I thought a lot about how I approached my criticality in the past unit, and how I could branch out the topics I spoke about around themes of gardens and ecology. how can my project be formatted to articulate the dangers of global warning? I feel this is a very interesting point of thought for me as an illustrator, and how external clients can reach out to me for work considering my past projects.

I don't want to regret not having tried making things while I am still here. there probably won't ever be a better and more accessible time for me to just make things as an artist, and I feel like with what I have learnt and developed an enquiry from, it would be an incredible shame to not synthesise through practice at this point in my degree. I have been wanting to work with ceramics for the entirety of my degree and have not really had the chance to explore this. while I don't have a direct project concept in mind, I know now that if I don't just make things (even without an aim in mind), then I will never realise what that project is, or could be, or that I may not actually like it.

I added lots of turnaround dates for ceramics in my timeline, so that I make sure I arrive to the studio regardless of whether or not I know what I want to make. I think this will let me explore what I actually enjoy creating, and could result in some exciting and intuitive processes with regards to gardens and dynamics of care.

I love the vibrant colours on her work. there is something so attractive and connecting about those bright little gradients! and the contrast between that element and the super hand-drawn type and drawings makes these mugs feel so fun and playful.

care is a delicate topic that can be contextualised in so many ways. i think sincerity and playfulness are important parts of the language of care, and the dynamics of the visuals these mugs have are such a fun way of expressing this, even if the artist hasn't intended to.

I painted on some designs I had created earlier in the week, and also tried a glazing pencil for the small piece. I feel like I will enjoy the way this one will look best, but the noise it made was making my skin crawl hahaha.

despite the hesitance, I decided to just go in and use the space as they will never get painted if I just wait around for the perfect design to come to mind. I will learn far more if I let go of the need to perfect my process. this is allowing me to develop a more autonomous and proactive method of making, and is a key ingredient in cultivating a methodology through my practice

I searched lots of places that I could experience art and design before leaving. to visit Tokyo as a part of my project is such a privilege, and not something I ever thought I could get the chance to do. because of this, I want to engage with as many different gardens as possible and deeply understand how they are cultivated: the fundamentals of a Japanese garden, the histories that surround them, and the experience of visiting them - particularly as someone new to them. understanding this will be a great and rich addition to the enquiry I am building for my workshop and the work I am making for it, adding to the critical engagement I am proposing of how care is cultivated in gardens and the ways gardens are curated/fostered/kept. while I have spoken about gardens in a universal sense, I have very little experience of gardens around the world. I may only be visiting one country and for a short amount of time, but to be able to acknowledge and articulate the experience of studying other gardens will be incredibly rich and I am so excited for it.

I feel confident that the work I have developed so far; the knowledges I have synthesised and the processes that I have been creating have helped guide me towards this stage of self-reflection and will develop an excellent basis to continue you independent project on. I feel excited to create now, as I know I will get to fulfil a project that is based more towards my own personal goals, rather than just what I think will sound good in a portfolio.

when I imagine what my future looks like, I find it hard to envision one where I get to be a creative who explored their practice in autonomous, exciting ways. I see myself working hard no matter what, but I just don't think working hard will be enough as this sort of job just doesn't exist? I just feel like this is unrealistic and I am scared of the idea that I will set myself unrealistic standards to reach, or that I will feel the lack of this happening soon is a reflection of my work. I feel like the environment the illustration is in right now is incredibly tricky to manoeuvre, and it relies a lot on having as much time as possible to fulfil jobs, but I know that this is impossible as I will also need time to work outside of illustration in order to make money to actually do illustration.

even doing tattooing on the side isn't enough, and I really want to keep that up as it is such a fulfilling and exciting industry that I have stepped in. in my ideal world, I would want to have a job that allowed me to travel. I don't know if this means I have to work a non-practice based job that let me have lots of holiday/was wfh, or if I worked a creative job that took me all over the world. this was actually why I first began tattooing - I wanted to draw and meet people and have an income while travelling, but even this is looking really difficult to fulfil.

although residencies aren't the most economically sustainable way to rely on travel, I feel like they offer incredible opportunities for me to build on my work and discover the world. with residencies, I could also consider taking time while I am in these spaces to tattoo. I would just love to be able to draw from all over the world! and see all the gardens!

I suppose if I want to do this, I have to establish myself as a creative whose interest is in the subject of gardens, ecologies, etc. and then find residencies that align with these? and I suppose for me to set progression aims that are actually enjoyable, I should be honest about what I really want. I feel like although they may be unrealistic, I am doing myself a disservice if I downplay my wishes.

when discussing binaries, are these walls of opposition? are they dictations of isolation? privation of care through linguistic, then physical, manifested boundaries?

if this is the case, what in my practice will allow me to explore this? how am I engaging with this in ceramics? and how can I bring riso into it, will it be a literal merging of the two or will they be separate elements that holistically bring the project together? what will I curate my workshop around to teach this (physically/is it the ceramic vases that I want to make? is it educating in situ: in a garden space?)

resartis.org

artnumber23.uk

studiokura.info - apply soon!

risolab.sva.edu

risopop.com

the flowers here are good visual isnpo though! maybe I can make a project that revolves around aspects of his garden in a more micro/intimate way? breaking down prospect cottage garden?

using my own photoshop colour separations, I wanted to see what tones worked as a balance between two ink drums. rather than building images from RGB or CMYK alternatives, I just wanted to experiment with complimentary colours

being able to rely on each other communally in the industry is so important, which is why I wanted to get help from someone who is working in this in a more professional sense. I was able to understand the domain a lot more intuitively, and had gained a contact from it which will be great for us both!

I spoke to nic about what the dynamics of posting my illustrations on my tattoo account, and if merging the two practices online was a good idea or not. he explained that it likely wouldn't influence anything major, and I wouldn't miss out on opportunities because of it (ie. clients probably wouldn't turn away if they saw I did tattooing just from my instagram etc.), and I feel like it would actually be beneficial to post my illustration on there as - at least as a tattoo artist, it would round my persona out a bit more? and then create more of a character which is quite desirable on instagram. this is interesting though as there's not much out there to really go off other than just trying it. I found this a useful conversation to have, though, as I hadn't considered it from an illustration point of view, I had only thought about it from the tattoo industry point of view

I feel really confident in my project for the unit so far, and I am so excited to see what else I make.

I also want to try these each on two different paper tones - bright white and off white. I am beginning to work towards a finalised outcome that is oriented around colour, and I want to explore my options and how all the elements interact with each other before hand. i also want to make sure I am using eco-friendly materials, and so I have decided to use Shiro paper as it is sustainably produced

its great to see myself picking at random, quickly and spontaneously made works and being able to then turn them into more practically processed works. I want to start really thinking about playing with my pro marker drawings and turning them into their own riso prints, maybe using my YRGB process to finalise them

either way, this is a huge improvement fro my first poster design and I am so happy to see this progress in just a few days time and work

these are responses to the gardens I visited in Japan, particularly ueno

I created these forms as responses to the shapes I saw in gardens during my trip. I feel like they are a culmination of the elements included, the earth, stone, and water combined into separate, fluid, ambiguous looking forms. altogether they express a garden space though not at all directly. although intended to be scanned in and then edited individually, I really like how they look altogether as a finished piece

I also feel like these would be so much fun to play with on photoshop, changing the hues and saturations could create completely different expressions of these spaces.

after looking so deeply into systems of care in the garden, what I can feel from these is a cultivation of that learning through the practice of drawing. its like every colour acts as a drawing into feeling - choosing the next colour out of all the bright, bizarre tones is like a connection into these spaces. I have been able to nurture a sense of care for myself through bringing myself into these feelings of comfort in gardens. this engagement with gardens in such an intimate way works as a system of care in itself.

its funny how much colour has guided my work the past two units - it has been the centring of criticality throughout this year, and my main driving force of interest and connection to methodological thought and practice. without the connection to colour that I have been cultivating, my critical methodology and thought may not be where it is now - I have developed a method of thought for myself that has carried long into this unit, without actually realising it. I feel like I connect myself to the world through colour, and I have turned it into the system of care that this whole unit has been moving towards. i have developed a mode of indexing and grounding, and then articulated the world through it. unit 9 is the fostering of contextual thought that the work I am doing here in unit 10 - the articulation of what care is in a garden - is based off of, and relies on. how I am expressing care is through the connection between self and colour, the engagement with the inner and outer self - inside/outside, the human and the garden, how the two come together through reciprocity. through "giving, receiving, and giving again" - kimmerer

I used spectrolite to seperate the colours on this piece, and I can see how it dulls the tones quite a lot compared to colour separations on photoshop. this means I will have to go into the files and edit them some more, but I will continue using soectrolite when approaching the making of a zine as it is a far more intuitive process since it lays out the imagery for you. there are pros and cons, and I am glad to be able to identify them independently. it shows progress in my practice

going over the slides, the briefing for this unit seems incredibly straight-forward. I feel as though I will get a chance to deeply explore practice based outcomes with rich critical engagement. after spending so much of unit 9 considering artwork in contexts, and how criticality manifests in conversations on gardens, I am excited to explore research through making in such a fluid and autonomous way. while I understand that unit 9 offered this, unit 10 seems much for open to my own ideals of engagement and enquiry.

"Quantity over quality. I SAID IT!  When you're making work for your portfolio, it might be helpful to loosen up and make a lot of work if you can swing the time. We'll edit later, but don't get so uptight about making the perfect pieces that you avoid making anything at all. You might fall into a stride on a quick piece that pushes you towards a really kick ass illustration. In fact, I find that all my greatest ideas happen when I'm already working - not when I prematurely overthink them to death."

pulled this quote from the website linked which is soooooooo relevant

its interesting how my approach to my practice has changed with contextualising it so strongly into a criticality. I have found that my method of research to build my IPS enquiry will require different, or even new, methods of research that are now deeply critically engaged. drawing like these do now reflect my new interest in gardens and I am not motivated by them to analyse and evaluate research.

with this, I am questioning what this may mean for my professional self? is this better or worse for me as an independent, professional practitioner? on the one hand, it may mean that I can use this project to anchor into what my new methods of making are, and how I can draw in contextual knowledges to create deeper awareness into the work I am making. it would be really positive to be able to articulate my work as being about something (Tilly's work focuses on gardens/queerness/human-non-human...). however, my portfolio for this work is not at all big and if I don't enjoy creating this same work, then what will happen if someone comes to me for it? will I have to ditch it all for my professional portfolio? and how can I showcase myself as a professional artist/illustrator if I only have one small, new body of work?

I know that gardens in Japan have a very different; very specific method of curation and I would deeply love to see it. before I set off, I have decided to analyse information regarding Japanese gardens and to develop a systematic and fluid understanding of the functions, curation, and maintenance of gardens in Japan, particularly compared to the English gardens that I know so well in understanding how hierarchies are presented (or perhaps not presented) in Japanese gardens, I can analyse how they can be broken down through teaching the specifics of how we understand gardens here in the UK.

if I am to do a workshop, I will be running it in London so the context of gardens - although supposed to be neutral and globally understood - is still situated as the way they are curated here in the UK. perhaps engaging with Japanese garden spaces will allow me to articulate a richer understanding of how a human is situated within a garden, or most importantly the function of care within a garden, as in understanding hierarchies I am understanding who is most cared for - are humans and non-humans equal in a Japanese garden? is human the opposed binary to nature in a Japanese garden?

I wonder how I could apply something like this to my own practice? I really like the idea of a process that works around building shapes; letting go of a finished outcome and sort of playing with form. ceramics definitely engages with this type of practice of play, but to be honest I feel like its still quite a strict process: when you go wrong, it often leads to the ceramic piece not being usable, etc. rather than just having a different creative output. the process is quite regimented - and maybe this is all just because I am so new to the practice, but I am starting to feel like perhaps it is not the method of making I want to centre my project around for this unit.

it is interesting how this garden beckons these questions I have, as I somehow felt this was a sort of acknowledgement of what the elements in the garden can create. however, the imposition of power from the human side of the proposed binary is still reinforced, and I feel this was a garden made from rich human agency. such a beautiful space, though I felt completely tiny and alone in its vast curated-ness.

the sign next to it reads:

"This monument is a bark of the big campher (which is more) than 600 years old in Munakata Jinjya. We think that gods exist in all things in nature. We think that gods exist in this bark too."

I really liked this. the sign is now the background of my phone's lock screen, I just enjoyed it so much. "in all things in nature"... the world around us is such a delicate and special thing. to celebrate and acknowledge the power of the natural world we reside in is something so deeply important, and I felt that while I was away, especially here in Kyoto. the city follows these delicate little streams, and there are so many corners of nature that are filled with spirit. it reminds me so much of when I was reading up on kimmerer and her cultures approach to the natural world - although it is a very different set of practices, there is the empowerment and appreciation that natural beings are their own, autonomous selves. the garden, then, is a collective of creatures, beings, and systems of reciprocal care.

it was really cool to see her work in another pet of the world, it felt so empowering. looking at her work while synthesising it through my new context of care within a garden still feels so relevant - she created work that showcased her being so gentle with the elements; with nature. it was the human form that she was showcasing to us as perhaps violent, the initiator of the supposed binary.

this is an example of now of those works where her form is highlighted, almost alerted, visually. many of her siluetas are of her body merging with the earth. here, it is eventually shone in red. its like a warning. this functions as the opposite of care in some ways - like a standout element in the function of a group, one that works independently and not reciprocally. the human is showcased as separately hierarchal to the environment they are in.

reflecting this in my project, I am brought back to creating a workshop and focusing deeply on hierarchies within what I am teaching (criticalities, etc.) and how I teach. in the Mendieta piece, such a minute change visually has been made and yet the entire dynamic feels different. how can I be aware enough of all the processes I am making in my workshop to make sure that no oppressive hierarchies are created? how do I showcase the garden, and playing with the garden, in a way that still teaches human and nature are not opposed binaries? and how can I teach this in a way that supports intuitive learning and play?

a piece I found really interesting (though I wasnt allowed to photograph it) Jef Geys' project on plants - I can't find anything directly about it online, but in the exhibition press release they describe it as "Jef Geys' project with the Roppongi Hills community makes us look at weeds differently, as a tool for healing"

it was a series of medicinal plants found around the roppongi hills area. as a project, it reflects how plants that are typically considered weeds end up becoming medicines, and as a method of thought, this acts as a representation of contemporary art as it "bestows new value on something that had none" (taken from the description beneath the artwork).

this reminded me so much of my unit 9 project - the way he re-created or mapped out the space of roppongi hills with the plants was so reflective of my own work. and the empowerment he proposed of the plants was also something I was deeply motivated by when creating my work. this project reflects the deconstruction of that human nature binary as he created attachments between the human and the plant. he empowers the plant and their capability to care, much like what I am trying to explore within the garden. he recontextualised the natural spaces around roppongi (the garden of roppongi) as spaces of care. then, by bringing these images of the plants into an exhibition space, he is bringing us into the space these plants were found in a very intimate - if not obviously detached as we are not in the exact spot - way. I found this such a fun way for me to analyse my own project and bring my own themes into another persons work. it felt very grounding and resonant as another artist to see my ideas recontextualised, to some degree!

Edit: I found the name, it was Quadra Medicinale Roppongi by Jef Geys (2011)

I can't find a lot online about this magazine, but ive added some context and bits that I found interesting

what does this tell me about care? I find it interesting to consider this when making a reflection post-unit 9; considering what I understand now with a very specific practice-based understanding of criticality

for vita, this secrecy was care. this was her cultivating safety, and self-nurturing through hedge walls that promised care. what felt isolating for me meant freedom for her. there is a sadness to it, although I am reminded that she was in a position to be able to create this space for herself where she could be free. however, it is a strange thing to acknowledge as you are stood there taking it all in.

and this makes me think about my own project - even if I am moving from just making a workshop, how can I still allow for an experience that is grounded in showcasing care? how am I telling the story of care within gardens? what, exactly, is my pivotal focus within care that I can expand on visually?

my finalised mini briefs:

• book of flowers found in Derek Jarman's garden

• garden party exhibition posters

• a riso printed book made purely of my own visual work

• a mini publication for a garden/riso workshop

• a mini publication made using the scanner

I wanted to play around with textures and simplistic forms to express the flowers. this was my first design - its so horrendous but I have never really used the adobe suite to actually draw things and just really wanted to play with gradients and see how I can use riso grain touch to create fun, dynamic posters. I took a step back from this design and hated it so much. it looks evil. im glad I gave it a go though as now I can understand how to make these grainy gradients on photoshop. however, I have more experience with illustrator and I know people use it to create illustrations often, so I decided to switch and play with illustrator instead.

I also wanted to play with creating bubble text on illustrator. I don't like the way it looks as it feels very amateur (and not in a fun way, just in a distracting and sad way) which I feel like takes away from the playfulness of the illustrated flower and gives the poster an overall discomfort visually. I also feel hesitant with how the grainy stars will look when they print, as grain touch on a grain effect may just look really jagged and off

I also wanted to try and be more adventurous with what I was drawing in illustrator and decided to try creating something that was almost purely drawn. I have found that using illustrator is much more intuitive and overall has better, more pleasing results than on photoshop

my only issue is that if I were doing this in a professional setting (like for a clients design or something) then perhaps this would be a bit long-winded of a process, or they might not send block colour files ready for this format. this is just something I will have to learn as I go throughout the rest of this unit, I suppose

I decided to base this one off of the flowers I included in my pamphlets for unit 9, as currently the garden is only just stating to bloom and there isn't very many vibrant flowers out just yet (though they are creeping up!). I wanted to work with the same method as I found it was reliable and I trusted the process while doing it with the prospect cottage zine. my mini brief will be made up of three garden-based zines, I have decided

I am working off of my initial workshop ideas, of using a garden vessel as an object of interest, except rather than the participants playing with their own vessels, they will all be working off of one - likely drawing it or recreating it in their own means of making. I am considering using colour as a source of care for this, as I feel like there is a lot to explore there in terms of topics and relating it back to themes I touched on in the last unit. I feel like I could guide this workshop through an understanding of how colour works in riso as colour is what makes riso so special, and also relate it to the way I used colour as an emulsion between human and non human in unit 9.

I used the template of the pamphlets I made in unit 9 as this workshop is a sort of extension of those works - the basis of what I want this workshop to be is both to let people play with the risograph in an intuitive and relaxed manner, and also to connect to nature through colour (thus breaking the binary, thus bringing nature into the experience of human, all that). I feel like this design choice allows for a perfect acknowledgement of what my method of thought is for th workshop. the writing from unit 9 holds a familiarity to it, but the workshop pamphlet is more playful with design to allow for a differentiation.

it was fun playing with text like this in illustrator! I feel like my adobe suite skills have grown a fair bit since I began this unit.

I am excited to finally approach this through uni, and hope to reach out to others to foster a sense of communal learning through engaging with building online platforms together.

how am I using this project to engage with these spaces?

what do I understand about care that allows me to activate experiences with these outdoor spaces, and will it differ depending on the garden?

for the outcome of my project I have decided to set myself five briefs that explore dynamics of care found, manifested from, or related to the garden. the outcomes will showcase an understanding of how a garden functions based on care and reciprocity, and will reflect my critical position I have developed from unit 9 - that being the way that I want to break down binaries, using colour to draw human and non-human closer together. riso will be the medium that I create these works in, allowing me to fulfil the start of my progression aims as I will be cultivating a professional methodology in my practice through contextualising myself as a risographer, i.e. I will be able to develop a 'specialism'

with my work.

this feels like a very important advancement from my original concept, and I will still be building on ideas I was developing before of hierarchies, autonomy, and care within gardens. I feel I am narrowing myself too much by simply directing this project into a single outcome. I am not starting from scratch, but rather using what I have learnt to create a personal body of work that showcases these concepts of care and ecology. I also still want to develop a workshop, which will be one of my mini briefs for this project. I feel like working at a fast pace through fulfilling these briefs will create a good practice for me as I need to get used to creating work that is of a high quality through intuition. it won't be easy for me to work professionally if I take my time with my creative work, and I feel I have a great tendency to do this. I am aware of this setback and want to actively try and change it through this project

terra preta is a very specific type of soil found in the amazon. although this isn't directly relevant to my project, I think it is interesting to see what practices have been historically used for the use between ceramics and earth-tending considering the fact that I am merging the practice of gardening with the practice of ceramics (or at least using ceramics as the vessel for gardens) for my workshop

this blog post shows someone using discarded crushed ceramics in terra preta - I think this would be a really interesting way to acknowledge the coexistence of ceramics and gardening in my workshop, like a sort of engagement of the two elements with the historical context of terra preta.

is using multiple ceramics as garden vessels more, or less, ecologically wise? if one is thrown away, that adds up to lifetimes of breaking down of the ceramic material. I question what this may mean for the function of ceramics in my workshop - particularly as vessels of interaction between workshop perticipants and workshop activities

how does care synthesise itself in the contexts of gardens?

to explore how care is cultivated in the garden I need to first articulate what I mean by care. from my work in the last unit, I have come to understand and contextualise this term as derived from Robin Wall Kimmerer's concept of 'reciprocity'. in the garden, all elements, individual beings, and states play a role in fulfilling the livelihood and sustenance of the space, and those who exist within it. it is a back and forth of trust and nurturing. so when I refer to care in the garden, I refer to the cycle of sustenance that keeps it thriving, like a city built on nurturing (how cheesy is that).

what can this look like? how can I show this as an illustrator, where can I see this and retell it through my own voice? I feel like the independent program of study works as a method of teaching me how I articulate and direct ,y professional self. what, for me, is illustration? and what role do I play within this? am I telling the story of what care is in the garden/articulating it myself, or am I simply showing examples of what this is? does reciprocity mean the same thing to me as it does to others? care is a deeply complex topic with lots of intersectional privileges and disadvantages, so how can I approach this in a meaningful, well-synthesised and articulated analysis of knowledge?

this helped me a lot with re-developing my enquiry for this project. explaining what I wanted to do with her was really helpful as I was able to see what I articulated as interesting intuitively. I spoke about developing a workshop and how my primary focus was on the hands-on aspect, and how I wanted it to be an intuitive and one-on-one exploration of gardens with my last project centring the educative aspect of it. we developed the idea of teaching self-sustenance through learning how to grow your own food, which is something relating to care and radical care (not relying on chain shops for sustenance, DIY care, non-capitalist nourishment). she walked me through how materials and documentation can play a huge role with this, and how gardening is a methodology in itself - something I felt was really reflective of the place I was at with my arts practice currently, and perhaps the ways I articulate the garden over the next few weeks will become the way I articulate my creative practice when I first become a professional practitioner

I think going forward, I need to allocate myself a specific role and not feel like I have to cover in for everyone. not only is this unsustainable, but it actually overshadows other people who may express their assertiveness towards fulfilling projects in different ways. I don't think im a necessarily overbearing person, but I think I have a tricky balance of being too dominant in a group project while also being too passive, which sort of means I let people do whatever they want and then leave the work till last minute and do it myself (probably not very well, either).

so for this degree show, I want to seriously fulfil one set role for myself and know my boundaries. my only worry is that people will already be used to having a small number of people carry the project, and if I am taking less charge then will this only create more work for one other person, instead of the work be spread out between lots of us?

I also added a flying object to the site to maintain that fun aspect that suits the work and brings the simplicity together with the fun, silliness

here, I was trying to see if I could add a navigation side bar to my homepage. I tried working with this but it actually doesn't suit the setup of my website as the about page is in the corer and I like the way this looks. all the pages I have are accessible from the home page, so I chose not to include this.

I have come out of unit 9 with a critical practice/critical insight into my art and illustration. to embolden and anchor my work, I hope to leave this project with a method of making - or methodology - that I can continue to pursue and refine through contextual knowledges and practice-informed experimenting when approaching my critical lens (or even other forms of enquiry). this methodology will be something I use to learn complex knowledges, but also something I will deepen my understanding of more and more as I continue to practice it.

right now, I want to be able to explore making ceramics, and to use this project to learn about it while also applying it to cultivating care and community through my idea of creating a workshop. I am excited to start this, however I worry about the idea of doing my last ever project for my degree with a practice that I don't know very well. I question how this will look for my portfolio, and overall worry that my work may not be to a standard I would like considering my skill. ceramics is such a rich practice, with so much to learn from, and I question if I am being naive of the fact that I know so little. am I jumping on an idea without really thinking it through ? I suppose I should continue with my experiments in ceramics to gain a better understanding of where I stand with it.

the Tate offer workshop spaces for up and coming creatives, though I am curious as to what they charge and if I would even be able to hear back from them. maybe go through friends who have contacts in the Tate?

through uni - camberwell offer lots of opportunities to showcase ur work and could advertise it?

local libraries - Peckham, even bigger libraries etc.

arts studios - page masters, lighthouse, maybe even at new language (where I work for tattoos) as it is a fluctuating studio and arts space?

feminist library

maybe el vermut even though it is a bar? I have seen them run arts workshops in the past

I feel two ways about this poster design - on the one hand, I think iy looks really fun and playful and I have successfully incorporated the chrysanthemum in a way that is effective visually, however I also feel like these posters are a bit much and seem almost absurd. the flat gold on white helps bring the design down to the ground a bit and softens it, but overall I am questioning how well it reads, particularly to people who maybe don't know this style so well.

I want to continue experimenting with drawing with illustrator and using geometric shapes to build imagery. I feel like riso really accents this style well and I had lots of fun considering the design for this piece in relation to its context.

moving forward, I want to create work that explored the use of YRGB in riso, doing so with the fluro colours as I think they showcase what makes riso so special.

I will also begin to approach the question of how these words will sit in real-world contexts, and will do so with the following projects in this unit. I wanted to be free with what I was making up until now, and I now will begin to refine my design process through articulating the how/where/to who my work will situate itself around/in.

working from this in the future, I will set myself the task using less colours. although I am glad ive done it, I know that using this many is unnecessary and part of what is special about riso can often be that limited colour palette with bright colours. considering how quickly I pulled this zine together, I have decided to add another two, small zines to this mini brief in order to fully experiment with this printing and designing process.

I regret not going over the zine a bit more - since I had copy and pasted the layout of the Dungeness one, the six-colour riso part stayed the same and I didnt go over it well enough to see that this was still there. I know that this is something I can easily fix, but I know now that I need to pay more attention to my designs before I print.

next, I want to focus more on bringing together colour separations and playing with turning analog artwork into riso prints. I made all of these zines digitally on procreate, and now I hope to expand my riso practice by working with scans and colour separating them

I have been able to analyse and experiment with colour mixing and was able to resolve personally articulated discomforts with design regarding the use of risofederal blue versus regular blue ink with the fluro colours, creating my own methodology in riso with a system ive developed for printing in YRGB. I was able to come to this conclusion through a commitment to playful experimenting, and have taken creative risks regarding time management and funding.

I hope to create more practical work that showcases these experiments with the risograph, and create a deeper enquiry into my new process in my riso practice.

while it is only a small workshop that I am working on, I think it is important to analyse and synthesise my knowledge on the role I will be curating. in order to create workshop that is successful and one that I can use in a variety of different contexts and setting (reflecting on accessibility here), then I need to understand what my methods are of sharing information and guiding people towards fulfilling something.

teaching to transgress shows the histories of our contemporary teaching settings - the classroom - and the dynamics of education that are dependent on hierarchies. education is so deeply curated to maintain these hierarchies, and is reinforced by the ways in which we teach. how can I offer space to learn without dominating the process of thought? how can I offer autonomy to someone who is learning from me while still giving them guidance? how am I approaching non-interaction/divergence? and how am I engaging with hierarchies, as someone playing the role of 'facilitator' (the person in charge, etc.)

this is such an interesting enquiry into the knowledges that make up my IPS, one that I didnt consider until I spoke to darryl. I hope to analyse this through engaging with peers in these contexts - I can start to run small teaching sessions and see how I interact with this dynamic.

I think what is important considering what I have just completed in the last unit is putting my criticality and concepts of practice forward into a methodology of practice, like a practice of making that I cultivate as a learning tool of itself and the contexts I situate it. I have been able to engage with research and enquired knowledges so deeply, and have applied it practically to some degree but now I want to fully embark on a process of cultivating a methodology that will allow me to leave uni with a deeply engaged practical mode of research.

this is a perfect summary of the Our Ecology exhibition - I feel as though the topics and themes brought up in here were so diverse, and yet engaged with ecology as a system of maintenance that beings together all manner of functions that create the system of life. between the struggles of nuclear destruction in Japan, to materiality and sustainable living practices in the arts and around the world, to lives of plants and other non-human beings, there is a magnification on how systems of care are fostered at times of struggle, how the imbalance of nurturing in our current global climate reflect an unnatural way of being, one that all creatures are subject to in the continuation of this cycle of hierarchy.

what I have taken from this is an understanding of how a multitude of elements are impacted by, and actively impact, how care functions in spatial dynamics. I was incredibly inspired by the ways that ecology was expressed here - between the delicate sea shells you step on and the auditory element of this, to the mass slab of burnt waste as a standalone art piece, there is so much that goes into the expression of ecology but also of collective care: "toward a planetary living" is a collective movement. it articulates a togetherness in all this mess of hierarchal hell. looking at this in the context of gardens and care, I am envisioning a self that engages with this multitude of ideas in a way that actively makes them take part in reciprocal care with a deeper understanding of the functions of it all. like a change in the viewer, a cog in the machine of care that knows its role a bit better.

I can see that my choice of colours makes the pieces look really off, and I don't like the RGB experiments at all. this is something I think I will just have to learn with practice/intuitively. and while using colour theory to choose a complimentary third colour, I think what would be best is id I just chose the colour myself by eye. I feel like because of the vibrancy of some of the riso inks, you can't really use digital software to work out what colour would work with what. it is something you have to play by eye, and this is how I will be approaching the next riso experiments.

I actually don't have anything I would change about these, I am incredibly proud of them. they reflect so much of what I have learnt about risography, both during uni and during my time in Berlin last year when I was studying riso under male muller (that's his name on insta but?? I swear he was called Tomas)

it just feels like a great culmination of the skills I have learnt over the past year, and a harvesting of themes of care articulated through my own criticality of the garden. colour has become my way of articulating reciprocity, and I have begun to form a sort of language of care through the way I am able to express the function of colour. now is my time to put this working practice to use as I create a project that focuses on care and reciprocity through colour as a culmination of what I have learnt in a visual practice format.

the colours look awful on padlet please excuse how bad these pictures look

I have let my peers engage with my different projects in a variety of ways in order to understand the ways I demonstrate my critical understanding of illustration both through my personal processing of the practice and how it synthesises in wider contexts. over the past few weeks, I have been able to analyse how my work is interacted with and the spaces that it is best suited to. I can see that my work exists as a professional body of practice, and that people engage with it best as pieces to be explored aesthetically

to synthesise the work I have created in professional settings, I have had to understand what my practice means for me as an illustrator and what I want from this degree/the future of my work. I have been able to articulate where I am with my professional practice currently, and what I aim to achieve within given time frames. through this, I was bale to develop a portfolio of work that can aid me in achieving my goals. I now see my work as existing through online portfolios as examples of what my skills are in expressing theoretical, contextual, and critical knowledges. from this, what will empower these skills is establishing my work as artworks through sending them to different exhibitions and gallery spaces. this will help in establish my methodology and process of thought as professional and nurture a strong foundation to my creative self, as my work will always be guided through my enquired practices and exploration of knowledge through creative play.

the work I have created in this unit, then, will begin to exist in gallery spaces. I have begun research various local spaces that offer this - there is a Nunhead community exhibition later this year that I am considering applying to, with a cheaper entry fee if I apply as a collective, and have seen plenty of open calls on instagram and arts boards online - to build a better established name for myself in order to better my chances of fulfilling my progression aims of taking myself to residencies.

I am so excited for what's to come. I have barely been able to see where my practice will take me outside of uni until now. and now I see a path right in front of me! I have learnt so much about having to be independent and take opportunities when you see them this year. this is something I didnt think I deserved to do with creative work, and now I know that I have the autonomy and ability to fulfil roles and jobs that I otherwise thought I was not able to. I know its a hard industry, but I don't think I would want to be anywhere else

the website will continue to be a work in progress even after I submit, as I have put a lot of effort into making it seem professional and relevant to myself as an artist. I feel much more confident about this one than the first, and I can see myself using it for a long time to come. therefore, I will keep editing it and changing things to make it as helpful for me as possible when reaching out to illustration clients and even for my tattooing.

I used what I learnt from the tutorial at the start of the term about using confident language to finalise my about paragraph. I wanted it to be fluid but succinct. I feel like when I begin to talk about something I will just ramble, so I tried to cut down on that for this page and keep the information on this in a jumping motion - moving from one thing to the next, so that people could get a good idea of who I am quickly and stay excited. I am also grounding the context of my work into travel, as this is the thing I want most and I want to start situating the two together for myself professionally. if people think im a reportage illustrator/travel artist, then they may think of me when opportunities like this arise?!

again, I didnt want to include all of the pages of this piece so that I can make it sellable

I did so with a few friends and peers, a dynamic that would not be the same if I was to practice this professionally but a good place to start as I feel like it adds the challenge for me of trying to support people I am familiar with if they stray from understanding the workshop. i can't predict what people will be like under the setting of 'learner', and actually I found that it was a really good practice for me to get to help someone who maybe was too comfortable and was diverging from the tasks - this is absolutely fine considering the autonomy I want to engage with for students in the workshop, but I found it was a really good piece of learning for myself as I had to engage with them in a way I hadn't had the chance to before.

I offered my pamphlets from unit 9 to the table, and said the people could engage with them if they want, and explained how the workshop will run. explaining the dynamics of colour for the first time in such a way was quite difficult, and I am glad I printed out the workshop cards for people to look back on when they needed. however, I was able to convey the idea of colour as the guiding form well as I could see people engaging with the drawing through highlighting colour. I know this because I know what peoples styles are like and can understand how people might reproduce imagery as I know their work, however they were guiding their work with the intent of exploring colour. this was reassuring to me and I feel like it was a really good place to start with teaching this workshop to friends, as I could see what they were picking up on.

overall, I feel like this session went well. I asked my friends to fill out a little questionnaire afterwards with bits they enjoyed and bits they struggled with, as I feel like this would be useful for me to look back on in future sessions of this workshop.

I was able to overcome a variety of different creative challenges through personally identified methods of evaluation and problem solving, regarding my approach t ceramics, my creative risk-taking through experimenting with riso, and the various stages of analysis I went through when developing understandings of gardens and care in wider cultural and economic contexts. after deeply exploring gardens critically in unit 9, I approached a variety of in-person visits to gardens in unit 10 and was able to use my critical lens to deepen and expand on my practical enquiry to gardens. I was able to develop an intimate method of research into how gardens are cultivated, with an understanding of Japanese garden practices considering the elements and how the human is engaged in these spaces, as well as myth and storytelling that takes place in garden spaces. I was able to use this understanding in line with my past critical enquiry to form a deepened spatial awareness to gardens in situ, allowing my drawing practice to bring forward an intimate reflection into my sensory responses to gardens I have been in within the past. I have been able to draw from life, photographs, and memory with a vivid attachment to the feelings cultivated in these gardens, and have created a method of making that reflects deep intuition, making my work unique to me and reflective of all my research in criticality and development in practice-engaged experimentation and creative risk taking.

it goes without saying that this reminds me so much of vita sackville wests garden. I ask the question of how care is cultivated in a dynamic like this - the space of the garden is seclusive and private, and the person in the garden is kept safe from the world external to the garden. what is the care here? is it the way the garden 'owner' is protected by the garden space? and through this, they reciprocate the garden with nourishment in order to maintain, even better, the safety offered? the garden grows in tangent with the persons secrecy. in vitas case, this truly is care as she is allowed protection from a world of prejudice.

what the garden offers, the owner responds back to. In this case, they have perhaps the most autonomy in what the care looks like. with this, I ask how autonomy impacts care within the space of the garden.

I really like the way they make a correlation between the garden and experience, a tenderness between the being in the garden and the space of the garden. how the senses engage with the space, and are tended and cared for, creating memory and emotion that attaches itself to the environment the experience is cultivated within.

I feel like what I enjoy most about creativity is the engagement with the world around me - in saying this, there is even more intrigue to what I enjoy as I have focused so much on gardens recently. I really have this fascination for exploring the world external to me, and how I can engage with it. what makes it safe? and why are things the way they are (what dynamics uphold this, that, etc.)?

and with this is people, seeing people engage with my work or through my work, what is created from a workshop that allows people to foster a sense of community? how can I pull criticality from the garden into a reciprocal act of learning and caring?

likewise, what have I learnt from tattooing that I can bring into the workshop? this is such a unique thing for me to be able to contextualise my workshop around too. the trust belt in tattooing is something so unique - the temporality of the piece, the vulnerability of the sessions, the intuition to the clients needs that I have to take on - I have to understand that no two people I will tattoo will be the same, every session is built up of a variety of responses to what is happening and I need to be attentive to everything happening between us for the tattoo to be done properly, and for the client to be as comfortable as possible.

I believe strongly gly in creating sessions that act as a part of the tattoo itself - I want my clients to be comfortable and happy in whatever dynamic this may look like (without compromising the safety of them/the tattoo). their tattoo is on them forever, and they will remember the session with that. in the same sense, I want to develop. workshop that teaches but also acts as a space in time that resonates softly with the participants. the garden is almost a space of atemporality - time is crucial to the description of the garden, and stands for the garden as a whole experience as it is an ever changing space (even if maintained the same)

comparing these different dynamics in my practice to each other grounds me into the one topic I spoke of before entering this unit - care. I am reminded of the reciprocity that beckons all these topics together, both within themselves and between each other. care deeply informs my approach to tattooing, and care is what brings me into the world around me - how I want to study it and discover it. care is what anchors my visual practice to my engagement with the world. and to me, a garden is about care. it is how we care, and how nature cares (a wish for the future, an act of hope!). it is built off of the reciprocity of every element and thing within it. care is the culmination of everything I am interested in - I want to watch how things behave with each other and how they bring life to each other. this is so cheesy! but I can articulate exactly how all these elements that are informed by my creativity are balanced through. and so, a workshop makes sense for pulling my work together for this unit. a workshop represents all these elements

I have decided to set aside a pretty massive amount of money for myself to finish this unit. im taking into consideration the amount I spent the last unit regarding the masters and paper that I used, and want to allow for a sort of contingency that can accommodate pure experimenting. I also want to create multiple copies of my work to allow for enough mistakes to be made during printing, particularly if I am creating more complex artworks that require more intricacy during the printing process. I know that one master costs something between , and that the paper is significantly less (though I am still not sure as to how much, Lars can be so vague!). with all of this in mind, I decided to set aside £300 to cover the cost off printing with plenty of room for me to play. this is an incredibly steep amount for me, but I know that I will only really get to do this one time, and it will act as an investment into my professional practice. on top of this, riso will not be any cheaper than this anywhere else, so I know I should take advantage of the resources I have here. on top of this all, it would be good to get the professional advice of lars while I print and have him walk me through more complex aspects of risography in order to help me get a better, deeper grasp of riso and make it a more intuitive methodology in my illustration practice.

while the last unit felt very grounded and fluid in the way I approached each week, this one has felt more like an ever-changing, thrilling response to what I had learnt. and with saying this, I have never felt so free to explore making and have never engaged with practical work so constantly. from the very beginning I have been creating artwork, and I have been drawing constantly in response to the environments I am doing my learning from. my visual practice has transformed in response to this new liberty and autonomy in making, and I feel so much more confident than ever before about becoming a professional with an established visual practice. I am so proud of the work I have been able to create through this unit. in reflecting on my earlier anxieties here, I can see that the worries I have only reflect the lack of strict grounding into criticality that I had in the last unit. the progression of the two has allowed me to develop a method of making that is heavily critically engaged, and I am now able to process complex enquiries through theoretical knowledges, as well as analyse and synthesise these through my illustration and broader creative practice.

on top of this all, I now can leave uni with a methodology off making, and can confidently practice using a riso machine. I can create work through the riso machine, but can also create work that is a response to how riso works, and is made purely to be created through riso through my understanding and education in riso.

I feel incredibly confident with the body of work I have developed this year, and I am excited to see what I will be doing with it all.

I have decided that from my own methods of time management, I will not continue to work in ceramics for the workshop. I am now aware that this was not the best concept for the workshop and perhaps this fault has led to better design choices. I also want to make sure I don't lose focus on my independent project aims, so I hope to continue on the trajectory that I am on with my risography and not lose focus by distracting myself with minor details. I feel like this reflects a deep professional work method, and I have been able to demonstrate strict and flexible problem solving skills and priority analysis through this creative challenge.

I helped a few friends individually with using the riso. I did this all with their own work as then it was helpful for them and also approachable. I found it hard at first - I feel like riso is easy to get your head around but walking people through the steps to print it is kind of hard as there are so many buttons to click, I can tell that it doesn't sit in peoples heads and they get a bit distracted. I also forget how daunting the machine looks at first - I remember when someone asked dot me change a drum for the first time I nearly wet myself hahaha, it feels so intimidating. seeing other people express their nerves around the machine is sweet as I reminds me about how far ive come!

overall, when I got to gizem's turn with the magazine cover, I felt pretty confident in the flow of understanding when someone needed help ir not and how I could approach them while allowing them space to just learn and explore. I feel like I am confident to apply this to my workshop, and now I understand that I do want to develop it aorund the use of colour as I feel like this is something approachable in a variety of different dynamics and skills

I want to be able to approach drawing gardens in a more immersed manner, like drawing gardens from memory or actually in situ. I think this would be really great for me to engage with and could allow for some intuitively made artworks I could then demonstrate in my ceramics/riso practices

I feel like when I refer to the garden, I am speaking of a sort of practice of space/cultivation of care. so when I refer to the allotment, I refer to a garden still. I suppose allotment almost references this but in a directly communal setting?

although I may not be a deeply multidisciplinary artist, I feel as though the more I learn about a medium, my practice shifts in an understanding of how those processes bring artwork to life. in learning riso, I have been engaging with colour in a very hands-on manner. this has made me think a lot about how my last unit was so focused on colour, and now I am engaging with it in a very intentional and almost painterly manner. colour was a signpost in my last unit, and in this one it is becoming a methodology/key ingredient and method of creation that is building up my imagery.

I feel like I have begun to play far more with design and have created works that showcase a perhaps more naive and un-complex skillset with regards to digital software. however, these works have gotten a really warm response to them and I have found I care less about showing people work that I may not be overly confident in. I have been more open to constructive feedback as I have been able to articulate that my work is simply an exploration of expression, rather than a deep insight into anything about me.

I sincerely think that the visual inspiration I got from my trip away has impacted my work so much in this unit - not just in the way I understand gardens, but in the way I understand how my work is made. I really cherish the simplicity and aloofness of it right now, and have loved playing in ways that are simply about learning.

I feel like, although the process of the work is quite elaborate, the fact that it relies on colour as the main experience makes them relatively easy to enjoy for a wide variety of people. in fact, when I visited home, I saw my mum at work who works with adults with autism and when they asked me what I was doing at uni, I showed them my riso works and they found it very exciting and relaxing (if not a bit weird imagery-wise). I found this so lovely and interesting, and I began to consider what sort of dynamics my work functions with audience wise, and how accessible it is for different peoples.

one thing I do realise is that my entire practice methodology proposal eliminates the engagement of access for people who are colour blind. this is especially true considering my work is reliant on the four different colours that make them up - the YRGB process I have used in riso - as well as the fact that most of these works are saturated in red/pink tones, primarily eliminating access for people who have red-based colour blindness. of course, I understand that the imagery is still there, but the experience I am cultivating regarding the dismantling of the binary through colour and the emulsion of care created between human and space/nature through colour is nullified if the person experiencing it cannot actually engage with colour in the same way as me. this closes my work off to a huge group, as colour blindness is quite common (especially in men). there is not much I can think of to work around this. I feel like even if I wrote lots of context behind these pieces in exhibitions, etc. it would still not be very fun of an experience as the entire point of it is to relate to the pieces and see/feel the colour. also, the pieces of writing are likely to be incredibly academic, which could render another level of inaccessibility to the artworks as academic language can be complex to digest for people who either have a complicated relationship with reading/don't have a fluent grasp of English/are not able to read complicated academic language. these are issues I am unable to understand how to manoeuvre, and have considered them throughout this unit so far and tried to engage with in different ways. I have tried to keep writing to a minimal as I wanted to focus on creating methods of connection that are purely visual as these are often more accessible. I can see that there are still obstacles of accessibility, however, and hope to be able to engage with these with an open and contemplative mind, just as I have tried in this unit - going forward.

my workshop is also filled with academic language, and I understand that to even be able to attend this would be an accessibility problem in itself as I would likely have to charge a fair bit of money. I am curious as to how budgeting for it will work. I have thought about this a lot, and considered that it would be unfair for me to set a base price on it as I want it to be as accessible as reasonably possible - this is actually why I included the steps for beginners and steps for more advanced users. I would charge the workshop in accordance to the fees the studio will offer, however I understand that often these things do not fill up so this could leave me with a gap in charges. adding to this, physical accessibility is likely going to be restricted, both due to fluctuating spatial restrictions of the studios, and the nature of the activities. I hope I could provide with alternative modes of image making for peoples who have lower mobility with their hands, and I could offer access in using the riso by perhaps teaching a care-helper accompanying them, or stepping in and finalising any steps. these are all physical access considerations, and I am unsure how to help participants with mental access needs - this is making me think about taking training courses in these things. I think that to be a facilitator you need to be prepared for offering comfort and accessibility to a wide range of bodies and minds. mental health training would be a good place to start, and perhaps I could find a way to get it funded through an external group eventually as I know it can cost £200

riso is great for sustainable practices as it utilises purely soy-based inks. this, combined with the shiro paper that I am using, allows for a practice of making that is deeply ecologically aware. shiro paper is made using recycled materials, so that any artworks I make with riso on that paper can be recycled easily, or broken down. of course, the risograph is a machine that uses power to create work, ut I have looked into risos functions and found there the machines are made with an awareness of this, and lend themselves to being low-power, using less energy and maintaining an ecologically sustainable process.

40 shiro bright white

96 masters !!!!!

this has cost me £284. I am still under my budget, but I am so happy I set aside exactly as much as I have. I feel like I have been able to create riso prints without a massive regard to how restricting my making. I will likely never get this much freedom with it again, so I am incredibly proud to have been able to offer this for myself

I hope to develop a new website on a platform that is a little more sophisticated (as pretentious as that sounds, I just don't think want to continue with hotglue!). I think cargo will be a good one as it is very well thought out and offered a lot of creative liberty. I think sites like square space or six are too template based, and I think this could be a bit restrictive for me as iw ill just want to stick to those templates.

I researched different places across London that I could get paper from, and found GF to be the most reasonable. however, considering riso's temperance with different paper types, I eventually opted out of outsourcing paper. the Shiro off white is perfect for the work I make, and the most ecologically reliable. I feel like looking for new paper has helped me realise how much I would prefer to use shiro for the whole book.

me and the team have arranged a pub quiz at the pelican in order to fundraise for the show. we have also arranged meetings between student reps, and sent out different emails between tutors and peers in order to try and make sure things are communicated properly.

I am having a bit of a hard time sticking to this one role, though, as I feel like things are getting difficult between the shop and the design/visual marketing teams. I want to step in, like I would have done in the past, but I worry it may get a bit overwhelming for people and I don't want to take over like I have done in the past. I feel like this may create an imbalance in the workflow, and people shy away. I am hoopoe to h=be close to the team reps - I feel like my group are really great at taking initiative, but again I just don't want things to go crazy just because a few of us have the loudest voices.

however, I want to make sure everyone feels included, so I have been messaging people who have missed meetings and speaking to anyone who is in teams with less outgoing people. for example, I have been trying to make sure Chloe is okay with the showreel, and making sure they are aware that they always have someone to help if needed.

I feel like things are a bit turbulent and that I may have to just be an in between for some roles. the shop are still caught up on where the money will be going, and I just want to make sure they have everything they need to make the shop run smoothly for themselves.

use miyukis money from the exhibition last year to post the cards - up to around 100 for this

send the rest to local bars, shops and cafes. refer to the list you made a few weeks ago

I have also made this pallet full of random bits that perhaps have little or no explanation - this is because I want to use this site as reference now that I am about to leave uni. I have come across so many useful links, ideas, resources, and opportunities, and I will be referring back to this in the coming future, saving this online space as a pdf before I lose access!

I was thinking, however, of hosting the first part of the workshop duringng the show - whwre people learn about colour and gardens together.

I have decided to host the workshop on the last week of June in riso with lars, and will have three people attending it. for the next few weeks, I will begin to design a poster for it and share it online. I might use a platform like eventbrite to ticket it and arrange the costing of it after I submit my work for this unit. I am really excited as I have never done something like this before on my own, and it will be a great first professional thing to do.

once I have finished all my portfolio things, I will be adding a page about travelling. it won't be an obvious one, but I will start to include artworks I have made of all the places I have been. this will be so nice for me but also establish me as an artist who creates in situ, or a travel documentation artist, etc.