MERRY XMAS TO ALL OF YOU:

More mono:

Still really into the mono printing technique! Made a few more today, here is one of them:

Monotypi

Winter-knitting!

During the weaving course, I also found time to do some knitting. It´s snowing in Bergen now, and it´s been really cold this week. So I started knitting at school, mostly just to take a break from weaving, and it turned out to be a pair of wrist warmers and a hat! 100% wool, so even though I knitted with thin yarn on thick needles (which gives a really "airy" and rough texture) they actually are really warm!

Mini Bergen:

Last night I started experimenting with a technique in photoshop called tilt-shift. This is as way of making a photo look like a miniature. This is one of my tests, miniature bergen:

A new favorite?

This summer my mum and I found this dress in the attic. I´ve shortened it about 12cm, so now it´s pretty much perfect for me!
My mum wore the dress for my big sister´s christening in 1980/1981, and it´s just as nice today. A new favorite dress, I´m sure!

WEAVING:

On Monday we started a course in weaving. We are learning all about different weaves, techniques, patterns and so on.
It has been a very interesting week, and I really enjoy weaving! There are so many options, you wouldn´t believe it!
Thursday I started a small sample on the damask weave, weaving with silk. For this weave you make a pattern based on a grid with 41 squares, and because of the way the weave is set up the pattern will repeat and mirror itself. It takes a lot of time since the thread is so thin, but it gives a really delicate result. For my first sample I made "space invaders":





After the silk, I moved on to a weaving with wool. This time I used a different weave (we have 8-10 different weaves!) where I make up a pattern repeat on a computer. The computer deals with each row in the pattern when I press the pedal, so all I have to do is shift the thread and keep track of the rows really. Here is the sample I am working on now:

LIVING IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF CHANGE:

The second week of the workshop with Rachel and Mathias we worked in groups, creating a big structure. The groups all worked on different subjects such as structure & space, atmosphere, animation and technology. I worked with the structure & space group, designing and building a huge structure out of fiberglass circles. An important keyword was "life", which lead us to the idea of creating a giant organ. We wanted to give the audience the feeling of being inside something living.
The last day we combined all the work from the different groups, resulting in a big structure with animated light wires, low frequent sounds and microphones where people could use their voice to create vibration and movement. Here´s some pictures from the process and the finished exhibition:

MAKING SOLAR CELLS:

I recently attended a two week long workshop with the London-based design duo Loop.ph. Rachel and Mathias showed a great deal of passion for their work, and they are very good at what they do! They certainly inspired me, and probably the rest of the group too. One of the things they showed us was how to make our own solar cells, with natural substances such as raspberries, blackberries and onion skin. Here´s some photos from the process:







The last picture shows a finished solar cell made with onion skin, and it really worked! If you want to learn more about making your own solar cells like this take a look at Rachel and Mathias´ SolarJam Workshop.

MY PLACE:

Finally, my room is pretty much finished. After a few months hunting for furniture and stash, I´m actually quite happy with the interior. When I moved in I only had a bed and a wardrobe, then I found my lovely armchairs! A real bargain from Fretex (Salvation Army´s charity shop), just 200kr each! The dining chairs from the 60´s are from the same shop, 150kr for the pair, they are so nice and practical as well. Today I bought a cupboard/shelf thing, also Fretex, for just 50kr and filled it with all my books. I also found an old table in the basement, it was really dusty and covered in paint stains. But it looks great with a nice piece of retro fabric on top (actually a curtain from a charity shop). So now I have a place to eat, and most importantly; a place to sew!!!!!







I put some stuff on the walls as well, finally! Two of my canvasses on one wall, mirrors and a cosy picture (a bit kitsch) i got at a flee market on the opposite wall. I´m really pleased with the mix of styles, and the layout of the room. I think it has a nice retro feel to it, as well as a modern touch.

I SHOULD GOOGLE MYSELF MORE OFTEN:

Yesterday I googled myself, in lack of anything better to do. Usually the result is less then interesting, but this time google surprised me! I found a really nice review of the work I exhibited at New Designers on Julie Pople Designs´website:

"What makes this show so wonderful is that it is raw. By the time trends hit the high street they are often watered down versions of the original idea. Of course, they are also practical, commercial, and hopefully profitable. All of these designers have talent, the ones who make it will also have the ability to refine their ideas so that they are commercial without losing the spark that makes them stand out. But for this show it is the crude, powerful, unrefined work that triumphs over the conventional. To that end, Elisabeth Petch who took the trend for urban art and made it even more urban stood out. Her large canvasses of grimy, industrial signage were wonderful."

Thank you so much for the kind comment about my work, it really made my day:)

FØRSTE UTSTILLING PÅ KHIB:

SURFACE PATTERNS BASED ON MEMORIES:

CHANEL THE HAMSTER

I´m taking care of my roomie´s hamster for a couple of weeks. This aggressive (believe it or not...) little creature is named Chanel, and is rather cute when she´s not biting my fingers... Chanel is asleep ALL day, and awake ALL night which means I´m awake most of the night as well...

I´M AN ART FREAK:

Right now I´m working on a project where I use memories as my inspiration. All the memories are connected to my grandmother, and I have tried to reconstruct one of them and also combined two memories to make something new and surreal.


When Hanne and I went to Bestemor to eat dinner we used to look for the bird hidden in the surface pattern on the plate. We covered it with food, and then the first one to find it won the game.


My tutor asked me if I could combine some of the memories, so I did. In a very strange way. I combined cross stitches and peaches. A weird combination, but somehow quite nice as well.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT:

A couple of weeks ago I went to London to exhibit my work at New Designers. The exhibition was in Islington, and the shops there are awesome! I found lots of great vintage shops, all located in the same area, so i was in heaven for a few hours! (Lost track of time.. woops!). I bought a lovely electric blue leather handbag from a woman at the market, and she pointed me in the direction of her husband's shop. And there I fell in love with this gorgeous 70's dress. I tried it on, perfect fit. It was meant to be...


"Se min kjole, den er blå som havet..."


Detail back


Detail front

I remember my grandmother had a dress like this, it was the same shape but darker blue. She bought it for my parents' wedding in 1978, and if the dress is still "alive" I would really love to wear it. It's too pretty to be boxed up somewhere, and I'm sure my grandmother would have loved to see me wear it as well.

"EXPRESSIVE URBAN ART":

"Art is everything. So nothing can also be art."











For my final year project I designed customized surface patterns inspired by my surrounding. The idea was to design for bespoke interiors, using different materials. I wanted my desings to be edgy and expressive both one by one and as a group. These are my final 6 designs for my Degree Show.