Damien Hirst is one of the most successful British artists working today. His website reflects his success, as it is is a very professional designed website, with many different features, such as an up to date news bar tab, keeping viewers up to date information on Hirst's projects. But I find the whole thing detracts from the work itself. There is too much going on in the website, even though it is well designed, it is more like a designer retail website rather than an artists portfolio.

http://www.damienhirst.com/

An artist that has always inspired me over the last two years in Susan Collis. Her work draws you in to the details, and there is so much work and time put into her work that is so subtle, you could miss it entirely.

Susan Collis doesn't have her own website, but she has a profile on the Seventeen Gallery website who represent her and put on her exhibitions. It is straight forward layout, with no none sense. There is a brief description about her background and her work. Then there are large clear photographs of her work on the page you can scroll down through, which are ordered chronologically so you can see her ideas develop. I like how straight forward her profile page is, it puts the focus on the work itself.

http://www.seventeengallery.com/artists/susan-collis/

Syracuse University in the state of New York is exhibiting work from students, faculty and alumni from Leeds College of Art. The exhibition is called 'Tacit knowledge', looking at the shared understanding, trust and learning between all those at Leeds College of Art. One of my pieces was lucky enough to be selected, I am made up to be a part of this exhibition as it is a huge opportunity and to be a part in the international relationship with the arts at Syracuse University.

Part of the piece being exhibited.
Wood with resin inlaid with tobacco, paracetamol and lace.

http://news.syr.edu/tacit-knowledge-to-feature-work-by-leeds-college-of-art-students-faculty-alumni-42274/

a-n News is an amazing website for all kinds of professional practitioners interested in sharing their ideas about the visual arts and whats going on in the UK. With a fantastic network of members connected up and down the country, a-n can have a real effect on tackling the big issues facing an individual artist's projects, gallery funding or campaigning against government cuts in the arts and art education. Keep all it's members up to date and with the right support, a-n is one of the most important and influential art organisations in the country.  Their membership packages includes £5m Public and Products Liability insurance, so your covered for any damages when you exhibit your work!
a-n is a valuable source for any artist. It is a well of information and has guides for all kinds of practicing artists. With over 19,000 members, it is well worth being a part of it.

Researching other platforms and blogs, I started by looking at East Street Arts members platform. East Street Arts is a Leeds based organisation supporting local artists in a variety of ways from studio spaces to events. I looked at East Street Arts member Rufus Newell's profile, a graduate of Leeds College of Art. His profile is professional and clear, photographs of his work are the first thing that catch your eye because they are bold and set to the top center of the page. The photographs are clear and professional. They are in a slide show so they are easy to view and inform you visually about his work.
Newell gives a clear and concise overview of his work and his background in Leeds which is direct and informative, giving the reader a good sense of what his work is about and how he is a member of 'Precious' art collective in Leeds. He provides links to his website and the 'Precious' collectives Facebook page. Providing good links for the viewer and promotion of his professional work.
The East Streets Art members profiles is a great support and online networking tool, they are a well known organisation with great links with other professional art organisations, giving their members a great step forward in show casing their work on a professional level in the online art world.


http://eaststreetarts.org.uk/membership/members-profiles/rufus-newell/

We recently had a visiting talk from Chris Grant Peterkin, the founder of Visual Art Trader. On the Visual Art Trader website, buyers can buy directly from the artist, so there’s no commission as well. Visual arts trader puts on pop up exhibitions in local areas for its artist members work and for its registered buyers to go see new work. Buyers can also arrange to visit artist’s studios. Chris Peterkin gave a talk not just about Visual Art Trader, and how it can help us, but he was a great speaker about how we can get our work out there for people to see. Discussing all the issues that face a practicing artist. He told us how to get our work out there on online platforms, and how each platform is different (some platforms have bigger database of members, but might charge more commission). He gave really helpful advice on how the art market works and how to navigate it. The talk was a really useful talk about being a professional artist online, it was really interesting and educational

http://www.visualarttrader.co.uk/index.cfm

Last week I was at SSW (Scottish Sculpture Workshop) on a bronze casting course. It was a brilliant experience and I learn a lot about working with bronze, a very traditional material with many appealing properties. I wanted to bring the material value and tradition of bronze casting into my work, and juxtapose these qualities with my broken found objects. The strength and meaning behind the bronze which I cast into a chair leg compared to the weakened, discarded old chair where the wax cast came from brought to light an interesting counter balance for me. Trying to marry these two opposing materials will be a constant battle.

At SSW I talked to the technicians working there, one of the assistant technicians was a recent graduate from Dundee University, and was doing a year apprenticeship at SSW. He said it has been a brilliant experience, and he didn't go in with a background in working with bronze, but has learnt a lot from being there and is going on to work in Venice for a year when he has finished at SSW. Applying for an apprenticeship like this after I graduate would be something I would be really be interested in. Not only would it be a valuable experience learning all about the different materials and processes, there would be access to facilities for the whole year of your apprenticeship to work in your spare time. An apprenticeship as a technician would be great for me CV and would open doors to work in all kinds of different places, and as a material based sculptor, I could really develop my skills in my chosen field.

The Gego: Line as Object exhibition at The Henry Moor Institute was a great exhibition to visit. I visited the exhibition a couple of times, the first time I was interested by the forms Gego's wire lines made, pulsating in and out at uneven angles. They seemed to hold space, without taking up any room at all. They were an impression of something being there, creating shadows, dividing space but not suppressing it. They seemed to react to the space in and around them like molecules.
The second time I went I was with my Dad, who studied physics at University. I was interested in how he interpreted Gego's work (who after all did say her work wasn't sculpture). He told me that 'Vibration in Black' (1957) looked like interference patterns, as the slowly revolving lines of loosely coiled aluminium was suspended from the ceiling, revealed patterned shadows on the wall. When the shadows on the wall crossed over each other caused by the revolving coiled lines of the aluminium, they created optical interference patterns which looked like waves moving of their own accord. A clever manipulation of light and space I hadn't noticed before! but my Dad being the physics expert picked up on it straight away.
I could see that the line as object was a lot more than sculptural form for Gego; it was an experiment with light, weight, force and space.


http://www.henry-moore.org/hmf/press/press-releases/henry-moore-institute-leeds/2014/gego-line-as-object

New blog for Personal and Professional Practice module. Looking to create a Public profile for my work and to link with my website. By linking my website with my blog I hope it will show how one informs the other, and to look at how I develop my work. But it's early days yet!

My website so far: http://www.yvonnebainesartist.co.uk/