Fireflies

Fireflies by Fiona Simpson

Domestic Cat

I chose to base my project on the domestic cat. I focused mainly on the textures found on cats for example, their rough tongues and their soft fur. I also looked in to their sensitivity to their surroundings and also their sensitivity and fragility in general. I tried to use different mediums, techniques and materials to reflect these qualities such as using thin paper and origami techniques, paper cutting, and using stick and ink to create looseness in my images.

Barn Owl

I initially chose owls as my subject of research, later deciding to focus mainly on barn owls. Owls have always fascinated me, barn owls in particular, there is a certain silent beauty and mystery about them which I wanted to explore further. I researched a lot into the mythology and symbolism of owls,  I was surprised at the amount of cultures that believed and still believe that owls are connected with death. I decided to look further into this aspect, linking it with the mystery of the creatures. I created a few prints and wallpaper designs as well as some jewellery that I felt reflected the aspect of barn owls that I wanted to present. I mainly used photoshop, as well as fabric printing and polymer clay to create my pieces. I liked the idea of the repetition and mirrored images representing the mysterious aspect, I also chose to portray the owls mainly using skulls to represent death but with roses, a symbol of beauty, in the eye socket, combining the aspects of beauty and death that barn owls are seen to connote. The jewellery was a similar approach, depicting the beauty of barn owls.

Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu

I took a look at the charming Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu after spotting them amongst the banana trees during my visit to The Gambia. I instantly fell in love with this bird with its bright blue plumage contrasting with its pastel grey chest and of course it's red cheeks! And what a wonderful name! 

Whilst I was in The Gambia, Omar who worked for the charity WYCE where I was staying and who had a love for all birds, told me that if you venture into Senegal to the cannabis crops that's where you'd find most of these birds as they favour the seeds from the plant. This is why the plant also features in my work... 

Flying high.

The Mandarin Goby

I chose to look at the Mandarin for my project as I used to admire them so much in my job in a local aquatic retail shop where I live. Their delicate fins and striking colours make them to be one of the prettiest fish in the ocean. However they are at risk from being kept in captivity and the methods in catching them for pets. Small spears shot through their tail catches the poor fish which is then transported into a bare tank to be selected and sent to retailers across the world. Many marine fish suffer from this exhausting method of transportation and many die during. The fish also lose their colour when being caught or under any sort of stress. I found this a very interesting element to my chosen fish and decided to take a look further into why they do such a thing. Below are images of  a small selection of work i picked out from my unit. 

The Peregrine Falcon

During my Research Methodology unit I chose to study the Peregrine Falcon, a powerful bird of prey that is recovering from the crippling effect of the pesticide DDT. I chose the Peregrine because I have always been fascinated with the way birds fly, so the fastest bird in the world seemed like a good base for my research. I wanted to focus this project on what set the peregrine apart from the other birds in the sky namely its speed, beak, eyesight and talons. Included below are a sketch of a falcon preforming a stoop, two development pieces and the Info-graphic that they became a part of. 

The Big Horned Sheep

I chose to look at the big horned sheep because I was interested by the horns of the animal. I once heard that when the big horned sheep has become a skeleton the weight of the horns outweigh the bones of the whole animal put together. This fact was the first thing that sprung to mind when being asked to choose an animal.

I think when people originally think of sheep with big horns they automatically think of them bashing their heads together, from great run ups. So on first thought the words stupid and aggressive came to mind when picking this animal. But soon I realised how nimble on their feet they are when climbing up very steep mountains. And also how strong and military they are when it comes to protecting the herd against predators.

After looking at the big horned sheep for a while, I started to focus far more in on the scull. I think the way the scull looks with the horns is quite sinister. It didn’t take long before I started to look at more satanic imagery, as the big horned sheep/ ram are well known for sacrifice. Also there are connotations and links of the horns of the devil and the horns or a big honed sheep/ ram.

These are some of the images gathered from my Research Methodology project.

Becca Henderson