handspun project number 1:

So here are the results of the first project made with my own handspun yarn, (the previous post shows the yarn in process) a scarf that can be buttoned up to make a cowl, and a pair of cosy mittens. Not got any work in progress pics, so these'll have to do:

new yarn

Got started on a new yarn, made from fibres that I bought from the wonderfully affordable World of Wool, a great store with a huge range of natural sheep fibres, plus some other lovely stuff such as alpaca, cashmere etc... It was inspired by one of my favourite garments:

rolag time/spinning:

 The finished yarn:

folksy, again.

Got some more stuff up on folksy, including some new tote bags. Have a gander here.

new spindle

this is my new spindle, created after the demise of my first spindle, which sadly couldn't handle being dropped repeatedly, though was later fixed. It works surprisingly well for a contraption made up of a few rubber bands, a couple of cds and a piece of dowling rod.
Also a couple of pics of the plying tool and finished yarn.

new tool

I have a new tool to add to my collection of spinning equipment: an 'andean plying tool' which was kindly crafted for me. With this tool I can ply yarn without any wastage.

from graduand to graduate

I had to post about my graduation. It went well, apart from the biblical rain - and some hailstones -  that poured down on us upon our departure from the caird hall. I stood with many others for about 20 minutes sheltering under the veranda bit of the caird hall but still got quite soggy. Here are some photos after it cleared up:

So now I officially have letters after my name. Sarah Johnston BA, booyah!

glasgow degree show

On saturday I popped along to the last day of the gsa (fine art) degree show, which was possibly the worst day to go; most of the artists's postcards had run out, and some had begun the removal of their artwork, so I didn't get the whole picture. Also, many of the artists don't have up-and-running websites, so I couldn't look them up further, or provide you with any links and pictures.

But...

...what I did see included a wind-up music box, alongside of which was a warning sign declaring that the box 'mutilates dead mice'. Thinking that this sign was a joke, I began to wind the box for a moment. After nothing happened, I moved on to see that behind this box, was indeed a dead-mouse mutilating contraption, which was... interesting, and a teeny bit horrific. The artist was Euan Ogilvie.

I also saw some tasty art, which included baked dough frames, an old chair that had been re-laced with strawberry laces and a 'live' portrait of the artist with strawberry lace hair. Artist was Gillian Mairi Alexander.

And then some performance art, which I didn't even realise was happening. I was presented with a narrow darkened room, and floor cushions inviting me to sit down and flip through a book. In front of this, three lengths of fabric hang from the ceiling, and in this fabric - suspended by it - the artist is lying naked and completely still. I don't think a lot of visitors noticed her presence, I certainly didn't until I went up and had a good nosey. The artist was Julia Scott.

An interesting and very different show to eca and djcad.


The Scotsman does it better here.

edinburgh degree show

I took a little trip to the eca degree show on tuesday, to see how my edinburgh peers got on in their final year. It is so nice being able to just look at other people's art without having to worry about my own. Anyways...here are some of my favourites:

From fine art we have:

Konomi Kaneya, whose work can also be seen here,



Megan Tait, who has a beautiful website here,

Gareth Wynne Fitzpatrick, which you can see more of here,

Piotr Skibinski, who work can be seen here, and also here.

And from illustration...

Kirsty Baynham, who has a lovely interactive website here.

So, if you haven't been, get it seen! I look forward to seeing the gsa degree show soon...

folksy

I now have the ability to sell things over the interwebs, yay! I have 'opened' a shop on Folksy.com to sell the leftover makes from my degree show, which include my books 'copse and rubbers', as well as 'tits and boobys: a book for those who love a great tit', and some shiny and colourful 25mm badges:

So, if you would like to buy any of these things, for you or for someone else, please visit my online shop here: sarah johnston : shop

un-install

today I removed my degree show from its studio space, a task that took less than an hour to do, such an abrupt ending to what took 9 long days to install... ! Sad empty space:

So, now I have completely vacated the art school. Alls thats left to do now is hand in my studio key, graduate, have fun garden party times and then uni will be officially over. I'll let you know how I get on at life...

peeps

time for some creative stuff from the hands of others: the following images were kindly drawn for me by two fellow fine artists, which today, were given the permanance of a frame. (click for biggerness)

the unicorn and the bird were created by two lovely people who also have blogs, Stargazey Pie and Fibre, respectively. These people kept me from going insane in the hellish time that was 4th year fine art, so these pictures will be going up on my wall asap.

books for sale

this is a bit of back post, but I made a bunch of books to sell at my degree show, and I wanted to document it. Made to look like my own sketchbooks, they display an accumulation of drawings from the last year. The A5 book, 'copse and rubbers', is a random selection of everyday drawings, and the small book, 'tits and boobys', is a book of birds.

I sold a few at the show, not many, but the nice people at the recoat gallery in Glasgow expressed an interest in selling them. Haven't even been to that gallery yet...

first day of the rest of my artistic life...

hello, this is my first post on a blog that I created to document my post-academic artistic pursuits. I have just completed a degree in fine art, and have been in education for pretty much the last 17 years, so now it's time to do some life. I hope to document my day-to-day ideas, thoughts, and creative stuffs.

So, yesterday was the last day of my degree show, which was 9 long days of invigilating time. This meant I had a lot of time sitting around, but this also meant I could get a shitload of knitting done, and here are the results of my invigilating/knitting time:

Yay, a pair of socks. Not my first pair, and won't be my last, but I had plenty of comments during the show about the difficulty of 'turning the heel'. If you are interested in the efforts of my degree show, go here: www.sarahjohnston.weebly.com