its history, and also around Bangkok. There was so much more to see, do and try that I hope to go again soon for the Thai new year celebrations.

Black and White Competition 2014

 Over the last month I have been working on this current competition by Tigerprint. The brief was to create a design with only black and white colours.The design would be used for cards, wrapping paper and gift bags.

When I first found out about this competition I was excited as I felt that this was the perfect theme for me. It meant that I could show my talents using my patterns to create beautiful organic creations.

This image on the left was orginally for the colour of love competition that I was going to enter. However I did not feel that it suited the theme enough, so I saved it for this competition particularly. For this design I chose to include as many hearts I could. In a variety of styles. I like the thought that the hearts or 'love' is growing and blooming.

These next three images are variety of some designs. I particularly liked the butterflies they seem a big thing at the moment. I am also enjoying decorating them with my patterns. The flowers were inspired by the effect that I used to get with a Spirograph. The looping petals give the flowers a few ways of looking at the flower, especially if you focus on one petal. I think the mixture of the flowers and butterflies work well together and relate with the shapes.

I particularly like the last image as the contrast of the black background with my designs, make the details more pronounced and eye catching. I think I will try this out with a few more of my designs.

Creating these designs for the competition, was a new challenge for me as my whiplash is still effecting me. I found I could only draw in 10 minute sperts. Where I then needed to rest my neck and arm, as I would be in quite some pain. I tried to push myself as much as I could but found it hard at times and frustrating.


For my future designs I think I will continue exploring with butterflies, as I like the summitry on the wings. I also like the thought of lots choices with a small surface pattern space.


When I submitted my designs I was hopeful of my entries as I thought the subject matter suited me well. However I was unfortunate to not be shortlisted. Which I found disapointing but  I will continue try to more competitions.

Accident

It's been a hard few weeks. Recently I have suffered from a car accident which has caused me to have whiplash. This has effected my daily life quite alot as I don't have alot of motablity in my neck, back and arm. So I have been restricted to doing little moments of drawing mostly trying things on my laptop. Even then I am only able to do 20 minutes maximum before taking a rest. I have found this quite frustrating but trying to use the time to do more research into my next collection of designs.

I am currently receiving physio and hoping I'll be back to myself as soon as possible. Little by little I am improving but in quite a bit of pain.

Building work

Since my last post, lots of things have happened. 

I have been to Bournemouth to see Russell Howard with brother, which was hilarious and great fun. I just wish I had my Nikon camera as the beach was beautiful especially with the waves crashing and the surfers in the distance. However I did get a few pictures with my phone which I might use them for future work.

I also got to catch with my friend N, it was great to see her and her baby bump. I always enjoy seeing her, she makes me smile a lot and a great friend to talk to. I can always rely on her to give a better prospective on things.

As well as this I have been constantly looking for work, I signed up to a few recruitment agencies, so hopefully will get somewhere soon. I hoping to get into the creative industry so I can use my talents and also grow within the industry. I have started another series of designs for my next competition, which very excited about. The brief is right up my street and I feel that I can really show off my talents. I can't wait to show you my designs.

Finally the last thing that is currently happening in my life at the moment is that my home is currently having some building work done. There is lots of noise, mess, dust and furniture everywhere its quite hard work trying to concentrate on applications or designs. So I've been trying to escape as much as I can, taking my dog out for extra long walks and going to Weston Super Mare. Trying out my Nikon camera and developing my skills with it.