Happy New Year from Fledgling Studio

Happy New Year!

 

2014 has been a pretty tremendous year, the end of an era with my graduation and the beginning of my life as a post graduate wanderer (for now) and the birth of Fledgling Studio.

To finish off the exciting year I was lucky enough to hold a stall at the Winter Arts Market in St George's Hall in Liverpool.

 

 

 

This was one of my favourite events to date and definitely the busiest one I have seen! I met quite a few lovely people over the weekend, some lovely print buyers, some old stall holding comrades and a few new print making friends.

 (There may be some shiny new collaborations planned for 2015... maybie...shh... it's a secret for now)

That reminds me...

In the next couple of days there will be a mini firework of new and exciting announcements from Fledgling Studio so keep your eyeballs over here!

 

But, for now Happy New Year from  Archie, Sam and I who all had a really good Christmas full of tinsel and wrapping paper.

 

 

 

Love and Fishes,

Victoria

X

The beauty of the Olivetti

Once upon a time I went to Venice...

It was an absolutely delightful trip and has now faded into golden memory.

 

However, one thing that I kept in my mind from the trip was a small exhibition of Olivetti typewriters and similar kind of machines.

 

They are such a beautiful slice of design and order and colour.

 

Looking at the machines makes me feel like I should live in a world where I own one and whilst having an espresso on my fabulous balcony I write some sort of world changing novel in which I express all my creative talent whilst wearing a beautifully draped silk kimono.

 

 

 

Based on this wonderful world in my head surrounding these Olivettis I made some screen prints.

 

These are going to be cards, A3 and A2 prints and notebooks.

 

Enjoy my world of the Olivetti.

I love it darling!

 

Love and Fishes,

Victoria

X 

 

 

Chick chick chick chick chicken lay a little egg for me.

My next door neighbour has some pretty crazy chickens.

 I can see them printing table in my room just clucking around and scratching.

It's also fun watching them chase each other around the garden.

My next door neighbour gives us eggs from them which are sometimes blue!

My Grandma is wary of them but I think they are delicious.

 

All aboard for dippy eggs and soldiers! Toot Toot!

 

 

 

 These are the print manifestations of the winged beauties:

 

I had to throw a cockerel into the set for good measure.

He is rather dashing.

 

These are A3 screen prints but I am also having a card set of the chickens made with some group arrangements .

It's going to be super fun and very chicken-y!

 

Love and Fishes,

Victoria

X

 

Crazy cat lady brings up her next generation of children (and then makes prints of them)

 

Well... I now have a baby cat as my new best friend and this situation is definitely blog post worthy.

May I introduce you to Archie

(or Archibald Montgomery

- if he has climbed to the top of the curtains and needs shouting at.)

 

 

 

He is a shoulder cat and he likes to play fetch. Therefore he is a cat parrot dog hybrid. My golden retriever doesn't even retrieve but Archie loves it!

 

 

We got Archie and his beautiful Mum Nala from a rescue charity called the cats protection league. I'm very happy that they are able to be in a loving and safe home with us. 

 

 

Archie is an adventurous little beastie and he is now much bigger than this, he definitely doesn't fit on to of his scratching post any more but he just keeps getting braver and climbing taller things.

 

The face of cuteness in pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

He is my little ball of ice cream and I love him.

 

Therefore I have decided to make some prints of him:

 

 
 

 

 

 

I'm selling these prints at the Winter Arts Market soon where these will be premiering.

 



It's all tremendously cute and exciting.

 

 

I hope to see you all there!

Love and Fishes,

Victoria

X

 

Real Life Chapter 1

It has been six months since my last blog post. This is half a year but it feels like I have been away from my little blog for years! 
A lot has changed. My location, who I live with, which friends I'm able to spend time with, what my immediate goals are and just about everything else. 

This is the summary of what I have been doing in those last six months. 

1.  Moving back in with Ma and Da and making lots and lots of coffee.

After I finished my degree I decided to get a job and I've ended up as a barrista 

(A barista (/bəˈristə/ buh-REE-stuh; from the Italian for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffee house employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks.) 


Student overdraft and the thought of something to do to be productive and contribute to my household drove me to get a job. It has been exhausting, hilarious, exciting, time consuming, confusing and just plain odd. Going from devoting every single day to making my work and being surrounded in a studio environment to barrista-ing up to sometimes 50 hours a week is a massive change. I do love the people I work with and I have some beautiful souls for my regular customers, so that is the positive I hold on to.      


    2.  Graduating

This summer I went and graduated on one of the hottest days of the year surrounded by some of the loveliest faces I know. Tears were not shed by me but my heart was full of emotion. It was all a very surreal experience that I'm glad I got to have.

  3. I went on a week long business course.

I went on a business course for new graduate businesses start ups run by the entrepreneurship centre of my university. I put myself forward as a sole trader selling my prints at print fairs and online. 

 This was such a great week and I met a lot of really great people who have become friends as well as business contacts. The workshops on the course were really inspiring and motivating and they made me take my business seriously. It helped me to feel like I had some direction after graduating. 

To me, it meant that I have been able to keep my artistic side progressing with my plans and progression of my print making business. This has kept me sane in the moments where I have felt like my life is consumed by barrista-ing.

I have decided to get on this blog a lot more, as a sort of visual diary and a way of posting the exciting things that are going on.

So WATCH THIS SPACE!

It is going to get very cool and exciting (because I'm never too cool to be excited).

 

There's some adorable posts coming up.

You've been warned!

 

Love and Fishes,

 

Victoria

x

How I Survived the Third Year of my Degree

I have just had the hand in for my third and final year of my degree in graphics at John Moores University.

I have been sick, fainted and had numerous panic attacks.

I have never been so stressed in my entire life.

However, I have SURVIVED.

 

I feel like this blog post may be just the thing to rationalise to myself through a stream of consciousness and waffling how I have managed this feat.

I made myself get into a routine of getting up early at seven and out of the house to get to uni at nine. This routine was my absolute life saver, getting into a routine was one of the only things of regularity and solidness to cling on to in such a massive time of uncertainty and change and the grim reaper of the scary future looming over my shoulder every day.

 

The ultimate fear and panicking uncertainty of the mind numbing question "What are you going to do after you finish university?" is unbelievable and best ignored and channelled into the energy to make things. It is shit when you get asked it, even though most of the people asking you it are the ones you love dearly. Coming up with an answer to spit out is always useful though, mine was and is "I'm going to look at funding opportunities and internships after my hand in." A lot of people seem to believe this and I must admit that I am starting to believe it myself. Another little nugget of certainty to cling on to.

 

Snacks are the best thing ever to have existed. Doing a twelve hour day in uni is impossible without them. Also, a kettle in the studio, a reviving cup of tea can always work wonders.

Thanks for the life skills and the squirreling gene Mum.

 

One thing I have managed to console myself with at the worst times of panic about the future is that all the adults I know have managed to get where they are today and they must have all been in an uncertain position as me at some point. This thought led to the mantra 'Everyone figures it out in the end." which has been a bit of a life belt for sanity.

 

Here are some photographs of my working space and final pieces that have been made in said space.

 

 

Desk nest with Harry Potter audiobook playing.

(Another Life Saver)

 

Organised desk for once.

Final hand in.

Somehow looking a bit empty for the amount of work involved.

C'est la vie..

 

My final portfolio, office style.

Branding project final shoot.  

Liverpool Museum Archive final book.

 

My website is also finished with more photos of my finished work for further perusal: www.victoriajosephine.com

 

Now real life must begin I suppose...

but first, a rest and a sleep must be had, for sanity's sake.

All grown ups figure it out in the end.

Love and Fishes,

Victoria

X

 

 

 

 

9 Steps to Screen Printing Perfection.

I find it very interesting to see how different print studios work. There is always a different set up and I like making a mental note of all the clever ideas and useful pieces of equipment in order to one day have the ultimate print studio of my own.

Recently I have finally been using the print studios in  my university. I say finally because it has take me the best part of three years to finally build up the courage to use them. As expected, I am enjoying it immensely and I do regret not using them sooner. However, I am using them now and having a lot of fun. 

I am working on making screen prints to make a book out of based on my trip to India a couple of years ago. It is bringing back some great memories and I am enjoying getting back into screen printing in a proper studio instead of my cramped kitchen table. 

This is the step by step process of making screen prints in the university studio using a suction / vacum bed (now on my birthday and christmas wish list).

STEP ONE: Tie all your luscious locks up into a bun on the very top of your head, like a refined troll doll. 

STEP TWO: Mix all colours 

STEP THREE: Print your image onto a piece of plastic sheeting which is taped on to the table so that you know where your image placement is going to be.

 STEP 4: Align your paper underneath your plastic sheeting to be sure of image placement

 STEP 5: Peel back the plastic sheeting whilst leaving the paper held down in place with the suction table.

STEP 6: Pull your colour across your screen.

STEP 7: Push your paint back across your screen to stop the screen from blocking.

STEP 8: Lift screen to reveal your majestic print.

STEP 9: Do a little happy dance, put your print on the drying rack and continue printing into the late evening.

A big thank you to Alice Kiteley for playing paparazzi. She is also a screen printer extraordinaire. 

This is her blog
and
This is her website
Go and have a look at her beautiful creations!

Much much much work to be getting on with, only four full weeks left of my degree!! 

Love and Peas, 

Victoria 

X

Making my GARP instead of blogging. (October till February)

For my degree I have to make a GARP as a design appropriate form of a dissertation. It has the requirements of a 6000 to 8000 word essay with 20% of the mark based on presentation.

I began initially researching back in July on skulls throughout the world throughout history. Very non specific and muddled to begin with. However, as I was researching skulls through the summer I became interested in what was motivating these depictions of the skull. I found the common thread of the skull being used as a depiction of death and I really became interested in the different cultural attitudes towards death. This enabled me to narrow my essay down to the evolution of the cultural attitude towards death in England. When researching the English medieval depictions of skulls and death I found it bizarre and sometimes violent. I wanted to explore how the attitude towards death had evolved so much from then until today. I found it really interesting how the depictions of skulls through the different time periods really reflected the realities of the daily life of the time. 

The writing went well because I picked something to research that I have been interested in for years so I knew I could stand to research and write about it for nearly a year. I forget the final word count (probably somewhere in the 7000's) but I was more interested in writing something good than filling up the word count. I really enjoyed making the physical book and I had enough forethought to allow myself enough time to do it properly. I intended to have printing on the cover but the book cloth didn't respond well to the paint. Solution: a neat little band for decoration which serves as a duel purpose to hold the book together. 

As I allowed myself enough time I managed to put on a couple of little details which for me really finish off the book like the black headbands either side of the spine and the little black ribbon bookmark. I also tried reddening the edges of the pages which was the easiest yet most effective part of the whole process. I just got some red ink on a tissue and ran it quickly along the whole edge of the pages whilst holding it in a clamp. Just some small touches which I have never been able to try before. 

Here is my GARP: Death and the Skull from Medieval till WWII. 

It is perfect bound and hard cased. 

All finished now. I am a little bit scared how I managed to make a real book. But this is also very exciting and opens up my mind to some new book making possibilities. 

Now I am going to be making a lot more things instead of researching and writing. There are some super duper exciting ideas in the pipeline which I am very eager to be getting on with. 

Therefore I must be ending this post here. 

Love and Skulls and Fishes 

Victoria 

X