Fine Art Foundation Degree

 Making my Final Piece Shape Once I had settled on making black king snakes for my final piece, I then had to go into 'production mode' and produce enough to display. It was at this point that I discovered it was easier, quicker, and more realistic to shape the snakes into an 'S' rather than a coil. This is because when I coiled them, the bodies would dry out and crack, whereas the 'S' shape lessened the chance of them cracking (and was easier to fix when they did), and they looked more natural. This shape then led me to design my final piece as if the snakes are 'slithering' over an object.  Display After talking to my tutors I decided that I would display my snakes by having them slithering over a mirror. It was suggested to use a mirror with an ornamental frame, but I felt that it would be too 'busy' and the frame would end up taking the attention away from the snakes. I then chose to use a simple mirror which I found at Wilko as my base. It w

 First Thoughts For my final project I had to think of a whole new topic to use as a starting point. I very quickly chose to do something with snakes as I find them so interesting, but also because they hold so much power in mythology as well as the animal kingdom. I started by looking at different depictions of snakes throughout history in art.  Snakes in Art   Zoe Keller  Where We Once Lived 2 Keller uses graphite to draw extremely detailed pictures to explore biodiversity and wild places. This drawing is of a Copperbelly Water Snake and is part of the Scale and Bone  series which focuses on at-risk or extinct snakes.  Minoan Snake Goddess Snakes held multiple associations for the Minoans such as rejuvenation, as snakes shed their skins, and resurrection, as they can move both above and below ground. The Goddess herself represents fertility and sexuality and this statue was found at a Minoan archaeological site in Crete at the Palace of Knossos. It's believed to have been made be

 Early Stages Scales The first challenge I came across was to find an effective method to put the scales on the snakes. It had to be quick, but also consistent each time to emulate the scales on real life snakes. I ended up 3D printing a scale 'printing' tile, which would transfer the texture of the scales onto the clay. Although this was meant to just be a practice piece which I would revise and change the size and depth if needed, it turned out great so I have used this for all my snakes. We rounded the top surface (the top and bottom edges are more shallow with a peak in the centre) so I could roll the tile over the snake and reduce any harsh, inorganic, lines, as well as to reduce the chance of the tile getting stuck to the clay. Heads For the first snake, I attempted to follow a tutorial by ' MP Gautheron ', but I wasn't very happy with the final result. In my opinion the head looked more like a Crested or Leopard Gecko than any snake I was trying to make. The

 Snake Symbolism and Mythology Symbolism Serpents and snakes have been associated with both good and evil throughout history and different cultures, representing life and death, creation and destruction. The Ancient Chinese connected serpents with life-giving rain, as many live in or around the water, as well as traditional beliefs in Australia, India, North America and Africa link serpents with rainbows and in turn, with rain and fertility.  Fertility, rebirth, transformation, immortality and healing are all things commonly associated with snakes due to the way they shed their skin in order to grow. The act symbolises getting rid of your old life and past mistakes in order to grow and evolve. The Hopi people of North America performed an annual snake dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an underworld spirit) and to renew the fertility of nature. During the dance, live snakes were used, and were later released into the fields to guarantee good crop

 Kate Whyles Kate Whyles told us she lacked the confidence to show her own work, but she still collaborated with other artists, and ultimately decided to work as a curator of Fine Art. One of the Artists she has worked with is Marc Quinn on 'The Complete Marbles'. These sculptures were made with traditional marble masons in Pietrasant Italy and were inspired by the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum and other classical statues such as this at the 'Venus de Milo' at the Louvre. They present images of people who have lost limbs due to accidents or born with a disability and aim to highlight the fact that the idea of an 'incomplete' body is not so celebrated and acceptable in real life as it is in the context of art history. They celebrate the imperfection and the beauty of different kinds of bodies as well as the strength and vitality of the human spirit.                                       Later, she rented her first gallery space and created 'This is Art&

Suzanne Golden Suzanne moved to Nottingham with her family in 2014 where she applied for a job at Backlit. She is currently a co-director and some of her responsibilities are fundraising, managing the counter and internship programme, and supporting the director. She is still a working artist, producing mainly fine art and illustration, incorporating themes of mental health and social perception.  At BackLit she oversees multiple projects including REMARK (an independent online platform that celebrates art and cultural experiences through writing), Mental Health Toolkit and Art NEST. BackLit aims support people who are looking for their next adventure or experience, and to be part of a group. It was founded in 2008 as an artist-led space by Nottingham graduates and has evolved into an internationally renowned independent public gallery and cultural organisation. It is LGBTQ+ and Female led which cares about equity, inclusion, mental health, the environment and being a safe space for al