Royal College of Art show

Today I went to see RCA degree show, some stuff really good, nice to see ideas of fresh minds.

The world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, specialising in teaching and research and offering the degrees of MA, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of fine art, applied art, design, communications and humanities

Pink Frog 粉紅色青蛙, 24 May 2006

Today only 3 students attend at darkroom printing lesson so I was able to ask the tutors many questions.

My goodness, the other students forgot to bring their gloves so it was up to me to take three chemicals from bottles and dilute for use in the processing trays. While I poured the chemicals wearing safety glasses and very pink gloves. I was glad I was in a darkroom - they were not the height of latest fashion! I felt like a 'pink frog' in a strange dark world.

Now there were fewer students it was easier to see the BSL interpreter's hands so I asked the tutor if I could do 'one to one' in future. While he explained the process I asked him if I had set it up correctly? Then I tried my first exposure alone. I was ready to do a "test print" of the image using a base exposure plus several additional step exposures to evaluate the tones of the image. Like film, photographic paper is sensitive to light. The more light it is exposed to the darker it gets. Which one is better, 4 secs, 8 secs, 12 secs, 16 sec. I showed my results to the tutors about 3 times; failed and had to do it again. Then we choose the 12secs exposure on the test print. With this test print we can now evaluate what the final exposure of 12 secs for the finished print will be. The finished photo looks great, i am happy with it!

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

My self portrait photograph

Taking photographs of other people, landscapes and flowers is a joyful experience. I also like taking animate, atmospheric pictures of myself in different enviroments, some close to nature. I should make it clear I don’t love myself, but it is quite exciting to do it. It is interesting to see my own expression and the body language I project. Is this really the Kai I know? say my close friends, even my mother said 'is this my son?'

I feel very relaxed in front of a camera, never tense, I feel very close to nature and always relate to the subject matter, never appearing intrusive but communicating with the camera and adding dynamics in some scenes and tranquility in others. Perhaps I should consider being a film producer! location, location, location! with the added benefit of me as the focal point hehehe!

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

My first time to use darkroom printing, 22 May 2006

It was my first time to learn how to do black and white printing in the darkroom today. I have been waiting for a long time, because I could not do lip-reading in Mandarin and read the notes. I could not hear when I was in Taiwan and London, until I attended the photography course in Chelsea. There they offer a BSL (British sign language) interpreter. Wet darkroom printing is part of photography course.

I arrived there before the course started leaving 40 minutes. I was so exciting about that.

The first time the tutor told us to check that we are aware about health and safety before we went into the darkroom.

We were in a darkroom lit only by a dim, red-coloured light which illuminates the expressions of anticipation around me. However there was not a nice smell from all the chemicals.

The BSL interpreter was wearing white hand gloves, so that we can see his hand talk from the red light. As there was only a very small light, we have to remain close to him and watch his hands.

The process of making the photographs was as follows. We had to first choose the paper grade. They we had to focus the negative and make a test trip. We then had to develop the paper image. The final process was to fix and wash which makes the image permanent and removes the chemicals from the paper. Once the paper is dry we can see the image.

It really was very interesting to learn how to do this and was a wonderful feeling to have made my own photographs, from start to finish.

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Making Banana Muffins

I have been looking for a recipe to make home-made banana muffins on the BBC food website. I really enjoy eating sweet things.

First I had to make sure that I had all the ingredients to make the cake. These included butter, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and of course, 3 ripe bananas.

First I had to heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Then I melt the butter and allow it to cool. The recipe told me to mash the bananas well. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl, add caster sugar and stir through. I then beat together the eggs, vanilla extract, melted butter and milk in a second bowl. I then had to add the mashed banana and stir through. I then had to bake the mixture for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins come away from the side of the pan when touched. The smell of the cooking was so great and made me feel really hungry!

After removing the muffins from the oven, they looked nice and brown.I always make quite a few cakes at one time, and I can have them for my lunch at studio at college. I like to make sweets with my own hands. It is more creative and gives me a good result and a big smile when I am eating it!! Actually, the banana muffins were so good, I ate them all in 6 hours!!

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Gardening accident

In the summer, I like to do gardening. The garden is quite big and needs a lot of work every week. There is always a lot to do like watering the flowers and plants and cutting the grass, which grows very long at this time. By the way, the plants look so fresh and green. There is a lot of tidying to do, as old flowers and leaves are replaced with new ones that grow in there place. I was pulling out dead leaves in the garden, and unfortunately I did not notice that I had squashed a snail’s shell in my right hand. But yes, it is still alive! I felt very sorry and guilty. I have been outside several times and saw that it needed some help. I am so sorry about the snail's shell. It was so colourful and a nice shape!! I was wondering what I could do to help it. I wondered if there was a hospital for snails in London. But I don’t think there is! I thought, I will have to take the snail to bed with me and care for it tonight!!!

Flower

Spring has arrived in London now. The sun has been shining brightly and the leaves have grown on the trees. The flowers have started to bloom. I enjoy looking at their different colours while relaxing at the beautiful different Parks in London such as Hyde Park, St James’s Park, and Regents Park.

I think flowers are great for people. They seem to be smiling at us, and make us all feel happier. The colours are bright and a mixture of red, orange, yellow and pink. From a distance they look like a colourful carpet. In general, just the exposure to growing a plant, or nurturing a plant, is what's important. It makes us feel better and brightens up our homes or gardens. The colour spectrum of flowers, symmetry and their odour is attractive to us. It can also make artists want to take photographs of them or paint them.

Flowers are a way of showing emotions. They are used at different times in our lives like weddings, birthdays, but also if people are ill or have died. We give flowers to our friends and relatives. They are usually happy to see the colours and it can be a good way of showing how much we care and love them, or maybe if they are ill, then it can make them feel better.

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Photography trip in the Chiltern Hills, 18th May 2006

My original intention was to visit Norfolk. With It’s gentle undulating landscape, big sky and fenlands it would have been perfect for my project, but the weather forecast was continual rain so we had to confine our photography to the counties of Herts and Bucks.

We drove to a beauty spot in the Chilterns called Ivinghoe Beacon, there was a solitary tree on a steep hill, ‘a single note on the horizon, a lonely ballad’. We climbed the hill to get the best perspective for our photograph. It was very hard to get to the right place, because there was no footpath, and we had a difficult climb. We waited for right time to take the photographs, because we wanted a combination of blue sky and white clouds. The wind was so strong that we had to use a tripod. When we finished taking the photo of the tree, we looked back and wow! There was such a nice view from the top of the hill, with varying fields of colours from cloud and the sunshine. I was really pleased with the photography the tree, it looked so dramatic and solitary and made a wonderful study, I think I shall always look upon it as ‘Kai’s tree’.

Our next visit was to the Tring reservoirs at Marsworth, it was an atmospheric place, there were ‘white horses on the lake, with wild ducks and geese, a wide vista and an open sky, we found a lovely corner with marsh grass and the semblance of a beach, and took a series of pictures.

We then drove to Cheddington ( famous for the great train robbery!) on the Grand Union canal. I took some photos of a rape field, I was able to use perspective and depth, and I used a long focus 100m-shot, so the photo will be abstract. I don’t think it’s a total success because the sun was in front of the subject. I tried to find a better place to take the picture with the sun behind me, near the summit, but ended up walking through a bed of impassable stinging nettles and tall rape, the end result was a pair of black jeans decorated with yellow dye from the rape! It was unfortunate that the time of day was wrong. Because otherwise the sky and land would have combined in a glorious silent symphony.

On the way back to the car I felt invigorated, and in a mad moment wanted an ‘action shot’ of me diving into a field of rape, things did not quite work out and I fell flat on my stomach with a stinging nettle rash on my chin a bruised body and no accurate pictorial record of the proceedings! Not a pretty sight!

This was the first time I had used a polarizer to enhance contrast and skyscapes and I look forward with eager anticipation to the results!

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Visit to a traditional fun fair, 13 May 2006

Today I went to very traditional Fun Fair where i saw over 10 steam engines. Most of the ones today are in the 70s style, and the engines are very old, the oldest from 1902. They have black smoke coming from the exhaust. They put the coal into the fire which makes the engines run, the fire makes the steam - the pressure drives the piston. WOW! Coal- fire- water- steam-pressure-power.

I love steam trains/rollers and engines, because they are beautiful. Steamrollers are usually found only in rural and farming areas, and not usually in in towns. They were only used on farms back in the old days. I prefer the steam driven locomotives. They are so impressive and powerful, and I could feel the heavy power from the motion in my body.

The fairground organ was rather like an old computer - the holes in the punch cards give instructions as to which sound the machine can make. One of the organs was made in Germany in 1850!

When I saw many children eating Candy floss, it reminded me of many happy times as a child. Nobody sells it anywhere in Taiwan too, but fairs and amusement parks are the same there.

I saw a very old fashioned and cute ice cream van. The make of the van was a Morris and was quite popular in the 1950's/1060’s. Many of the children smiled and were very happy when they got their ice cream. Summer seems to be here now!

What about the amusement arcade, where all the machines were pre-1971, since they used old pennies ( or to be precise copies of old pennies ). Lots of very interested and amused children seeing these machines for the first time. They were much more interested in these mechanical machines, which worked by pulling levers and knobs, than the modern digital and automatic world of computers and computer games.

It is good for people who forget that these things are part of England’s cultural heritage or indeed anyone who is younger than say 45 years old and would never have experienced these machines and vehicles at first hand, being able to touch and play with the knobs and controls. It was the first time I would have seen one of these.That’s why people like these fairs - where they see things from recent past.and most important machines still running today sometimes over 100 years after they were made. How many modern machines will still be in use 100 years from today?

The History of Steam Engines : Thomas Savery (1650-1715) http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsteamengine.htm

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

BlueBells in West Wycombe, 13 May 2006

One of my favourite flowers is the bluebell. I think they grow wild in the countryside. They smell nice and look very beautiful! The bluebell creates a beautiful perfume in woodland areas!

I had not seen them before, as they grow wild. They probably grow in big parks aswell. When I visited West Wycombe, I saw hundreds all together in Cockshoots Wood. I told my friends who were with me to come and see. We were speechless. They looked like a huge carpet of purple in the forest.

The colours of the bluebells danced in my eyes. In the setting of the trees, the light and shade through the leaves on the trees combined with the green grass and purple flowers.

I don’t know why this flower is called "Blue" as its colour was not blue. It is really purple. Perhaps who ever first called it "blue" thought it would sound strange as "purplebell"!

I tried to grow some in my pot at home, but they died. I think it is natures way of saying they should be left to grow wild like a free spirt. They should not be brought into a city or town full of houses and pollution, but left in the open forest.

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Annual Art Award, 10 May 2006

My painting of aeroplanes was shortlisted for the Annual Art Awards for 2006. I had a nice drink and food at the event, and also met new people.

Before the awards were given, my friend and I discussed the other short-listed artwork that was being displayed and tried to guess which ones would win the prizes. It turned out that we were wrong!

I talked to one person Tim, he said he works as a member of staff at the City airport and because of the loud noise from the planes, he now has to wear a hearing aid on his left ear.

Another man talked with me. He works as an engineer at the airport. He told me, that he liked my artwork because of the colours and movement. It reminded him of the aircraft. My painting was of the sunset over the airport and used a lot of orange light.

After one hour, they asked us to go to a meeting room to receive the first, second and third prizes. I felt quite nervous while I heard the Director reading out the names of the first and second prizes. I did not win an award, but everyone was a winner as it was a really good experience.

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Workshop at the Wallace Collection, 06 May 2006

This was my first experience as a leader of the workshop at the Wallace Collection. The hands on experience producing fine arts using different media facilitated conditions where the children explored their abilities in painting and three dimensional constructions. The children also played happily in this environment. The inclusion of a parent/guardian, to accompany the child, to participate together and give drawing guidance enhanced the children’s rich imagination. Using Plasticine as the medium they could mould, rub, push, press and so on until they got a satisfactory result from their own efforts with their hands. For example I showed them how to make orange from primary colours, red mix with yellow. I didn’t want them to copy the colour from the painting of ‘Scarborough castle’, just follow their feelings.

When I saw how well they paid attention to the artwork it made me very happy; it's most difficult to communicate with children and I had to adapt to them before they would interact with me.

One boy asked me how he could make the man bending down to catch the crab. He found it difficult to accomplish. I showed him how to make the man's back bend down; The boy was smiling and thanked me.

As this is not a serious academic course the play method of learning is quite appropriate so I tried to encourage them to do this.

I found I needed extremely good patience and determination in my leadership role. The sign language interpreter was essential to aid the communication and interaction between myself, the children and their parents/guardians. Some parents commented on the wonderful facilities and interesting surrounds of the work room.

I gave the group 20 minutes before the finish to let them go upstairs to explore and look at artworks because I wanted some time to join the foreground and background into one masterpiece.

At 4pm. they came down and admired their work. They wanted to take some Plasticine works and paintings home.

Next time I will need to bring plenty of bags and boxes to let them take their work home without breaking it.

I think it was a good workshop to complete two different art forms at the same time; the painting and the three dimensional work; and it was a gratifying experience for me. I was surprised at the end of the day how the artwork was made so beautifully.
I will now concentrate on my role for the 29th July and have learnt much from this first experience.
© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Borough Market, 29 April 2006

Today I attend the Borough’s international market. There were stalls from Sweden, Spain, Germany, and Switzerland. The Borough Market has exisited for 250 years. They have always had a fruit market here since the Roman times. Because the bridge was too narrow for horses and carts, they had to unload on the South Bank and then sell and carry shopping across the bridge. The market under London Bridge is called 'Borough Market'!! Borough and Barcelona market are sister markets, and the buildings are of a similar design and architecture.

The food there is very fresh and interesting, but very expensive. Normally a snack will cost you more than 3 pounds. I do love the smell of the homemade bread, cheese, olive oil, green tea etc. I can try the food and it was a good atmosphere. People visiting the market had happy faces as they visited the various stalls. I bought a snack, and sat in the garden by the Church which is close to the market. It was so relaxing.

Borough market introduction
www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Deaf Day at the City Lit, 22 April 2006

On 22 April I went to the City Lit, which celebrated the 10 years Anniversary- Deaf Day. Here people can get different information about education, employment, communications and art… etc.

I was stupid, because I had not booked a free ticket by email, so I had to line up to get a ticket if they had space for different speeches. I wanted to book places for teacher training, sign a story, hearing dogs for the deaf, but they were all full. The staff suggested that we should wait if someone did not make it. We were lucky in that we could attend the “teacher training” speech. It was great a lecture. They offer BSL interpreter, also typer, if people don’t know how to sign but can read type. There were different places at the City Lit. For instance, I saw police officers who can use sign language. It’s easier to communicate with deaf people if they have any problem.

I met my art friend who was showing his art at the City Lit. It was great, and he showed his printed and draw, and he made his business card, silver writing on the card, very special and different. I thought it’s free, it was 1 pound for his business card, but he is my friend so he sold me it for 50 pence! Ha ha ha

I went to the book place. It included many books to talk about signing, deaf history, and to learn BSL. I was impressed with one book, it’s English-BSL(British sign language) dictionary. I think it’s the best to check English-BSL from DVD and visual language.

I saw some hearing dogs for deaf people. They are so sweet, but it really is an amazing and intelligent role played by the dog and one that is hugely appreciated by their owners.

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Woburn Gallery Private show, 24 March 2006

I visited Woburn Walk to display my work in the Woburn Gallery. I found it to be very peaceful with a pleasant atmosphere created by the early Victorian buildings designed by Thomas Cubitt housing restaurants, galleries, and bookshops which feature large bow-fronted windows preserved to a high standard.

I like to feel the atmosphere, usually created by the smells of old buildings and furniture.

Thanks to do Timothy for all his efforts to make this exhibition a great success.

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006

Lake District, Sep 2005

First time i saw i thought it looks like Scotland. well bigger mountains in the highlands of scotland, well they are very similar really, I feel more trees in the lake district.

I like the countryside, nice villages an towns, clean air, beautiful all year. The colour of the leaves on trees changes in Autumn.

Grasmere, a nice village, but very busy with tourist, the surrounding hills and lake are very beautiful. small ginger bread shop there, a lot of people know about it and buy from there.

Kendall is a busy market town. it is quite old fashioned, old church which is very peaceful.

We climb up the hills and look at the lakes from above, the gold sun shining on the water, wind in the trees making the leaves make a visual sound, Autumn leaves fall off, and I can feel the leaves under my feet when walking, I was relaxing, from tiring with all the walking.

That poem is by William Wordsworth:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

I think his poems were written when he was living in lake district, so they make me think about the countryside there

http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/

http://www.grasmere.com/

© Sheng-Kai Chou 2006