Opportunities / projects

Printiau Cwpan y Byd / Lle Art Carys Bryn.

Oherwydd bod Cymru yn dathlu mynd i Gwpan y Byd am y tro cyntaf ers dros 60 mlynedd, roeddwn eisiau crecreu darn o gelf a fuasai yn cynrhychioli hyn i'w werthu i'r cyhoedd. Mae pobl yn fy ardal yn angerddol iawn am Gymru a phel droed, a mae'r cwpan y byd yn rywbeth mawr, felly roeddwn yn teimlo y buasai creu rhywbeth fel hyn yn apelio i bobl. 

Mi wnes i helpu Carys i beintio a dod fyny a'r composition ar gyfer y banner nadolig hwn ar gyfer bad achub Porthdinllaen.

Clawr Y Ffynnon

Mis diwethaf cefais fy nghomisiynu gan Bapur bro 'Y ffynnon' i greu clawr ar gyfer y papur i'r rhifyn Nadolig Mis Rhagfyr. Mae'r Ffynnon yn bapur sydd yn cael ei ddarllen gan nifer fawr o bobl yn yr ardal, a mae'n rhywbeth dwi wedi bod yn gyfarwydd hefo fo erioed, felly mae wedi bod yn anrhydedd i mi mewn ffordd i fedru cael y cyfle i ddylunio clawr i'r rhifyn Nadolig. Mi wnaeth na bregethwr lleol ysgrifennu gweddi er mwyn ei roi ar y clawr i rannu neges, a roedd angen i mi wedyn greu darn i fynd law wrth law a'r weddi i roi ar y clawr.

Mi wnes i wneud sketches yn fy  sketchbook. Mae'r ddelwedd gyntaf wnaeth ddod i fy meddwl yn seiliedig ar lun o fabi gafodd ei eni mewn bunker yn Wcrain yn ystod y rhyfel yno yn ystod y flwyddyn diwethaf. Mae'r weddi yn son am sut mae pobl o'r gwledydd sydd wedi eu effeithio gan ryfel, er eu bod mewn amgylchedd sydd ddim yn saff, maent yn dal i fedru ffendio gobaith yn y tywyllwch. Roeddwn eisiau cynnwys y ddelwedd o'r babi fel ei fod yn cynrhychioli'r teuluoedd yn Wcrain, a'r diniwedrwydd sydd gan y babi, ond hefyd fel rhyw fath o gynrhychiolaeth o stori'r geni oherwydd na'r clawr ar gyfer y nadolig oedd hwn. Mi wnaeth y composition yr oeddwn eisiau ei wneud ffurfio yn sydyn, roeddwn eisiau cynnwys tywyllwch yn y cefndir, ond eisiau goleuni ddod o'r cannwyll nadoligaidd, ac o'r babi.

Y clawr terfynol heb y teitl - 

Y papur newydd ar werth yn y garej lleol, yn nwylo fy ffrind Mari ac yn cael ei ddarllen gan fy Nhad a fy chwaer yn y gegin.

Yn ystod y broses o wneud y clawr, cefais hefyd fy nghyfweld gan un o'r ysgrifenyddion o'r papur iddynt gael cynnwys fy stori yn y papur. - 

Comisiynau

Yn ystod y misoedd diweddar dwi wedi bod yn gwneud comisiynau i bobl hefyd. Mae'r ddau gomisiwn yma wedi dod ata i drwy 'word of mouth'.

Cafodd y comisiwn isod ei wneud i ddynes lleol oedd eisiau 'llun o cheetah wedi ei wneud gan artist' i roi i'w merch fel anrheg nadolig. 

Hijinx project 2022

Unlike last year, when I worked on my own on the project, I collaborated with my fellow student and friend Jess to make the work for hijinx this year. We both enjoy working together, and felt it would save us time to make a project between the both of us. We joined the zoom call with the Hijinx group, where they discussed their christmas project, which would be about Dylan Thomas' A child's christmas in Wales. Each member, and me and jess, chose our favourite lines from the poem, and what we thought of it, so Jess and I made a note of all of these and based the project on these. We decided to use linocut as our medium because we both enjoy using this method of printmaking, and have collaborated through printmaking before, so we knew it would work for us. We cut a big sheet of lino into small squares, and created images of all of the members of the group we worked with on these pieces. We then went into the print room and used different kinds of coloured paper and arrangements to make the pieces with the lino. Unfortunately, the first time we used the press to make the prints, we put way too much pressure on the machine, which crushed the lino and made cracks all over them. This made it harder for us to make more prints, but we decided that the cracks didn't take away too much from the images, and used them anyway.

Woven welsh histories

Yn ystod yr haf, mi wnaethom ni weithio ar sketchbook o waith yn seiliedig ar brosiect roeddem ni'n gweithio arno a phrifysgol Caerdydd. Cyn yr haf mi wnaethom ni gael Cyfarfod a Charlotte Hammond o Gaerdydd a oedd yn gweithio ar brosiect yn canolbwyntio ar gysylltiadau cymru a'r masnach caethweision, yn enwedig y cysylltiadau rhwng y defnydd a oedd yn cael ei gynhyrchu yng Nghymru o'r enw 'welsh plains' a'r dilladau a oedd yn arfer cael eu gwisgo gan gaethweision yn yr US.

CV

Marketing plan

Yn gysylltiedig a'r plan pum mlynedd, rydym ni wedi bod yn gweithio ar wneud marketing plan ar gyfer ein gwaith ac y dyfodol. Mi wnaethom ni gychwyn drwy wneud 'plan' bras ar ddarn o bapur - 

Social Media

One of my weaknesses in terms of the progression of my professional practice is my lack of social media presence. In this day and age, the impact of social media and its help in gaining exposure within the arts is undeniable, so I need to step up and be much more consistent in posting and promoting on social media. The platforms that I use are instagram, which is the most popular in my generation, and facebook. I have received warm receptions when I post on these sites, but I have not been doing it enough, and am aware that this is something I need to improve. It is one of my targets for my first year post grad to create a consistent and interesting presence on my social media to gain a bigger audience and to keep people engaged.

Business cards.

Last year ready for our exhibition, I created business cards to distribute next to my work. I used vistaprint and am pleased with the product, as they are cohesive with the branding on my wesbite. I created the logo using lino, and scanned and edited on photoshop and illustrator. I am using the same business cards this year, alongside postcards with the same information, but different images.

Building an online shop

We took some time to look at examples of websites that have been built with bigcartel, and analyse the aspects that we liked and disliked about the websites, and choose which we think are most successful.

This website by artist Jose  A Roda is selling prints. I think the way the artist has photographed the products is successful because it is clean and simple, but also gives us a sense of what the product will look like if bought, and gives a sense of a tactile object because we can see the edges of the work. In my own website I am going to sell my own prints, and think that displaying them in this way could be effective for me too. Below is another image from his website, where he displays his products in a different way, holding the prints up to show the scale of the pieces. The photos also personalises the work and gives the customer an image of themselves with the work as well. I do think that in this first screenshot there may be too much on display in once place, and that a customer might be overwhelmed trying to look at everything all at once. When selling a print last year, I used photoshop to display my prints in a space, but maybe using photos of myself holding the prints, that could be more effective, again in displaying scale.

Below is another example of a website built with bigcartel. I think i might prefer this layout to the one above because its more simple. There isn't too much information to look at all at once, and everything has been condensed into the essential information. I think that the simple grid displaying the work is effective in engaging a potential customer as it is organised, but still interesting to look at. There is also a range of way in which the products are photographed, as there is in the website above. The main weakness of this website is that the navigation for the pages are at the bottom of the main page, and is in quite a small font that may be difficult to see immediately.

The third example is a website for the feebles shop. Something that is different about this website is that it opens to a simple introduction page like this that can be seen below.

I'm not sure if it's necessary to include an intoduction page because a customer might want to go straight away to the website for convenience, but also if someone is browsing art prints, they might not mind seeing an introduction like this, so that buying the print can be a bit more of an experience.

Below is a screenshot of the website's products as they are sold. Again, these products are displayed in a similar way to the other websites, and the products are shown in a simple clean way. I do think that the first landscape print shown below should be displayed in a different way so that there isn't so much awkward  white space below it. The navigation on this page is also very simple and although the type is quite small, it isn't inconvenient in the same way as the website mentioned earlier.

5 year plan

Post graduate study?

Pursuing a masters degree is not something that I intend to do immediately after leaving college, and it's not on my 5 year plan. Regardless, I have looked at some options because I am open to what I could do in the future in terms of pursuing post graduate study. I made a pros and cons list to consider the benefits of waiting a few years if I do choose to pursue it.

When considering a masters, illustration is the subject that I would want to take. I looked online at examples of universities that offer a masters course in illustration and which ones could potentially be an option for me in the future.

I also read this page on the Falmouth university website about an online masters in illustration. Because of my life situation, the prospect of moving away from home has always been extremely challenging, so considering options like this when considering future study is important to me. This course at Falmouth university would be taking place online, so would allow me to do it at home, if I still felt the same way I do now if I decide to do a masters.

Prosiect pum mil

Ar benwythnos 15/16 Ebrill, mi wnes i a rhai or myfyrwyr eraill wirfoddoli a rhaglen s4c prosiect pum mil i helpu adnewyddu caffi hafan ym Mangor. Yn ystod y diwrnod cyntaf mi wnaethom ni sandio dipyn o ddodrefn a helpu symud popeth allan o'r adeilad er mwyn gallu peintio y waliau tu mewn. Roedd hi'n ddiwrnod braf felly wnaethom ni weithio tu allan ar y dodrefn a wedyn cychwyn gweithio ar beintio miwral ar ochr yr adeilad ar ol cinio.

ar yr ail ddiwrnod mi wnaethom ni gario mlaen i beintio a mi wnes i gychwyn ar fiwral arall ar ochr arall yr adeilad o gwpanau a chacennau. mi wnes i wneud sketch mewn sialc a wedyn cychwyn peintio'r llun. Wrth i mi beintio a cheisio cyrraedd y rhan uchel o'r llun mi wnes i sprainio fy mhen glin a disgyn felly roedd rhaid i mi fynd i'r ysbyty, felly mi wnes i fethu gweddill y diwrnod a mi wnaeth gweddill y tim orffen peintio'r llun or cacennau ar baned ar y wal. Yn ystod yr amser wnes i wario yn ffilmio mi wnes i fwynhau yn ofnadwy cael bod yn rhan o dim ac yn gweithio ar rywbeth cyffrous. Mi wnes i fwynhau cael cydweithio hefo bobl eraill creadigol er mwyn gwneud rhywbeth sydd yn golygu lot i lawer o bobl.

Cefais fy ngwahodd yn ol gan griw prosiect Pum mil i ymweld a nhw ar eu prosiect nesa ym Mhwllheli, sydd wrth ymyl lle 'dwi'n byw.

Jane Austen's house residency.

While doing research online into different residency opportunities, I came across an advertisement for a residency opportunity at Jane Austen's House. This immediately captured my attention as I am a fan of her work and the aesthetic of this time period, as well as just reading and books in general. The purpose of the residency is to create work that pays tribute to the legacy of Jane Austen and her work, as well as something that can be displayed at the museum itself. I sent an application with  a link to my website so they can see examples of my work.

Eisteddfod application

Mi wnes i gystadlu yn yr eisteddfod ar gyfer y galw agored am waith ac hefyd i'r ysgoloriaeth bobl ifanc.

Funding

For developing a career in the future, funding my practice is essential, and I have been considering different avenues of attaining funds. While applying for competitions and residencies such as the Jane Austen's house residency and the eisteddfod, funding are involved in the consideration of whether to apply or not. In the Eisteddfod the recipient of the Young people's scholarship receives over £1,000 to further their career, while The Jane Austen's house residency provides their residents with over £500 to fund the practice alone, with more available to fund travel and supplies. 

I have been doing research online about the biggest source of arts funding in Wales, which is The Arts council of Wales. Most of the grants i found available on the website surrounds community projects and work that will involve the public, so while I'm not opposed to working on projects like these in the future, I wanted to find a source that could help me in my personal practice. Here are a few examples of what I was able to find on the website.

When researching funding online, I found that most sources of grants and funding are related to specific subjects or briefs, for example, an opportunity for the grant below is based only on projects related to climate change and the environment., so depending on the specific project in mind, I would need to research funding opportunities directly related to specific projects. 

After graduation, my main source of funding is likely to be a part time job and the money I have made over the summer working full time on the beach. Realistically, starting off on a career like this will recquire other sources of money so I can get my feet on the ground, and I am prepared to do this.

Exhibition catalogue

For the upcoming exhibition, we need to design a group catalogue which represents the work that we create and display for the exhibition. We took a look at other exhibition catalogues from other galleries and universities to gather inspiration and think of ideas that we could incorporate into our own.

The catalogue below is interesting as it presents an unique opportunity to display separate catalogues as one, which could work well for us as we are collaborating with the BA fine art in this exhibition and want to present a united cohesive display, while also distinguishing ourselves.

Below are a few more examples of catalogues that I looked at, with examples of how the work could be displayed, and different levels of simplicity, such as the image on the left, which contains more images in different sizes, and the one on the right which is simpler, and more minimalist, and displays two t shirts.

I liked the catalogue below because of the paper used and the old fashioned quality to it, but i don't know if this size is the kind that i would want us to use for the exhibition because it would be harder to accomodate everybody's work

Ongoing projects.

Designing a taxi business card.

My Uncle Gareth runs a taxi business in our local area, and has recently commissioned me to design him a new business card for him. I am using the information from his previous business card, and images of his car to create a new design. This is an ongoing project, so the final design has not been completed.

Degree show.

All information on the development of this year's college exhibition is on the 'Exhibition' section of this blog.