pp3 final presentation

Presentation boards

Summative evaluation/project report

Overall I have really enjoyed this module, and have seen an arc of personal growth in my practise.
I have worked on a variety of briefs, including commissions, competitions and self-directed projects. This variety has been valuable as I have had to learn how to efficiently manage my own time and spread my efforts between briefs with deadlines and more sprawling, open-ended projects.
I have also worked across a range of media this year, which has kept my practise feeling fresh and interesting to me and stopped my ideas turning stale. This varied way of working is something I know I will carry with me when I leave university and continue to establish my practice.

I think starting a textile-art practise with my weavings has been very significant for me and has had an over-arching positive influence on my work. My practise is organically evolving to become more shape and pattern based, I have become more confident in my use of colour and I am identifying a real rhythmic joy in working, whether weaving, painting, creating hand-rendered lettering, or mono printing. I have definitely identified myself as a tactile 'maker' this year, and have found new excitement in processes of painting and mono printing. This was partly helped along by COP3, in which I investigated the influence of tactile texture in work.

Having had a year out last year and coming back after such a long break, I find it very interesting to compare the "then" and "now" of my work. Perhaps it is just the natural way of something changing and evolving as I grow older and more established within myself, but I can now identify a real universal truth or principle that runs through all my work now. Although I have many different ways in which I like to produce work,  I think there is some deeper message or philosophy to my work now that makes it mine - something slightly deeper than just a visual aesthetic. This is a really great feeling and I think gives me a strong base to build up. I know the kind of messages and ideas that I want to put out into the world.

A real inner piece has come to me this year by ceasing to try and define myself as a illustrator. This is a label that I've struggled with in the past, often feeling that it never quite fit. This year I have come to think of myself as simply an image-maker or an artist, and I feel more creative than ever for it. Although illustration and the principles of it still have an influence over my practise and my personal aesthetic tastes, my concerns about not being a certain 'type' of illustrator have gone. Instead, I know think I made work that is driven forward simply by the patterns and truths that I think I see in the world around me.

A commissioned project that I really enjoyed this year was one that I undertook for the Leeds Bread Co-operative. I've been unsure in the past about how my personal principles and politics could work in 'the industry'; I have no problem identifying myself as anti-capitalist, and have more interest in working for small community projects rather than big companies. However doing a design job for a local workers co-operative (flat rate of pay/elf-organised/no top-down management) has shown me that actually getting paid for your work and working for decent people are not mutually exclusive. It also gave me the chance to work closely with Footprint Worker's Co-op.

I have no real anxieties or expectations about the future finishing this degree course. I've really enjoyed most of it, but also still think of myself as only being at the very beginning of my artistic practise. It's been good, but the best is yet to come.

Statement of Intent

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	06
LAUIL603 Extended Practice	Credit.	60

Name	Sophie Edwards-Smith
Date	16/05/18
Rationale
My work aims to explore and promote themes of positivity and appreciation. My work is a celebration of joy, of feeling, and of colour. I hope to use my practise as a force for social good and optimism. I see my work through a lens of ‘radical softness’, the idea that unapologetically sharing your feelings and thoughts is a political action and way to combat the societal ideal that feelings are a sign of weakness. I will only work for, or collaboratively with, organisations or communities that align with my political ideas and principles.
Themes / Subjects
-The everyday -Universal experiences -Emotional and mental health and wellbeing. -Embracing sincercerity -Radical Softness
Products / Methods of Distribution
-       Some weavings -       Sheets of hand painted text that could either be compiled as a book or distributed as posters.
Practical Skills / Media / Formats
-       Monoprinting -       Collage and papercut -       Textile arts -       Gouache painting -       Hand-rendered typography -       Book production (binding, folding, InDesign software) -       Collaborative skills (working with a graphic designer for the Leeds Bread Co-op commission)

Brief 1: Leeds Bread Co-op	Deadline	05/18
Rationale: A professional commission undertaken for Leeds Bread Co-op, a workers’ cooperative based in Meanwood, Leeds. The commission involves producing hand-drawn images of the bakery’s bread to be used in promotional material. The hand-drawn images are to reflect the bakery’s mission of creating ‘artisan bread by hand’. Taking on work from a worker’s co-operative aligns with my personal politics and personal workplace ideals.
Brief 2: Batsford Prize 2018	Deadline	03/2018
Rationale: I will be using weaving as a process through which to explore the theme of the Batsford Prize 2018, which is ‘Craving Colour’. Weaving is a time-costly process and so I am to produce only one finished weave. I am undertaking this brief because I feel it will be good for my practise to have more experience meeting deadlines and getting used to entering my work into competitions and recognising my work as a commodity. Aside from ‘Craving Colour’ the competition brief is completely open, meaning that I can continue to use weaving as an exploratory learning process through which to better understand how rhythm, colour and pattern sit in my practise.
­Brief 3: ‘Let’s Talk About…’ (self directed)	Deadline	ongoing
Rationale: A series of painted texts exploring themes of emotional wellbeing. In this series I aim to open honest dialogues around ‘difficult’ topics such as mental health. I hope to be able to use my writing to create work that is personable and relatable. This series could be collated into a booklet or zine, or distributed as posters.
Brief 4: Rainbow Junk-tion, part of The Real Junk Food Project network	Deadline	Ongoing
Rationale: I will be continuing to create promotional material for a community café in Leeds. I have already done a complete commissioned redecoration of the café’s interior, and created a logo and a visual aesthetic for the café. I am interested to see how I can build upon and develop my existing body of work for Rainbow Junktion. I aim to continue to explore tactile, hands-on processes of working. I am a long-term volunteer with The Real Junk Food Project, and have a personal commitment to their ethics and intents. This project will be interesting as it will require me to work within particular specifications that I haven’t used before, such as designing and printing a large vinyl banner.
Brief 5: Leeds Radical Herbalism 2018	Deadline	01/18
Rationale: I have been approached by the organisers of the Leeds Radical Herbalism Gathering 2018 to create a strong visual identity for the event. Deliverables for this brief include a logo and a promotional flyer to be distributed at pop-up herbal tea stalls around the city. This brief will be interesting as I will be aiming to communicatie the accessibility and availability of herbal medicine and remedies for all demographics, although herbal medicine can be considered quite fringe or alternative.