Annie’s art and thoughts

September 30, 2019

Transitions London 2019

A group exhibition at No Format Gallery Deptford, London.

This amazing new gallery space was where my work was to go on show alongside six other Plymouth artists. We packed everything into a van, drove it all up to Deptford which is south east London, and as we are coming from the west, that means a long slow slog across London. We arrived in one piece and then hung the show. It was hard work but worth it to experience such an great space. Always when curating and hanging an exhibition there are compromises that have to be made as the works all have to compliment each other. We came to an agreement relatively quickly in curating but the hanging is always what takes the time.

All out of the van …now its unpack it all.

My unframed digital prints where hung off bulldog clips. adjusting the lighting also took a while

My light box with my glass work in. All plugged in for the programmed changing light to take effect.

September 30, 2019

Collaboration

Plymouth Art Weekender 2019

Myself and my fellow artist Amanda Leman took part in this years PAW in Plymouth Devon, England. We opened The Beatles Bank, a place where memories of the Fab Four could be logged in the Bank book and from that we intend to produce a piece of art around our lasting impressions of what was Banked. We are leaving it a week to let the sediment of conversations settle and see what remains. Meanwhile here are some pictures of the event.

Visitors brought treasured pictures to log, verbal memories, wrote up favourite lyrics, and bought Beatles Badges to remind themselves of it all.

May 6, 2019

Playing with Projection

I was wanting to try projecting large scale onto a wall playing with abstract light and colour. I had actually spent time hearing all about projection mapping, which is totally awesome but requires some very hi tech (read expensive) stuff so I thought to start I would make my own version. I used card board boxes, old style 35mm projectors and LED lights….what fun. On the 35mm slides I cut out tiny gels to make the image. With the boxes that contained the lights I cut slits to make light shapes. The result was great for such a make shift start. The tower in the picture is metal with coloured gels stuck and light projected through it. It was the start of my immersive experiment.

The blue stripes are made from shapes cut out from cardboard box , the bright square that wraps the wall from 35mm projector and the tower from light passing through the gels on the metal structure.

May 5, 2019May 6, 2019

Glass and sand casting

Pouring the molten glass into the sand mould.

‘When you pick up the cooled block of glass the story it tells of the making is wonderful’
Annie Millar

Hot glass sand casting is such a fantastic way for an artist that is not skilled at glass making to experience glass. To start you get to draw in a sand pit. Yes just like when you were a child. You make a template by pressing into the sand and then you pour molten glass into it. Now at that point glass is seriously hot …we are talking over a 1000 degrees….and it starts to cool immediately, and you can see that happening in front of your eyes. Once the glass has cooled enough to become solid you take a wooden paddle ( I know wooden?) and scoop it out very carefully as it’s still mega hot. So hot you can see steam coming from it as it dries the damp sand. But, and here’s the thing, if you just left it out to cool it would crack, so you have to put it in a kiln and let it cool down gently. The next day that breath taking moment of the reveal is so wonderfully fulfilling. As you hold the glass up you can see all your marks that you planned in the sand echoed in the glass, but with all the little extras that such a fluid mould will insert.

Showing the drawing in the sand — My sand cast . I used bits of string and copper to imbed in the glass as well.

Glass being poured into sand cast which is a large patted down sand pit — Here is the cooling glass with the wooden paddle. This was done in two pours that’s why one side is cooler than the other.