My New Favourite Collectible

Someone in my class told me about a miniature version of Lego created in Japan called Nanoblocks, I looked on ebay and amazon but because they are more common in America and Japan, the postage costs means I need to save for a while first!

However on a trip to London this weekend, I found a few sets in a little toy shop in Covent Garden and so I bought my very first model...

I built it on the train home and recieved a few comments and looks of wonder as I battled with the TINY scale. I definately want to buy some more sets and build up my collection of pieces so I can create my own models.

There are a few sets exclusive to Universal Studios Japan that I would really like, particularly these two. However their exclusivity means their price on ebay is quite steep. I will just have to keep my eyes open for a bargain...

*FashionTwista*

These illustrations were derived from collages of various fashion photographs, they were created in preparation for etchings as part of a playing card project. I named my collection 'FashionTwista' as a play on the familiar saying: 'fashionista'.

*Textiles*

I took the textiles support module last year (first year) and it has been one of my favourite modules to date. My final collection was created by using my own hand-cut stencils, discharge paste (which bleached out the colour in the swatches) and then hand embroidering detail into them. My pieces were quite different to everyone else. My peers were all fashion students and you could easily distinguish between my 'graphic' approach and their generally softer, floral patterns.

I used neon thread for the embroidered detail and neon wool for my knit samples, however this has not shown up on these scanned versions... 

Inspired by Henry Holland: rhymes about my favourite models.

Model images to accompany above sample.

Inspired by paper dolls.

Pacman



Again inspired by paper dolls. This sample has a double-image effect: if you look at the
upside-down triangles, you see three shapes on top of one another. If you look at the
negative space circles, you can see the 'ladies'.

Tetris

Model names

Pacman knit, creating a punch-hole pattern card and using the knit machine.

*Travel Creations*

On my recent travels to London, I took some plasticine to amuse myself with and this is what i came up with!...

Modelling on a train is very, very difficult!....

                                                  However modelling on a coach is much easier!...

*Cardboard Hairdressers*

As an experiment for a previous project (creating a broadsheet on hairdressing), I made a mock up miniature hairdressers inside a giant pair of scissors. These figures and objects are quite rough but gave me an idea of scale and possible developments.

In the end i decided not to go ahead with making 3D scenes, purely because of the time constraints however it was fun to experiment.

*Miniature nibbles!*

I even brought my love of miniatures into baking....

Teeny sausage rolls, using the whole procedure of meat, pastry, egg wash and air-holes! Above shows normal size and my miniature versions!

*Mini Timmy and Mittens*

Inspired by my Wallace and Gromit creations, i decided to follow the same process and make two characters from another Aardman show: 'Timmy Time'. The programme is aimed at pre-schoolers but the incredible detail in the sets and characters as well as the comical, funny storylines interest me too!
Timmy the lamb is Shaun-the-Sheep's little brother and Mittens the kitten attends the same nursery school as him.
Once again, I have worked solely with plasticine and used a needle and scalpel to smooth, mould and add detail.

As shown when comparing the above and below image, Mittens got squashed when I tried to make her stand up and so the final outcome meant she had slightly stumpy legs...

These characters are even smaller than Gromit was and although Mittens didn't come out very well, I particularly like Timmy and the detail I managed to achieve.