History of Your Life in 4 Objects/ Childhood...

Baby Shoes. My baby shoes are originally from Canada according to my mums cousin. The reason they came into my possession is that before I was born they were given as a present to my parents. Apparently bought form a stall rather than a shopping complex of some sort the shoes are obviously not mass produced but produced on a smaller scale, maybe even handmade. Strangely enough for some reason I never wore these shoes because well I had another pair apparently and there was just no need. As the shoes were from my first few weeks as a child I really have no memories regarding them. I thought they might be relevant as my second object follows onto footwear as well and I thought seeing the change might have some significance.

Theory- Damien Hirst Exhibition...

What I have noticed about Damien Hirst's work is that I find myself liking the ideas he comes up with however I find his work lacks the touch of the artist. In particular the animals he puts in glass as I don't think he personally does it himself but someone else, which makes me think that he isn't actually creating the pieces.

To be honest I thought it would be relevant to include a piece of art by Damien Hirst that isn't a sculpture. I personally think that the piece although slightly interesting considering the colour and the way in which it is used isn't what I really like. The piece looks as if it could have been created on the computer and considering the form I can't imagine it took a lot of skill to create. However I could be wrong so I apologise if I am. What I do like about the piece however is the size; I think it covers an entire wall its huge which I think adds to its impact on the viewer.

Now although I don't like Damien Hirst's work that much mainly due to him not actually creating the pieces himself I feel although this piece may have been created in a similar way the idea and final product is that good it doesn't bother me if he's created it or not I just like the piece.

Theory- The Leeds Gallery...

Lady Elizabeth Butler- Scotland Forever. Out of all the paintings and sculptures that were on display this painting is by far my favourite. When looking at the photograph you don't get the same effect as when looking at the piece in person. From a distance the piece looks so real and so well painted and then if you take a step closer the piece suddenly doesn't look as real but a lot more like a painting with the brush marks becoming visible. 

Leon Richet's paintings stood out to me at first due to their size and attention to detail. Although I'm not normally a fan of landscapes but I can't help but be amazed amazed by this artists work and with this piece in particular the contrast of the warm yellow sunlight behind the dark trees creates an amazing effect and is accomplished with such skill.

Phillip Hermogenes Calderon- Her most High, Noble and Puissant Grace. The skill of this painting is truly one of the best in  the Leeds Gallery I think. The textures of the cloth, silk, metal of the trumpets, its so realistic and so skillful. Overall I think Leeds Gallery is the best I've seen so far with some truly amazing artwork.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park...

To be honest I liked nearly everything about these two sculptures. I think its just the idea behind them, the fact that they are giant rabbits, its brilliant. The material, pose and it being cut in half I think is unique and gives the entire sculpture a slight surreal effect.

I wasn't a huge fan of the actual sculptures in this specific dark room however I did think the way in which the artwork was on display was really interesting as they came off the wall.

Again I have a similar opinion about this piece of art as I did  to the other room and to be honest I dislike this piece even more than the other sculpture. Recently discovering that the heads aren't even crafted by the artist but instead carved using a variety of scanners and lasers makes the piece even less appealing to me.

To be honest I don't have that much to say about this piece except that liked it a lot, the facial expression, colour and it having a sort of rough, uneven texture I just found interesting.

Theory- The Millennium Gallery- John Martin...

Martin's dramatic images have inspired everything over the years from sci-fi films to heavy metal album covers. Yet, compared to contemporaries like Constable and Turner, he was largely snubbed by the establishment of his day- John Ruskin was a particularly vocal critic! Instead, Martin developed his audience from the grass roots- relying on an eye for enthralling subjects and tireless touring of his paintings to build his popularity.

The destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah:- Firstly the reason why I do not have my own photographs of this exhibition is due to the fact that the gallery would not allow anyone to take photographs so I had to get my own photographs off the internet. Anyway I found the gallery really interesting when I first saw his work. These three paintings in particular 

The great day of his wrath. stood out to me due to their sheer size and just powerful appearance. The images I also feel considering when they were painted are in my opinion ahead of their time- the idea of collapsing buildings and end of the world thoughts although quite common nowadays I imagine they wouldn't have been in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. 

Getting back to the size of these three pieces, they are enormous, bigger than ten feet in height and width and I think with the pieces being about the end of the world the fact that they are so big just make them so much more dramatic and effective. Another feature  like about Martin's are the thunderous crag-like clouds which are slightly ambiguous and is actually difficult to determine what is what in his pieces. With the landscape and apocalyptic themed  pieces the uncertainty and almost mess/clash of colours and land makes sense in an end of the world piece of art.

Adam and Eve Entertaining the Angel Raphael:- This painting is based on Books V to VII of Milton's Paradise Lost. At the far right Adam and Eve receive the Angel Raphael who cautions them against disobeying God's command and warns them of Satan's plan to bring abut the Fall.    The terrain descends dramatically to reveal a panoramic vista of Paradise a visionary landscape of luxuriant growth. This is nature at its very birth, in a primal state of innocence before its corruption by man. I think that out of all of Martin's works that this piece is by far my favourite and I think this because whereas his other works are mostly dark, ambiguous and rarely have form, this one piece is of an actual landscape and the bright blue and green tones are a nice change from back and red. The theme of the piece and detail considering the size I think is also amazing and when I imagine the amount of time and dedication it must have taken to create such a piece, I just have so much respect for the artist.

Photography- The lovely Chesterfield College...

When using photoshop I managed to change what was a to be honest a pretty dull photograph in terms of colour to this slightly more brighter and colourful image. Where as the image before was just a plain blue by editing it I managed to create an effect similar as to if the sun was shining upon it.

Hepworth Wakefield Gallery...

The Sculpture Black Cloud by Heather and Ivan Morison, is a towering wooden pavilion inspired by the amazonian dwellings of the Yanomamo tribe. Constructed using the Amish principles of communal participation, it is protected from the elements by an ancient Japanese scorching technique. To be honest I'm not really sure how I feel about this piece.

This is an image of one of the sculptures created by Barbara Hepworth and with an enormous amount of respect, her work in my opinion I just don't really like. Although I agree that the finish to the piece is obviously done skillfully the overall piece I just feel is simple and uninspiring.

This is an image of the floor that the sculpture Black Cloud sits on and I just really liked how the circle pattern overlapped and cuts off the other individual squares. I also like the colours and the way in which the colours are separated.

I unfortunately didn't note down the name of the artist who created this piece but i did like it. The individual strands which make up the ball don't seem to have an even width or neatness to them which I like and they almost look quite careless as if not much effort has been put into them, however I'm sure it has. Furthermore the occasional use of colour throughout the piece just makes it overall a lot more friendly and pleasant. 

Photography/Theory- Kedleston Hall...

This image is actually of the statue of the lion in the grounds of Kedleston Hall; taken just from behind of the statue. I'm not certain as to why I decided to take the photograph but when I took a number I found that I liked it more than some of my others. I also liked how the tree in the background is slightly cut off due to it being behind the statue and the negative lines/space created by the statue and tree I like. I guess its the close up of the rock and the wet texture I like.

An image of one of the trees again in the grounds of Kedleston Hall. With this photograph I basically tried to focus the camera on one of the branches and have the rest blurry attempting to create a nice contrast between the two. Thinking about the negative space in the photograph once again, I think on the left side of the image with the light coming through the branches it creates an interesting effect, as if its fuzzy and distorted by the light. I also tried to make sure that the focused branch was in the center of the image as to attract attention and focus. 

A photograph of Kedleston Hall itself from outside. The actual architecture of the building, the statues, columns and patterns I found one of the most interesting features of the visit and I also loved the stairs outside: I'm not sure why exactly but I did really like them. I guess with this photograph I tried to make one of them quite challenging, bold images showing the size of the image however it didn't come out as I wanted it to. 

A close up photograph of a statue and what I tried to achieve and do with this image was to have it touching the the edge and to have the main object taking up a lot of the photograph. Also the light next to the image appears to have quite a bright and strong quality one in which I didn't actually aim to capture. With the close up this also allows the colours and pattern or difference in texture whatever it is on the cheek to be visible which  quite like. I think I might have already said it but I think the composition of the piece works well as well.