What do I want to do?

08 / 10 / 2011

When I first started my degree, people would ask me what do you want to do when you're finished? I didn't know, I still don't really know.

I thought it would be great to start my own t-shirt brand called 'Oh dear' and print cute, summery illustrations onto t-shirts. But that was short lived. I might still do it one day, who knows. Below are some of my ideas.

THEN... the beginning of this year I completed a business plan and feasibility study on a business idea which was - 'She's the one wedding photography.' I then wanted to do wedding photography. I had it all planned out!! I even got to take some wedding photos with Shane Chalker - a national and international award winning photographer. That was a great experience.

My logo design for my future business.

So the wedding photography idea was a bit overwhelming, there are so many bridezillas out there, I almost think I would be killed if i missed an important shot. So the wedding photography idea has taken a back-seat for the moment.

Now, I have started a business called 'Shell Designs.' Where I can do photography, create logos, make invitations and business cards - and do everything I want to do! I have even started to sell artworks.

Life is great.

Paper thin

07 / 10 / 2011

This is one of the most complex things i was asked to do at uni. We were only allowed to use one sheet of A3 paper, double sided tape and a stanley knife. But there was a catch, you weren't allowed to cut pieces off and stick them together..... it had to be one whole cutout that you could fold together while still being attached to the base paper. We had to base it on a memory, so here I have represented the first time i went ice-skating.

Peter Callesen is an incredible artist who uses a similar technique. You will be blown away by his creations.

The only way out is the slaughterhouse.

06 / 10 / 2011

You make sure your eggs are ok, but what about the hens that laid them? Each and every ‘cage-egg’ takes around 30 stressful hours to lay, cooped up in a confined cage.  In a natural environment a hen will live 10 years, but a battery hen is lucky enough to live one year before they are stuffed into crates and trucked off to the slaughterhouse, never to see the light of day. This is animal cruelty- don’t take part, every time you go to the supermarket purchase free-range eggs or egg free alternatives.

This is a series of advertisements i designed in my second year of uni. We had to choose an Australian organisation and create an advertisement campaign for the chosen company. Then create a billboard design and a bus shelter design that was site specific. Also create a television advertisement using the program After Effects. This is what i came up with...

30 confined cage hours.

The only way out is the slaughterhouse.

Debeaked with a hot machine blade.

The average car holds five, so does the average cage.

You're only here for five minutes, try a lifetime.

I never knew how terribly hens were treated until i completed this campaign. It was a real eye opener. I hope that if you are reading this, you too will stop buying caged eggs.

For more information please visit: Animal's Australia

It's not what it looks like...

5 / 10/ 2011

This is a design I created for my University's Summer Design Ball. At first glance it looks like a stripy ice-cream, but what it is really made of is paint chips, the ones you get from hardware stores. I hope no one saw me, because I did take LOTS!

First, after a lot of attempts I created the circular shapes out of two of the same colour paint chips, cut two slits in each side, then used double sided tape to stick it all together. The cone was created using about 5 paint chips of the same colour rolled up into a cone shape. I then placed them on A3 coloured paper and photographed it. Then I completed the finishing touches in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Paint chips from a local hardware store.

Trying different coloured backgrounds.

The shapes placed on A3 coloured paper

Birds, bees, flowers and trees.

2/ 10/ 2011

This is part of one of my projects I completed in my 2nd year of University. We had to take our own photos of the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens and then create a small booklet to advertise and offer information to the public about the site. I love photography, so it was great to wander around the magnificent gardens and photograph all of the beautiful flora and fauna.

Food for thought.

1 / 10 / 2011

Art major works - 2008

For my major, I pondered upon many themes then decided I wanted to go in the direction of food.

Why food? Whether we like it or not, food involves everybody, without it we cannot survive. Too much and you get sick, too little and you get sick, our lives revolve around it. There are many themes and issues that involve food. I based my art on obesity and the fact that it is becoming an epidemic.

While the issue is quite serious, I chose to give my artworks a humorous touch with the addition of quirky quotes that cause the audience to think. The final artwork included six A1 sized drawings. The smaller drawings took me about 10 hours each to draw while the larger took over 25 hours each.

Dieting is not a piece of cake.

I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

Donuts and pies equal very big thighs.

I'm on a seafood diet, I see food and then i eat it.

A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

You are what you eat.

How it all began.

30 / 09 / 2011

One of my first uni assignments was to create 60 self portraits.

When I was little I always wanted to be a vet, there was no doubt about it - that is what I was going to do. It came time to do work experience when I was 15 and I chose to do it at a Veterinary clinic. It came as a very rude shock to me, being a vet wasn't all about getting to play with fluffy animals and making them better. I witnessed a few deaths, ALOT of blood, got attacked by various animals and I was made to do all of the dirty work. So after 5 days of working as a Vet, my childhood dream was shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, but this was for the best.

 I was 17 and nearing the end of high school, I still did not know what I wanted to do. I remember going to my Orthodontist appointment, leaving, and then that’s when I knew I wanted to be an Orthodontist. I wanted to be able to fix peoples teeth, like he fixed mine.

Shelley: Hey Mum, I want to be an Orthodontist!!!

Mum: You know they have the highest suicide rate don't you?

This one is made using foam and pin holes.

So that idea went out the window too. I had to go to Orange anyway if I wanted to study it.

I wanted to do business studies at school, but instead my teachers forced me to do art, which I'm very glad they did! My favourite subject at school was Design and Technology, I went to a creative arts high school, I don't know why it wasn't clear to me sooner that I should do something in the design field!

So as school finished, I still had no idea. The UAC guides came out and I went from front cover to back cover about 5 times and nothing stood out. Mum said I should be a teacher, she said I should do a Bachelor of Science, but nothing appealed to me.Nanny was looking through the book and said to me that I should do fine arts; now this was something more up my alley that I had never even considered. I looked through the book again and highlighted all of the design/ art courses I could do and decided I had my heart set on Bachelor of Visual Communication Design at the University of Newcastle.

So as an 18 year old who was planning on living at home until she was 32, it was time to pack myself up and move to Newcastle to start the rest of my life.

Here I am, it’s 3 years later, no regrets, I’m just about to finish my degree and I haven’t looked back. I’m starting a business called ‘Shell Designs’ and I’m doing what I love.

Thanks everyone for your guidance and support.