LETS HAVE A CATCH UP!

I know I have been very remiss at updating my blog of late and I must apologise profusely. However, I have been rather busy working on my bacterial plates piece and also working in a school teaching year 7 and 8 students art. I thought I'd share some images with you to show you what I've been up to....These images show all the plates now completed going from left to centre and then below is the right hand side.

This is the best image I managed to get of them all together...

As for working at the school- we have been looking at sea creatures like jelly fish, sea anemones, coral, etc as a starting point. Then from drawings we made of shape and pattern found in these creatures, we have created collagraphic prints printing in red and then over printed in black. Here are a couple of examples that the students created...After the printing we moved on to making 3-d weavings based on sea anemones like the ones below, the top one is my example and the following two were made by students....

I have also been making lots of things for Christmas presents some of which I will blog about in the New Year but not yet as the recipients may see the blog post!!! Merry Christmas to you all.

PETRI DISH CROCHETED AND BEADED ART WORK

I have been quiet on my blog over the summer, I know, but I have been working on some new petri dish pieces. They started out life as polystyrene pizza bases and I have up-cycled them with crochet and beading to make them into petri dishes with cultures growing on them....

 ... and I am started to get quite a nice collection of them but I am not finished yet.

ON HELIX CONFERENCE, WELLCOME TRUST GENOME CAMPUS, CAMBRIDGE.

 I am very happy to be exhibiting as artist in residence for One Nucleus at the On Helix conference happening at the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus in Cambridge today. I have brought my set of six canvases based on genetics and DNA (pictured on the left),

my small anatomical paper cut series and a new set of eight paper cut/drawing pieces of work (pictured in the white frames below). I also have a pair of tables exhibiting my sketchbooks, portfolio and examples of crocheted work.

 

 

 .... Also excitingly, PharmaTelevision are filming interviews with several rather influential delegates today and have asked to use my work as a back drop, so I will also be credited for the artwork on their films. These two lovely ladies, below, are from a very interesting sciart organisation called STEAM:ED Collective based in London and combining unusual artwork with science. Watch this space as Bahijja and I may be collaborating in the coming months.....

GALAXIES OF CELLS AND PAPERCUTS

So here are the completed crocheted wire cells in their galaxy formation laid out on my carpet at home. I am really pleased with the effect I just have to work on the method for hanging them how I want them now.

I am currently working on some new framed works using drawing and papercuts for an exhibition coming up in July. The exhibition is organised by One Nucleus as part of the On Helix conference at the Wellcome Trust campus in Cambridge. The work is all based on human biology and is highly influenced by my on-going residency at MedImmune and my research there. Although these snaps taken with my phone aren't the best I hope they give you some idea of what I am doing.

There are lots of cells, tissue, neurones,  veins, nerves, arteries etc influencing my ideas and the idea of layers.

CROCHETED WIRE CELLS AND DRAWING WITH BACTERIA!

 So work has continued with the crocheting of my wire cells. I now have 94 completed cells and only 6 more to go ..... the end is in sight. I will not be sad to stop making them as the repetition has been quite tedious. However, I am sure the effect of them all together hung in a galaxy formation will be worth the effort.

Today I am on sight at MedImmune working on my drawing experiment again. We, Aksana Labokha and I, now have all the variables of the bacteria and temperature at which to leave the plates sorted out for the best glowing results. So now it is just the set up of the camera inside the incubator and the timing of the photographs that Jon Large is kindly, and patiently, helping me with. Using the drawing on the left I have drawn my image on the plate and now all we can do is wait and see the results after the weekend - fingers crossed that all goes to plan. I will, of course, report back once we have results.

 

HOW MANY CELLS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A GALAXY ?

 After lots and lots more of this......(above), I now have this (below), a collection of 50 crocheted wire cells

....but I still think its not enough for my constellation or galaxy of cells.......

...so guess what, more cells to crochet!

In the meantime I have been doing a few drawings in my sketchbook to relieve the tedium...

Jane's Adventures in Lab Land continues

 Another great day at Lab Land (in other words Medimmune). I was fortunate enough to have a great new partner to work with - Aksana Labokha. We are continuing to try and get my bacterial drawings just right. I also had the help of Jon Large to test how to set up a situation that could use time-lapse photography to record the progress of the bacteria developing and expressing the green fluorescing protein. (I actually look quite "sciencey" in all the gear don"t you think ?)

The Knitting Ninjas group and I also met up at lunchtime, so that I could hand out yarn and patterns for a piece of work that we can collaborate on. (Thank you ladies for getting involved).

....and finally these are some new pieces I am working on. They are embroidered and beaded polystyrene circles - based on plates and all the other circular patterns seen in the labs.

CROCHETING YET MORE WIRE CELLS!

 I have been continuing to work on my crocheted wire cells. The collection is growing as you will notice but still there are not enough. How many do I need to make to create a constellation or galaxy of cells? The idea came from a microscope image of cells that Caz, from Medimmune, showed me which had been taken with OPERA. It reminded me of images of astronomy and as I am fascinated with anything to do with fractals this reflection of the macro in the micro was very inspiring.

I have also been working in my sketchbook......

 ... I have been thinking about another piece of work based on circles because within the labs I see so much that is based on this shape that it seems like a must.

 I have also been looking at patterns in cells that look very much like textile patterns, knitting etc.

Thinking of branching patterns in fractals too. You can see a piece of knitting on the right that is based on the image of cells on the same page. Enough blogging back to the crocheting........