Prototype Development - T-shirt Printing and Dyes

My original Plan for the T-shirt and fins was to paint the patterns directly onto the fabric, using stamps and stencils to create accurate detailing. However after trying to apply paints onto a t-shirt with stamps I was met with patchy and uneven patterns.

T-shirt Paint and stamp Test

I then went onto experimenting with dyes to create pattern, tie dye seemed the easiest way of creating bold pattern through out the t-shirt as well as being a fun activity for the children with in the schools.

Any Publicity is Good Publicity

Our Workshop Weekend got a write up in the bournemouth echo! hopefully this brings peoples attention to what we are going to be doing in Weymouth for the moving tides carnival

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/archive/2012/02/29/olympics_news/9557433.Dorset_teachers_at_weekend_workshop_to_create_Olymic_inspired_sails/

A Little To Close To Home?

When I was told I was working with a special school for Moving tides I had a range of ideas and concerns about my abilities to teach disabled students. This was mainly because from the age of 12 - 16 I myself was placed in a special needs school that focused on physical disabilities, Learning difficulties and Emotional and mental disabilities; a fact that after leaving school and continuing onto college I hadn't discussed with many of people. I remember when I first joined my school at the age of 12 I found if very difficult to communicate with the other students in the school, mainly because of my lack of knowledge and confidence around disabled people. I had a strong fear that this lack of confidence around communicating with disabled students would again come through into my teaching, so I felt it would be beneficial getting in touch with my old Art teacher who has been teaching disabled students for around 8 year, my old school friends reconnect with some of our own school memories; as well as starting to work with the breathe together society to build my confidence in being around disabled people again.

On contacting my old art teacher her main advice she told me was the key is to be confident in what your teaching, if you know your subject matter you can talk about for hours!

Talking to old friends from school I came across a lot of mixed reactions and opinions, some of them had decided when school was done it wouldn't really be spoke of, which looking at it now is rather upsetting as it was one of our favourite times and we were such a close unit. Other friends told me of how they felt they struggled through out their school years because of physical disabilities such as being confined to a wheelchair, facial dysmorphia, cerebral palsy. An old classmate told me how coming to school was an escape for her, she spent so much time in hospitals and getting looks in the street that to be in a place special to her needs she was able to be comfortable in herself. She also went on to talk about when we would do shows and workshops she appreciated the fact that she was always being pushed to try go that extra mile, when asked why she responded with "it isn't my disabilities defining me, I could do just as much as you could (if not more)" . This is something I think I will have to remember and keep reminding myself, these kids may be disabled however a lot of them are all still looking for acceptance in everything they do so treating them any different will be under minding their abilities

When first being assigned to Westfield I was playing with the idea of asking to be relocated, thinking I had made a mistake ticking the box that said Special Needs School as I wouldn't be able to deliver confident workshops - however now after talking to people and rediscovering that confidence I had developed by the end of my school years I feel I will be able to use this as a greater advantage and will be able to connect with the children and teachers at Westfield more than I would in any other main stream school.

My School Prom-  A little reminder to never forget the lessons learnt in all aspects of school

Kinetika Weekend - Day Two, Make up and head dresses

After experiencing silk painting on large scale carnival sales in day one I was excited to focus on Costuming creativity with head dresses and make up in day two.

Head dresses -

Head dresses can be used to create a lot of height in a costume as well as be almost sculptural capturing the essence of the carnival.
when creating head dresses it is important to always remember this is a piece of costume that will be on a performers head for what could be a long period of time; comfort, weight and balance are key elements when constructing head dresses along side the design elements of it.
these elements all have an effect on the materials that will be used in constructing head dresses, a common material that we see in the kinetika head dresses is plastazote; this light weight material is easily cut, comes in a wide range of bright colours, can be decorated and moulded easily, thus making it a perfect material for constructing scale and shape in a head dress. This is also a great material to use with children as it is easy to work with and comfortable to wear.

the laminate head dress seen at the kinetika workshop is a head dress that will translate well with children in workshops. It is a cheap way to create a unique look that is not often seen among carnival. it also allows children in workshops to create there own patterns with in the laminate stencils.  

Make Up

The make up session was very interesting - most people expected to just be face painting however because of speed and mass that needs to be performed most of the make up was applied with stencils.
A range of stencils meant many different patterns could be created quickly and neatly with out having a mass of trained make up artists on hand.
The make up mainly used in carnival is water based this means it is easy to apply and easy to get off after the show.

Kinetika Carnival Workshop - Day One

Kinetika is a carnival design team who are known for their large scale silk work and puppetry. There work has been seen all over the world at large events such as the olympics 2008 in Beijing. They are currently working with the moving tides team creating boat sails that will be painted by each school involved in the procession.

Today we have started work on designs for the sails as well as looking a batiking techniques that will be applied in the creating on the designs. Keeping designs bold and colourful was key for these sails - they will be seen from a distance, and small detail will be lost.

 www.kinetikaonline.co.uk