Kick Ass Meetup

Ever heard of Meetup? I hadn't until about a month ago, and it's been a breath of fresh air, realising that there are people out there with the same interests and goals that I have. Granted, having connections in London does help, but there are groups all over the UK and the world waiting to be discovered. And you get to go to some really interesting places, and meet great people...

After joining a few groups, I got an invitation from Sacha at Kick Ass Networking, and I thought, what the hey! Give it a go. The first event I attended was a the Google headquarters in London, what a great venue, especially for a geek like me ;) The event was a social networking and newsletter masterclass, well attended and brilliantly organised.

 

Next stop...sales and marketing :)

 

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Creative Synchromysticism - Giacometti to Ma

Giacometti -

One of my artistic influences is Giacometti; the simple forms and elongated lines which echo human shapes. Pinterest is my favourite new social networking toy, so while I was busy filling up boards with different artistic influences, Giacometti immediately sprang to mind.

Hasegawa Tohaku - Pine Trees

I found an image that reminded me of a conversation I'd recently had about a Japanese concept - the space in between spaces.


Ma -Negative Space

A simple and strange excerpt explaining ma on Youtube. 

 

 

 

Inkyo Masako - Light and Shadows.

Hakuin Ekaku - Ant on a Stonemill.

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Three photos, one day

 Three snapshots of Dominican life taken around Saltadero and Cabrera.

Watching while the local boys jump into the pool below.

 

Village huts beside Saltadero.

The Cabrera coastline, wind and rain take hold.

Anacaona (and a little nudge towards picjointer)

These past few weeks have seen me creating a few different pieces. I've started using driftwood from the beaches out here, and Anacaona is my first finished piece, carved from Dominican driftwood, in the Dominican. She was found near Cabarete, on a beach overlooking the kite surfers. Anacaona, Golden Flower, was a Taino chieftan in the 15th Century. She is a celebrated mother figure in Hatian society, and her influence spanned the whole of Hispaniola.

Note: Picjointer? A natty ipad app that allows you to put together photo montages...

 

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5 reasons why you should get Photoshop Touch!

Since loosing my camera to the ravages of the economic downturn (would you believe it, I took my camera into Jessops to be fixed on the day they went into receivership) I have been using various methods for taking photographs. Using the ipad for this is a sinch, but what about editing photos? Enter Photoshop Touch.

At £6.99 it's way cheaper than the full version, it's easy to use, and the tutorials are a brilliant starting point. It can be used as a touch up and tidy tool. Having never really got to grips with the full version, it's a neat way to get started on creating, editing and just messing about with your photos!
Below is a series of photos with different effects, using the same base photo of Anacaona, my first Dominican figure.

Starting point, taken with the ipad.

A few scratches and sepia effect added to create an old photograph.

Comic book effect.

  

Using the comic book effect and adding acrylic paint.

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A surprising find near Playa Caleton!

A search on Google Earth revealed a small bay near Playa Caleton.  After a few wrong turnings (one involving a friendly man with a gun) we found the natural bay, a perfect spot for snorkeling.  The surprise?  The coast here is one massive fossil of a coral reef...

Crystal clear waters near Playa Caleton.

Here there are huge fossils of the coral reef that existed here millions of years ago.

Tiny winkles have found a home in one of the fossils.

A geologists dream!

 

Isis in Villa Magante

Since I've been in the Dominican Republic I've been focusing my work on larger pieces. Isis is the first finished piece, standing at 40cm tall! She was found on Hastings beach on 21st May 2012, on a slightly cold, but hopeful spring day.

Hastings beach, down by Rock-a-Nore.  The tide is out and I'm ready for the driftwood!

Isis in the raw. 

I wanted to leave the impression of her hair, with just the hint of a pattern in the wood, leaving the rest to the observer's imagination.  Below is Isis in the Caribbean sun, miles away from where she was found, and bringing together three different cultures, from three continents!

So what do I know about Isis, well she's the Egyptian Goddess of magic, wife and sister of Osiris, and is also the namesake of the River Thames as it flows through Oxford. A lot of the iconography associated with the story of Isis and Osiris can be found in early Christian religions, where the figure of Isis suckling her son Horus, was transformed into the figure of Mary holding the baby Jesus. There are other striking similarities between the story of Jesus and that of Osiris and Isis as they both contain elements of death and rebirth.

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