Charlotte Walker Art Foundation Degree

On the Arts Council website there is a map of the UK showing all of the locations of different organisations that they are helping to fund from 2018-2022, with several in Nottingham near college. This includes City Arts where various projects are taking place that you can find information about on their website. https://city-arts.org.uk/ This project in particular really caught my interest, it is an exhibition of amazing handmade puppets by Alison Duddle and it can be viewed from the street as it is presented in the City Arts window, so any members of the public can enjoy it. City Arts says 'creativity is a human right', which I agree with because I think it's really positive that the public can see art that sparks joy for free, I think living in a creative environment is much better for everyones mental health compared being surrounded by concrete and greyness without art. It also makes it easier to find inspiration as an artist or in life generally. 'Alison Duddle is

  For my 2 nd   version I experimented with a different style of face to see how this affects the entire look of the doll. It is quite an illustrative face and I think it looks happy but with mournful undertones.   I really emphasised the limbs on this one and made them much longer and very pointy, as well as big ears and a taller head. I twisted and scrunched the fabric up then added black ink to give random stains across the body, and I left the stitching on one leg even looser so that it is hanging off. The figure is very posable and I enjoyed dropping it from a height and photographing whatever position it landed in. I made another doll but this time with red watercolour to stain the fabric and a different style face again. The cross eyes are a reference to traditional cartoons which use this trope to indicate death.  The forms look quite powerful in a heap and arranged against the black background, like a pile of bodies waiting to be buried.

My first thing to consider when making more sinister dolls was the materials and what messages they convey. I chose calico fabric because of the off-white colour and clinical appearance, plus it can be frayed, torn, and stained. Unlike my felt dolls, I created the limbs separately to the body, and then attached them loosely with red thread. All of the stitching in the doll is visible and rough, it has a rawness similar to what I observed in the various museum artefacts like the Haitian magical box.   The stitching is also another medical reference. I associate this with voodoo and torture as well, so the doll encapsulates a lot of pain especially with the red thread alluding to blood and amputation of the limbs. I wrapped wire around the legs and arms, partly to indicate hands and feet but also to emphasise that feeling of torture and bondage – it has a harsh texture, reminding me of fences and barbed wire which are hostile and unwelcoming. The eyes are knotted and the face stitched on

After seeing the haunted pisky on the museum of witchcraft and magic I really wanted to make my own. Using the materials available to me at home I produced two different dolls with felt, stitched features and beaded eyes. I think they look very cute and soft like a child’s toy, and I like the colours but they are missing the ‘haunted’ element of the doll I was inspired by so I want to make something spookier for my next set.   I did some paintings of the two dolls as well as a couple off the top of my head. I like the bold brushstrokes and I want to try painting like this more often because it looks assertive and playful.

'Air Arts  is a wide ranging and ambitious arts in health programme, designed in partnership with staff and patients at Derby Teaching Hospitals. The programme aims to distract from illness, improve wellbeing, aid recovery and enhance the hospital experience for 9,000 staff and 2 million patients and visitors every year.' https://www.airarts.uk/ On the Air Arts website, there are 3D virtual exhibitions that you can explore as if you were truly there - it was really interesting to look through and it completely transforms the atmosphere of the hospital space. It creates a sense of community and togetherness that I imagine helps patients feel that they aren't alone and there are people out there who care and want to support them. This is something I can definitely see myself doing in the future, I think it's a really great cause because everyone deserves to have access to art and it reaches a huge number of people every year. I loved these colourful textile pieces because

  ' Richard studied, and later taught, at the renowned Art School in Scarborough founded by artist, yacht designer, sailor and writer Albert Strange in the early 1900s. He gained recognition as a watercolourist and engraver, and exhibited at London galleries and at the Royal Academy, and at the Yorkshire Art Exhibition. He was also an art teacher at Scarborough Boys’ High School, and in 1937 became the first ever president of Scarborough Art Society, which still flourishes today.   Clarke was the younger brother of William James Clarke (1871-1945), the renowned naturalist and folklorist whose extensive collection of charms and amulets formed the basis of the popular Scarborough Art Gallery exhibition Fears, Foes and Faeries in 2012.' https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/news/the-witches-boat/ This pen and watercolour illustration by Richard. E. Clarke is an amazing depiction of two witches and a male character navigating a stormy sea, with egg shells as boats and a ship in

As I searched through the museum archives, I made a note of the artefacts I was most interested in.   Artifact 3808 - Haitan Magical Box   This artefact is one of the most powerful ones I found. It gives me a sense of discomfort, I think due to its overall rawness and the crude nature of the materials. The texture of the wax in the human hair is really displeasing, especially the way it is used to bind the limbs of the doll giving a feeling of constriction and claustrophobia. The pins allude to voodoo practises while the animal parts are a potent reminder of death and decay, giving the item a sinister feeling of foreboding. Artifact 3814 - Nbedele Doll I find this item much friendlier looking and endearing. It reinforces my idea of working with fabric and I feel inspired to include other materials such as yarn and beads to make more interesting and textured pieces. Artifact 3938 - Witch Bottle This item is very simple and self-explanatory but it makes me wonder what it is that we find