Coleen Choi, Pamela Love.

The above jewellery created by Coleen Choi reminded me of the honey and formations created by the honey comb I saw in the bee hives. The top image with the cage like cover reminded me of the sculptures by Lauren Ellen Bacon. The watery stones are beautiful.

Pamela Love has become a huge inspiration to me. I first came across her work that was inspired by the movie 'Where The Wild Things Are' , then discovered the rest of her beautifully crafted dark, tribal collections. 

http://www.colleenchoi.com/

http://www.pamelalovenyc.com/

Joji Kojima.

During my first year projects I paid little attention to accessories, especially jewellery. I came across Joji Kojima in a magazine and fell for the gothic style jewellery. Each piece has a dark glamorous attitude and I particularly like the combination of skull and feathers. 

http://jojikojima.com/

Zhang Huan.

Following the decaying theme, I came across this sculpture by Zhang Huan. I love the effect created by the layers peeling away from the surface.

http://www.zhanghuan.com/

Beauty in Decay , David Creedon.

The images to the left are from the book Beauty in Decay and are taken around the world. The images to the right are by David Creedon  and were taken in an abandoned cottage in Ireland.

http://www.davidcreedon.com/

Charles Fine.

Above are a series of paintings by Charles fine.The effect created by the combination of wood and paint works really well, the rough surface and earthy colours resemble bark peeling off branches of trees. The top left image reminds my of a lilly pond reflecting the sky as do the two other blue paintings.

Anni Albers.

As I would like to pay more attention to knit this year, I decided to research into textiles by Anni Albers, an influential member of the Bauhaus. I chose these particular weaves as they have the raw earthy look that I aim to create.

http://www.albersfoundation.org/Home.php

Andy Goldsworthy.

Andy Goldsworthy's work fascinates me. The way he creates the sculptures out of the simple resources that surround him when in the countryside is amazing. It's almost magical how he bonds his sculptures together by using thorns or other natural materials.

My fascination began when I came across his 'Wood' book buried in a book case at home. Since then I have gained a vast amount of inspiration and would now like to incorporate natural materials into my garments and accessories. Again like Laura Ellen Bacon's work theres that stripped down raw feel and I would like to convey this feeling in my work.

http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/

Laura Ellen Bacon.

Following the natural theme of the feathers I began to look at work by Lauren Ellen Bacon. The structures she creates by weaving wood amongst other wood or stone creates a stripped back, raw- earthy sentiment. The structures seem awfully complex, yet have a sense of simplicity to them within the bold shapes created. 

http://www.lauraellenbacon.com/gallery.htm

Feathers.

My love for feathers began after seeing a tawny owl on the BBC's Spring watch programme. The combination of textures and colours in its feathers were beautiful, and immediately I began to imagine how I would take these qualities and use them in my work through using knit and earthy coloured fabrics.

The image in the bottom left is one I took at the Natural History Museum in London. The bird section there was amazing, the colours in the feathers of the different birds were fantastic, it's fascinating how a creature can be so colourful. I find the structure of the wings really interesting and would love to incorporate this into my work.

The top central photo and the photograph on the right are examples of how designers have used feathers, the skirt is by Matthew Williamson and the head piece is one I found on the web. The head piece is fabulous, the combination of colours is gorgeous, the entire thing looks as if it could take flight any minute.

Bees.

This Summer the George household was taken over by bee's. With a total of 5 hives, 2 unfortunate swarming incidents and hundreds of jars of honey the garden has been busy to say the least. As I'm looking for inspiration for texture and different shapes I decided to get the kit on and get a closer look at the hives. Above are two pictures I took of the honey combs I love the shape and structure created by the honey comb as the bees fill them with more honey. The images on the left are of an exhibition by Lauren Bon, even though ours tastes too good to be used for anything other than eating, its interesting to see other ways it can be used and appreciated. I particularly like the sculpture where the bees wax is combined with bronze.The image in the middle at the top is of a bug house, the textures and colours created by the different wood's gives a really earthy stripped back look, I would like to achieve these effects in knit by using different textured wool.

http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?Artist=50

Ingo Maurer, Reiko Sudo.

http://www.ingo-maurer.com/

http://www.origamisources.com/images/alainjost.jpg

Rowan Mersh.

I came across Rowan Mersh in Crafts magazine, I find the way he creates texture and depth with different shapes and materials very inspiring. 

http://www.rowanmersh.com/

Martin Margiela.

I really admired the the Maison Martin Magiela exhibition in Summer Set House, the clean white presentation allowed all the attention to be on the garments and the room with all the tv's showing the different collections from over the years was amazing. 

The exhibition really inspired me to use other materials to create my garments and accessories like the jacket made out of gloves.

http://www.maisonmartinmargiela.com/en/index2.html

Ernesto Neto.

Another exhibition that was being held at the South Bank Centre was the New decor exhibition. I wasn't overly impressed with everything I saw, but liked the work shown by Urs Fischer  and the work in the pictures above by Ernesto Neto.

I loved the motto "Be Gentle or Do Not Touch", as it was an exhibition for children I though this was really appropriate and well said. The colours throughout the tunnel in the images were fantastic and the effect created with the colours clashing was fab. I also liked the little tube like connections through the walls to other sections of the tunnel, these really inspired me and reminded me of work I had seen by Charles fine ( in the images above). These tube / trumpet like shapes got me thinking about how I could use them in accessories, fabric manipulations and general shapes in garments.

Festival of Brazil.

Here are some pictures I took at the Brazil Festival exhibition at the South Bank Centre in London.

I've always been interested in Brazil and it's culture and the exhibition really gave a taste of it's peoples way of life and traditions.

I particularly like the head pieces that were worn in the carnival, these really inspired me to think more about making accessories, something I didn't pay enough attention too in my last project.

Print in Nature.

Here are photos I took in my garden during Spring. Taking inspiration from the prints I had seen, I decided to use the patterns and colours in these images for my own designs, I would also like to use the delicate structures of the flowers and incorporate the shapes and qualities into shapes of garments. 

Eley Kishimoto.

As I am looking for inspiration in print, Eley Kishimoto's collections were a MUST to look at.  

I highly admire the way they use colour and their designs are just beautiful.

To really get a feel of what Eley Kishimoto is about I purchased their WERK book and gained a load of inspiration. I particularly like the samples of fabric that make up the cover that is neatly pinned down, and the presentation of the imagery on each page.By reading the interviews between one another and seeing photographs that document their lives and relationship, once at the end of the book you feel like you know them personally. There was also a personal connection in the book as it contains images from Porthcawl.

http://www.eleykishimoto.com/

Holly Fulton.

I came across Holly Fulton and fell in love with her prints.I particularly like the industrial element in the imagery and the way the print is carried through to the accessories. 

http://www.hollyfulton.com/

Christian Joy.

My Library of Cool research begins with Christian Joy.  I needed inspiration to open my mind when designing as I felt my end of year project for the first year let me down creatively.

I adore Joy's crazy outfits he creates for Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, and also the garments he created inspired by the film 'Where The Wild Things Are'. His style is unique and has inspired me to create more elaborate designs and incorporate print.

http://www.christianjoy.us/