The Tate Britain- Francis Bacon

I wasn't a huge fan ever of Francis Bacon but the exhibition at the Tate Britain was so well set out and his work is overwhelming. I had an audio guide which was so educational.  I could relate to how he loved to tear photographs and pictures from magazines or newspapers and draw on top of them. I loved seeing all the different photos that he would take or be inspired by.  And also to how he was an atheist and was intrigued by his representation of what it would be like to live in a world without God or afterlife. I love how much of his emotions were put into his representations of the figure. There is so much tension, hopelessness, desperation and  isolation; the paintings haunt you like a nightmare with figures trapped in the scene or line boxes.  I love how he would slightly distort on some, and then completely on others such as his crucifixion paintings. It was interesting to learn of how he would paint vertical lines on the paintings to make it more dream like and feel like there was movement and his obsession with the Velazquez's portrait of Pope Innocent X c 1650. The  These were some of my favourite ones, and are probably not the ones that are usually conventionally associated with Bacon.

100% Design London: Mint's 10th Anniversary Show

I went to Mint in London on Widmore Street who are running an exhibition from the 18th to 30th September. The exhibition 'forget me not' is part of London Design Week and is to celebrate it's 10th anniversary. I went because my friend who has just graduated from Bath was showcasing her ceramic handbags. I think they are so beautiful; some have chains on them and big shiny buttons, others are made so they look like they are slouchy. We've been talking recently about how to take some good promotional photos of them; maybe with a girl trying to drag one to mimic the saying " I've got my life in this handbag, its so heavy!"

There were some other amazing pieces; I loved Laura Cahill's furniture made out of recycled books and Felicity Lloyd Coombe's cute sculptures. There was also an installation by Dutch designer Marije vogelzang where she used traditional clay cooking methods to build sculptures, bake vegetables such as onions and then break them to create a " sensory dilemma."

What are you like- Dulwich Picture Gallery

Last week Dulwich Picture Gallery launched an exhibition called "What Are You Like?" I had read a lot of articles about it in the past couple of months so was very excited to go. 45 famous names from all different careers were asked to do eight illustrations of their favourite things from a list of 12: animal, book, clothes, comfort, food, pastime, place, possession, music, shoes, weather and pet aversion (the thing they dislike.) People such as Quentin Blake, Philip Pullman, the creator of children's book Charlie and Lola, and Margret Howell the fashion designer, produced some beautiful pictures; all very unique. You are left to guess who did which, which makes it very fun and I'd love to buy the book that goes with it. I particularly like Quentin Blake's, where he incorporates all of the different things into one scene.

I think it would be a great thing to do as a project or even somehow incorporate into your C.V, as not only do the things you choose show your personality but also the way you draw and produce it. 

What would feature in yours?

Tim Walker

I went to see Tim Walker's exhibition at The design museum in London. I had been a fan for years since seeing the top photograph i've downloaded in a magazine. Since then I have been following his work, partially in Vogue magazine. I love how dream like his work is, how he can make amazing clothes look even more jaw dropping; even a picture of a grasshopper had an imaginative haze to it. He transports the spectator into a word of illusion, with amazing sets and beautiful locations such as India or old beautiful Manor Houses. He takes objects, or ideas that should repel each other but in the end are the perfect combination. I loved that at the exhibition there were some of the objects used in some of the shoots, which even by themselves are so wonderfully made and lovely to look at. My favourite thing however was pages from his scrapbooks which had drawings and polaroid pictures put in. It was very inspiring as to how to produce my sketchbooks in the future.