Happy new year

It feels like it's been months since my last post, but that's just because I got so used to almost posting everyday. Since it is vacation now I havn't been doing so much so I have been enjoying my don't have to do anything time.
I however have a good reason to make a new post (besides wishing you all the best for the new year), because I have renewed my official website. Thats right go and take a look on SanderSchoonbeek.com, and make sure you check out my all new Webstore. There's not to much in the store at the moment but I am working on getting more stuff out there (got to try right?).

I wanted to leave you all with again the best wishes for the comming year and I hope to see you soon. For now please enjoy some of the fireworks I saw earlier tonight at the Edinburgh Castle.

Portfolio

I just finished my end of semester portfolio setup an astonishing hour before the deadline. I feel pretty good aout it at this moment let's hope it will be reviewed in a positive way.

Print stand

Since I finaly finished me essay and I'm pretty much done with the studio work, I decided to make a stand to show some of the screenprints I have made. I would put them on the wall but since my billboard is taking up pretty much all of my wall space I thought this was a good idea. I only hope that my tutors will understand it's a display stand and not a sculpture :p. I'm also wondering if I should include my prints from last year. I didn't make them this semester but I feel that they help in showing the progress I've made. Choices choices. Well anyway picture time:

GRTS

Maybe this doesn't have to do so much with my work but I'll mention it anyway. Today my wife put her first items on her Etsy webshop. She has been making lot's of handmade products which we also sold during the christmass market at ECA. For now she's only shipping within the UK through Etsy but if anyone from outside the UK wants to order something just let me know ;). So make sure you check out her webshop on:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GRTS

Panoramic Billboard

The end of the semester is getting close an I'm starting to rap things up. I do need to do some layout work on my essay but other than that it's pretty much done.
Since I got into college pretty early this morning I was in time to get my second take on the billboard printed.
After that we had a little meeting about the second (and last) semester and some info about how the degree show might go (exciting).

So here is the first sneak peak into my new billboard:

Last week

It's the last week before the deadline, and everything is due this friday. It didn't start that well since I tried to go and get my new billboard printed (since the shop closed early on friday). Today they didn't take in any new printing orders due to deadlines and being busy and all. So they basicly told me to come back tomorrow morning and try again (what??? I have a deadline too and you want me to rely on let's see if we have more time tomorrw???).

When I walked back to my studio I bumped into the head of the glass department and she told me there was a talk going on in the afternoon by a glass artist, and I was welcome to come along. So since I couldn't work on my billboard and some of my glass work was drying I decided it would be good to go.
It was a very interesting talk by Minako Shirakura (www.minakoshirakura.com), and besides showing her work she talked about residencies and studying abroad. I thought it was very interesting and enjoyed it very much.
She gave me her card and when I go to Japan in March I might meet up with her if she happens to be there aswell.

So let's hope tomorrow will be better and more productive.

Coloured Billboard

I went into the college today to make a better picture of the coloured billboard. Since I am making another one this week this would be one of the last chances to document it.

Colour

I havn't made a post with my phone since the original test so I thought I'd give it another try.
Besides having seminars and a crit today I managed to get a little work done. Ok not realy something new ?ore of a tryout on something I already had. I wanted to reprint the billbboard in a wider more panoramic way to fill the space in my studio better, but since the printshop and all the workshops closed early today (probably cause of the amzingly bad wheater...... not) I couldn't do so. So instead of printing a new billboard I decided to follow Kenny's advice and put some colour (not too much) on my old one. I'm not to sure about the result so any coments are more than welcome (I have to present my finished portfolio next week and am not sure if I should show the new billboard with or without colour).
So here it goes, thanks for reading.

Christmass Fair

It was a weird day at the college today. I had planned to make a shop with my wife at the Christmass fair (which went great). But due to the wheater we had to close down a bit earlier. The selling went better than expected (we went there thinking we might not sell anything at all), but becausse of the closing down of the college (due to "bad wheater") I couldn't do any studio work that I had planned afterwards. Ok it did lead to some extra time which I could spend on the reading assesement and my essay but still, I need to finish my studio work too.
Anywhay it was a fun day so let's leave it with some nice pictures of our table at the fair.

Triads take 2

I had another set of triads today, and despite the fact that we have our deadline next week and I need all the time I can find to work on my essay/portfolio assesements, I cannot deny that it went great and the input was very helpfull. This time the triads were led by my tutor Kenny Hunter and consisted of me and 2 first year MFA students. Kate Bowe O'Brien who specializes in photography and Niall Webb (burpsandkisses.wordpress.com). I think the fact that I actually had alot of new stuff to show helped alot during these triads, since it just makes it that much easier to explain what I am trying to do (it gets kind of annoying to keep explaining everyone that I want to cast stuff in glass and print stuff in billboard size, without giving some real examples). It was also nice to hear that my 10 minute presentation came across very well (they didn't notice that I was quite nervous when talking). Also Kenny gave us feedback right after every triad which was very helpfull (it works best when it's still fresh to the mind). So I was very happy with today, especially since I didn't really looked forward to it. My gratitude goes out to Kenny, Kate and Niall.

Jason Waterhouse

I'm a bit late with posting this but it doesn't make it less relevant. After talking to Kenny over a week ago he showed me an image of a work by Jason Waterhouse. It shows a car trying to climb onto a padestool (or whatever those things are called in normal English). I think it symbolises what I am trying to do and will help me in my writing.

oh and thank Dr. Marcus Bunyan since I linked these pictures from his blog (Art Blart https://artblart.wordpress.com/tag/jason-waterhouse-glory-days/)

Friday again

It's been a busy week and the pressure of the essay that is due in 2 weeks is starting to come into play. I had a good talk with Neil Mulholland today (the head of the program), and he explained me a bit more plainly what is exactly expected of us at the end of the semester. We also talked about my blog and some of the side stuff that I have been doing (like the Bronze head bust). He give me the tip to add my Lightbox picture diary into this blog, and though I'm not sure how to exactly incorporate it I managed to make a pictured link to the right on this website ( it doesn't show if you just read this by e-mail, you have to go to my blog website by clicking on the title link). I update the diary whenever I come across a classic car or a nice shot of my own car while travelling, the shots are taken with my mobile and thus not the best quality but it's a little extra thing I like to do on the side.

Sorry no pics this time.

Photoshoot

Today I went to make some pictures of a Triumph Herald. A meeting wich was set up thanks to Simone (you can check her blog on http://prairiehound.blogspot.com/). She was even kind enough to drive over there aswell and show me how to get there and introduce me to her friends. After a very nice ride we arrived at the house and I was shown to a hidden away Triumph Herald convertible. It didn't take long for me to get my camera and start shooting pictures. Here are a few of the results:

 

Tutorial

Had another tutorial with Kenny Hunter today. We talked about all sorts of things since I now finaly had alot of new work to show. He also was there when we showed my projectspace and I must say that is input was very helpfull. Today however we talked more about the car parts I have laying around and what to do with them, and the billboard picture I still have in my studio. For the billboard picture he is advising me to do one in colour and see what the difference is. Even though I'm not to sure about it I will go ahead and get a larger print made of of my picture (not too big though because that will unfortunately cost me a fortune). I might also experiment a bit with painting over the black and white one I have and see what that does to it.

Afterwards I saw Andrew Sneddon (he was my tutor in my first semester last year, but I still talk to him quite often). He told me he really liked the big billboard print I did and that I was heading in a good direction. It really feels this way becausse I finaly have the feeling I know what I want.

Tomorrow Simone (she has her studio across from me) is going to introduce me to one of her friends. He has an old Triumph Herald standing in a barn and I'm allowed to come over and take some pictures. I'm really excited about this but a bit nervous aswell. you'll hear about how it went tomorrow.

More Pictures

Today I went back into the projectspace to take some extra pictures. Even though we had to leave the building before 4 pm we came up with some nice shots (thanks to William). I also made some small video's but the quality is a bit bad, as you can see on the one I uploaded to youtube.

Projectspace documentation

I went to the college today for some extra pictures of our projectspace. Unfortunately the college isn't open as late as it is during the week which ment that I hadn't had any time to make pictures and that the college closes before it gets dark enough to see the show at it's best. Luckily I took some pictures during the crit last night so I'm not left without any documentation, but it's still a shame. I am going back earlier tomorrow to try and get some more shots but I'll doubt that they will be much better than these.

It's over

I finaly finished my projectspace and I think I am allowed to say that it was very well recieved. Apart from the expected critisism which I have to add was very helpfull. I have added a couple off sneak preview images which where very badly taken with my phone, since we used projections in a darkened room. I am going in tomorrow (Saturday) to do some real documenting togheter with William, so hepefully I will be able to get some good pictures up in the evening.

Projectspace

Today I mostly spend my time setting up my projectspace togheter with William and Talia. Since I want it to be a bit of a surprice I'm not going to go into the details too much, but I can tell you that I am getting pretty excited about it. At this point I think it is going to work out pretty well and I can't wait to show it to my classmates, and hear what they think about it.

More Coldworking

Besides looking at some sandcasting today I also got to a little more coldworking. This time with the help of Jonathan who cut off the exces glass from my other casts. After this I grinded down the rest a little and hand sanded most of the casts for a finer touch. Although I am still not finished (I didn't find the time to use a dremel today), you can clearly see what the end product is going to be like. I even got to try the gascap on my Harley-Davidson Sportster tank.

Sandcasting

Hen I was coldworking my glass pieces in the glass workshop today, the technician asked me if I had seen sandcasting before. Since I have I wasn't that interested in looking untill she told me that Allan (the guy who usually helps me with my glass casting) was casting 2 of his boddies which he was going to attempt and melt togheter. As you might know or not know, sandcasting always leaves one open flat surface. Since you press your mold down into the sand you cannot make a fully 3d statue. Becausse of this allan wanted to try making a front and a back site and flip one over on top of the other after they got a bit solid. After that he even attempted to sculpt it a bit more so the body could sit upright.
It felt quite nice being part of a hotshop project even though I only opend and closed the door of the furnace a couple of times, it felt like I was back in California for a while.

Sorry the images are a bit crappy but I only had my phone on me
and since sancasting requires a lot of speed people didn't
had the time to stop and pose for me

Coldworking

Since I don't have clearance on all the coldworking tools in the glass department I asked Allan (who has helped me alot with this project already), to help me out once more. Luckily he was willingly as always and cut the biggest chunk of the bottom of my piece. Now I only have to grind the rest down a bit myself and tidy the piece up. But becausse I was impatient as always I tried it out on one of the gastanks I have laying around already.

I think I have a new favourite artist

Even though Jasper Johns will probably always stay my number 1, at this moment I'm not to sure about it. It is both amazing and horrific finding what I'm trying to show in someone else's work. How is it that everything has been done before (I guess this is something most artist have to deal with). This is one of the reasons why I don't like seeing what is already been done since I will simply start to feel like a ripoff of something that has been done before. On the other hand it is just amazing to see what is out there and it might work as an inspiration source aswell. I have used Richard Prince as an example to talk about my work occasionally, maybe it is about time to get deeper into the subject matter that drives him.

Click this link for an article about him and his work:
Richard Prince

Project Space

I just created the Facebook event for our projectspace this friday. We had some trouble with finding a good title though. For now were going with We'll be the Passenger queted out of the song "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop. Since I hate it when I get invites for events I cannot attend I only invited people I think might be in or around Edinburgh. but feel free to check out the facebook link to the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/290454764321404/

Or check this awesome music video with Iggy Pop's song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8filyvBJmeg

The CO2 Projectspace room ate ECA will be opened on friday the 25th of November at 3:30 PM.
The crit (for MFA2 only) will start at 4PM and after that an Official opening will be held at 5PM (All welcome).

More Glass

When I went to the glass department today to ask when they expected my other 2 casts to come out of the kiln I got a nice surprise. Apperantly they where already done and I could already demold them. So now I have 5 casted pieces, I can't wait untill I have the time to coldwork them (I want to concentrate on my projectspace first before I start doing to much other stuff).

Another productive day

Even though I had yet another meeting today I did find the time to work on some studio stuff. My project space is in just over a week so I have to rap things up. I worked on my 2 car panels (door and booth bonnet) that I am using and made some stands for them. as you can see they fill my studio nicely and it is starting to become like a garage more and more. I included another picture featuring the other 2 glass parts (hinges from the booth bonnet) that came out of the kiln yesterday. The blue marks are there to indicate what is going to be cut of when I find the time. I am hoping that the final 2 parts (including a second gascap) come out of the kiln this weekend.